Highland Moonlight (34 page)

Mary as she sat there mending his clothes. In the months they had been

wed, she had begun to fill the void inside him. Her smiles, while still rare,

warmed him, her touch offered him comfort and ignited his desire, her body

fulfilled his passion and nurtured his future. His need of her grew each day

and, with it, his vulnerability. By allowing her entry into his heart, he had

opened himself to a pain more lethal than any battle-ax or arrow could deal

him. But because of her, he had also experienced the most satisfying

moments of pleasure and contentment he had ever known.

The worry he had glimpsed in her expression when they had bid each

other farewell surely meant she harbored some small affection for him. Her

reticence about her feelings and her family continued to confound him and

make him uncertain. Her reminder that she had wed him for a roof over her

head and her bairn’s still stung. Surely, they had come farther than that.

Alexander turned on his back and drew a deep frustrated breath. He

had prided himself on being decisive and confident in his dealings with

women, but when it came to his wife, he found himself behaving like a

besotted fool. Mayhap, if he were firmer with her in future…then again, when

he was gentle, she let down her guard and allowed herself to respond

without reserve. The thought stirred his body and he quickly turned his

attention to other concerns.

If he could find a way to settle the hostilities between her brother and

himself without bloodshed, he might yet win her heart. Her love was what

he wanted—to hear her speak the words and see the feelings open and

alive on her face as her eyes looked into his. He would be satisfied with

nothing less.

What if she could not feel such affection for him because of what he

had done? The thought brought with it a hollowness beneath his ribs. He

would have to learn to live with that, but he would not give up.

“Alexander, welcome,” David greeted him from one of the tables as he

descended the stairs to the great hall that evening. The younger man

grasped his forearm and slapped his shoulder in greeting. “The prisoners

have been secured below for the night.”

Alexander nodded. “Is all well with you, Brother?”

“Aye.” David’s expression grew sober. “Father has spoken to me of

your trouble. If you have need of me, I am ready.”

He studied his younger brother’s features with a smile. “I would not

wish to deprive Father of both his right arm and his left, but I am grateful for

the offer, David.”

David’s grin was laced with something Alexander could not quite

decipher. “You may yet change your mind,” he said with a shrug. He urged

Alexander toward a group of men where a mug of ale was pressed into his

one hand and a pair of dice was thrust into the other.

Alexander threw the dice on the table and watched them spin. His

gaze drifted upward as his father appeared on the stairs above, but his

attention turned immediately to the woman whose hand rested on his arm.

She appeared so eerily similar to Mary, Alexander blinked to clear his vision.

“Anne,” he breathed the name as realization dawned.

“She arrived a little over a week ago, half frozen and less than

gracious. She has been most insistent she be taken to Mary as soon as the

weather clears.”

“Where is Ian?”

“He was killed a month ago.”

His gaze flashed to David’s face for a moment then returned to settle

on Anne as she approached with his father. Her features set in an

expression of controlled anger, she acknowledged him with a brief

narrowing of her lips. He had endured that look often when first he and Mary

had wed, and though it did not carry the same impact from the eyes of this

woman, he found himself tensing defensively in preparation for whatever

might follow.

“Anne, I bid you welcome. Mary will be pleased you have come to be

with her,” he said before she could speak. “She has missed you sorely.”

Her blue gaze icy, Anne inclined her head. “I have missed her as well. I

trust she is in better health than last I saw her?” she asked, her tone

accusatory.

“Aye, in good health and nearing the end of her sixth month.”

He and David fell in behind his father as the older man escorted Anne

to the table. John seated her to one side of him then took his place at the

head of the table. Alexander sat on the opposite bench, where he might look

directly into his sister-in-law’s face, while David seated himself beside her.

The clansmen began to take their places at the other tables lining the

room. Servants passed from person to person with bowls of scented water

with which to cleanse their hands while others set out trenchers of bread.

“Your sister oft spoke of your uncle, Hugh MacPherson, Lady Anne,”

David said as he dried his hands on the linen towel draped over a servants

arm. “Did he train you, as he did Mary, in the use of the crossbow?”

“Aye,” she answered. “Our uncle thought it wise to train us to defend

ourselves agin those who would bring us harm.” Her attention focused on

Alexander. “Of course with such a weapon one must be aware the enemy is

afoot in time to ready the bow. It does no good agin those who would sneak

upon you in the dead of night lest you are warned.”

He remained reticent beneath the barb and placed his attention on

filling the trencher set before him with meat and vegetables.

“Mayhap you would show us how good an archer you are after the

meal,” David suggested. “Your sister’s skill has been recognized by all the

men.

“If ‘twould please my host I would not mind,” she answered. “‘Tis a

skill best honed with much practice.”

Alexander’s gaze rose to her face to find her blue eyes settled on him

like chips of ice. She would no doubt prefer to practice on him.

“Your sister has spent much time practicing the art of healing instead,

Lady Anne,” he said. “She has saved no less than four Campbell lives since

we wed, one of which was my own.”

Anne’s brows rose. “‘Tis fortunate for you her sense of duty was

encouraged by my aunt as well.”

Alexander controlled his expression with effort. Her knowledge of her

sister gave Anne a wealth of weapons with which to prick him. Her anger

and desire for revenge on Mary’s behalf, were just as intense, it seemed, as

Gavin’s.

“Your leg shows no weakness?” John asked.

“Nay. It grows stiff now and then, but serves me well.”

