In the Laird's Bed (4 page)

“Keane—” But she would have had to chase him to keep talking. The counselor hastened toward the hall.

“Look around at our other options this eve,” he called over his shoulder as he kept on stumping along. “You’ll see I’m right.”

Frustration twisted her insides. They were nowhere near done with this conversation. True, she had not discovered a strong prospect to lead Domhnaill among her guests. That did not mean she would settle for arrogant Duncan, who’d maneuvered his way into staying here with the cunning of a serpent. Just be cause a man had the sword prowess of a champion did not mean he deserved any part of her homeland.

“Do you appear this angry at every feast in your hall, Lady Cristiana?”

The unwelcome question came from just above her left shoulder, where Duncan suddenly stood. He had appeared from nowhere as she wove through the crowd toward her seat on the dais.

The man moved with the stealth of a hunter.

“Only when I must host arrogant, demanding men over the holidays,” she assured him, wishing his presence did not make her warm all over. She hoped her cheeks did not flush noticeably.

She would have hastened her step if there were not so many people nearby to see her indulge her temper. Hurrying away from her guests would hardly be considered good manners.

Instead, she forced a smile to her lips as Duncan looped her arm through his and escorted her to the dais table. She took the center seat when her father did not dine in the hall, which was most days now. Normally, she sat at her father’s left and Keane to his right, but during the holidays, the dais table was full of high ranking guests. All of those seated had traveled with their wives for the promised festivities of the season, making the number of guests even and leaving the seat beside Cristiana vacant once again. Keane would have normally accepted an invitation to dine with her as her father’s advisor, but he already sat with the knights. She had no choice but to pass another meal with Duncan.

“You think I demand too much?” He bent forward to grasp a handful of her skirts and lifted them slightly for her to slip one foot over the bench to take her seat. “You are free to make your own demands of me. In fact, I would welcome it.”

The unexpected slide of her skirts up her ankle—by his hand, no less—caught her utterly off guard. Whatever strange battle he waged against her, she was clearly the less experienced tactician.

Settling into her seat as quickly as possible, she tugged back her gown in a small skirmish for the velvet under the table. In the end, he relinquished the cloth, but not before his knuckle grazed her thigh in a contact she felt all too well through the layers of linen and velvet.

“Is that so? Then prepare yourself, sir.”

Before she could change her mind, Cristiana stood. She was the mistress of the hall in her father’s absence. She could address the folk of Domhnaill if it served her. The noisy chamber quieted instantly as heads turned her way.

“My good people,” she began, speaking to the high-ranking villagers mixed in the crowd as much as the lofty landowners from neighboring holdings. “I welcome Duncan of Culcanon again this night and have had more time to consider his request.”

Beside her, he stiffened. Good.

“You have generously offered me a portion of the some mysterious treasure at the end of your time with us.” There were a few gasps of surprise and a few cynical laughs. “But in the spirit of the holiday, good sir, we ask that you share some hint of what you seek before then? Your hunt can be our entertainment.”

She sought answers and hoped this would be a way to obtain them. At very least, she had made her court aware of his intentions. No doubt he would not be able to search in secret if everyone in attendance knew what he was about. Perhaps his work would be so hampered by interested attendees that he would leave, frustrated and empty-handed.

For a moment—judging by the dark expression in his gaze—she thought she had succeeded in outfoxing him. But as he rose to his feet, his visage cleared and the carefree courtier appeared again.

Ready to take up her challenge.

“Good mistress, I would not deny you.” Though he spoke to the assembled company, he stood close to her. Very close. As if they were lord and lady of this hall.

With an effort, she smiled up at him and wished she could tug herself away from him as strenuously as she had yanked her skirts from his fingers.

“Then how does your treasure hunting proceed? Tell us what you seek.”

She had put him under the whole court’s scrutiny. All eyes turned to him. Yet his gaze remained steadfastly upon her.

“For now, I can only tell these good people what I’ve found. Nay,” he said, breaking his gaze at her to grin at the assembled folk. “Each day, I will show them instead.”

Murmured interest rolled through the crowd as Duncan turned to her once more.

