Chapter 4
Aleck climbed the stairs to the second landing, his head fuzzy from the ale he had consumed with the laird. As much as he didn’t want to do so, McPherson had coerced him into staying after dinner and in order to get through the discussion, Aleck had kept his mug empty.
One thing was for certain: he could not wait to get away from this place. There was something in the air, something foul that kept him looking over his shoulder, and Aleck suspected it had to do with the current laird.
Malcolm was waiting for him as he stepped onto the second landing, his arms crossed over his chest as he rested against the stone wall. “Well?”
“I am ready tae be done with this place,” Aleck muttered, freeing his hair from the leather. “I wud doubt that it is even protected given the arse that is at the helm.”
Malcom chuckled. “Aye. Ah made mah roonds. Th’ keep is fortified, bit th’ men keeping it are blootert. Ye cuid attack this forenicht an’ no one would fight back.”
Aleck sighed. “Ah hae na desire tae attack th’ hame o’ mah intended.”
“And what a bonnie lassie she is,” Malcolm whistled, a grin tugging on his lips. “Though ah wid say she looks mighty familiar.”
Aleck grinned too as he thought about his first impression of Fennella after she had held him up on the road. He wished to ask her what made her want to take the goods from her own brother, but after spending a few hours in the laird’s company, he could just about guess why she did it.
His bride would be a fierce lady for his clan, if not a bit of trouble to boot. “Dae nae breathe a word aboot what you have found,” Aleck told his second-in-command, not wanting to cause strife for Fennella before they were able to put this keep at their backs.
“I will nae,” Malcolm replied, glancing about the quiet hallway. “Whatever that lass is doing, she is doing it for her people. Ye cannae ask for anything more for a wife.”
Aleck tended to agree. When his uncle had first suggested the idea, Aleck pictured a biddable wife scared of her own shadow.
Not one running her own band of rebels.
“I’m off to bed,” Malcolm stated, rubbing a hand over his face wearily. “’Tis will likely be a long day ahead.”
“Aye,” Aleck agreed, watching him lumber down the stone hall, disappearing into the room next to his. While his head ached to lie down, his body was not ready so he turned the other direction, intending to find a way out of the keep and breathe some fresh air.
The moment he turned the corner, Aleck ran into a person on the stairs, blindly reaching out to keep them from falling and breaking their neck.
“Get your hands off me Scot!”
Fennella. His hands grasped her upper arms, the scent of honeysuckle invading his nostrils. She was warm and pliant in his arms and Aleck groaned, wanting to bury himself in her warmth.
It had been far too long since he had a woman and when the night settled again, he would have her in his bed.
She struggled in his grasp and he snapped out of his thoughts, clearing his throat as he set her aside. “Hush lass. Dinnae wake the entire house.”
Fennella stepped down a few stairs to separate them, rubbing her arms with her hands. “How come you are lurking in th’ dark?”
He grinned, unable to help it. “The same cuid be said of you lass. Plotting mah death?”
She stared at him as if he had grown two heads. “Of course not. I wasn’t even thinking of you.”
“Och, ye wound me lass,” he replied, holding his fist to his heart. “A man likes tae hear that his bride is thinking of him the night afore their wedding.”
“This is no traditional courtship Scot,” she said warily. “I am not going to be your biddable wife nor will I be a happy one on the morrow.”
He didn’t expect her to be. “I willnae be your brother lass,” he said softly. “I do not hit women. Never have, never will.”
His words did nothing to calm her and Aleck wished for the brave woman who had been on the road. Here, in this way, she looked like a frightened rabbit having been caught by its prey.
But after a few moments, Fennella seemed to calm herself, straightening to her full height. “I wish to ask for a wedding present.”
“Anything,” Aleck replied. “Except your freedom lass.”
“I don’t need my freedom,” she fired back. “I will be your wife, but only if you will protect my sisters from my brother. They are far too young to be wed and without me here, he will likely make arrangements for them.”
Aleck winced as he thought of the two frightened lasses at dinner.
