Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Afew days later, Innes stood at the archway to the Keep, craning her neck as she heard the thundering of hooves drawing closer.
As soon as she saw Arthur’s carriage through the door, a smile broke across her face, and a wave of emotion rushed up suddenly inside her. She had not realized until that moment just how much she had missed her brother, and, when he came out, he rushed to her side to pull her into a fierce embrace.
“Ye should have sent the word before marrying, ye silly girl,” he mumbled against her hair.
She laughed, too happy to see him to think of arguing with him.
He drew back and looked her up and down, checking for injury.
She still felt some pain in her ankle from the accident the other day, but it was feeling much better now than it was.
She glanced behind her, to Lachlan, who stood in the doorway observing proceedings.
She supposed it would have been too much for her to expect that her husband and her brother should get along with no issues after everything that had happened, but she had hoped Lachlan might greet his guests with a little more enthusiasm.
And then Isobel stepped out of the carriage. The picture of a poised lady taking Arthur’s hand as she made her way down the steps and into the courtyard.
“Sister,” she greeted Innes with a tight smile. “You look to have settled in well.”
“Thank you,” Innes replied, deciding to take the offering as a compliment. Lachlan stepped in beside her, hand on the small of her back, a silent reminder that he was there too.
“And Laird Fraser,” Isobel went on, turning her attention to Lachlan. “You seem to have made yerself very comfortable with my husband’s family.”
Her words were undeniably pointed, and Innes stiffened at their harshness. Lachlan, though, did not miss a beat.
“As comfortable as I can amongst enemies,” he responded, flashing her a grin. “Won’t ye come inside? We have dinner on the table for you, and I’m sure ye’re famished after such a long ride.”
Innes wanted to squeeze his arm hard for this comment, but she chose not to.
She was glad to see her brother. She was still nervous, though, about how this was going to go.
Up until very recently, the Andersons and the Frasers had been in direct competition with each other, and it seemed unlikely that such a thing would be forgotten so soon.
The cooks had outdone themselves. A boar’s head crackling in the middle of the table, which was laden on all sides with bread, ale, and wine.
Innes instructed the servants to try to keep things running smoothly, knowing that Isobel would be the first to pick at matters if something did not go entirely to plan.
“So, how was yer journey?” Innes asked brightly, turning her attention to her brother. “Isn’t it beautiful here at this time of the year.”
“The roads are terrible,” Isobel remarked, glancing down at her fingernails as she spoke. “It was a terribly bumpy ride.”
Innes’ grin tightened. Arthur, seeming to sense the tension between his sister and his new wife, leapt in.
“Aye, it’s very beautiful,” he amended. “The heather on the hills is very striking during the season.”
“Heather?” Isobel scoffed. “I cannae fathom being impressed by heather, Arthur. It’s everywhere.”
“Aye, but that doesn’t make it any less beautiful,” Innes retorted, suddenly feeling defensive. “And what of the harvest this year, Arthur?” she continued. “It must be nearly time fer the great harvest feast.”
“I suppose you’ll be expecting an invitation?” Isobel remarked.
The way she said it, it was clear that she had no intention of actually offering them such a thing. Innes clasped her hands in her lap, twisting them around in frustration.
“Well, it would certainly be rather odd if my husband and I were not in attendance at such an event.”
“Ye dinnae have to worry about inviting me,” Lachlan cut in.
Arthur turned to him, clear irritation showing on his face.
“You think ye’re too good for us, Fraser?”
“I said nothing of the sort, Anderson,” Lachlan shot back, lifting his ale to his lips and taking a long sip. He was clearly enjoying this little back-and-forth between them, though surely he would have denied such a thing if he had been asked about it outright.
“You knew exactly what you were saying when ye—”
“Ye took from it what ye would, Anderson,” he responded calmly.
Arthur’s anger only seemed to intensify at how calm he was being. Innes knew from experience that her brother didn’t take well to the feeling of being spoken to as if he was stupid, and Lachlan was tripping him up with ease and leaving him stumbling to try and catch up.
