Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

M ariota stayed limp and unresponsive as her father's guard followed Anders out of the solar. It took all the control she had not to break his nose when his hand slid around her back and she felt his fingers begin to fondle the side of her breast. She knew better than to count on her da to do anything about it, so she would have to. She knew which guard carried her by his grunts and groans as he shifted her in his arms, acting as if she weighed as much as a horse, all, she supposed, to distract from what he was doing. She heard male voices and chairs shifting. They were passing through the great hall. Surely someone would notice where his hand was and stop him. Anders, whom she was certain would have flattened the man had he seen, was in the lead and looking away from the man following him.

Suddenly Seamus' voice rang out. "Mari! What happened?" She dared not open her eyes, but felt heard the guard's hold on her shift as Seamus' footsteps approached.

Through slitted eyelids, she saw Anders turn and put a hand on his shoulder to hold him off.

"She fainted. We're taking her to the healer."

"Fainted? Mari's never fainted in her life."

She wanted to kick him. To hiss at him to be silent, but she was stuck playing the weak female. At least with Seamus' approach, her tormentor had moved his hand to a more appropriate location down her ribs. She'd take care of that one later. She'd beaten Alber, she could take this oaf easily.

Seamus stayed by her side as they continued on to the herbal. "What made her faint? How long has she been out?" He kept peppering Anders with questions. It was nice to hear Seamus' voice and know someone cared about her well-being. But Anders didn't have time to answer him.

Suddenly they stopped and her tormentor dropped her onto a cot. At last! If she'd had some warning, she would have done him some damage as she fell, but she didn't get the chance.

"Ye men, out," the healer snapped.

Mariota heard them move away and opened her eyes.

The healer motioned for her to stay put and quiet until she was certain they'd gone out of earshot. Then she spoke, "Well, lass, what is this about?"

"Sorry to intrude," Mariota told her in a low voice in case someone ventured nearby, "but my da and the Sutherland were at each other's throats. Stellan thought it would distract them if I fainted."

"Ach, lass. 'Tis sorry I am that ye felt ye had to do that."

"I hated doing it, but between Stellan, Anders and I, none of us could see another way to keep them from coming to blows— or worse."

"Are ye well, then? Ye werena harmed when ye fell?" The healer kept her voice low, though her concern was evident in her warm tone. "Or he dropped ye here?"

"Nay, I'm well, save for the guard's wandering hands. I would have preferred Anders carry me, but he couldna, no' in front of my da." Mariota was sorry not to have a chance to speak to Anders or Seamus before they left the herbal. She appreciated having the twins and Seamus as allies. She also appreciated the chance to get away from her father after he proved yet again how little he cared for her. She knew Anders and Stellan would be on alert, for her sake, to anything the two lairds said or did that would affect her. But she didn't know what they could do to help. Ultimately, her father could pull her out and force her back home, with Alber nearby. The thought sickened her. Still, Seamus would be nearby, too. That was some consolation.

"Anders is a good lad, despite being fond of the lasses."

"They've both been naught but kind to me," Mariota said, defending Stellan as well as his brother.

"I would expect naught less," the healer remarked. She glanced toward the door and said, "I'll be back in a moment."

She left and Mariota heard her voice in the hallway. "I'm going to keep the lass for a while. Ye may leave. She's perfectly safe with me."

Anders and Seamus thanking her were the only responses Mariota heard. Like as not, her guard had already joined his fellows in the great hall rather than return to the solar. That would give Seamus a chance to replace him there.

"They're gone from here," the healer assured her. "I'm sorry ye are nay treated better by yer folk."

"Nothing like Sutherland. If only I could receive the same kindness at home," she said.

"I heard that the MacKay came to fetch ye home. But I never kenned why ye left in the first place."

She was grateful Stellan and Anders kept her story about Alber's attacks to themselves. It was hers to tell, and she found a willing and sympathetic listener in the healer. "'Tis nay as though none are good to me, but they canna stand up to the laird, and Da hasna punished Alber so far as I ken. But one of the head guards, Seamus, is a friend and I may find out more from him, as soon as I can talk to him alone.

"Wait, yer attacker is here? Yer da brought him to help escort ye back to MacKay?" The healer shook her head, disbelief written in every crease on her forehead.

