Page 110 of A Highland Bride Disciplined
“Try and stop me,” Skylar muttered, then pasted on an innocent smile when Hamish cleared his throat.
Kian’s eyes kept searching the tide until they found her.
Scarlett stood near the outer arch, bonnet tied loosely, cheeks pale in the bleached morning light. Scarlett’s hand rested on Elise’s blanket the way a woman sets her palm to an altar. When her gaze met Kian’s, something pulled tight behind his ribs. She looked away first, and the little sting of it irritated him more than it should.
Hamish drew up, nodding once. “Laird Crawford.”
“Hamish.”
They shook forearms, hard. Old habit, old respect.
The laird’s attention flicked to his eldest. “Scarlett, lass… ye’ll ride wi’ us.”
“Nay,” Scarlett said, calm as still water.
Astrid’s head snapped around. “Daenae be absurd. There’ll be swords in the glen. Ye’ll frighten yer sisters half to death.”
Mabel lifted a brow. “We fright already, Maither.”
“I’ll nae leave,” Scarlett repeated, not to her maither, not even to her faither. She said it to the whole courtyard. “This is me home.”
Hamish’s jaw worked. “Ye’ll take yer sisters’ coach to Muirhold. The bairn can —”
“The bairn will stay where she’s safe,” Scarlett said, gentle but iron. “Which is here with me.”
Kian felt Tam’s attention slide toward him. He ground his molars once, then stepped down from the stone, closing the distance.
“Lady Crawford,” he said, using the title like a lever. “Ye’ll go to Muirhold or MacLennan lands with the women. That’s the last o’ it.”
Her chin lifted a fraction. “With respect, m’laird, nay. I’m needed here. If there’s to be a siege, food must be portioned, fires managed, routes kept clear, children stowed proper. Ye’ll have soldiers for the wall. I’ll see to what keeps them standin’.”
M’laird.The way she said it, so formal and distant, scraped him rawer than a shouted defiance.
He stepped closer. “This isnae a conversation.”
“It rarely is wi’ ye,” she answered softly, not biting, not baiting, only tired. “I’ll nae tuck tail and flee from me own halls. Our people require our presence.”
Hamish drew breath to argue again, then caught Kian’s look and swallowed it. The old laird’s eyes softened an inch as he studied his daughter. “Stubborn as yer maither,” he muttered.
Astrid huffed. “Flatterin’.”
Skylar shoved her bow toward Kian’s guards with theatrical despair. “Fine, keep yer war. I’ll go keep the ladies entertained by threatenin’ to elope with a stableboy.”
“Ye’ll do no such thing, Skylar Dunlop!” Astrid snapped.
“Mayhap a blacksmith then — Oh! Or a Sassenach!”
Mabel snorted as Campbell glowered at the sky as if it too tried his patience. “Christ above, take me now,” he rumbled as he shut the carriage door behind his wife, he remained standing in the courtyard.
Despite himself, Kian felt a grim smile tug. “Campbell, yer’re stayin’?”
“Aye.” The big man’s gaze swept the walls. “I like a fair fight.”
Tam coughed. “Or an unfair one, if it’s quicker.”
“Both,” Campbell said cheerfully.
Astrid stepped to Scarlett, smoothing a stray curl with surprising gentleness. “Daenae be foolish, darling.”