“How did you happen to become injured?” Anne asked.

Surprised by her interest he looked at her. “I was struck in the leg by

an arrow while defending Campbell herds agin thieves.”

“Mayhap they did not recognize one of their own,” she said sweetly.

David covered his mouth to hide the smile of amusement tempting it,

and Alexander fixed him with a warning stare.

“Nay, ‘twas kin of yours who pricked my leg. ‘Twas your brother, Gavin.”

Two spots of hot color touched her cheeks as her eyes grew wide with

shock. “Gavin!”

“Aye. He followed us to
Caisteal Sith
, trespassed upon my land,

slaughtered my livestock and sought to do further harm to me and my men.”

“If he did such deeds, ‘twas to avenge my sister,” Anne said, her chin

rising in challenge.

The gesture and her words were so much like Mary’s, Alexander found

himself staring at her. “His reasons do not concern me.”

“Where is he?” she demanded.

He has been confined to a chamber at
Caisteal Sith
whilst I escort the

rest of his company from Campbell holdings.”

Her pale blue eyes fastened on him with open hostility. “What do you

intend to do with him?”

“I intend to hold him until your father may journey and claim him.”

“‘Twill be spring before ‘twill thaw enough for that,” she protested.

“Aye. ‘Tis at Mary’s request I have not punished him further, as would

be my right.”

“Have you not caused my sister enough pain?” she demanded, her

cheeks flushed with color.

After her attacks on him, Alexander had only a brief compunction in

using the knowledge Mary had given him against her sister. “Your concern

is late in coming, Anne. It has been many months since you wed Ian

MacMillan. Mary has received no words of comfort from you hence.”

Her gaze dropped away.

“Mary honors me as her husband. That should be enough for you and

your brother.”

“I will ask her myself how that came about, after everything she has

endured because of you,” she proclaimed her eyes blazing with temper.

“That is enough!” John slapped a heavy hand down on the table. His

gaze traveled from Anne to Alexander then back again. “As you have said,

Mary has endured enough. If the two of you can not find peace between you,

Anne will remain here at Lorne until the spring and her father may come for

her as well.”

She paled, her lips tightening. “It is not my intent to cause my sister

any more pain, Lord Campbell.”

John’s attention focused on her. “You are her sister, but you have no

right to question the choices she has made.” His gaze swung to Alexander.

“She is my daughter now and I will not stand by and see her torn apart by

the two of you fighting over her like a joint between two hounds.”

Alexander frowned, but held his tongue.

“David, will you be joining us on the journey?” she asked, jumping into

the silence that followed.

David’s gaze turned to Alexander.

“Aye, he will,” he said, his tone short.

David grinned.

Alexander pushed the trencher away, his appetite waning beneath the

prospect of more of his in-laws presence about the castle. They would do

all they could to turn Mary against him, he was certain.

****

Snow mixed with tiny pellets of ice powdered the horse’s mane and

lay in a thin coating on the sleeves of Alexander’s thick fur robe. He squinted

against the sting of the frozen mixture blowing directly in his face, his eyes

watering.

The sky had been clear when they left Lorne, but the icy chill in the air

had offered the possibility of bad weather. He chastened himself for

ignoring those inner feelings of unease rather than allowing the desire to

return home to sway him.

The well warn path covered by a layer of ice and snow made progress

slow and dangerous. Alexander’s mount stumbled and instinctively his

thighs tightened to retain his seat while the animal regained its footing.

They had to find shelter to wait out the storm.

His gaze searched the snow-dimmed hills for any possible cover. His

attention returned again and again to the woman behind him. She huddled

beneath the layer of her fur-lined cloak, head down, her body balled against

the elements. As though in challenge the wind whipped more snow into the

air and flung its icy breath against her with renewed effort.

Alexander brushed the cold-stung tears from his eyes and surveyed

the surrounding timberland that followed the edge of the loch. A narrow icy

projection of stone and earth forked upward onto a higher portion of the

bank. The structure of the land caught his attention and He turned his

mount in that direction.

The rocky ground slick, his vision obstructed by snow, he gave his

mount its lead to pick the way forward. The hillside opened up into a

hollowed out area with an overhanging projection of rock and vegetation.

Beneath the outcropping shelter, he pulled the animal to a halt and

dismounted. His leg had stiffened and he limped forward to grasp the reins

of Anne’s horse and lead it inside the alcove.

“David, see to the lass,” he ordered as soon as his brother came near.

The men did not have to be encouraged to set up camp. Some

gathered the horses at one end of the depression while others laid and lit

peat fires. The hillside curved around protecting the group from the full force

of the wind. Snow lay in heavy banks against the rocks, shoring up one end

and making it more impervious to the elements.

David, take the lass to that end,” he ordered pointing to the far section.

“‘Tis more protected.” He rubbed his thigh absently as he watched Anne’s

progress to the far end.

Guilt tweaked him. He should have waited to leave Lorne. This

obsession with his own wife had led him to put himself and his men in

danger. It was time he learned to control the feelings that clouded his

judgment. It was a weakness.

He turned aside to help with the horses. He was responsible for the

safety of his men; they had always been tantamount in his thoughts in the

past. He would not allow this to happen again.

“I do not wish her here, Gabriel!” Tira snarled from the open door of

her hut. “Why have you brought her here?”

“The lad is ailing fiercely, Tira.” The large man tried to push past her