"Aye." Mariota couldn't think of anything to say that would make it sound better. Or justify it.

"He'd best nay cross my path. I'll make his life miserable while he remains at Sutherland if he so much as looks at ye crosswise. Were things always this bad at MacKay? Ye seem like such a strong, smart lass, yer father must have loved and cared for ye when ye were young. What changed to turn him mean?"

Mariota tensed. She knew why, and didn't want to share that story. Things had been bad enough after the accident. But perhaps things had gotten worse after Alber arrived. She had been about nine, which would have made him eleven. Old enough to cause trouble, yet she didn't have any strong recollection of spending time with him. He must have kept to himself, or stayed out of trouble until he was older. He hadn't fostered away. Her father had kept him close, but perhaps once he was old enough to spend most of his time training with the other men, her father's interest in him had waned.

So, what about her changed with him? She couldn't answer that, either, save her encounter with him the first time she bested him. Had she hurt his feelings so badly that he still carried the resentment to this day? It didn't seem possible, unless there was more she didn't know. Had her da seen him as a surrogate son? Promised him things that were never bestowed? She just didn't know, and because of where they were now, it mattered. "Who can say why any lad becomes the man he is?" She was prevaricating, and she could see the healer knew it, but the woman shrugged and let her comment pass.

Mariota's guilt surged anew. By her rejection all those years ago, she might be more responsible for Alber's actions than she'd ever considered. The thought made her belly sink. She couldn't see any way to fix this, now that Alber seemed determined to exact his revenge.

Stellan caught Anders' eye when he reentered the solar. Anders nodded. That simple gesture told him Mariota was with the healer and would remain there until the healer agreed to let her leave. Even her father would not be able to remove her from the Sutherland healer's care if she insisted on keeping the lass. Mariota was safe for the moment. The healer was a powerful ally to have within Sutherland, and this was the second time she had defended Mariota, even though Stellan was certain she knew Mariota had faked the faint and there was nothing new wrong with her since she'd arrived. Perfect. That would keep the lass out of her father's clutches, at least for now. Some of the tension Stellan had been holding onto drained out of his shoulders and belly.

Now to deal with whatever the two lairds came up with.

But before Anders could cross the solar and join him, the two lairds stood and the MacKay and his remaining man walked out.

Sutherland tilted his head toward the door. Anders nodded to someone out in the hall and closed it behind the MacKay and his man. He and Stellan moved to the seats opposite their father's desk.

"Fill Anders in while I consider something," Sutherland directed.

Stellan nodded. "Ye didna miss much after ye left. MacKay willna say any more about why he brought Alber, but 'tis clear he accepts the man's lies about his prowess at Harlaw."

"So why dinna his other men tell him the truth?"

"Perhaps they did. 'Tis an important question, but one we canna answer."

"Perhaps he has something on the old laird, something he doesna want made public," Anders said, his gaze distant while he thought.

Stellan disagreed. "MacKay could simply banish him or even kill him for what he's done. Why put up with threats to himself or attacks on Mariota? What makes Alber untouchable at MacKay?"

"Domnhall? Or one of their other supposed allies, Gunn or Sinclair? Did he foster with one of them?"

"We dinna ken enough to be certain about any of them."

Anders frowned.

"Her da doesna treat her as his heir," Stellan continued. "Could he intend to name someone else to succeed him?"

"Certainly not Alber!" Anders objected.

"Nay, but if MacKay is all about power and keeping what MacKay has to itself, he might decide to replace her. If he doesn't trust anyone enough to use her to make an alliance, he can just marry her to a MacKay warrior or one of his advisors."

"If he did that, the least he could do would be to let her choose her husband."

"I dinna think that's likely, in any case, but ye dinna hear what he said about his proposal to us after ye left. He claimed to be speaking from anger. He wants to take her home, to let things settle down. I dinna ken whether he has truly decided he doesn't want a neighboring clan involved after all. He could honestly fear MacKay would cease to exist as a separate clan and territory unless he looks farther afield."

Anders clenched a fist. "So she's left with rough men like Alber, or old scheming men, ye mean? Those would be her choices? We canna let that happen to her."

"We canna stop it," Stellan said, and that made his blood run cold. There had to be a way to protect Mariota that wouldn't worsen relations between their clans. Not that he thought they were very good at the moment.

