Chapter Six #2
Her words drifted off as she realised that there was no peace between her husband and his foster son. The division between them might have begun because of
Lilidh, but recent changes could be blamed on the Mathesons negotiating with their common adversaries, the MacKenzies.
‘What will you do?’ Her mother’s heart beat erratically, worried at all the terrible possibilities and the few good ones in this situation. Connor glanced at her and she held her breath.
‘She is a hostage now. Her kidnapping is a prelude to war.’
Her head spun even as her heart raced then and she felt her legs shake beneath her. Connor was at her side in an instant, embracing her in his strong arms.
‘Connor, you must—’
She would have offered up all kinds of solutions, all from a mother’s caring heart, but her husband, her laird, placed his finger over her lips and shook his head.
‘I know all the words you would speak right now, Jocelyn,’ he began. ‘Remember that she is the daughter of an earl and a chieftain. A widow to the great
MacGregor chief. Tied to two of the most powerful families in the Highlands. The Mathesons would be fools to mistreat her.’
At this time.
She heard the words as though he’d spoken them. Their daughter was safe for now, though what safe meant could be another complete discussion.
‘For now, I am sending a messenger to Rob to ask for his terms.’
‘You will not attack?’ Her worst fear.
‘I can always attack,’ he said. The hint of bloodthirst in his voice revealed that the beast was still there and ready to rise when needed. ‘First, I will try diplomacy.’
‘I would see her,’ Jocelyn tried. ‘I would accompany Duncan to Keppoch and make certain she is well.’ Duncan would be the first choice to handle such a delicate and dangerous matter for Connor.
She pushed out of his embrace, determined to gather some clothing and supplies and be ready to leave. She and other wives had travelled with their husbands and kin on matters of state and clan business and this would be nothing different.
‘You will stay here and see to your duties.’
She tensed at the words and the tone in which he delivered them.
Turning to face him, Jocelyn saw that he did not jest with her.
He expected her to remain here while the fate of her, their, daughter hung in the balance.
He expected her to continue to see to her duties and to act as though nothing was wrong. He expected her to...
‘Aye, I do, Jocelyn.’
They’d lived and loved so long now that he could indeed read her thoughts, though she considered that it might have been her face and expression that gave her away.
She’d never been good at hiding her feelings—not long ago when they met and not now that they’d been married for almost a score of years.
She looked away from him then, trying to hold back the tears and anger that threatened to erupt.
She would be of no help to her husband or their daughter if she fell apart as she wished to do in that moment.
Tightening her lips so no words escaped, she thought on how her own goal could be accomplished even in the face of Connor’s resistance.
‘I think I prefer the devastated mother’s expression to the mutinous MacCallum one you wear now,’ he observed, crossing his arms over the wide expanse of his chest and glaring at her.
She shrugged and shook her head. ‘I know not what you—’
‘Come now, Jocelyn. We have been through so much together and I am insulted that you think I do not know what that look in your eyes and the tilt of your chin up ever so slightly...’ he said, as he reached out and outlined the curve of her chin and face down to her neck.
Chills shot through her at his touch. Any time.
Every time. ‘...means. It means you plan to defy me in this.’
‘Connor, surely—’ She withheld any further arguments.
‘I think I would prefer not to hear a lie from your lips,’ he admitted.
His stern gaze gave her no sign of leniency, only understanding.
However, her husband was an intelligent man who could make the right decisions when left to it.
She waited and finally after several seconds heard his exhaled breath.
‘Do nothing that will lessen our chances of getting what we need. Pay heed to Duncan and Rurik.’
Duncan and Rurik? If he was sending both, he was preparing for war as well and making quite a show of strength. That manoeuvre could either impress the Mathesons or cause them to act rashly. She prayed in that moment that it was the former and not the latter.
‘When?’
‘We must wait on them and the messengers I’ve sent before sending armed men to his lands. Give him a chance to come to his damned senses and release her on his own.’ He paused then. ‘About a sennight, I would think.
‘You will do nothing that Duncan and Rurik do not give permission to do while there. You will remain within our camp and—’ When he began to announce a long list of orders and prohibitions, she stopped him the one sure way she knew would work—she stood on the tips of her toes and kissed him.
He clasped her shoulders and held her close, their breaths mingling, as he stared into her eyes and studied her face. Then he settled her back to her feet and released her.
‘You will be safe, Jocelyn.’ She nodded and began to leave, for there was much planning and packing to do. ‘And, Jocelyn? I am allowing you to go in case Lilidh needs you,’ he explained.
Those last words would haunt her days and nights until she next beheld her daughter and could ascertain for herself any damages done to her at the hands of the Mathesons.
Oh, woe to Rob Matheson if her daughter was harmed. Woe to him if he incurred the wrath of a mother! Connor could not be more dangerous than that.