Chapter Twenty-Nine #2
Robbie spoke up from behind her, though whether he addressed Alex, Micheil, or both was unclear. “This is not going to go at all as I expected. Things will get interesting, will they not?”
The Grant smirked and quirked an eyebrow.
“Och, so they will.” He then glanced at Diana, who was losing her fight to hold in her tears.
“Do not fret, cousin. You remind me of my mother.
Protecting you will honor her memory, so ‘tis not a duty I will shirk. If you have need of anything, you will come for me. Understood?”
Diana nodded, unable to speak for fear of bursting into wrenching sobs. She would maintain her composure in honor of her mother and his. The look of concern on Micheil Ramsay’s face did not go unnoticed. Perhaps she did indeed have an ally in him.
As they entered the gates of the castle, Diana could not help but notice all the threatening glances sent her way by her betrothed.
She decided the only way to she could handle her situation was to refrain from looking at him at all.
As they walked up the steps to the great hall, she felt an arm brush across her back.
She whirled her head around to see her betrothed was touching her, the taunting grin on his face an implied threat.
Micheil stood back and gathered her in front of him, for which she was eternally grateful.
Once inside, the baron summoned his servants to feed their guests. Not wanting any more to do with him, Diana said, “My lord, if I may, it has been an exhausting trip. I would like to rest.” She wished for anything to get away from his presence.
He smiled at her, “Of course, my dear. Allow me to show you to your chamber.” He held his arm out to her so he could escort her.
Diana panicked at the thought of being alone with him and glanced wildly at her cousins. She had hoped there would be a maid to attend to her.
“I would like to see my chamber as well, Baron,” Alex said.
“Of course.” He led the way up the staircase and down the corridor. He stopped and pointed down the passageway. “Your chamber will be the second on the right, Grant.” He stood aside, awaiting the Grant’s leave. When the big man did not move, the baron gave him a questioning glance.
Alex stood there for a moment, then headed down the corridor. A moment later, the baron stopped in front of a doorway, motioning for Diana to do the same. “Your chamber, my dear.” He opened the door for her and stepped inside. “I’m sure this will please you. It was my former wife’s chamber.”
As soon as he finished his sentence, Alex, who must not have walked very far down the passageway at all, forced his way into the chamber and searched the room with his gaze. “Where does the door lead, Baron?”
Baron Gow, clearly appalled to be questioned, leveled an intimidating expression at Alex. “As I said, Grant. This was my wife’s chamber. The door connects to mine.”
Alex grabbed Diana’s elbow and ushered her out the door. “Then Diana will not be staying here, and I am offended you would seek to risk her reputation in such a way.”
Alex moved down the passageway, but Baron Gow bellowed after him. “Cease your interference. She is to be my wife in less than a sennight. The marriage will happen, whether you approve of it or not.”
Alexander Grant turned around slowly, his height and posture even more impressive when he was off his horse.
Diana glanced at his face and wanted to take a step back, but she was delighted to see he was in complete control of the situation.
The baron could not hope to best such a man.
“That is where you are wrong, Baron Gow.” He dropped her hand and stalked toward the baron until he was nose to nose with him, although the Grant had to bend over to do so.
“She is my charge, and I will do what my kin has requested of me. The future Drummond will not marry you without my approval. And if I need to put my sword through your black heart to prevent it, do not doubt that I will.” Alex never moved.
The baron spewed hatred. “You are every bit the savage you are reputed to be. Highland savages, all of you. I hated being given land so close to the Highlands. Put her in your chamber if you’d like.
She’ll be in mine soon enough.” He spun on his heel and headed down the passageway, hitting the wall with his fist and growling as he passed.
Alex directed her into his chamber, holding his finger to his lips to encourage her not to speak until they were inside.
“Alex, my thanks, but please remove me from these premises.” Diana had progressed to sheer panic after witnessing her betrothed’s behavior with a man of Alex’s stature. “He frightens me to no end.”
“Diana, I cannot just remove you. I must have justification. This union received the king’s support, so we cannot break it without a good reason.
I will find it, but it will take some time.
In the meantime, you will sleep in my chamber, and I will post guards outside your door.
Take your rest. He will not bother you today.