Their father had turned to stare at the low flames in the hearth. Now he turned back to them. "I considered offering Mariota a place here. It would be a monumental step to offer permanent sanctuary to another clan's heir. One certain to cause problems. I'm concerned for her at MacKay, but I see more behind her father's bluster than, perhaps, he wants anyone to see. He's worried."

"For her?"

"Perhaps. In part. It does make me wonder if he would be relieved to have her remain here. Then there's Domnhall to worry us all. He's a fickle ally at best, as MacKay kens fine. MacKay was right to be concerned about the current conflict spilling north at some point. And this man, Alber. There's something between them. Something of long-standing, or his laird would have dealt with him by now."

"He should have dealt with him anyway," Stellan said. "Ye would have."

"Aye, I would, but I am no' the MacKay and I dinna ken what burdens he carries. Well, some of them, aye. The obvious one being a daughter of marriageable age and his heir. I have to wonder if any of this would have happened if Cameron had not met Mary Rose, but had wed with Mariota MacKay. Where would we be now?"

Stellan and Anders traded a glance. To Stellan, such speculation was not useful. They had to deal with the here and now. Their younger brother was besotted with his bride. Stellan knew neither he nor Anders would wish a different lass for him. And certainly not Mariota. Not when she meant so much to him— nay, he must not think about his growing feelings for her. He knew there was no future for them, not as long as they were both destined to follow their fathers.

After what the healer deemed was a suitable amount of time, Mariota left the herbal. She would have happily stayed there, but knew she could not, and that a confrontation with her father was inevitable, and imminent. Unless the twins were willing to hide her somewhere within Sutherland's walls, she would not be able to avoid him.

As soon as she entered the great hall, she spotted Seamus with the other MacKays by the hearth. So he had not joined her father in the Sutherland's solar? She headed for Seamus. He stood in response to her eye contact and the tilt of her head, then she headed for the back hallway Brìghde had shown her during their tour. It led to the kitchen past the buttery, so no one would think twice about Seamus wandering in that direction. She waited for him down the hallway, close to the buttery's door. Minutes later, he joined her.

"I walked outside for a moment to get eyes off me, and came back in with a group of Sutherlands before following ye. What happened to ye? What's amiss?"

"Naught save trying to keep Da from doing something stupid. I hate playing the weak lass, but it was the most expedient way to distract the lairds from their disagreements. Why are ye out here and not in the solar with them?"

"They finished their discussion before I could get there. Yer da rode out to the camp across the glen. I saw no sign of him while I was outside, though I think he'll be back soon. What can I do for ye, lass?"

"I need to ken what has happened at MacKay since I left," she said. "Did Alber get punished at all? Why was he in Da's personal guard? Why is he here?"

"Ye dinna ask much," Seamus said, crossed his arms over his muscled chest and leaned back against the stone wall on his side of the hallway.

"I ask because my life may depend on it." The words came more easily than she thought they should to describe something so frightening.

That sobered him. "Because Alber is here."

"Of course. Did Da punish him after he attacked me outside my chamber? People saw the aftermath. They, ah, helped him from the hallway outside my chamber and down the stairs. I dinna ken what happened after that."

"Other than a stern lecture, I dinna think anything did."

"Then what hold does he have on my da?" Frustration tightened her jaw.

"'Tis more than his claim of mastery at Red Harlaw," Seamus said thoughtfully. "But I dinna ken what keeps him at MacKay, or keeps him alive. 'Twould seem to me anyone else doing what he has done would be banished, lashed, or dead by now."

"There havena been any witnesses to his attacks on me till after 'twas done," Mariota said. "Save for the damage to him and some bruises on me, he could claim naught ever happened."

"If I had seen him attack ye, I would have killed him then."

If that had happened, perhaps all this would be over and she would have been able to move forward with her life at MacKay. "Thank ye, but I dinna want to be that vulnerable to him again. Ask around, discretely if ye can, about him. Where he's from, anything ye can find out about him. I doubt we can trust what we already think we ken about him."

"'Twill get back to him," Seamus cautioned.

"Nay if ye are careful about who ye ask."

"Some of the older men might remember. But they're back at MacKay."

"Then ye must wait 'till ye return, but I need to ken why my da is protecting him over me."

