Chapter 6 #2
A hush fell over the table and even Sloane widened her eyes. She couldn’t imagine talking to her father in that tone of voice and yet, Freya was deliberately baiting the Laird.
“Freya,” Calder muttered. “Ye will apologize to yer brother.”
“Why? He hasna apologized to me.” Pushing her chair back, she glared at him. “Excuse me. I believe that I am feeling ill after all.”
As she whirled around and stormed out, Lachlan tensed next to Sloane. Unaware that she was doing it, she reached over and touched him gently. When he swung that dark look her way, she immediately snatched her hand back.
“Forgive her. I think she has had a long day.”
“‘’Tis not to do with her duties. She is furious with me because she cannae make up her own bloody mind,” Lachlan growled.
Did he mean that Freya couldn’t make up her mind about her betrothal to Brisbane? Was her father right? Had Freya taken on a lover?
The idea unsettled her and Sloane reached for her wine again. She liked Freya. She hated the idea that the woman would do something to hurt her clan or her people.
She would help Freya see that her duties were to her people. Love didn’t exist for women like her and Freya, but Laird Brisbane seemed like a good man and Sloane made it her mission to make Freya understand that.
Lachlan had spent most of his day turned inside out over the kiss he’d stolen. He was in no mood to deal with his sister’s fury, especially since Freya had ignored him for most of the day.
He would not deal with this again.
After dinner, he left the table and his wife and marched directly to Freya’s room. Pounding on her door, he glowered at her when she opened it.
“What do ye want?” she snapped. “I am about to go to bed.”
He and Freya had always been close. His parents had seen to that. Even as a child, he knew that he would one day be Laird, but when he traveled with his father to other clans and spent time in other keeps, he naturally spent time with the other children and knew that his house was different.
Many of the other heirs acted superior and cold, but Lachlan was taught to respect Freya and forced to spend time with her.
Now he was grateful for it. Even though it allowed for his sister to act out against him, he always knew that she would stand by him no matter what.
Even in this, she would come around and trust him.
“Liar. Ye are not even in yer sleeping gown. Yer behavior at the table was unacceptable. I willna continue to put up with this cold shoulder that ye are showing me, Freya. If ye have something to say to me, then say it!”
Crossing her arms, she stepped back and let him in. “Ye know exactly what this is about.”
“Brisbane? I know ye have feelings for him, sister. I can see it written all over yer face when the two of ye are together. Ye want to marry him!”
“Ye cannae possibly know how I feel about the man!” Lifting her chin, she gave him a fiery look that he knew was mirrored on his own face. They’d both inherited their mother’s blazing temper, but while Lachlan could control his, Freya was often a wild hair.
“I have always been told that I would be able to choose my husband and ye took that choice away from me!”
“Aye and the one man that ye did choose raised a hand to ye,” he pointed out. He’d been furious when he found out and sought out the groom before his father did. By the time they made their decree to exile him, the man was covered in blood and wailing for forgiveness, but Lachlan would not give it.
Seeing the tight look on her face, he hastily continued.
He didn’t want her dwelling too much on the painful past. “It was not my decision to wed ye for an alliance, but this feud must end. If we continue to fight, if we continue to look weak, we could be invaded, Freya. ye know this. Our united front is the only thing that saves us from English rule. If the king looks weak from in-fighting, we will be finished.”
She waved her hands dismissively. “Ye could have found another way, but that is not what this is about.”
“Yer anger is not about Brisbane?”
“Aye, but not just that! I am furious about how ye are treating Sloane!”
“Sloane?” His jaw dropped as he gaped at her. “Ye are angry about how I am treating my wife? Freya, I have not spent enough time with my wife to treat her one way or the other.”
“Och!” She threw up her hands in disgust. “Ye were told that she was sheltered. Beyond sheltered. And yet ye take her to bed on yer wedding night!”
So that’s what this was about. She’d heard about the bloody sheets and assumed that they’d consummated their union. Lachlan was a little amused that his sister was so quick to be his wife’s champion.
“Put yer mind at ease,” he said quietly as he looked uneasily at the open door.
“What does that mean?”
Stepping out to make sure that no one was listening, he turned back to his sister. “My wife remains as pure as the day that she came to us aside from a single kiss. I was asked to be gentle with her and that is exactly what I am doing.”
All the fight drained from his sister’s face as she stared at him. “Truly? Ye have not had her?”
“Those words are not to leave yer lips again,” he growled before he ran his hand through his hair. “In truth, I doona know what to do with her. Do ye believe that she has never represented her clan? What did her father do with her?”
“Nothing,” Freya muttered. “It would appear that he has ignored her for years. I doubt he even remembered that he had a daughter until it suited him to use her. The girl is constantly asking questions that she should already know the answer to. On the other hand, she is well acquainted with the comings and goings of the servants. She’ll make a fine mistress once she realizes that she is their mistress and not their friend. ”
Although Freya didn’t seem to realize the extent of her words, Lachlan did. If he believed her then it meant that Errol Fenton brought Sloane here for a reason and it was not to pay tribute to Quinn.
Had Errol meant to marry his daughter to Lachlan? As far as political moves go, it was a smart one. The MacFarlane clan bonded the alliance of the five highland clans and Errol had permanently bonded the two. Even if their alliance did splinter, Lachlan would feel honor bound to defend Errol.
On the other hand, Freya was to marry Brisbane, so the move only made sense if Errol meant to cause trouble with the other two clans. His head began to ache. He didn’t like the idea that there was a conspiracy brewing under his very nose.
“What I feel for Gair… I doona understand,” Freya said finally. “I would have preferred to explore it on my own. I thought I had feelings for… Well, ye know. I was horribly wrong. I doona trust my judgment anymore.”
“I believe Gair to be a good man,” Lachlan pointed out, but he knew her fear. Within the MacFarlane clan, Lachlan could have and did step in when Freya found herself in trouble, but when Freya wedded Brisbane, he could do what he wanted with her and Lachlan was powerless to protect her.
But Lachlan was certain that Brisbane would never hurt her. “If ye cannae trust yer own judgment then I ask that ye trust mine. Can ye do that?”
“Aye.”
Lachlan smirked. “Even though a few moments ago, ye were accusing me of taking advantage of my naive wife.”
“I like Sloane. I had every wish to see ye with Kenzy, but I cannae and doona fault her for that. I have promised to train her to be the mistress of the keep and I intend to see that through, but in a few months, I willna be here. She must learn to stand on her own two feet and I intend to see that happen.”
“Heaven help us.” Lachlan sighed. He always wanted to see his wife comfortable in her home and if anyone could find her place, it was Freya.