The Great Hall of Dalmigavie exuded a feeling of ageless fellowship. Voices and laughter rose and fell at tables lining the high stone walls, paneled to the height of a man’s head with dark wood. Above them, five-hundred-year-old tapestries depicted companies of lords and ladies hunting and sitting in gardens amidst dogs and unicorns hung between ancient shields and swords, lances and battle-axes.
Niall stood at the doorway, waiting for Maisie to come down and join him.
Two days he’d been here, and he’d already learned that meals were a social event, attended by any and all. Smiths and stable hands and farmers, men and women and children, all gathered, and they appeared to be grateful for the open-handedness of Lachlan Mackintosh, the laird.
Niall looked across the hall. At a table on a raised dais, Cinaed sat with Isabella. He thought about the dressing down she’d given him after he’d confronted her husband at the foot of the stairwell yesterday. She was definitely Maisie’s sister. A lioness, a woman-warrior, fearless and prepared to tear him apart with her bare hands, regardless of anything he had to say. And Cinaed’s protectiveness of his wife was unmistakable.
Their kind of romantic attention and devotion was what Niall wanted in his own marriage. He and Maisie were to be wed tomorrow morning. But they’d had so little time in each other’s company in the past two days. In a way, he was thankful for it, for they’d had no time for questions and answers. He knew she must be curious, and so much had transpired behind closed doors. So far, she’d been excluded from all of it.
Last winter, she’d known him as clearly as he’d known her. But he had secrets he couldn’t divulge to her.
Approaching footsteps drew his attention, and he saw Morrigan coming toward him. They’d been briefly introduced, but he’d seen immediately that she had a distinctive personality.
The young woman paused before him. “She’s on her way.”
He nodded, relieved.
“She searched for you all day. To speak to you.”
Archibald Drummond’s daughter was blunt and protective of Maisie. Niall liked both qualities, and he was glad she would always look after Maisie. “I was out with Cinaed and Blair.”
She glanced over her shoulder. “Maisie needs to say her piece before you two stand up and take any vows tomorrow.”
He didn’t know what she meant and yet he did. Niall worried momentarily that she might have changed her mind about marrying him. He wasn’t the free man that she’d fallen in love with, but he hoped that she still found him worthy of her. Even in his own eyes, he needed a chance to prove himself once again. And he hoped he could.
He nodded, and Morrigan moved on.
The Great Hall and everything in it disappeared as his gaze fell on Maisie coming down the corridor. He drank in her beauty, her confident steps, the quiet strength that he knew defined her. He hadn’t the slightest pang of disappointment over what she’d done in the laird’s study the afternoon they’d arrived. He understood loyalty. He respected family. And in the end, her actions had made his mission easier.
She came nearer. Her blue eyes were steady as they looked into his. Niall’s heart pressed against his ribs as he thought of her coming into the dungeon cell, professing her love for him.
He offered his hand, and she placed her palm on it as she reached him.
“Will you still have me tomorrow?” His own question surprised him. He hadn’t intended to ask. It was the one thing he felt most vulnerable about at this moment.
“Do you still want me?”
“Forever. Longer.” He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to her palm before she shyly stole her hand back.
Maisie stood still and took a breath. “Before we go in, I want you to know I’m not done fighting the battles Fiona and I started. I don’t go to Inverness, and I’ve not put myself in any physical danger, but since I saw you last, I’ve been writing articles and sending them off for publication.” She said all of it in one breath. “I want no secrets between us. You know who I was in Edinburgh, but you need to know I’m still the same person here. I have the same beliefs. The same principles. In fact, I’m even more determined than ever. So I ask you again. Do you still want me?”
Niall knew she remembered his words about wanting a peaceful life. She didn’t forget anything. But so much had changed since then. A massive, insurmountable wall now separated reality from fantasy.
“I do want you. And I love you.”
A soft blush bloomed on her cheeks, and he saw her body visibly relax. She entwined her fingers with his. “Will you tell me what happened yesterday? In the dungeons? With Cinaed. There is—”
“You two coming in?” Searc’s bark interrupted them. “Cinaed has business with you, Campbell.”
The little general jerked a thumb toward the dais, and Niall was relieved that Maisie’s questions would need to wait.
But he wasn’t about to desert her. Seeing where Morrigan was sitting, he steered Maisie in that direction.
