My Daring Highlander (23 page)

Isobel’s mouth dropped open. “Saints!
In truth?”

“I’ve never known my aunt to tell a
lie. And she didn’t know for certain my father had it done. But
knowing him like I do, I wouldn’t put it past him.”

Isobel shook her head and appeared in
deep thought. “I wish there was some way to get you away from your
father so you and Keegan could be together. You could come live at
Dunnakeil.”

Seona’s heart ached for that would be
her fondest wish. “I would love that, but I fear ’tis impossible. I
must go home for my sister. I fear Father will beat her if she
talks back to him.”

Isobel frowned. “Has he beaten
you?”

“Aye.” Seona had never talked to
anyone about this, other than her aunt or the people back home who
knew about it. “He’s hit me several times. Sometimes for no true
reason other than he was angry and I happened to be
there.”

“’
Slud!” Isobel muttered,
her face tightening. “I had no idea he was so brutal. Does Keegan
know this?”

“Nay. And you must not tell him. You
know he would do something drastic and put his own life in terrible
danger.”

Isobel nodded. “Keegan is a lot like
Dirk. Neither of them would stand for such injustice and abuse,
especially to someone they care about. You must get away from your
father.”

“I had hoped to marry a decent man who
was not cruel and bring my sister to live with me.”

“’
Tis a good
plan.”

“It isn’t too much to ask, is
it?”

Isobel put an arm around Seona’s
shoulders and gave her a comforting hug. “Nay, of course not. Not
only do you deserve a good man, but also a man who loves
you.”

“That would be a dream come true, of
course. But I doubt that I’ll be as lucky as you are.”

If only she could be. The image she
had in her mind of being married to Keegan was so beautiful it
brought tears to her eyes.

“Indeed, you might be luckier than
anyone,” Isobel said. “It can’t hurt to imagine it. And it will
give you comfort.”

“I’m not certain of that. ’Tis
something I’ll likely never have, so why imagine it might come
true? I would only be torturing myself.”

“I disagree. Last year, I thought I
would have to marry another man I didn’t care for, but I didn’t. I
stopped thinking of Torrin. I could think of naught but Dirk after
he rescued me and took me to Dunnakeil. I couldn’t help falling for
him or thinking about him all the time.”

“Aye, but your older brother is far
more lenient than my father. Besides, Dirk is a chief. Your brother
knew he was suitable for you. Keegan is not a chief, but I… that
doesn’t matter to me.”

“Of course it doesn’t matter. He isn’t
exactly penniless. He’s Dirk’s tanist. ’Tis the highest position
within the clan, aside from chief. Keegan will have a good income,
and he is welcome to live at Dunnakeil always. As is the woman he
marries.”

Seona’s face burned for she truly
wished to be the woman he married. But the reality was, each time
she talked to Keegan, and especially when she kissed him, she was
putting his life more and more in danger. Especially if he was the
one who took her home. But she knew not how to convince him to stay
here and allow someone else to escort her home.

“You must not reveal to Keegan what
I’ve told you,” Seona said. “Promise me.”

“If you will tell him,” Isobel said.
“He deserves to know everything you’ve told me.”

Seona shook her head. “If he knows
what kind of man my father is, that he is abusive and violent and
probably even a murderer, Keegan may not allow me to go back. You
ken as well as I do that could have terrible consequences. It could
mean a clan war. My sister could be in danger. And Keegan, most of
all, would be in danger.”

Chapter Seventeen

Two nights later, Keegan and the other
men dragged into the great hall of Teasairg Castle just as supper
was ending. They had searched endlessly for Haldane and his outlaws
over much of MacKenzie territory for miles around. Keegan was
hellishly annoyed none of them could be found.

His gaze scanning the great hall for
Lady Seona but not locating her, Keegan strode toward high table,
then slumped into a straight wooden chair beside Dirk. Keegan
wanted to immediately ask where Seona was, but didn’t want the
others to ken how much he thought about her. The servants rushed to
bring the newcomers food, which Keegan appreciated greatly for he
was near starved.

“Let me guess—you saw neither hide nor
hair of Haldane,” Dirk said.

“You have the right of it. We climbed
mountains on foot and searched more glens than I can count,” Keegan
said. “We took a galley to the end of Loch Duich and searched part
of Glen Shiel, while some of the MacKenzies took another galley up
Loch Long. The bastards have vanished.”

“Hell,” Dirk muttered. “McMurdo has
taught them to be as cunning and illusive as he is. They could be
lying in the bracken somewhere and ’twould be easy to walk right
past them.”

“Aye.” Keegan sighed. “Or they may
have left the area. ’Haps they went east to await us at the edge of
Murray’s holdings.”

“That’s a good possibility,” Dirk
said. “Damnation, I want to be out there searching with you
lads.”

“Not until you’re recovered. How’s
your leg?” Keegan asked, digging into the trencher of venison stew
the servant placed before him.

“Improving.”

Isobel, sitting on Dirk’s other side,
leaned forward. “What he neglected to tell you is that he still has
fevers sometimes, especially at night. And look how swollen it is,
Keegan.”

“Och. I’m getting better,” Dirk
muttered.

“Aye, you are better than you were,”
Isobel agreed.

Keegan drank a long swallow of heather
ale. “You must take care of yourself, cousin.”

“I am. And I have the best healer in
the world.” Dirk put his arm around Isobel and drew her
closer.

She smiled and kissed his
cheek.

Saints.
Keegan missed Seona. He could use a kiss from her
right now. Though he’d need a bath and a change of clothes first.
And some privacy, away from her aunt, who sat further down the
table, talking to MacMillan.

