"I'll warn Mother to prepare for more guests," Douglas growled.
"More?" Cam asked, but his brother had already turned his horse and charged away with the other Sinclair warriors following. Frowning now, Cam urged his horse forward again, hoping to God that his mother didn't still have a castle full of women waiting to descend on him the moment he entered. Dear God, she couldn't have kept them there all summer, could she?
Knowing his mother as he did? Aye, she could have, Cam thought with a sigh.
Sinclair was huge and crammed full of people moving every which way, Joan noted, gawking about as they crossed the drawbridge into the outer courtyard. She wasn't the only one gawking. Every person in the courtyard seemed to pause and turn to stare at them as they rode past, and every set of eyes seemed to be settled on her, in Cam's lap. At least until they'd passed, then their curious gazes seemed to take note of Lady Annabel, her daughters and the MacKay soldiers and wagons that followed.
Uncomfortable under all those staring eyes, Joan was relieved to reach the bridge across the inner moat and ride under the gatehouse. At least until they came out in the inner courtyard and she noted almost as many people in this area, all of whom mimicked those in the outer courtyard and stopped to gawk at them as well.
"Chin up," Cam murmured by her ear. "Ye're Lady Sinclair now. These are yer people."
Joan raised her chin, and tried to look serene, but it was difficult when all she wanted to do was crawl inside Cam's plaid and hide. Especially when she noted the people spilling out of the keep and gathering on the steps. Her gaze was immediately drawn to a well-dressed couple on the top steps. The man had salt and pepper hair, at his side was a tall, long-necked woman of about Annabel's age, her blond hair sprinkled with gray.
"Your parents?" she asked under her breath.
"Aye."
Joan nodded and let her gaze drift over the other people on the stairs, most of whom were women. There were a couple of older women amongst them, but most were Joan's age or younger, and every single one was pretty. Cam had said he only had one sister and Joan guessed that she was amongst the people on the stairs, but suspected the rest were not his cousins. At least, not all of them, she thought, and she remembered Cam saying that his mother had filled the castle with unattached women, hoping he'd marry one of them.
His mother was about to be terribly disappointed, Joan thought on a small sigh as Cam stopped his mount at the foot of the steps and dismounted, then reached up to lift her down. When he then turned to aid, first, Lady Annabel, and then each of her daughters, Joan glanced to her mother-in-law's expressionless face again.
Aye, she'd be disappointed, Joan thought again, more grimly. How could she not be? Any one of the pretty women on the stairs would undoubtedly make a better wife to Cam than she would. No doubt they were all trained in whatever it was that made a woman a good wife to a noble laird. Certainly, they already had the manners and such mastered, while she did not.
"Courage," Annabel whispered once she was on the ground. She also slipped her arm around her waist and hugged her briefly to her side.
Joan managed a smile for her aunt, appreciating the supportive gesture.
" 'Twill be all right. Lady Sinclair is nice," Annella whispered encouragingly, appearing at her other side and taking her hand. "She will like ye."
"Shall we, ladies?" Cam murmured as he finished lifting Kenna off her mount and led her over to join them. He frowned briefly when he realized that there was no room for him beside Joan, then relaxed, shrugged slightly and ushered them up the stairs en masse.
"Annabel," Lady Sinclair said, moving down a couple steps to greet them. Her previously expressionless face broke into a smile of greeting that made her absolutely beautiful and much more approachable. "What a nice surprise."
" 'Tis lovely to see you again, Bearnas." Annabel smiled widely and retrieved her arm from around Joan's waist to take the hands Lady Sinclair held out and then hug her in greeting.
"And I, you," Bearnas Sinclair assured her and then as they stepped back from each other, she glanced to Cam and added, "Especially since ye brought me son home to me safe and sound. I was beginning to fear he'd been beset by bandits on the road."
"I was," Cam said, stepping up to hug his mother as Annabel moved sideways on the step to greet Laird Sinclair with a hug as well. It seemed the Sinclairs and MacKays were close friends, Joan thought.
"What?" Lady Sinclair pulled back from her son with alarm. "Are ye all right?"
"Aye, thanks to Joan," Cam assured her and then turned to hold his hand out to her as he added, "She saved me life. Twice. First taking out one o' me attackers fer me, and then watching o'er me while I lay unconscious and defenseless. She mended me, else I would no' be standing here now."
Forcing a nervous smile as she took his hand, Joan stepped up next to him.
"Well, 'tis definitely a pleasure to meet you then, dear," Lady Sinclair said solemnly, looking her over. "Joan, is it?"
"Aye, Mother," Cam said. "This is Laird and Lady MacKay's niece, Lady Joan Sinclair."
"Niece?" Lady Sinclair echoed and turned to Lady Annabel with surprise. "I did no' ken ye had--" She stopped suddenly and then turned slowly back to Joan and Cam, confusion clouding her eyes. "Joan Sinclair?"
"Aye. We were married at MacKay yesterday. She is me wife," Cam announced. A moment of silence passed where everyone seemed frozen, then one of the women on the stairs made an odd choking sound and apparently fainted. At least, the blond dropped and began to roll down the steps. Fortunately, a younger version of Cam, his brother Aiden, Joan guessed, moved to the side so that she rolled into his ankles and came to a halt.
"Thank you, son," Lady Sinclair said on a sigh as the young man bent to scoop up the unfortunate woman. "Please take Lady Murine inside."
Joan instinctively started to move toward them, ready to help the woman, but her aunt caught her arm and shook her head. "I shall tend her."
Nodding, Joan reluctantly relaxed and remained where she was, but she had to fight every instinct she had to do so.
"I would have thought you'd sent the possible brides home by now," Cam said dryly as he watched his brother carry the woman into the keep with Annabel on his heels. "I have been away all summer, after all."
"Aye, and I did," Lady Sinclair admitted on a sigh as the keep doors closed.
"And then she sent fer them again when Roderick and Bryson returned with the news that ye were on yer way home and should arrive in a couple days," Douglas announced, drawing Joan's gaze his way. The man was as grim as Cam had claimed. He was also dark haired like his father, rather than fair like his mother and two brothers. He then added dryly, "That was two weeks ago, by the by."
"Leave off, Douglas. Cam already said he was beset by bandits and needed nursing," Laird Sinclair admonished, speaking at last. Shifting his attention to Joan then, he stepped down and pulled her into an embrace, adding, "Thank ye fer saving me boy, lass. And welcome to the family."
"Thank you," Joan murmured, managing a real smile when he released her and stepped back.
Laird Sinclair glanced to his wife briefly and his lips quirked up at the edges as he took in her expression. Turning back to Joan, he added, "I ken me wife welcomes ye too, she's jest too stunned right now to speak. We were beginnin' to think the lad would ne'er marry again. Ye must be something special to ha'e tempted him back into that sacred state."