Neither girl would survive a marriage at their age, not with what he had witnessed.
“I will speak to your brother,” he started, seeing the relief in her eyes.
“But you must promise me that you will not run away. I do not have time to chase an unwilling wife.” He had a clan to tend to, crops to bring in.
The last thing he needed was a woman who kept disappearing or worse, one he had to lock in his chambers for her own safety.
And his sanity.
“I promise,” Fennella said softly. “What will you tell my brother?”
Aleck shook his head. “That’s between myself and your laird, lass, but I will keep my promise as long as ye keep yers.”
She didn’t look happy with his response but said nothing further. They stared at each other in the darkened hallway, Aleck waiting for her to make her next move. She intrigued him, first on the road and now asking for him to look after her sisters as a wedding present.
She had asked nothing for herself, her character strong and unyielding as he had thought it would be. They would suit well for each other. “Ye will like mah keep,” he tried, keeping his voice low and even so as not to scare her. “And mah clan will accept ye as their own.”
Fennella’s gaze narrowed and she looked angered once more. “I do not need their acceptance. You have purchased me from my brother but that does not mean I will fall into your life happily. You are taking me from my family, from my clan, and I shan’t forget it.”
With that, she turned and hurried down the remaining stairs, disappearing from his sight.
Aleck scrubbed a hand over his face as he turned back to the second landing, her words haunting him.
He thought she would be pleased with leaving her brother, but it was clear that Fennella was worried about her sisters and their safety.
Aleck made his way to his room, making sure to bar the door before stripping off his clothing. He did not trust McPherson or anyone else in this keep.
Tucking his dagger under his pillow, Aleck climbed into bed and stared up at the ceiling, the room warmed by the fire burning in the grate. He missed his home, his keep, Duncan.
Most of all, he missed Lachlan.
The ache in his chest intensified and Aleck rubbed it absently, knowing that nothing short of his brother coming back from the dead would make it go away.
Lachlan had always known the right thing to say, making the right move for the clan.
He would have seen through McPherson moments after meeting him and likely would have taken his bride and run.
Lachlan was stronger, smarter, better than Aleck could ever be, and he was nothing but a body in the ground now. His brother was gone and now the clan fell onto his shoulders. Every move he made was to better the clan, to make certain of a future for his family.
Hence the need to marry Fennella.
Aleck swallowed as he thought about that day on the battlefield, how he could have prevented his death if he hadn’t been swinging his sword and instead protecting the back of the current laird.
They had been fierce warriors and destroyers on the battlefield, trained by their uncle and those that had survived the attack that had killed their da. Lachlan was the better of the three of them, lighter on his feet despite his heavy weight.
So when he charged into battle, Aleck never worried about his brother being able to defend himself.
That had been their downfall.
Drawing in a shuddering breath, Aleck forced his eyes to close, knowing that his dreams would be filled of that day.
Aleck was used to the nightmares that plagued him. He deserved no less.
The next morning brought wind and rain, the cold seeping through the cracks in the stone as Aleck dressed quickly, strapping his sword on his back to ward off the chill. His heavy kilt would keep his legs warm for now, but the moment they would begin their journey home, he would be soaked through.
Idly, he hoped that his bride would dress for the elements, for it would do him no good for her to catch the ague and die because of their trip.
My wife. The words still did not ring true for Aleck in his thoughts. He would be responsible for her wellbeing and any wee bairns that came from this union. Today he would pledge his troth and offer the protection of his name for the sake of his clan.
Their true marriage would remain to be seen.
Malcolm met him in the hall, the Scot looking worse for wear. “The bed was hard,” he grumbled, rubbing his back.
“Aye,” Aleck agreed, clapping him on the shoulder. “Though it wull be a mite better considering the hard ground ye wull be sleeping on tonight.”
Malcolm groaned and Aleck laughed as they walked down the stairs and into the great hall, his laughter dying as he took in the solemn scene.
