Page 28 of Don't Give A Damn About My Plaid Reputation
“He’s…. The King wants the feud to end?” she hesitantly offered, thinking of the letter she’d read.
Pudge snorted. “The King doesnae mind a bit of feuding and reaving to keep his warriors in top fighting form! But the Murray has his ear, and theMurraywants the feud over. ‘Twas his idea to have Kester marry his daughter and end it. He claims he’ll gift the meadow to us once the contract’s signed. He doesnae need it, no’ the way we do, and it’ll keep us from bedeviling him.”
“Aye, the feud started with a marriage contract, so why no’ end it with one?” Auld Gommy mumbled bitterly. “‘Twas the Murray’s idea, and the King went along with it. Kester learned of the plan last autumn but wanted naught to do with it.”
“Remember what he said when he got the word from Murray?” Weesil smirked. “How all it meant was we’d have to double our efforts to relieve them of the takings of Kester’s Meadow?”
“Aye, we reaved well last autumn,” Pudge agreed. “But Murray must’ve complained to the King, because the letter he received at Oliphant Castle wasnae subtle.”
It is time to marry Lady Elspeth Murray and end this feud.
The bannocks sizzled as Auld Gommy pulled them from the pan and began passing them around. Robena munched hers quietly, considering what she’d learned, as the cook served the stew.
Darkness had settled when she asked the question she’d been half-afraid of. “So…Laird MacBain doesnae want to marry the Murray’s auldest daughter?”
Pudge snorted. “He wants naught less. But ‘twill help the clan, and the lad is honorable. He’ll do what’s necessary to secure the clan’s future, even if that means taking on a bitch of a wife. Any offspring of a bastard like Murray is likely as entitled and petty as he is.”
Spoiled, beautiful, desirable.
And here’s Robena, wearing a fake mustache. Her fingers brushed against it as she took another bite of Auld Gommy’s stew.
Weesil gestured with his spoon. “We thought there was a lass for him at Oliphant Castle—he was happier there than he’d been in a long while and kept coming up with excuses to stick around.”
Nay, he’d been waiting for the King’s reply on what to do with the missive Gordon’s death had orphaned…hadn’t he?
“Aye, the MacBain had definitely taken a fancy to her,” crowed Auld Gommy. “Remember how he’d smile when he talked about her? What was her name…?”
“Rohena,” offered Weesil.
“Nay, ‘twas Rebecca,” corrected Auld Gommy.
Robena whispered, “Robena.”
“Aye, Robena. Helikedher. And we’re his men.” Auld Gommy shrugged as he shoveled a piece of carrot into his mouth. “We like the idea of him settling down with a pretty lass and making a lot of bairns for the future of the clan, eh?”
“Just no’ the Murray lass,” growled Pudge.
“Nay, I mean the Oliphant one.” Auld Gommy sighed. “But our laird is too honorable to take advantage of her, or to let her think they had a chance at a future together.”
“Because….” Robena swallowed. “Because he was betrothed to someone else.”
“Aye, and he’ll marry the lass, even if she’s as bad as her da—“
Pudge interrupted the cook. “Because the King commanded it.”
“Aye,” agreed Weesil, “but also because he’s honorable, and he kens this is the best way to stop the feud. He’ll marry Murray’s daughter for the rest of the MacBains. Once we have the meadow again, we’ll no’ have to worry about feeding our people.”
He’s doing it for his clan.
Her stomach churned at the realization, and she dropped her spoon into her bowl. Kester wasn’t marrying the Murray lass because she was beautiful or elegant…he was marrying her because doing so would mean his clan was safe.
Our laird is too honorable to take advantage of her, or to let her think they had a chance at a future together.
That’s what had happened.
He and his men had stayed at Oliphant Castle for weeks, and she’d done her best to encourage him, to flirt with him. He’d flirted right back, but until that day in the secret passages—that glorious day, those glorious kisses!—he’d resisted her. Because he knew they had no chance at a future together.
But….
