Seduction of a Highland Lass (McCabe Trilogy 2)

She turned and hurried down the hall, Rionna’s troubled gaze following her the entire way.

Alaric swung his sword in a wide arc and sent his opponent’s shield flying through the air. ’Twas the fourth man he’d dispatched in as many minutes, and he whirled, looking for his next adversary.

His men stood at a wary distance, none stepping up to challenge.

Then Caelen stepped in front of him, flipping his sword in a casual manner that was blatantly mocking—and challenging.

“You’re spoiling for a fight, brother. ’Tis the truth so I’m more than willing to oblige you.”

Alaric scowled. “I’m in no mood for your baiting.”

Caelen lifted an eyebrow. “Baiting? We both want the same thing. Quit wasting time and raise your sword.”

Without pausing to wonder why Caelen was spoiling for a fight, Alaric lunged and swung his sword. Caelen easily danced out of the way and thrust his sword down to parry Alaric’s thrust.

The clang of metal rang out over the courtyard and in a matter of moments an excited murmur rose. Both McCabe and McDonald men surged forward to form a circle around the two brothers.

At first Alaric took it easy, pacing himself and measuring his blows, but it quickly became obvious that Caelen had no patience for a simple sparring.

Rage glittered in his brother’s eyes and his jaw was set in a line so tight that it bulged with every thrust of his sword.

With a savage sound of satisfaction, Alaric threw himself into the battle. All the frustration that had mounted over the last weeks came boiling out, and he took it out on his younger brother.

He needn’t have worried. Whatever had Caelen so furious, it was fueling his strength, and the two men were snarling gladiators.

Their battle quickly became a matter of wagering, as sides were decided upon and shouts of encouragement rose above the clash of metal and the loud grunts of the two opponents.

A short distance away, Ewan watched the battle in silence. He made no effort to intervene. He wasn’t a stupid man. His two brothers had blood in their eyes. He had every faith that they wouldn’t actually kill each other. How badly they injured themselves was another matter entirely. But he wasn’t about to step into the fray and risk a severed limb or broken bone.

He wasn’t entirely certain what was driving Caelen’s rage. But he’d find out.

The hour was late and most of the keep was solidly abed by now, and yet Keeley lay in her bed wide awake as the events of the day caught up to her. It had been an exhausting time and she wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold up under the strain without cracking.

She’d heard of no controversy involving Laird McDonald, so she could only surmise that Caelen had kept his word and told no one of the laird’s attack on her.

Her fingers curled into a fist and she had to make herself relax and filter the rage from her blood. She would have liked to have killed the bastard. Her only satisfaction was that he hadn’t got the best of her and she hadn’t been so paralyzed with fear that she hadn’t been able to defend herself.

She would have leaped from the window before allowing Laird McDonald to violate her.

What she really wanted was to march down the hall to where the bastard had stayed sequestered in his chamber all day and hit him again.

A soft knock at Keeley’s door had her sitting straight up in bed. She reached for a wrap and hastened to answer, worried that something had gone wrong with Mairin or the babe.

When she opened the door, she was stunned to see Rionna standing in the doorway, her expression indecipherable.

“Rionna?”

“Keeley,” Rionna greeted softly. “Can I come in?”

Keeley gripped the door until her knuckles were white. She didn’t want to have this conversation with Rionna. She didn’t want to talk to the woman at all. ’Twas enough that she knew she would wed with Alaric in a little more than a day’s time.

But she couldn’t avoid the inevitable forever. ’Twas better to have the conversation in privacy where they wouldn’t chance being overheard.

She relaxed her grasp on the door and opened it wider. “Aye, come in.”

Rionna walked in and Keeley shut the door behind her. Keeley walked across the floor to sit on the edge of her bed. She wouldn’t give Rionna the advantage and allow her to know how unsettled she was by her visit.

Rionna rubbed her hands down the men’s trews she wore and flexed her fingers in a nervous gesture. “There is much I would say to you, Keeley. Beginning with the fact that I am overjoyed that you are alive and well. I feared so much that something terrible had happened to you.”

Bitterness welled up and before Keeley could call back the words, she blurted out, “ ’Tis an odd thing to say given how I was turned from my home and left to survive on my own.”

Rionna shook her head, pain glittering in her golden eyes. “Nay. Not on your own.”

Keeley pushed herself from the bed and stood with trembling legs. “You did not even send for me after your mother passed, and you knew the truth, Rionna. You knew.”

Rionna bowed her head. “Aye, I knew. I’ve always known. ’Tis a terrible thing for a lass to know about her father. Why do you think I always preferred to play outside the keep, away from my father? I saw the way he looked at you, Keeley. I knew and I despised him for it.”

Keeley’s mouth gaped open. She couldn’t even form a response, so shocked was she by Rionna’s words.

Rionna reached out and touched Keeley’s arm. “Please, sit down and listen to what I have to say.”

Keeley hesitated.