Defended by a Highland Renegade (Scottish Treasure #2)

Chapter 1

Sitting at the high table, Lady Mairiana MacKerrick frowned. She was listening to her fiancé, Alec Lindsay, as he murmured to the young guard who hovered about on the other side of his chair.

"Meet me in the stables in a half hour." Alec's voice was barely audible to Mairiana over the roar of conversation in the crowded great hall of Lenor Castle, but what she heard crackled with impatience and irritation.

What was Alec riled about? He'd always kept such a tight rein on his temper, she hadn't realized he'd had one.

But over the last few days, his easygoing charm had begun to slip into a dour mood.

He'd shoved down one of the young stable lads when they'd first arrived, then yelled at a serving wench shortly thereafter in the great hall.

Mairiana had assumed he was simply exhausted and irritable, but what if it was something more?

What if his true nature was rising to the surface?

She was to wed him three days hence, but now she was growing uncertain about her future husband.

He had been acting oddly since they had been in Perth, several days ago.

That was when her brother Dugald, chief of the MacKerricks, had accused someone in the Lindsay clan of stealing a valuable dagger from him, the MacKerrick family heirloom known as the King Richard dagger.

Mairiana hadn't seen the dagger since Dugald had carried it at her betrothal ceremony, and she'd defended Alec's innocence the entire time.

She'd thought her short-tempered brother was overreacting and blaming whoever was convenient.

But now, she was starting to suspect her brother might have been right.

A cold, prickling dread settling into the bottom of her stomach, she pretended not to hear Alec speaking to his attendant.

Instead, she gazed down at the jeweled thistle brooch Alec had given her a short time earlier—a wedding present, he'd said.

'Twas not a new brooch. It appeared to be a hundred or more years old.

Most of the silver had been polished recently, but some tarnish remained in the tiniest cracks and crevices.

Not obvious unless one examined it closely.

Surely the rubies, sapphires and emeralds were real. It felt heavy and valuable.

Alec leaned down close to her ear and murmured in what seemed to be a warm, intimate tone, "Do you like it?"

"Aye, 'tis lovely." She glanced briefly at the lanky guard of about a score years who strode toward the stairwell.

She still wondered what they were up to.

"Was the brooch your mother's?" she asked Alec.

His mother had passed many years ago, and now his father, Angus Lindsay, was married to a much younger woman.

"Nay, 'twas passed down from my father's great aunt." Alec's blue eyes twinkled in that captivating way which had always beguiled her. From the moment she'd met him, she'd considered him perfect for her, from his golden hair to his strong muscular body. But was he sincere?

"I love family heirlooms. They're so important in the traditions of a clan." Mairiana watched his handsome face closely, wondering if he truly had stolen her brother's dagger.

One of Alec's tawny brows twitched. "I agree." He glanced aside, scowling toward the door where the guard had disappeared, then he forced a smile. "More wine, my love?"

A pang of anxiety struck her, making her fear she'd allowed Alec's good looks and charming manner to blind her to what lay beneath.

She had to find out what he was hiding. "Nay, I thank you.

" She forced a smile. "I believe I will retire for the night.

I'm still exhausted from all the travel. " They had just arrived the day before.

He nodded, lifted her hand and kissed the back. "Sleep well, my sweet."

"You, too. I bid you good night." She arose from her seat, and he assisted her as always, then released her. At the stairs, she glanced back to see him pouring himself a generous helping of whisky.

The members of his clan she'd met upon arriving had given her a lukewarm reception. She'd met the rest—those who'd been a part of Alec's entourage as he'd traveled to get her—weeks ago. Now, they paid her no mind and she was glad.

After placing the brooch into the pouch at her waist where she kept a few coins and a small knife, she rushed up the steps to her chamber. She grabbed her black cloak and put it on. She must slip into the stables before Alec and his guard arrived there. She had to find out what secret they kept.

Exiting the room, she closed the door behind her, then hurried down the servants' stairs in back.

In the ground floor kitchen, she paused and took a washed carrot from the basket on the cook table. "For my mare," she said to the maid who stood nearby, frowning.

"M'lady." The girl bobbed a curtsy, though her expression remained unfriendly. She had no inkling what the lass might have against her, nor did she care.

