Chapter Twenty-One
Taskill
Taskill stepped into the great hall at Duart Castle, pleased to see Connor was still inside the solar, just as Hagen had told him.
He knocked on the door and Connor waved him inside, so Taskill made his way to the desk in the corner.
“A moment of your time, Chief?” As the past chief of Clan Grant, Connor deserved the respect of being addressed by his former title.
“Taskill, come on in. Hope your life has calmed down after the night of the festival.”
Taskill let out a deep sigh, something he wished he’d held in, but it was too late, so he shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s the reason I’m here. I came to apologize for my mother’s actions.
It was rude of her to cause trouble in the middle of your great hall on a night like that.
And I’ll also admit that my mother is too …
full of conviction, I’ll call it, for her to come and apologize on her own. ”
“My uncles used to wish for entertainment like that at every Grant festival. They said it would make each festival distinguishable from the others. And when I look back over the years, they were right. Dermot helped to make it memorable, though I am deeply concerned about how it affected you and Sheona. How are you, Taskill?” Connor sat down behind the desk and motioned the lad to sit in a nearby chair.
“I’m fine. Confused. Dermot claimed my father agreed to the betrothal years ago. No one in my clan knows anything about it. I’m not surprised I wouldn’t have been told of such, but for my mother, Lennox, and Jasper all to say they never heard of any agreement makes me suspicious.”
“Are you at all interested in Sheona?”
Taskill hadn’t expected that question, and he honestly didn’t know how to answer it.
He liked Sheona well enough. She was certainly beautiful and smart, but she didn’t …
“I hadn’t thought on it until Dermot brought it up.
” Sheona wasn’t … She didn’t … She … What the hell was he trying to say about Sheona?
“Have you thought about what you’re looking for in a wife?”
“Not sure what you mean, Chief.”
“What characteristics are you looking for? Someone strong? Funny? Someone who likes to swim? To fish? To boat? Who likes to travel or stay home? Someone who loves bairns or who doesn’t want any bairns at all?”
Befuddled by all his questions, Taskill replied, “I guess I haven’t thought much about it.” He had considered it, but what he’d reflected on wasn’t something he was ready to share with Connor Grant.
“What is it about Sheona that makes you reject the offer? I heard you did right away.”
He gave the most honest answer he could. “Sheona isn’t interested in me, so it isn’t a question that needs an answer.”
“Have you spoken with her again? Is her sire being obnoxiously persistent about the issue as I guess he would be?”
Taskill shrugged again, then explained, “He took her to Iona Abbey. She’s staying there for a sennight to see if she wishes to become a nun.”
Connor arched a brow at him, clearly from surprise. “A nun? I’ve known several, but she doesn’t seem the type. If there is one. My wife spent some time at an abbey once. She speaks of it as quite a unique experience. Not one she wished to do for long.”
Taskill stood, wishing to end this conversation before Connor pushed him a little more. “I guess we’ll find out in a sennight what Sheona thinks. My thanks for the festival, and again, Lennox and I both apologize for our mother’s behavior.”
“Think naught more about it. All is forgiven. Best of luck to Sheona and to you, Taskill. It wouldn’t be the way to start a relationship, in my opinion.”
Taskill took his leave, holding the smirk from the comment Connor had made.
He recalled when he and his siblings had questioned their parents about the day they’d met. Images of three bairns questioning the two popped into his head:
“How did you and Papa meet?”
Their father had replied quickly, “We met when your grandfather came screaming at me that I had to marry your mother within a day.”
Their mother had added, “And your father refused to marry me. As I refused his offer.”
“Aye, it wasn’t until we were at sword point in the chapel that we married. We’ve been happily married ever since.” Their father had grinned and kissed their mother’s cheek, and she blushed more than he’d ever seen her before.
Hellfire, but his mind was a bit too active sometimes. He needed to force himself to stop thinking about Sheona in a nunnery.
