He hated it.
He hated that mustache, he hated her sitting over there on her saddle instead of being curled up in his lap where he wanted her.
He hated Ian Murray for taking the meadow and the prime planting land which should belong to the MacBains, and he hated his sense of honor which had forced him to retaliate, leading to the King’s decree.
He hated that, without the meadow and its resources, his people suffered.
He hated that his future was not his own, but belonged to his clan.
He swallowed down his anger, knowing it wasn’t directed at this woman.
“Robena.” He lowered his voice, although he told himself ‘twas not to protect this ridiculous charade. “Ye cannae come to the Games with us, even if ‘tis only to participate in the piping contests.”
“Why no’?”
“Well, for one thing, ye’re a woman.”
Her chin rose as she pointed at her lip. “Mustache.”
With her hand removed from his, he forced himself to stop touching her bare knee. ‘Twas hard.
Like his—
Nay, stop thinking about yer cock, we’re all tired of hearing about it.
“A lady cannae go gallivanting across the Highlands with only a band of men from a different clan.” He tried to frown. “It just isnae done.”
She became interested in her horse’s mane. “‘Tis done if I do it.”
“Think of yer reputation, lass!” he burst out.
“Shhh!” She darted a glance over his shoulder, but his men were laughing loudly about something, clearly in better spirits now they had something in their stomachs. “No’ so loud.”
“They’ll see through yer disguise soon enough.”
She glared at him. “No’ if ye keep yer mouth shut. Call me Robbie, and they’ll follow.”
“It doesnae matter, because ye’re no’ coming with us to the Games.”
When she shifted in her saddle, her horse shied slightly. “What if I told ye I had my father’s permission to be here?”
He narrowed his eyes. That would change his opinion. The Oliphant was absent-minded, ‘twas clear, but he had said he wanted to send men to the Games. Was Robena who he’d meant?
“Do ye? Have yer da’s permission?”
Her chin rose again, her gaze firmly on his chin. “My family kens how important ‘tis to me to prove my talent. They ken where I am.”
“Right now?”
Stiffly, she nodded.
Bah, he’d hurt her so badly she couldn’t even meet his eyes now. He wondered, if she did, would he see anger in there? Or just…more emptiness? She’d seemed to hurt in the secret passageway, and later, when she’d read the King’s decree…but was it possible she’d gotten over him so quickly?
Yer ego can take the blow, ye arse.
Aye. He sighed.
‘Twould be far better if she wasn’t drowning in pain, the way he was. ‘Twould be far better for her to have moved on, to have accepted her future didn’t lie with him.