Page 47 of Taken By the Savage Highlander

“Ye ken,” Lachlan said, dropping himself next to Cameron on the low stone wall, “ye’ve been avoidin’ any mention of yer wife.”

Cameron lifted his head, keeping his expression neutral. Over the last week, they’d made excellent progress on the granary. When he’d arrived, they’d begun the arduous process of stripping it down to its frame and supports. Now, all that was left was wait for the stones to set so they could lay the thatch roof.

“I daenae ken if ye’ve forgotten, but I am here to assist with repairs, nae to gossip,” Cameron replied, accepting the bladder of water a servant presented him with.

“I havenae forgotten,” Lachlan said, crossing his arms over his chest. “And I am nae gossipin’. I’m askin’ me cousin what is happenin’ within his clan. I’ve kent ye me entire life, and if ye would have asked me only a few months ago, I would wager that ye would die old, stubborn, and unmarried.”

“Perhaps I still might,” Cameron scoffed before taking a long drink of the cool liquid. Passing the water to Lachlan, he considered his own situation. “This marriage is nothin’ more than a debt settled by a cowardly father.”

Lachlan was quiet for a long moment, looking over the work that they’d done. When he finally spoke, he said, “So ye only wanted her dowry, then?”

“Nay,” Cameron said, tilting his head back and allowing the breeze to run through his hair. “I told ye that I was goin’ to rectify the bad land sold to me father. Lord Abbott wasnae keen on payin’ me back outright. He offered me his daughter instead. For her dowry.”

“And ye took her?” Lachlan said. There wasn’t judgment there, only the kind of curiosity that came with trying to piece together a new facet of someone he’d always known.

“I agreed to it to get him into negotiations,” Cameron replied, knowing he was simplifying the situation. “I could tell the kind of man he was the second he offered his daughter as payment. He dinnae wish to give me her dowry; he merely wanted to call the two of us even. He would get the land back, and I would get a girl and a dowry.”

“So ye took her because ye kent he would try to sell her to someone else,” Lachlan said after another beat.

“Aye. And he added an impossible clause into the contract that me Council agreed to,” Cameron replied. “I’m nae sure how we will fulfill it, nor do I ken if I will ever see a bit of her dowry.”

The words came out of his mouth softly, but he felt as if they’d slammed into him. He hadn’t spoken his concerns aloud, not even to Gavin. It seemed like an insurmountable task, one he didn’t have a single clue how to attack.

“Ye’re speakin’ of the marriage,” Lachlan said, passing the water back to Cameron, “but ye havenae mentioned the woman.”

The observation was simple, but it hit Cameron in waves. He was hiding his own inner turmoil and held a distaste for anything that could be construed as gossip. This marriage had been a business arrangement from the beginning, but at no point had he stopped to consider the human aspect of it. Until now, it hadn’t seemed important; it was simply collateral damage.

I am turnin’ into me father.

Cameron finished the dregs of water, then handed the bladder to a servant nearby. He cleared his throat before saying, “Margo is unfortunate to be caught in this.”

“She is,” Lachlan said thoughtfully. He stood up, signaling to Cameron that it was time to move into the castle. “And so are ye.”

“I wouldnae say that,” Cameron said, his voice gruff.

“Ye’re cleanin’ up a mess that doesnae belong to ye,” Lachlan said as if that explained everything, as if he didn’t see that Cameron was the person holding the power in this arrangement.

Margo had been traded like she was an object. Cameron had agreed to the wedding. No matter what his intentions had been, he had started the sequence of events. He had trapped Margo. It was just like the cage his father had put on his mother and the chains his sister had taken her own life to escape.

Just before Cameron and Lachlan parted to go to their respective chambers, Lachlan stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t bother waiting for Cameron to turn toward him. He seemed to understand that Cameron had reached his limit.

“We grew up together,” Lachlan said, his voice even. “We both lost people. Ye’re many things, Cameron. But ye’re nae yer father.”

Lachlan dropped his arm then. As he walked down the corridor, Cameron stood in place. What his cousin had said, the way that he’d delivered the verdict, seemed to stick to every part of him. He couldn’t parse what hearing the words had done to him, but there was a shift somewhere deep within him.

I’m tryin’. But I daenae think that I can suppress me lineage.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

“Ever since those kittens started roamin’ the castle, ye’ve been mopin’ around,” Mrs. Campbell said as she handed Margo a crate of old records.

Though she was using the kittens as an excuse, Margo picked up on what the woman left unspoken. Surely, she had put together that Margo’s significant dip in energy had coincided with the news of Cameron’s absence. The gathering the previous evening and her request for assistance in the study were both Mrs. Campbell’s way of keeping Margo’s mind occupied.

“They stopped needing us so much when they started eating fish,” Margo said, glad to have the animals to default to. She wasn’t sure if she could stomach talking about Cameron. “I must find new ways to fill my days.”

I should not miss his presence so much, but the longer he’s gone, the more I wish he were here.

“Well, I have nae shortage of tasks that need taken care of,” Mrs. Campbell said, grabbing her own box. “Now, I want ye to separate the correspondence from the records. I daenae ken who began throwin’ everythin’ in one place, but I’d like to stop that practice.”