“Where is Lady Seona?” Keegan asked in
a low tone, making sure her aunt couldn’t hear. With all the noise
in the great hall, ’twas doubtful she would hear him even if he
asked in a loud voice, but he didn’t want to take any
chances.

Both Dirk and Isobel merely looked at
him for a long moment. Finally, Isobel said, “In her
bedchamber.”

Alarm rushed through Keegan, not
because of Isobel’s words but because of the somber look in her
eyes. “Is something wrong?”

“Nay,” Isobel said, glancing
away.

She was lying or being evasive. What
was she hiding?

“’
Tis only that Lady Seona
has not been to any meals since the one we had outside,” Dirk
said.

What?

Isobel poked Dirk in the ribs and gave
him a severe frown.

Dirk caught her hand. “Well, ’tis
true.”

“Has anyone seen her?” Keegan
demanded, imagining the worst. Had she slipped out and run
away?

“Aye, Keegan. Calm yourself,” Isobel
said. “I’ve talked to her several times in her chamber.”

“And?” He waited, anticipation near
consuming him.

“She is not ill. She simply doesn’t
want to be around a lot of people. She is a private person who
prefers spending time alone, sometimes.” Isobel
shrugged.

Keegan frowned, knowing full well
Isobel was behaving strangely. Aye, Seona was a quiet lass who
didn’t mind being alone, but he’d never noticed her avoiding meals.
Was it simply because he hadn’t been there? Or something
else?

Isobel was keeping a secret, and he
intended to find out what it was. “Are you saying she hasn’t been
out of her room for two days?”

“I don’t know if she has or not,”
Isobel said with a neutral expression.

Irritation welled up inside Keegan’s
chest. “Is she eating?”

“Aye. The maids take her
food.”

“Isobel said she was worried about you
going after Haldane.” The look in Dirk’s eyes said he understood
the turmoil and worry Keegan felt.

The idea that Seona was worried about
him eased Keegan’s mind a bit. Maybe the anxiety had gotten the
best of her and that was why she wanted to be alone.

He had to see Seona. Would Isobel help
him with that as she’d done in the past? Something had changed, and
he didn’t like it.

After the meal, he asked the servants
to bring him a bath, then proceeded to his small bedchamber in the
same wing as the MacKenzie brothers’. Once Keegan had bathed and
put on clean clothing, he proceeded through the castle, trying to
think of a place where he and Seona might talk in private. Though
it was late, the castle was still abuzz with activity.

He proceeded up the steps to the
corridor where Seona’s chamber was. If he ran into anyone, his
excuse would be that he was going to talk to Dirk, whose chamber
was a couple doors down. But luckily, no one was about in this part
of the castle. He hurried to Seona’s door and knocked
lightly.

As the silence extended, the
foreboding inside him grew darker.

Isobel had told him Seona wasn’t ill.
She simply wished to be alone. But he knew something was wrong. Had
he offended her in some way? Angered her?

He knocked again, a bit
harder.

“Who is it?” Seona asked from the
other side of the door.

He released his held breath. The sound
of her voice both calmed him and excited him at the same
time.

“’
Tis me. Keegan,” he said,
low, then glanced back along the empty corridor.

Staring at the door again, he waited
for her to open it. But it remained closed.

“Seona?” he asked “Are you
ill?”

“Nay.”

“Why won’t you leave your
bedchamber?” He had not considered it might be
that
time of the month for her. But
surely if this was the case, she would at least pretend to be
ill.

“I cannot see you again,” she said,
her voice strained and barely audible.

“What?” Surely, he’d misheard, but
still… her words sent a shock of confusion and denial through him.
“Why would you say such a thing?” he asked, trying to keep his
voice down.

“’
Tis dangerous, Keegan. My
father is a cruel man.”

Hell.
She had been crying. He heard it in her voice.

“I do not fear your father,” he
said.

The silence on the other side of the
door frayed his nerves and sliced at his composure.

He leaned closer to the
door. “I want to see you, Seona. I
need
to see you.” He had thought of
naught but her during the past few days. ’Twas why he’d spent two
days searching for Haldane… to keep her safe from the
knave.

“Seona?” He didn’t want to try the
knob and enter without an invitation, but she sore tempted him to
do just that. With his luck, she’d barred the door.

What seemed to him a long while
later—though it could have been seconds—the door opened. Seona’s
tear-filled, dark blue eyes tore at his soul and stirred his
protective instincts. He pushed his way inside the door and closed
it back.

“Nay,” she whispered, backing away.
“You cannot come in here.” Though her words were quiet, they were
intense, her eyes wide but reddened from crying. “What if Aunt
Patience should see you?”

“Seona, why are you
suddenly so distraught? Tell me why you said what you did.” He
couldn’t even bring himself to say the words, for he couldn’t
imagine never seeing her again. Never touching her. Never kissing
her.
Nay.
Such
thoughts were like dagger stabs to his heart.

“I told you,” she said. “My father is
a cruel and brutal man. If he finds out we have talked and kissed
and… other things, I fear he will kill you.” She closed her eyes
and tears ran down her cheeks.

At the moment, he didn’t care if his
life was in danger. All he wanted was to see Seona, to touch her,
to hold her.

“He is not here,” Keegan
said.

“Nay, but his sister is. Aunt Patience
will tell him everything. She was spying on us. She saw you give me
the bluebells.”

This was all caused by the
bluebells?
Saints!
Lady Patience was a she-devil.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “What
matters is—”

“Nay. I cannot see you or talk to
you,” Seona insisted. “You have to leave.”

Keegan’s chest ached and his
possessive urges rose to the surface. Nobody was taking Seona away
from him. To do so was the same as ripping out his heart. He
couldn’t live without his heart… nor without Seona.