Page 8 of Hunted By the Hard Highlander

* * *

“Wake Isabella,” Hendry barked when he stepped through the castle doors, the boy a solid weight in his arms. “And prepare a room. It is now yer duty to keep this boy comfortable while he is healed.”

The staff in the foyer immediately began moving. Most of them were nearby, finishing preparations for the manager’s arrival the next morning. Aurora was following close behind him, as silent as she was on the trip back to the castle grounds.

“Ye,” Hendry said when he spotted his steward moving with the servants. “Gather me council immediately.”

The man nodded before running off to prepare the impromptu meeting. Hendry marched forward, careful to keep from jostling the boy in his arms too much. Aurora had yet to give him the boy’s name, and Hendry would demand it as soon as he was sure the child was stabilized.

When he entered the chambers closest to the healer’s room, Isabella was already there. There was a box filled with tinctures and dried herbs sitting on the nightstand. She was absorbed in mixing together a medicine that was meant to lessen the fever.

“Put him on the mattress,” Isabella instructed, her eyes darting from Hendry and the boy to Aurora. “I will keep the staff from jostlin’ him as they finish preparin’ the room.”

Hendry did as the healer said, gently laying the sick, sleeping boy on the bed, ensuring his head was cushioned by the plush pillow. Then, he grabbed a wooden chair from the corner of the room and moved it to the bedside. Looking at Aurora, he gestured to the seat. She would not be of any use at the meeting with his council, not when her brother was in a strange place being tended to by someone that she did not know.

“I will be meetin’ with me council,” he said, keeping his voice low so he would not disturb Isabella’s work. “If me assistance for any reason, inform the household.”

Isabella’s focus stayed firmly on Adair. This was a battlefield Clan Anderson knew well. Aurora, however, caught his eye, looking back at him. Her expression was unreadable, but he could not seem to look away. After a beat, he finally managed it.

Confident that for the next few hours at least the boy would be kept comfortable, Hendry slipped out of the room silently. As he wove through the maids rushing to make the room comfortable for the boy, he could not help but think that Aurora had been right. Her arrival had solved one problem, but had ushered in a new one. Several of them.

I’m nae sure yet, but I have a feelin’ this woman is goin’ to do her best to challenge me.

“It is a bit late for a meeting,” one of the elders said, squinting at Hendry when he entered the room.

“Aye,” Hendry agreed as he took a seat, though he refused to apologize. The well-being of the clan was edging closer to a cliff. If keeping the elders from their rest was what it took to keep everything they had worked for, that was a sacrifice Hendry was willing to make. “I have found me wife.”

“Surely ye daenae mean that strange woman and the sickly child ye just carried into the castle,” another member of the council said. He was young enough that the clan had been in relative isolation for a majority of his life.

“Do we ken anythin’ about their identities?”

“Even if we did ken their identities, how can we trust that they willnae bring danger to the clan?” the eldest man said. “I have never seen them before.”

Hendry hummed, letting the men get every single question out. When they stopped bringing forward new objections, he rose from his chair, silencing the chatter. Every eye in the room was on him, their trust in his leadership absolute.

They needed a simple explanation, he realized. Giving away too much of Aurora’s story would only lead them to press further. And he had seen the fear in her eyes when she had told him about her uncle.

I told her I would protect her.

“Aurora and Adair were presented to me by Laird MacGregor,” he lied, knowing that if they heard the true story, he would spend hours convincing them that marriage to a stranger is still better than the alternative. “Her father is deceased, and she was unable to attend the ceilidh due to her brother’s illness.”

A few of the men whispered to one another. The mention of Sebastian seemed to soothe some of their hesitancy. Though Hendry was not a social man, the other Laird was, and his judgment could be trusted.

“She is me chosen betrothed,” he said, leaving no room for argument. “Therefore, she, and her brother, are under me protection and are now me responsibility.” He paused, his gaze sweeping over each person that was gathered. “And that also means that they are the responsibility of every man sworn to me.”

“And ye are sure that this is the woman ye will be marryin’?” one of the elders asked, apparently still unconvinced.

“Aye,” Hendry said, fixing the man with a warrior’s stare. “Me decision is final, and any man unwillin’ to accept it is free to challenge me authority openly.”

The air was charged as he waited for anyone to raise another question. As he expected, they held their tongues. Even the men that may not agree with this decision trusted his discretion.

And it is nae as if a wee lass can cause more trouble than anythin’ we’ve faced before.

Chapter Five

“Iwas under the impression that ye had returned to yer land this mornin’,” Hendry said when he stepped into the solar.

Sebastian looked away from the card game he was playing with Willy, raising an eyebrow at Hendry. Setting his hand face down on the table in front of him, he said, “I thought that I would stick around to provide ye assistance with the Managers if ye needed any. And Alba has quite been enjoyin’ her stay.” He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back in his chair. “But it seems that ye have found a solution on yer own.”