Chapter 1
CHAPTER ONE
Clan MacPherson Lands
“Ada, ye will drive me tae distraction, lass! Where have ye been? Ye were meant tae eat with me an hour ago,” Graeme MacPherson said from the head of the table from his laird’s position.
Angrily, Ada sat down next to him, and she picked up her glass of wine.
It was already filled, and the place had been set, waiting for her.
She took a long sip and stared back at her father.
At nineteen years old, she was ready to be free of her father’s control.
Making him wait for her at dinnertime was the least of what she wanted to do.
“I was readin’ in the library,” she said innocently and began to eat.
“Nay, ye bloody well were nae. The men could nae find ye again. Ye will drive Blair mad, so ye will.” Graeme drank his wine angrily as well, and she let out a breath as she chewed her food.
Making Blair angry was something, at least.
It might ruffle a feather in that perfect composure of his.
Blair MacDougall had been frustrating her ever since he started working as her guard. He was always infuriatingly calm, no matter what she did to try and rile him up.
“Fine then. I was readin’ near the library in one of the secret passages.
What does it matter? It is nae as if I went outside of the castle, yer worst fear.
” She rolled her eyes. “I was safe, Father, and that is all that matters tae ye. Nae only that, but I thought ye would feel safer now that the old Laird Grant is dead. There is nae one left who wishes tae harm us.”
Laird Grant, whose castle resided a few hours away, was an old rival of her father’s.
He had fallen in love with Ada’s aunt many years ago and proposed marriage, but her aunt had refused him.
In his anger and jealousy, he took it out on her and killed her.
Then, in another act of revenge, he’d attempted to kidnap Ada and Ella, but failed.
Since then, her father had kept them hidden and protected them beyond what was necessary, all to avoid that happening again.
But only a few months before, her old guard and now brother-in-law, Cameron Hay, had killed Grant in a fight when he’d tried to take Ella away again.
Yet her father still did not believe that the danger was gone.
She and her father had had this conversation a thousand times, and each time, Ada seemed to get nowhere.
She thought things would be better once her sister Ella had gotten married to Cameron, who turned out to be Laird Grant’s heir.
But no. He was still as protective as ever, even if he was a bit gentler and more loving these days.
“There is always one who wishes tae harm a beautiful young lass like yerself, Ada. If only ye would listen tae me, allow me tae teach ye of the ways of the world since ye dinnae ken of them yerself.”
She gripped her fork so tightly her knuckles turned white.
“And why dae ye think I dinnae ken of the world, Father? I could learn a few things if ye would allow me the normal freedom that comes with being a laird’s daughter.
I ken that Ella and Cameron dinnae plan tae keep their child indoors for the rest of her days, if she turns out tae be a girl. ”
“Ha!” her father laughed, tearing into his piece of bread as he spoke. “Cameron will see the light once he becomes a father himself. There is nae greater fear than losin’ yer child.”
“Father, if only ye could see that I am ready for the world. I am ready tae experience things and make friends, to feel as though I have me own life and nae one contained inside of these stone walls.”
She took in the dim gray stone of her family's castle.
A fire was crackling in the hearth, and the food in front of her was plentiful and tasty.
Her father did not harm her, and she was free to learn whatever she wanted, reading whatever she could find in the library that piqued her interest. Home was supposed to be a safe haven where one could feel loved, protected, and cared for.
And, while all of that was true, her home, her safe haven, felt more like a prison.
She desired more than anything to see more of the world beyond those walls.
Now that Ella is married, he will perhaps allow me tae visit her on me own.
“Perhaps it is time that ye too get married,” her father grumbled between bites, and Ada sighed.
He did not listen to her heart, and she wondered why he was hardened against her now after so recently losing Ella to marriage.
Ada said nothing, and they finished their meal in silence until Graeme dismissed her. “Ye will go straight tae yer room, lass,” he said. “That is yer punishment for disappearin’ today. Angus will take ye.”
She nodded in defeat, leaving her father behind without so much as a good night, and she met the older guard outside the main hall door.
She reserved a smile for him, however. Ever since she and Ella were little, he had always been kind to her, along with Darren, who often watched them as well.
But now that it was just her in the castle, she no longer needed to be two guards.
She was alone.
“Off tae bed now, lass?”
“Aye, Angus,” she said, walking alongside him.
As they went up the steps, Ada was lost in thought. She twisted a finger around her ginger hair, hanging loose as usual. It was one of the small, perhaps ridiculous, ways she tried to experience a little freedom for herself. But she was at a loss.
Outside her door, she bid Angus goodnight and went inside to sit by her crackling fire.
Picking up the stolen whiskey she usually absconded with from her father’s study, Ada poured herself a glass.
