Page 14 of The Highlander’s Untamed Lady

The traveling party of warriors slowly drew to a stop. Immediately the kitchen staff saw to the cart drawn behind the carriage, removing the stacks of furniture placed upon the bounty within to give the impression of being nothing worth stealing, to hide the stores of grain hidden within.

Evander approached Diana’s coach and opened the door. His people’s stares crept over his back, but he blocked their view of his intended bride and addressed the woman inside.

“I know ye dinna want to be here,” he said. “And I wouldna even try to attempt to command it of ye, but I ask that ye keep in mind that these are good people. Despite the many hardships they’ve faced, they only want to see ye have a good life.”

Diana watched him silently with her unusual blue eyes for so long, he worried she’d not understood him somehow. Finally, a smirk lifted her lips. “At least you know better than to try to order me.”

With that, he pulled open the door to the carriage and waited for his betrothed to exit. She did not disappoint. She made her appearance like a queen stepping from a gilded vessel, her wolves at her side, beasts tamed by the ethereal beauty of the woman they loved. Hera’s limp was almost imperceptible, and Zeus slowed his pace to match that of Diana’s, his golden gaze almost amenable.

The Mackenzies erupted into cheers and parted to allow Evander and Diana entry into Castle Leod. The sweet scent of clean rushes and herbs hit him with the solid brace of familiarity and home. They had been an extravagance, a worthy one, to impress their new mistress. Even though she was English, their marriage meant food, and that made her welcome.

An excited yapping caught his attention and a puff of brown fur bounded in his direction.

He grinned wide and bent to retrieve the wriggling mass of warmth. Immediately, a small pink tongue darted at his face in eager delight to welcome him home. He turned his head in an attempt to keep his mouth from the dog’s frantic affection. “I missed ye too, Kitzi.”

He maneuvered his chin over the dog’s head and planted a kiss to the top of her silky head. Kitzi’s tail wagged with such exuberance, she almost knocked her body from his grasp. He laughed and looked up at Diana to find her watching him with a bewildered expression on her face. Zeus and Hera stared at wee Kitzi in equal confusion.

“What is that?” Diana asked, eyeing Kitzi.

“Kitzi.” Evander set the dog on the ground, where she immediately squirmed away and raced over to the wolves.

Zeus lowered his head and glowered at the dog, who flicked an excited lick on his nose before prancing over to Hera. The large black wolf yanked his head back and stared at Kitzi as if he didn’t know what to make of her.

“Is she a cat?” Diana asked, continuing to watch as Kitzi spun around Hera with interest before darting off to yip her way into another room.

Evander chuckled after the dog and shook his head. “A dog. She was the runt of a litter of pups we found in a glen, such a wee thing we dinna think she’d live. Obviously she recovered well enough.” He nodded in the direction of the hall. “Come. I’ll show ye to yer room.”

Diana glanced around them in a not-so-discreet manner, taking in the rich furnishings and the staff who were not-so-discreetly studying her as well. She nodded mutely and allowed Evander to lead her upstairs.

He took his time walking through his home, letting her take it all in. After having been in a tower for several months and then locked in a coach for the last two weeks, and now in a new place, no matter how much bravado she put forth, he knew it must be disconcerting.

He opened the door to the large room where she would stay, the one adjoining his. She slid him a wary look from the corner of her eye and entered. The wolves followed her, their tails lowered, and together the three of them stood awkwardly at the center.

Evander tried to see his home from her perspective: the large bed with plaid and furs laid atop it, the wooden wardrobe and tables, the leather chairs set before the large hearth. It was not as fine as the home Lord Cornwall kept, but it was clean and well-maintained.

“Is this where I’m to be kept?” Diana asked with a defiant lift to her chin.

“Kept?” Evander shook his head. “Ye’re no’ to be kept anywhere. This is where ye sleep. Ye can go anywhere in the castle.”

She narrowed her eyes at him with apparent skepticism. “But I’m to stay inside?”

“Ye can go out if ye wish.” Evander strode across the room to a large window overlooking the snow-dotted green beauty of his land. An image flashed in his mind of Emilia on the ground, the white of her dress soaked red with blood. She’d been so small in his arms, her green eyes, the same as their father’s, staring up at the sky as if seeing herself rise into heaven.

Evander’s throat tightened, but he swallowed down the welling of emotion. “Take the guards if ye go out. It’s no’ safe in Scotland for a lass to be out alone.”

“I can handle myself.”

Evander balled his hands into a fist and pushed them into the hard stone windowsill. Emilia had imagined herself being strong enough to fend off attacks. She’d been a lass of only nine, but she’d fought like a warrior.

Evander turned back to Diana, wishing he could so easily turn from his memories. “Aye, I know ye can defend yerself against most. But the people are desperate for food, and desperate people are dangerous. They’d be willing to get their throat torn out for a chance to eat one of yer wolves.”

Diana’s hands immediately went to the head of each of her pets. “That’s ridiculous.”

Emilia had been as protective. If the blade hadn’t sunk into her heart, she would have kept fighting. “It isna ridiculous, I assure ye.” Evander’s tone came out gruff. The knot had returned to his throat. He wanted to be done with this conversation, to move away from the gaping hurt Emilia’s loss had left behind. “Take a guard with ye if ye go out.”

Her gaze lowered in thought. “Why were their mouths green?”

“Whose?”