Chapter 23 #2
“An alliance would do well for our clan, but I understand yer decision on marriage.” Laird MacLeod tilted his head, his expression almost sheepish. “’Twas one I made myself when I wed yer mum.”
William blinked in surprise. “Ye always said her head was in the clouds, and that ye dinna want me to be like her.”
His da smiled to himself, as if savoring a private moment of joy.
“Aye, she did have her head in the clouds. She was a whimsical lass who dinna take life too seriously and told the most wondrous tales of dragons and brave knights. She would rather have had an armful of flowers than a mountain of gold. The world was a brighter place with her in it.” He chuckled at some distant memory.
“She’d no’ have made a good leader, but she would have been the perfect mother. ”
Sadness touched his eyes, and he reached out a hand to squeeze William’s shoulder. “I’m sorry she dinna get the chance to know ye. She was too damn good for this world, and God knew it.”
William swallowed hard at the knot in his throat, at the regret that sat like a rock in his chest. “I dinna know anything about her.”
“’Tis my fault.” Laird MacLeod sighed and scrubbed the back of his head.
“It hurts to speak of her, even now. I think…” His eyes glistened with more emotion than William had ever seen in his father’s face.
“I think she would be disappointed in how I’ve raised ye.
I dinna let myself consider that until now. ”
“Will ye tell me about her?” William asked.
Laird MacLeod nodded and gave a hard swallow. “I hope ye can forgive me. That she can, too.” He looked upward, as though seeking her approval from the heavens.
His father opened his arms but did not move to William, letting him come of his own volition. William moved forward and embraced his da.
“I love ye, my lad.” Laird MacLeod patted William on the back, and they released one another. “And I’d like ye to introduce me properly to yer Kinsey. I have some apologies to make to the woman who will be my new daughter.”
His father gave a sheepish grimace, and William couldn’t help but scoff. “Aye, that ye do.”
Together, they joined the others in the great room. Kinsey met William’s eye, her pinched brows expressing her anxiety.
Laird MacLeod went to her first. “I owe ye an apology for many different reasons.”
Kinsey tilted her chin higher.
“I’m sorry.” He offered her a reverent bow. “I hope ye can forgive me for how I treated ye.”
She folded her arms over her chest. “Mayhap ye should consider not making yer son give up his birthright—”
“Nay, he’ll still be laird.” Laird MacLeod slid his gray eyes to William. “And will wed for love over dowry.”
William reached for Kinsey’s hand as happy relief eased the tension from her beautiful features.
“Kinsey has a dowry,” Drake said.
They all turned to look at him.
“I do?” Kinsey asked.
“Ye’re granddaughter to the Ross Chieftain,” Drake replied. “Of course ye do.”
“The Ross Chieftain?” Laird MacLeod said, his eyes lighting up.
Kinsey scowled. “I want nothing from that bastard.” She cast William an apologetic look. “He’s a terrible man. I don’t want anything to do with him.”
“Mayhap ye ought to give him a chance.” William glanced at his father. “He might surprise ye.”
His da straightened, stony-faced save the twinkle in his eye.
“I can speak with him for ye,” Drake said.
Kinsey shook her head. “Nay.” She squeezed William’s hand. “I can do it myself.”
But William knew that before she could seek out her grandfather, she would first have to face her family. Something they would do together.
The ride to Castleton was short and uneventful despite Kinsey’s ragged nerves.
Several days after they had all reunited at the inn, Laird MacLeod once more assumed control of the army and journeyed to Jedwood Forest to rejoin the king’s army, while Drake, William and Kinsey returned to her home.
After stopping at Fennela’s cottage with her horse and payment, of course.
William and Drake discussed battle strategies most of the way to the manor on the outskirts of Castleton, but Kinsey, who had experienced enough war, was content to be alone with her thoughts.
Her chest still ached from her injuries, and apparently would for at least a fortnight or more, but her head had cleared enough for her to think properly again.
She had much to atone for with her family. Not only for the way she’d left but also for what she’d done to Drake. Her stomach twisted to think of what he’d given up saving not only her, but William and Reid as well. It was a debt she could never repay.
The stone manor came into view, and the talk of battles subsided. William rode to her side and reached a hand toward her. She accepted the gesture of support with a grateful smile.
A face appeared in the open window, and the door flew open as Mum ran out. “Kinsey. Oh, thanks be to God!” Her gaze found Drake. “Ye found her.” She looked between them and their battered appearances, her joy melting to shock. “Heavens! What’s happened to the lot of ye?”
Clara appeared in the doorway and put her hands over her mouth before joining their mother. “Kinsey, ye’re safe.”
Kinsey slid from her horse, wincing in pain as she landed. Her mother ran to her, thin hands fluttering as if she wanted to embrace her, but having seen Kinsey’s discomfort, was hesitant to do so lest she cause further injury.