“Today, my friends, this is what I found.”

Like a bird of prey, he swooped toward her so quickly she could do naught but panic. Wrapping her in his arms in front of the entire company, Duncan of Culcanon drew her to him and kissed her full upon the mouth.

I
t was a small victory and it wouldn’t last. But Duncan would never forget the sweetness in that moment he kissed Cristiana.

She’d been so surprised, her lips had parted in exclamation just before his mouth claimed hers. What man would not take advantage of such irresistible temptation? After what had transpired between them in the brew house earlier, he’d counted on the way her body stilled at his touch. He’d known she would not withdraw. Whatever awareness had sparked between them years ago became a potent force now.

When cheers and laughs erupted in the hall, he recognized it was time to retreat. With regret, he relinquished his hold on her.

Suspecting she would be angry all too soon, he savored a fleeting moment when her expression
remained starry-eyed. For a moment, he could almost forget he attended her on a mission of deceit. That he’d come to wrest away her keep. Stuffing down those thoughts, he picked up his drinking horn to toast the company and deflect attention away from Cristiana.

“I am sure no other treasure I find will be half so rewarding.” He raised his cup to a hearty round of cheers from his knights. “To the health of your laird and his lovely daughter.”

Cristiana’s face remained bright pink, but she drank to her father’s health and motioned for the servers to start the meal. Upon taking his seat, Duncan noticed her hands shook slightly as she reached for the eating knife on the chain at her waist.

Not for a moment did he believe she trembled out of passion for him. Nay, he felt the anger emanating from her as surely as heat from the sun.

“You left me no choice.” He dipped his head to explain, needing to remain in her good graces for at least a little longer. He had tested her patience in the brew house earlier, but just now he may have worn out what scant welcome he’d had completely. Though he’d arrived at Domhnaill with a large retinue of men, they were unarmed and therefore easier to uproot from a stronghold where they were not wanted.

And it was imperative he remain under her roof. He did not have the forces to take the keep from without.

All around them, diners exclaimed over yet another lavish feast for the holidays. The mighty Yule log still burned brightly in the hearth, echoing the flickering of torches ringing the great chamber. The scent of fragrant pine and honeyed mead mingled with the gingered spices of rich sauces and savory tang of roasted meats.

“You could have simply shared your task with the assembled guests when I asked. Or made up some fanciful lie to distract us from the truth.” She did not look at him as she refilled his mead from a flagon left on the dais table. A fat silver ring set with rubies clanked against the hammered metal pitcher.

“I could not risk having the whole keep learn how deadly serious I am about my quest, lest every villager and guest alike would be tearing apart your lands and the structures upon it to join in the hunt.”

“You cannot be serious.” Frowning, she did not wait for him to serve her a morsel of spicy roasted duck, but speared a bit on the tip of her knife. She tested the heat of the dish by putting the bite close to her lip before nipping it off with her teeth.

“You have not guessed the object of my quest?”

Oddly, she seemed to pale at his words. What did she fear he sought? He tucked away that question to mull over another time. For now, he would share his full purpose with her, if only to draw her into the scheme and keep her quiet while he went about the task.

“I cannot possibly imagine—”

He withdrew her eating knife from her hand and set it aside, determined to serve her if only to maintain an appearance of goodwill between them.

“It is not a conversation for the hall, where anyone might overhear,” he confided, choosing a steaming bit of smoked fish for her.

“There is nothing on my family lands for which you could have any rightful claim.” She did not seem to see the bite of fish he waved in front of her.

There could be no doubt about it now. Her skin had lost all color.

Did she have some knowledge of the prize he sought?

“I have as much right to such a treasure as you.” He kept his voice low as he replaced the food on their trencher. “It belongs with the Culcanons as much as any Domhnaill.”

“It?”

He could not name the emotion behind that one incredulous word.

Cursing below his breath, he put his lips close to her ear and whispered the purpose of his quest.

“The old Viking treasure. I’ve discovered a reliable clue to its whereabouts.”

