Page 3 of Highlander's Rebellious Affair
Her eyes remained wide, and when she didn’t reply, he took his fingers away from her lips and said again, “Ye can speak now.”
“I had to get away from my faither and those men in there.” She shuddered and added, “They make me feel sick in my stomach.”
Ian cocked a brow, and in that moment, a plan formed in his head. “I am Hope,” she continued and stuck out her hand for a shake. “Hope Burnett. Who are ye? And why are ye alone in the dark garden? Whose man are ye? Galloway? Cawdor? Blyth? Culloden?” He watched her lips move as she continued to list the names of the Clan Lairds present in the Hall.
“I am nay here for the feast,” he replied and stepped away from her when he realized his hands were still wrapped around her waist and she was still standing so close to him. He was aware of her, his gaze moved down again to the shape of her lips as she spoke, and the close knit of her eyebrows as she stared at him.
“Ye are nay?” she asked. “But I saw ye in the Grand Hall, right at the back, with the other men.”
“I am…” his voice trailed off as he searched his mind for a suitable reply to her curiosity without giving himself away, “I am one of the guards.”
“Guarding whom?”
“Ye dinnae have to ken everythin’, Lass,” he replied and saw her eyes roll. She pouted and turned away from him, then walked away, farther into the garden.
He stood behind her when she stopped and raised her head up to the sky. “It’s a very lovely winter,” she whispered, her voice sounding wistful. “And a long one. All I want is to leave the walls of this Castle, and see the mountains out in the wild. Ride a horse, feel the wind blow against every inch of my body while I gallop, drink from a loch and watch the deer play.”
“I dinnae want to be married to some old Laird from a faraway clan who may be vile or mean to me. A laird I dinnae love, neither does he love me. What kind of a life would that be?” she asked rhetorically and then turned around to face him. “I hate my faither,” she added.
Ian stared at her, and he saw the innocence in her eyes and face. She was genuinely not interested in wedding his uncle, and that gave him a sudden burst of joy. It meant he could so easily destroy his uncle’s plans and end this perfidious plan for a marriage.
“Is this why ye left the Hall?” he asked and she nodded. Tears brimmed in her eyes, and she lowered her gaze.
“When I return, I will have to wed him. My faither wants us to wed tonight, he is so eager to sell me off to that man,” she added with a shudder. “Did ye see what he looks like?”
Ian held back his chuckle as she spoke because he knew exactly what his uncle was like. Lyall was a short man for his build, he had large limbs and a round face partly covered with his large beard.
“I wish I could disappear,” she muttered. “Just go missin’ so my faither and that horrible man wouldnae be able to find me.”
“Wishes do come true,” Ian replied her, and she looked at him again. This time it was her turn to stare, and he saw her cheeks redden when she looked away.
“Aye, but only for lassies and laddies who play in the open fields unattended,” she replied him and then smiled. He immediately noticed the dimple on the side of her left cheek, and the way her eyes lifted alongside the corners of her lips. “I wish I was one of those lassies,” she added and then her smile slowly dropped. Ian immediately missed it, but he said nothing as she sighed and sucked in a deep breath.
“It is time to meet my fate,” she said when she heard a guard calling for her, and then gave him one last look. “Thank ye for savin’ me from fallin’ and breakin’ my head earlier,” she said. “I dinnae ken yer name yet, and I am guessin’ we wouldnae meet again, but I hope we do.”
She walked past him then, and headed back toward doors connecting the garden to the corridor of the Castle’s ground floor.
* * *
Hope had made it down the corridor when a hand grabbed her arm gently, and pulled her away into a dark corner. She yelped, but another hand covered her mouth, and muffled her scream.
3
Inside the Hall, Stephen Burnett, Laird of Drummond, waited for his daughter to return while he drank heavily from the quaich the serving girl beside him constantly refilled whenever he emptied it.
He laughed out loud at something his old friend, Lyall Cowan, Laird of Galloway said and turned to his wife who was the center of the joke. Moira said nothing as she averted her gaze to the door and waited just like him for Hope to walk in.
“Where is yer daughter?” he asked, his voice drooling as he brought his lips close to her face, then turned her chin with force so she could face him. “Go find her,” he ordered. “Now.”
Moira stood up from her chair quietly and as she walked away, he cackled with his friend again. “She used to be the prettiest of all the lasses in Drummond when I met her,” he said. “Now she is just some old woman who cannae even care for her own child,” he said.
“Ye mean Hope?” Lyall asked and he nodded.
“She is a prize, isnae she? I am most proud of her beauty and she is worth more than a thousand shillings to me.”
“I ken that,” Lyall replied. “I intend to make use of this allegiance very well, my friend,” he smiled. “I promise to care for and cherish yer daughter, as long as ye dinnae betray me on yer end. I ken my foolish nephew is planin’ an uprisin’, he intends to take power away from me,” Lyall said with a loud bout of laughter and when it ended, he added. “I cannae live to see that happen. It is why I need yer support; yer daughter will bear me healthy sons and ye–” his voice trailed off, and Stephen’s smile slowly withered as he realized what Lyall was about to say next. “Ye would support me with the resources I need to win this war until I can get a hold of the one thing I have been searchin’ for my entire life.”
Stephen cleared his throat and looked away from Lyall when he said, “The Galloway Treasure.” He had known the man for a long time, they met years back when Lyall had ridden to his Castle and offered him a deal.