Before they’d gone a half-dozen paces, they were immediately approached by the two men Niall had traveled with from the Borders. He realized that they hadn’t formally met, though they’d all seen each other when she burst into the laird’s study.
He made the introductions.
“You defy words, Campbell,” Lewis Rainey asserted. “Begging your pardon, ma’am.”
“Indeed,” the other added. “Accused by this lady and thrown into a dungeon, and yet you’re to be married tomorrow.”
Rainey had a slight sneer in his voice. “And you’re to be the brother-in-law to the son of Scotland. Quite the coup.”
“I’ll be bound no military exploit raised you so fast in the world,” Woelk added with a smirk.
Neither man seemed to care that Maisie was listening to their barbs.
“You have to admit,” Rainey remarked. “The change in fortunes was a wee bit abrupt.”
“Indeed, we’d love to hear just how you managed it, Campbell.”
Niall felt Maisie’s body become more and more tense with each comment these two made. He knew she had to be curious about the change of his fortune as well, though, and how it had come about. He was startled when she took a half-step forward and addressed the intruders directly.
“For weeks, gentlemen, Dalmigavie has been on edge with the possibility of a threat on Cinaed’s life. When Lieutenant Campbell arrived … a military man … and I knew all about his years of service, I panicked. In my anxiety, I misspoke. But as soon as I had time to think and speak to my sister, sanity returned.”
“You two were acquainted with each other before?” Woelk asked, his tone registering his surprise.
“Of course. Lieutenant Campbell and I were more than acquainted.” Her look of disdain conveyed the view that anyone of any importance already knew this. “We were betrothed in Edinburgh, Mr. Woelk. Our engagement was announced in all the newspapers this past spring. It was simply a misfortune that he had to leave the city so suddenly. It’s miraculous that we found each other here in the Highlands. Wouldn’t you agree, my love?”
Her blue eyes turned up to his, looking for affirmation. Niall nodded and pressed her arm against his side. He was more thankful to her than she could ever imagine.
“I’m just so grateful that he’s forgiven me for my hasty words.”
Woelk and Rainey looked at her as if she’d suddenly emerged from a well and begun speaking in tongues. The information she revealed was clearly a surprise.
“Of course, I’m still a newcomer to Dalmigavie Castle. And an outsider.” Maisie looked to her right and left and then motioned to where Searc was speaking to the laird. “But there is some benefit to having my sister married to Cinaed. I was able to speak with the laird right after, and I cleared up the misunderstanding immediately.”
She beamed for a moment before lowering her voice to a confidential tone. “For the sake of my reputation, my sister insisted that the wedding take place at once. She didn’t want Lieutenant Campbell to disappear on me again.”
Maisie smiled and clung tightly to his arm.
“So here we are, gentlemen.” Niall glanced around. “And tomorrow I’ll keep my promise and do my duty. So if you’ll excuse us.”
He waited until the two stepped aside and then led her toward her seat.
“Well done,” he said. “You’re amazing.”
“Duty?” she repeated softly. “Is that why you’re marrying me?”
He stopped and turned her around until she faced him. The crowds, the noise, where they were and who was watching didn’t matter. He looked into her eyes.
“I’m marrying you tomorrow because I love you.”
And Niall paused, knowing those were the truest words he’d said in a very long while.
Unto His Majesty the King
From the hand of The Right Honorable, The Viscount Sidmouth
Sir,
I have this minute received information regarding the loss of HMS Pitt and an outbreak of violence in Inverness. A complete report will follow, but I am assured, based on a letter I have received from the Governor of Fort George directly, that the explosion that took place on the vessel and the ensuing violence in the town appear to be unrelated to our primary concern regarding the “son of Scotland.”
In additional correspondence with me, the military Governor of the Highlands at Fort William is pursuing the feasibility of a direct assault on Dalmigavie Castle. The topography of the area makes the Mackintosh stronghold nearly unassailable without great loss of life, but the general is willing to undertake such a challenge. However, he has reported to the War Secretary that the cost of success in taking the castle would leave the Highlands indefensible at a time when full regimental strength is required. An unsuccessful attempt would be devastating and could result in the loss of the Highlands and possibly, all of Scotland.
In the meantime, Sir Rupert is pursuing a covert, but equally lethal, resolution of the threat at Dalmigavie Castle.
I shall communicate any new development immediately.
I remain, Sir,
Your Most Obedient Servant