Ignoring her, Mairiana exited and pulled the cowl over her head. She rushed across the cobbles and through the low light of gloaming toward the stables. Blazing torches flanked Lenor Castle's front entrance.

No one was about, thank the saints. Evidently the stable staff was also having supper.

After entering her black mare's stall and latching the door behind her, Mairiana gave Fern the treat, the horse's whiskers and velvety lips tickling her palm. While the mare munched the carrot, Mairiana crouched in the dark corner. Alec should be meeting his young guard soon.

Her heart pounded and her stomach ached with nerves. What if Alec was not the man she thought he was? What if he discovered her here, spying on him? She could say she was simply giving her mare a treat, but would he believe her?

Days ago, when they'd been in Perth, she'd watched Alec talking secretly with the same guard just before they'd rushed to leave town at dawn. He did not even allow their party to break their fast. Of course, his father—the chief—was in on it, for he had not protested the early departure.

Hearing footsteps approaching, crunching through the straw of the stable's corridor, she hardly dared to breathe. The footfalls continued, back and forth, as if the person was pacing. Someone muttered a curse. 'Twas Alec's voice.

Her heart thumped so loudly, it blocked out most of the sounds he made. Oh, good Lord. Please don't allow him to find out I'm here, she prayed.

Moments later, she heard more footsteps in the straw.

"Where have you been? I told you a half hour. Get in there," Alec said.

She listened to the men entering the empty stall next to Fern's.

In the low light from the lantern in the corridor, she caught a glimpse of Alec's golden hair between the wide timbers of the wall.

She wished she could move closer and peer through the narrow crack, but any movement in the straw would alert them to her presence.

Praying they could not see her through the cracks, sitting hunched in the corner, she hid her face beneath the large cowl of the cloak.

Remaining perfectly still, she listened.

"Where the devil is the money?" Alec demanded.

"I apologize for my lateness." The young guard's voice cracked as if he was nervous. "Here you are, sir."

The jingling sound of a leather coin pouch dropping into a palm reached Mairiana's ears, and then the tinkling of coins being stirred with fingers.

"Where's the rest of it?" Alec's voice was low but hard as steel.

"With all due respect, sir, you... you said I could keep half for doing such a risky job."

"You daft lad, this cannot be half," Alec growled. "How much did you sell it for?"

"The arms dealer refused to pay more than twenty pounds for it."

Alec quietly muttered a string of curses. "That damned dagger was worth a small fortune. The massive ruby in the hilt was genuine."

"Aye, but when I told him the price was two hundred pounds, he laughed and told me to get out. I tried to negotiate with him, but he would hear none of it. He said twenty pounds was his final offer. I took it because you told me to get rid of the dagger forthwith, before we were discovered."

"You imbecile," Alec hissed.

Saints! 'Twas true then. Tears burned Mairiana's eyes.

Dugald had been right—Alec was a thief. She had trusted him.

She had... loved him. But no more. If he'd lied about that, what else had he lied about?

Her heart breaking, she held her breath for fear he would hear her.

What would Alec do to her if he knew she eavesdropped and had learned he was behind the theft of her brother's priceless dagger?

"Give me the rest of it," Alec commanded in a low voice.

"What?" the guard asked.

"The rest of the money, you dimwit."

"I already spent my portion." The guard's voice trembled. "I owed a debt to the cobbler in the village. Shoes for my mother and sister."

"Liar," Alec growled.

"Sir? Wait... what..."

Mairiana could not identify the next sound until the guard gave a brief, gasping grunt. When she realized it had been the sound of a dirk stabbing through flesh and bone, icy terror paralyzed her.

"Bastard," Alec grated, sounding like a vile stranger. "No one betrays me."

More gasping and coughing.

The sound of a body slumping to the straw followed, then faint hints of pilfering and searching through a sporran and clothing.

Straw rustled loudly, giving her an opportunity to lean over and peer through the crack.

Alec was busy covering the body with straw.

Saints! The guard was dead, surely. Fingers of revulsion crept over her and nausea welled in her stomach.

Alec hastened to the stall door, exited and latched it back, then his footsteps receded down the corridor.

Oh dear God in Heaven. Alec had murdered the poor guard. Her throat tightened and tears burned her eyes. 'Twas all she could do to hold back a retch. She covered her mouth. The man she thought she loved was a murderer, a thief and a liar.