His bride waited for him by the fireplace, dressed in some ridiculous dress that was not fit for the weather they were going to ride into. The light from the fire illuminated the material and her body was on full display to him and every other man in the room.
But it was her hair that drew him in the most. It was just as he had suspected, like the sky before a sunset.
Och, she was lovely.
“Shut yer mouth lad,” Malcolm grunted as he stepped forward. “Yer drooling.”
Aleck cleared his throat and followed his friend in, seeing the wariness in Fennella’s eyes as he approached her.
“There is your bridegroom,” McPherson called out, drawing Aleck’s attention away from Fennella.
Her sisters cowered nearby, the drawn looks on their faces reminding him of the promise he made to Fennella in the darkened hallway.
He would have his words with McPherson before they departed.
“We thought you had left in the middle of the night.”
“I hae a duty tae do,” Aleck replied evenly, wanting to run his sword through the laird. “And a Scot ne’er goes back on his word.”
“Well then,” the laird clapped. “’Tis time to make this binding.”
Aleck moved in front of Fennella and reached out, feeling her reluctance as he took her cold hands in his. They were small, but she was far smaller than he had thought, the top of her head only coming up to his shoulder. Her eyes met his and he winked, drawing a frown from her.
She was going to be a good one for him.
The priest stepped forward and started the ceremony, but Aleck held Fennella’s gaze the entire time, even when he pledged to protect and care for her.
Her words were softer, but she did not waver as she said them, and when he leaned in to brush his lips over hers, he heard her swift intake of breath.
“Ye are now a Campbell,” he murmured against her lips. “And I will protect ye with my life.”
Aleck meant it. She was his wife, his lady, and it was his duty to do so.
He stepped back and Fennella cleared her throat, putting distance between them.
Her sisters crowded her immediately, their sobs filling the air, and Aleck stepped back even further.
Though this has not been entirely of his doing, he felt like it was, that he was tearing the sisters apart.
“Enough!” McPherson shouted, causing the women to jump. “Fennella, get your things. I am sure your husband is anxious to be on his way.”
The sisters hurried up the stairs and out of sight, leaving a nervous priest with the men gathered. “I trust you will keep my sister safe,” McPherson stated, a mug of ale already in his hand.
“And I trust that her sisters wull be safe in her absence,” Aleck replied evenly. “For I wull be expecting a visit by her sisters in two months’ time.”
McPherson’s eyes narrowed. “You have no say in my sisters.”
Aleck stepped forward, rolling his shoulders. “Mah wife wull want tae know that her sisters are safe in your care. If she is worried, then I shall be as well.”
“Is that a threat?” the laird asked in a deadly calm voice.
“Take it as ye wish,” Aleck stated.
He did not care if the laird was offended by his request. Given the state of their clan and the village, it would not take much to overthrow this clan.
But he would, if McPherson did not heed his warning. This was the only request Fennella had asked of him and he would see it through.
McPherson sneered but any retort was cut off by the appearance of Fennella and her sisters, their eyes shining from tears. “Lass, give me your bundle,” Malcolm stated, stepping forward. “I will tie it to your horse.”
Fennella looked at her brother. “I will be allowed to take my horse?”
McPherson glanced at Aleck. “Aye. Consider it a wedding gift Sister.”
“Come,” Aleck said, holding out his hand. “’Tis time tae leave.”
Fennella visibly swallowed as she stepped forward, her head held high despite the sobs of her sisters behind her.
She slid her hand in his and the tightness in his chest eased somewhat, though Aleck knew the pressure would not dissipate until they were well away from this place.
McPherson stepped in their path, but Aleck did not let his wife’s hand go, her hand tightening on his.
“I wish you a good journey Sister,” he said, his face expressionless.
“And your sisters will be well taken care of. You have my word.”
“Your word means nothing to me,” she said stiffly, brushing past him and dragging Aleck along. She didn’t trust her brother nor the promises that he gave her.
Aleck would show her that his word meant everything. Unlike her brother, when he promised something, he meant it.