The nights were lonely now without her sister by her side.
She was happy for Ella and her newfound happiness with her husband.
But still, something was missing in her own life.
Without her sister, she had no confidante, no true friend.
Her father’s forced isolation meant she was on her own.
I will make me escape one day, just as I told Ella before.
But she’d hesitated after her sister’s marriage, hopeful that her father had changed. However, now she knew that it would still be the same until she began to fight back. Taking a sip, Ada started to make her plans.
Why did I agree tae this job?
Blair had asked himself that nearly every day, multiple times a day, since Ella and Cameron had married and he'd been asked to return to MacPherson Castle to serve as Ada's guard until she married.
He had been Cameron's man-at-arms, but he and Ella thought this would be best. He'd returned a few months before, and it'd been one crazy day after another.
Ada MacPherson couldn't sit still and follow orders. She made his job a hell of an ordeal.
And that particular instance was no exception.
He was standing beneath the tree in the castle courtyard, watching Ada strain to reach a kitten.
He hadn't arrived in time before she made the decision to climb the tree and stop her.
Whenever the guard changed, the lass always found a way to do something risky. Damn it!
“What in God’s name are ye doin’, Lady Ada?” he called and turned when he saw a group of young children hurry into the courtyard.
“See? I told ye the lady was up there tryin’ tae get our kitten!” one of them cried.
Blair rolled his eyes and rubbed a frustrated hand over his face.
“I am tryin’ tae help a poor creature in need of assistance,” Ada called back, turning to look at him through the branches. Her long ginger hair was hanging over her shoulders, and even though she pinned him with an angry glare, he was struck with just how lovely she was.
Ada is always lovely. There is never a time when she is nae, even when she is acting so foolish.
He sighed, trying to talk some sense into himself. Thinking about Ada as a woman did him little good. She was his duty, and he needed to be able to fulfill said duty without such unsettling thoughts about how bonny she was.
“Ye ken that ye could come and help me with this, Blair,” she accused, “instead of just watchin’ me, since ye think me so frail and unable tae handle me own affairs.”
“Ye are nae able, Lady Ada,” he began, but he paused when he saw the interested looks on the children’s faces. “Ye may fall, and then where will we be?”
“I have climbed trees before!” she yelled as she strained for the kitten, but it meowed and crawled back further onto another branch.
“Ye can dae it, me lady!” one little girl with hair of gold cried, and the rest of them clapped their hands in encouragement. “It is me kitten, sir, and she told me she’d help.” The lass stood beside him, looking up at Ada with awe.
He understood the look entirely, even though Ada’s reckless actions would soon be the death of him. Despite his anger at what she was doing, he couldn’t help but smile, just a little.
She was a conundrum. She liked to act spiky, constantly snapping back or teasing, trying to get away with things.
But at the same time, she had a heart of gold.
She’d do anything for her sister, and now, she was risking her life to help a silly kitten down from a tree to make one of the little girls happy.
“Almost there!” Ada had moved to another branch, and Blair’s heart flipped as he saw it was too weak to hold her.
He stepped forward as she reached out for the small white cat. “Be careful!” he cried, his sudden outburst surprising her.
Her scream pierced through him as the branch broke, and then so many things happened at once. Blair raced forward, pushing the children out of the way so that they wouldn’t get hit as Ada fell from the tree. He made it just in time, his arms outstretched to catch her before she reached the ground.
“Shite!” he cursed as they both fell to the grass, and the cat hissed, scratching Blair’s face before scampering off.
The children dashed after it, not before thanking her, and then it was just them in the courtyard, breathing heavily.
His arms remained tight around her, holding her firmly as his heartbeat slowed.
Her hair tickled his face, and he swallowed, trying to ignore the sensation of relishing her proximity.
“Lady Ada, are ye all right?” he asked.
“I am well,” she groaned, trying to wriggle free of his grasp. “I wish ye would call me Ada, though. Lady Ada is far too formal. I call ye Blair, after all.”
He sat up and aided her in standing, brushing dirt from his clothes as he did so. Blair's eyes moved anxiously over her body, assessing her as she straightened her skirts and removed the leaves from her hair and dress.
“Are ye sure ye’re all right?”
“Aye,” she said, but he could see her hands shaking.
He yearned to reach out for her, to pull her close and comfort her, to smell her scent, which always drove him mad.
It reminded me of meadow flowers, something wild, earthy, and pure.
It encompassed everything she was. To avoid the temptation, he took a step back and wrapped his hands around his back.
It would not end well for either of them.
“Good,” he said, then replacing his calm tone with one of slightly veiled rage, he asked, “Then why in the bloody hell dae ye keep tryin’ tae kill me, woman?”