"Ask him."

Mariota bit back a laugh that wanted to become a shriek of frustration. "Ye think I havena?"

"Of course ye have. Have ye considered it may be dangerous for him to tell ye?"

"More dangerous than what Alber has already done to me and still wants to do? More dangerous than me, my father's heir, being ignorant of some secret he keeps?"

"Ye have a point."

"James," Mariota blurted out the name as a memory surfaced. "Da's friend and member of his council. I think he kens something. Mayhap everything." The day she'd overheard him talking to her father and had to tolerate his presence while her father threatened her came back to her in a rush. Nothing he'd said made her suspect him, just his attitude. The way he and her father exchanged glances. Aye, he knew something.

"I'll ask when we get back to MacKay."

Mariota nodded, relieved that she had set something in motion. There might not be any answers to be had, but she knew Seamus would try. He was careful, and he was well-liked. If anyone could find out anything, he would. "I think we've been here long enough," she told him. She tried to door to the buttery. To her relief, it opened.

"Carry out a cask of something to explain why ye have been in here for so long. I'll make my way through the kitchen and come back to the great hall from there."

Seamus nodded and entered the buttery. Mariota left him to explore and took a side passage toward the kitchen. It felt good to have Seamus at her back. He was her best friend at MacKay. She didn't want to get him into any more trouble, but somehow, she had to understand why Alber could do what he did without repercussions. She swore to corner her da again, too. The more she stood up to him, the more respect she hoped to gain. Could she gain enough of his respect for him to share whatever truth he hid, before Alber succeeded in whatever he was determined to do?

In the kitchen, no one seemed to notice her entry, so she grabbed a hand pie from a serving tray and went across the great hall. As she reached the stairs up to her chamber, her father entered from the bailey. She paused, then sank into a seat at the nearest table, hoping he would not notice her among the others scattered around the hall. But his gaze cut right to her, and he beckoned her.

At least he didn't shout her name across the chamber. He had some small semblance of decorum left to him.

With a sigh, she rose and crossed to him. "Da."

"Pack whatever ye brought, and ready yer hawk. We leave at first light."

A chill ran down her spine. "With Alber among the guards? Nay, I willna."

"Ye will do as ye are told, Daughter. Dinna argue with me in another clan's hall. I willna stand for it."

So he was still cross from his argument with the Sutherland laird. "And I willna stand for what Alber has threatened to do to Valkyrie, and to me."

"Ye will have my men around ye at all times."

Why did he think that would reassure her? "I have that at home and yet he's gotten to me thrice."

"I will assign him duty to keep him far from ye."

"Where? Here? The Sutherlands willna welcome him."

"Leave that to me."

She felt her temper rising as her belly clenched. She fought to remain calm. "And on the way home? There will be times I must have privacy, yet he will follow me. He has done so already."

"Mariota, I will keep him away from ye. That is all ye need to ken. Now go to yer chamber and ready yerself."

Could she trust her father with her safety? He hadn't done a very good job of it so far. But what alternative did she have? The sound of a bench scraping on the flagstone floor distracted her as someone stood up from a table. Despite her determination to confront her father, he was correct. The Sutherland great hall was not the place to do it.

"I will comply," she said, relenting for the sake of peace, or at least decorum, "but I have a demand as well. Seamus will travel with me. And three other MacKay men I choose. And several Sutherlands will come as observers to ensure I remain safe."

"Nay. Ye go too far."

"'Tis my life, my future, I bargain for. Why can ye no' see that?"

"They are in my hands. I am yer laird as well as yer da."

Mariota shook her head, resigned to angering him but determined to keep her voice down. "I meant what I said about remaining here. Or I will travel elsewhere and ye will never see me again."

"Dinna threaten me, lass," he warned her, though he matched the volume of her voice. "Better than ye have tried and failed."

"I dinna wish to fight ye, Da. I'm fighting for myself." Did she see a glint of respect appear in his eyes? It was gone too quickly for her to be certain, but it gave her hope.

He heaved out a sigh and ran a hand through his graying hair. "How many Sutherlands?"

"That will be up to them. I will request an escort."

"Nay. I will."

Mariota nodded. She'd won this round. It was time to stop. "Very well. I will go ready myself and my hawk."