Taskill headed for the stables, surprised to see a group of lasses surrounding three guards: Jowell, Paden, and Hagen. The flirting was so obvious that he had to smile, though he held his chuckling inside. He knew how it felt to have lasses do what they could to beg for a kiss.
Or more.
The three men kindly sent the lasses giggling off into the distance toward the kitchens. “You dispensed of them quickly,” he said to Jowell as he passed.
“I tire of them. On Grant land, they ignored us because there were so many guards. Here, they fall at our feet,” Hagen said. “I don’t like it. How would I know if they’re interested in me instead of how I look?”
“Exactly,” Jowell said. “We send them off usually. You can’t trust their words.”
“Nice to see you, Taskill. We have work to do.” The three headed toward the lists of Clan Grantham.
Taskill found his horse, mounted up, and headed back toward Clan MacVey.
He rode for a quarter hour before stopping at his favorite spot, a place where he could take his horse to a ledge that overlooked both the sound and the firth at the same time.
It was a magnificent place to settle his thoughts. Connor had given him much to think on. What did he want in a wife? He had been aching for something different but what exactly it was, he wasn’t sure.
He thought back on everything, realizing that the arrival of the Granthams had changed so much on the isle, and since then, a great deal had transpired. He thought about Lennox, Sloan, as well as Thane and even Broc. Four of them had married so quickly that it had surprised him.
And three of them had been the kind of marriage he’d often thought would be his own circumstances.
He thought of Thane, rescuing Tamsin from the rocks when her husband had tried to kill her.
Or of Broc who’d saved Merryn from the cruel bastard who’d killed her sister and parents. How he’d lifted her onto his horse and struck down two of her attackers.
Or of his brother who’d found Meg with four rescued bairns, running from two evil men who’d locked them all up. She’d held an axe aimed at his chest when they met. Eventually, he’d saved Meg from the fools who wished to sell the bairns to the highest bidder.
Or of Sloan who’d followed his sister, finding her locked up, locating the bairns and saving them from the evil men who sent them out in a boat to be taken across the sea to Europe. They’d fought off evil men and even a creature of the sea who’d appeared out of nowhere.
He smiled. Every one of these images was of the husband with his sword bloodied from battle with his arm around his betrothed, exhausted and weak from all they’d endured. True love had overtaken them.
And Dermot wanted him to show up at the kirk and marry Sheona without getting to know her well.
Taskill needed his own adventure. It was supposed to happen when he traveled the isle and came upon a lass who was in desperate need of his help.
“Taskill? What the hell are you doing here?” His brother approached on horseback. “Have you apologized to the Grants yet?”
“I did speak with Connor, Lennox. He said not to worry. He thought it made the festival memorable. I think that’s what he called it.”
Lennox’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you here?”
“I love the view. I like to come up here once in a while.”
Lennox nodded, then said, “Enough. We need to talk. Follow me home.”
“About what?”
“Sheona. Dermot just left and Mama filled me in on some of their discussion. And this is not to be repeated, but he told Mother that the abbess suggested that mayhap Sheona had been abused by someone. I hope you haven’t been near her.”
“Nay. Abused her? Lennox, I would never do such a thing. How could you ask me so?”
Lennox chewed on his lower lip. “I shouldn’t have asked. I know you wouldn’t. Have you any idea who might be capable of such an atrocious act?”
“Oh, there are many among the guards, but a chieftain’s sister? Dermot’s daughter? They aren’t foolish enough to commit such a vile deed.” He turned his horse around and they headed away from the view and back toward their castle.
“Why does the abbess ask that type of question?”
“Because Sheona said she might wish to take her vows. Shocked Dermot, but the abbess said many who take their vows have been misused. She was asking for information from Dermot, but he got upset and came right to Mother. He wants her to ask Sheona about it.”
“Mama? Nay, do not allow her to go after Sheona. That would be horrible for her. Nay. There has to be someone else.”
And he knew exactly who that someone else would be.
Him. He’d heard enough.
He was going to Iona Abbey on the morrow.