“Lachlan, that’s just like ye,” Isobel remarked. “Never good on yer word, were ye?”
“Isobel,” Lachlan muttered, his voice laced with irritation.
Innes tensed. She could feel the discomfort growing between them, something boiling in the air.
“Dinnae address my wife in such a tone,” Arthur fired back.
He seemed to be searching for any opportunity to provoke Lachlan. It was so unlike him; Innes couldn’t help but wonder if his new wife had something to do with this newfound attitude.
“Then I’ll ask her not to speak to me in such a way either.”
“Ye can excuse her since ye have treated us like yer enemies rather than yer guests from the start.”
“Aye. I am currently battling plenty of threats. I’ve yet tae decide if ye are one of them, Anderson.”
“Ye’ve indeed gone mad. Ye’re the most dangerous among us,” Arthur muttered.
“That’s enough!”
Suddenly, Lachlan rose to his feet, casting the whole room into silence as he stood there before them, breathing hard.
His eyes darted around the table, and Innes’ heart thumped in her chest. She had a bad feeling that he was about to lay out something he should have kept to himself, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
“You talk like this to me as if yer sister did not face an attempt on her life the other day!”
Arthur’s eyes were fit to fall out of his head at the revelation. He turned to her, his lips parted.
“Innes, tell me it’s not true.”
“We dinnae ken for sure,” Innes protested weakly, but Lachlan shook his head, leaving no room for argument.
“Aye, we do,” he exclaimed. “We do ken. Someone tried to poison her and then fired an arrow at her when she was out for a ride with me. But still you sit here and bicker as if it’s more important than finding out who did this to her!”
Arthur rose to his feet and moved to his sister’s side, stooping down next to her.
“You should have told me sooner,” he protested.
“That’s why I invited ye here.”
Innes shook her head again. “Nothing truly came of it,” she pushed back. “It was nothing for you to worry yourselves over.”
“This is because of yer reckless marriage, Fraser!” Arthur announced, rounding on Lachlan with a barely contained fury in his eyes.
Lachlan sprang to his feet, drawing close to Arthur at once, not willing to let such an insult stand.
“Oh, it’s because of me, is it?” he questioned incredulously. “The poison came from yer Keep, and the attack happened near yer side of the border.”
“Do you think that I would allow my own men to make an attempt on my sister’s life?” he growled.
Lachlan shrugged.
“I dinnae ken what ye’re capable of,” his eyes sliding to Isobel. “Since there are some decisions that we certainly dinnae agree on.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Arthur exclaimed, his eyes darkening.
Isobel was a sore spot for him, not least in front of the man she had almost chosen over him.
“Oh, I think ye ken well.”
“Why don’t ye tell me, then, ye—”
“Enough!”
The word erupted from Innes’ lips before she could think about what she was doing, the attention she might have been drawing to herself.
The room was silenced once again, but this time, everyone was looking at her.
She was not used to finding herself under the scrutiny of so many eyes at once, but she swallowed hard, trying to gather herself.
“We’re not going to get anywhere in this by… by fighting like children!” she told the two of them. “If you really wanted to help me, you would cease this arguing and put yer heads together to help me!”
Arthur’s anger faltered. Lachlan looked to the side, his jaw tight. Neither of them argued with her. Perhaps they could see that she was right and that this was only wasting time, as her real attacker was still out there.
After a long, heavy silence, Isobel pressed her fingertips dramatically into her temples.
“Arthur,” she complained. “All this fighting is giving me a terrible headache. Can’t we go to our chambers and rest?”
Arthur put his arm around his wife and steered her towards the door, but not before casting a look at Lachlan and Innes, warning them that this conversation was far from over yet.
“Come, let us retire before this turns into a full brawl,” Isobel urged him.
And, though Innes might have been imagining it, she could have sworn that the other woman looked back at her for a moment and smirked.
Her heart sank. This meeting had not gone how she had wanted it to, and she could not help but feel she was at least somewhat to blame.