He expected her to be pleased. The rumored wealth of a long ago mutual ancestor had been buried be fore a Viking invasion to protect it. But he had not anticipated the obvious relief that sent a rush of color
back into her cheeks and a burst of laughter from her lips.

“You’re searching for a box of trinkets no one has discovered for some two hundred years?” The news seemed to encourage her appetite for she reached to retrieve her knife.

He clamped the jeweled handle to the table and fed her his fish offering instead. She took it without hesitation, her spirits seemingly restored as much as her appetite. By the rood, what had worried her before? What treasure had she feared he would discover at Domhnaill?

“Aye.” One day he would confide how he came by the medallion with the map he wore about his neck. How his people would not make it through another winter without the spoils from such riches.

But if he could not locate the wealth of the crafty old ancestor who’d fathered both the Culcanon and Domhnaill clans long ago, claiming Cristiana’s lands became all the more crucial. She might laugh at the idea of the Viking treasure, but his finding it was her only possible hope of keeping her lands. And even then? He could not imagine walking away from the strength and resources of Domhnaill. If he did not take it now, what warmongering knight might steal it out from under her? Duncan could not afford an enemy lord so close to home.

“My lady.” A harried-looking young maid that
Duncan had not seen before approached Cristiana in the hall.

The maid bit her lip and frowned. Her head scarf was askew and dark curls sprang from the side as if she’d been hard at work on a difficult task.

“Yes?” Cristiana stood immediately, perhaps sensing a matter of some import.

Since the meal was well underway, he could not imagine the woman came to report any problem in the kitchen. Could the maid be a nurse to the old laird?

Duncan tensed. Not only had he liked the lord of Domhnaill, but he also found himself resenting any news that would upset Cristiana. How strange that his world had become bound up in hers again so quickly.

“You said you wished me to fetch you any time—”

“Of course,” Cristiana murmured, seizing the girl’s arm as she attempted to withdraw from the table.

Duncan rose to help her, lifting her skirt to clear the bench and not receiving so much as an ill-favored look this time. But then her mind seemed elsewhere.

“I will come with you.” The distracted expression upon her face concerned him.

“No!” both women exclaimed at once. The maid’s eyes went to Cristiana’s as if to judge her expression.

What did they hide?

“A sick room is no place for a warrior whose strength depends upon good health,” Cristiana explained. “One
of the children has a fever that could benefit from herbs and I’m the closest thing to a wise woman Domhnaill has. Please do enjoy the minstrels and the dancing.”

Not waiting for a response, she turned on her heel and hurriedly led the maid from the hall.

Something was not right.

Thinking she would surely lead him to the old laird so he could judge her father’s condition for himself, Duncan eased a narrow taper from its place on a hearthside altar and followed the women through the maze of the darkened keep.

“I think the lass sleeps, my lady,” the maid told Cristiana some hours later.

Cristiana held Leah’s delicate form across her lap, her niece’s head cradled to her shoulder as she sang her patient a third lullaby. Her forehead no longer felt as hot, but Cristiana had not fully recovered from the scare of seeing the girl sweating and pale when she’d entered the bedchamber earlier.

Leah had found some ease, however, from a hot broth with soothing herbs.

“I don’t mind holding her a bit longer,” Cristiana assured her, wiping an auburn curl from Leah’s forehead. “My guests have no need of me at this hour.”

“Yet I did not see the young Culcanon laird bedding down in the great hall.” The maid poured fresh water into a bowl by Leah’s bed and folded fresh linen strips to set beside it in case the girl’s skin
needed more cooling in the night. “I mention it only because he seemed concerned for you earlier. Perhaps he awaits some word from you.”

Cristiana did not think that was the case. But what if Duncan roamed the keep at night while everyone else slept? Was he treasure-seeking even then? Or could he be searching for something else under cover of night?

A frightening thought occurred. What if his whole tale of seeking hidden riches was, in fact, a careful fabrication intended to conceal what he really sought?

She peered down at Leah, frightened to her toes.

“Very well.” Cristiana eased out from under the warm weight of the child she’d raised as her own. “I will leave her in your care, but please do have someone fetch me if the fever returns or if she seems uneasy.”