” He kissed her forehead and headed out the door.
As soon as it closed behind him, Diana fell onto the bed and cried herself to sleep.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
You’ll find one of my mistakes in this scene. While a fair-haired Connor could
have changed to dark hair as he aged, the opposite rarely happens. Here I have
Jamie as dark-haired, but he was the fair-haired.
Micheil Ramsay found his love, Diana of Drummond. When they finally arrived on
Ramsay land, she had a special treat. The very first Ramsay festival, and another
situation where a lass outdoes a lad, my favorite.
The day of the Ramsay Festival had finally arrived.
The sun shone bright on the late autumn day, making it warm enough to be outside.
Diana was excited to finally be allowed out of the castle, but yet she had no wish to watch her husband joust. The day before she had walked inside the keep to see if she was better, and there were no problems. Brenna was confident she could walk out to the fields as a judge.
Micheil strolled alongside her, carrying a fur and an extra plaid to keep her warm. Torrian and Logan had already taken a cartload of stools and benches to the field for the ladies to sit on. Even Micheil’s mother had promised she would come out to watch.
Quade had made sure everyone in the clan understood they were to come to the festival rather than working. They had planned a large feast for everyone in the courtyard after the event.
The first competition was for those under ten.
Micheil and Diana were to be judges, and Quade and Torrian had everything arranged.
There were ten entrants of various ages, including Alex’s twins, Jake and Jamie, Lily, Maggie, Molly, and five other members of the clan.
Ten separate lanes had been set up to accommodate all of them.
The course was mostly as Torrian had described to her, and Micheil and Diana assigned two guards as backup judges to assist them at the end in case all ten competitors ended up throwing their hazelnuts at the same time.
The ten lined up as their parents screamed their encouragement. At the last minute, Alex held his hand up to Micheil.
“What is it, Grant?”
“Just need to make this a bit easier on everyone.” The youngest competitors were his two boys, and they stood at the end of the line, shoving at each other in the hopes of getting a head start over the other. “Lads!” A loud bellow stopped all the chatter, including the twins’ squirming.
He marched down the line, picked up dark-haired Jamie without uttering a word and carried him under his arm down to the opposite end of the lanes, moving all the contestants down one to make room for him.
Once he had settled Jamie in a different lane, he turned to the event coordinator, Quade, and nodded.
“Mayhap they will not kill each other with eight others between them. They are a wee bit competitive.” He made his way off the field to the good-natured guffaws of the spectators.
“One, two, three, go!” Ten pairs of legs flew across the logs, and a couple of entrants fell right away.
Micheil followed the course with them as judge, but Diana remained seated at the side with her family.
Hoots and hollers followed their trail through the obstacle course.
By the time they reached the tent, Jamie and Jake and another boy were way ahead of the rest. Molly was ahead of Maggie, and Lily spent too much time giggling to progress very far or fast.
The three lads hit the beginning of the long field where the race would take place ahead of the rest, but Molly was gaining on them.
Logan shouted, “Come on, Molly. Show the lads who’s the best.” He wrapped his arm around Gwyneth, who was holding Sorcha on her hip, biting her fingernails as she watched her eldest daughter compete.
Molly was three strides behind the lads, but as soon as she hit the field, the spectators all took their eyes off the leaders to watch her race.
“Logan, she runs like the most beautiful deer I have ever seen,” Gwyneth said.
Diana was in awe. “Gwyneth, I have never seen anyone so graceful. What a lovely sight.” She couldn’t help but pull for a lass sent out by her own sire.
And indeed, Molly sailed across the field with elegance and strength that gave her speed way beyond the others, her long strides powering her to the end way ahead of the boys. She picked up a hazelnut and flung it, missing the target by a long shot.
Logan shouted, “Come on, Molly!” He glanced at Gwyneth. “Wife, could you not have taught the lass how to hit the broad side of a stable?”
She had thrown three nuts and missed each one by the time the lads caught up with her. She had one left and flung it as hard as she could, finally hitting the very edge of the target. Micheil declared Molly the winner, while Jake came in second and Jamie won third place.
Logan ran over and tossed her into the air after they announced the winner and pinned a ribbon on her.
Molly could not stop smiling.