Page 40 of A Highlander's Vow

Chapter Eighteen

Days went byand they heard nothing from Anthony. After he’d left, Megan had been nervous, jumping at every sound behind her. Daniel assigned one of his warriors to stay with her all day. Gregory had forbidden her from leaving the castle, and she was not allowed to go to the vendors when they came unless she had no one but Gregory at her side.

Having all these restrictions made her more nervous because there was no way for her to forget that the king ordered her to marry The Gunn. If there was a way to have her marriage annulled, she was certain Anthony would find it, even though it had been blessed by the Church and duly consummated. He seemed almost desperate to have her marry The Gunn, and she would love to know what his reward was for this.

Today she was resting in Beth’s solar with her. Beth was beginning to develop a little belly bump and she found it hard to make it through the day without a nap. Luckily, her appetite was now normal.

It was right after the nooning and they would go over the tasks in the keep and who would take care of which one. As Beth moved farther into her condition, with her fatigue and occasional stomach upset, Megan had been taking on more of the duties.

Beth laid down the embroidery she was working on and studied Megan for a minute. “Ye seem nervous, Megan. Ye surely ken thatGregory and Daniel willna let ye go.”

Megan nodded. “Aye, but I feel as though I’m bringing trouble to yer clan.”

“’Tis ye clan now, Megan Makenzie,” Beth said softly.

She couldn’t hold the tears that sprang to her eyes. Aye, she felt as if this was her home. Robert had left her alone so much that she never really felt as though she was accepted at Sinclair Castle.

Anthony had pushed her away once he took over the lairdship, and Robert had spent his time training on the list and visiting the pub with his friends. It had been a lonely life. The only time her husband had sought her out was when he wanted to attempt once more to get an heir from her. Always after lovemaking and the pain she endured as he entered her, he would remind her there was something wrong with her. She spent the day remembering how unhappy she’d been then, and realizing how happy she was now.

She went about her chores, not realizing she was smiling until one of the maids mentioned it to her.

A few hours later, “Raise the drawbridge,” echoed through the outer bailey.

Megan and Beth jumped up. “That doesn’t sound good,” Beth said.

They both hurried from the solar and made their way downstairs.

It appeared Daniel and Gregory had called half the men from the lists inside, leaving the other half to guard the outside of the castle.

*

“Do they reallybelieve they can breach our castle?” Gregory asked Daniel.

“Come, let us go up to the ramparts and see what they’ve brought with them.”

The two men made their way upstairs. “What does it look like?” he asked one of the men on duty.

“A large group to be sure, laird, but nothing we canno’ handle.”

Gregory stepped up to the wall and looked down. “I doona see any of King George’s men.” For that, he was grateful since they would not be waging a battle with the monarch which could be verra bad for their clan.

“I have an idea, laird,” Gregory said. “Once we dispatch these men, I will take Megan to the Mackays until this is o’er.”

Daniel hesitated for a moment, then said, “Aye. ’Tis a good one. If the lass isna here, there would be no reason for their return once we send them on their way now.”

Anthony, with The Gunn standing next to him, cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “We come in peace.”

Daniel and Gregory looked at each other and laughed. “Indeed,” Daniel called down to them. “If ye come in peace, why do ye have triple the men ye had with ye the last time ye tried to snatch Gregory’s wife?”

The Gunn shouted, “Once ye send my betrothed down to me, we will be on our way.”

Daniel sighed. “We doona have a betrothed of yers here. We have been over this before. If ye are referring to Megan Mackenzie, she is wife to my cousin and second-in-command, Gregory Mackenzie. Her home is here with the Mackenzie clan. ’Tis sorry I am for yer trouble, but ye can be on your way now.”

The Gunn waved the parchment in his hand, his face as red as a summer rose. “I have an order signed by King George II.”

Daniel rested his forearms on top of the battlement and grinned. “So ye have said. And we have a marriage certificate signed by a priest. I believe God outranks the king.”

The Gunn grew even redder in the face and shook his fist. “Her uncle, Laird Anthony Sinclair, signed a legal betrothal agreement between him and me, agreed to by the king.”