“Of course.” The maid rose to tuck the bed linen around Leah’s shoulders. “Good night, my lady.”

Fearing she’d find Duncan lurking just outside the door to the chamber, Leah shared with a nurse and two other children—an older girl who’d come to foster at Domhnaill and a boy some eight summers fathered by one of the knights, Cristiana was relieved to find the corridor clear. He had not followed her.

Unable to hasten her weary footsteps, she wound her way down the stairs of one tower and paused as she neared the great hall. All the torches had been
extinguished for the night, but the hearth fire blazed as if recently stoked. Grunts and moans, giggles and sighs of couples in various stages of passion made Cristiana duck her head and hasten toward the staircase to the tower where her own bed awaited.

She nearly ran into a man and woman cavorting in the shadows outside the hall. Her feet tangled with another pair of feet, her skirts catching on the pant leg of a man who stood close to the tower stairs.

The broad, powerfully made form of the man was unmistakable even in silhouette.

“Duncan?” Righting herself, she heard a woman’s soft giggle and remembered the knight was not alone.

“Cristiana.” He disentwined himself from the female—a maid who worked in the kitchens—and straightened. “I’ve been waiting to speak with you.”

“It doesn’t appear to have been a hardship for you.” She edged around the pair and found the stairwell. “Good eve.”

“Wait.” He followed her up the steps as the sound of his companion’s soft footsteps disappeared into the night behind them. “We must talk privately.”

Turning, she paused on the steps, hoping she did not pitch forward onto him in the dark. Why had she not brought a more substantial torch? The taper she’d taken earlier was hardly enough light to see two steps ahead of her.

“Haven’t you had enough private encounters for
one day?” She gripped the rough-hewn stone wall beside her, steadying herself as she recalled that Duncan’s carnal desires had never lurked far beneath the surface, even when he’d been courting her to wed. “You’ve made a spectacle of me already and I am not interested in your kisses, so by all means, return to a more willing partner.”

A surprising amount of anger swirled through her. At him. At her. At the hapless maid who had trysted with him in a darkened corner.

“I did not wish to meet with you to make advances.” His voice was harsh, guttural. Tired, perhaps? She recalled he had awakened early this day, too. “We were to discuss my quest. May I escort you to your solar? Or somewhere else that we will not be overheard?”

She’d forgotten about his treasure-hunting. In those moments in Leah’s room when she’d feared he knew of the little girl’s existence, she’d dismissed the quest as a pretense. Now, she wondered anew.

“My solar is no place for a male guest,” she told him coldly. “Especially one who treats a woman’s honor as lightly as you. Perhaps we may speak on the morrow, where our exchanges may be witnessed, if not overheard.”

Wishing only to seek the safe haven of her bed and escape the constant worried churn of her thoughts, she lifted the taper high and continued her ascent.

“Then at least tell me this much.” Duncan’s voice
chased her through the dark even though his feet did not. “Who is the child you tended with such sweet compassion this eve?”

When she turned, Cristiana had the look of a beautiful ghost. Her eyes were wide and luminous, her skin drained of all color.

“I told you before—”

“Aye. But now I am asking who she really is. She wears the garb of a noble child. She speaks like a noble child. You held her in your arms as if—”

“You spied on us?” Oddly, her voice held more panic than anger. That, above all, stirred his suspicions.

If the girl were of no cause for concern, Cristiana would be more irritated than worried. And clearly, she was frightened.

“I had no desire to remain in the hall once you departed. By following you, I hoped to speak with you once you were free from your duties.” Yet instead of dispensing a few herbs to a sick wee one and departing, Cristiana had held the child for hours.

The sight—captured in the moments he peered into the door the maid had not fully shut—had roused a protective instinct within that he had never before experienced. Seeing the maternal side of Cristiana had reminded him of all that she’d robbed him of.

Not just lands, wealth and the increased prestige
of ruling Domhnaill. He’d lost a woman who would make a strong yet tender mother.

He swore under his breath. He did not owe her any sympathy. If he was right about the little girl she hid, then Cristiana had deceived him as thoroughly as he tricked her with his pretense for entering her keep.