“I’m so glad to see ye home,” her mother said in a choked voice. “Ye feisty, impulsive lass.” The chastisement was light, but Kinsey knew her mother well enough to recognize how badly her heart had been wounded.
“I’m sorry, Mum.”
Drake and William dismounted from their steeds as two men emerged from the manor.
Drake’s eyes narrowed. “Who are they?”
“Ach, Monroe and Bruce,” Kinsey’s mother replied with a wave of her hand. “Faye and Ewan sent them down from Sutherland to help look for ye.” She smiled back at the two men as they approached. “She’s returned.”
Kinsey recognized the tall man with his black hair smoothed back in a thong as Monroe, Ewan’s advisor, as well as the large man at his side with thick blond hair as one of Ewan’s warriors.
Monroe’s keen eyes found Kinsey’s, and he lowered his head with sincerity. “We’re relieved to see ye safely returned.”
“They’ve been looking everywhere for ye,” Mum said. “What would possess ye to leave like that?”
As Kinsey considered where even to begin, William cleared his throat and spoke up. “Me.”
Mum’s attention focused on William, apparently assessing him. “Well, I can see why he won ye over.”
Kinsey groaned in humiliation.
William gave her mother his most charming smile. “Aye, by complimenting her archery skills.”
“I think there’s a lot more to know about this story.” Mum wagged her finger at them. “Why dinna ye come inside? Clara, will ye be a dear and fetch us all some ale?”
“Of course, Mum.” Clara hugged Drake first, then Kinsey, enveloping her in a sweet, lavender scent, before rushing to see to everyone.
Between Kinsey, William and Drake, the full story came out.
Though Kinsey tried to minimize the battle she’d engaged in with Drake, his honesty compelled him to share the extent of what he’d done.
He had to pause several times with shame and grief burning in his eyes, especially when their mother began to weep.
It was not the only time their mum cried.
When they were finished with the tale, she stared in horror at Drake.
“Ye sacrificed yer chance to be a knight to save yer sister.” She wiped at the tears in her eyes.
“If ever there was a man more chivalrous and deserving of a knighthood…” She shook her head at the shame of the loss.
“What of Lord Werrick, will he take ye back as Captain of the Guard?”
“I imagine he would,” Drake said. “But I wouldna ask it of him.” He squared his jaw. “I couldna sully his home or good name with my disgrace.”
“But ye did it to save Kinsey.” Clara wiped at her own red-rimmed eyes.
“’Tis why I know he would take me back.” Drake’s look was set into one of determination, the kind that could never be dissuaded. “And why I’ll no’ ever ask.”
Kinsey’s heart crumbled anew in a chest that already burned with each breath. “I cost ye too much.”
William gently touched her arm. “’Tis why I’ve offered the role of Captain of the Guard to him at Dunscaith Castle.” He winked at Drake. “I’m only waiting for his reply.”
Drake’s eyes widened, a tell he immediately corrected. But not before Kinsey caught it, the confirmation that this had clearly not been brought up between them before now.
“My da has seen to the knighting of several men,” William continued. “And I know he’s verra impressed with ye.”
“Oh, Drake.” Mum put her hands to her ruddy cheeks, her eyes welling yet again. “Ye can still be a knight. But for Scotland.”
“We’d be honored to have ye at Dunscaith,” William pressed. “Say aye.”
Drake’s mouth lifted slightly at the corners, the only amount of pride Kinsey had ever seen him allow himself. “Aye, I’ll accept. Thank ye.”
“To Drake Fletcher.” Monroe, who had been quietly listening in the corner, raised his ale in Drake’s direction. “May yer path to knighthood be swift, and yer honor remain true.”
They all drank in celebration, the ale sweet and tasting of home in a way that soothed Kinsey’s soul.
“Might I ask where ye intend to have the wedding?” Monroe asked.
Kinsey flushed and slid a glance at William.
In truth, she hadn’t thought of it. She knew only that she had agreed to marry him and would reside with him at Dunscaith while the steward provided him with information on the lairdship and the land, so he would be fully prepared once the honor passed to him someday.
“Dunscaith, I presume,” William spoke slowly, studying Kinsey for her reaction. “Or mayhap here?”
“We hadna discussed the details,” Kinsey admitted with a laugh.
Monroe smiled kindly. “If I may be so bold, I’d like to suggest Dunrobin Castle. I offer this knowing my chieftain will support the decision. As ye know, Lady Sutherland is with child. I dinna think she could make the journey to either location for many months.”
“How very thoughtful of ye.” Clara clutched her hands over her chest. “It wouldn’t be the same without Faye.”
“It would not,” Kinsey agreed. “I think Dunrobin sounds perfect.”
William took her hand. “Wherever ye are is where I want to be.”
Mum gave a wistful sigh, and Kinsey beamed at the man she would soon wed, her heart full. And on their way to Dunrobin, they would stop by Balnagown Castle, for Kinsey to have the second meeting she’d been dreading—the one with her grandda, the Chieftain of the Ross clan.