Stolen Vows Read online

  “I suppose we have to get up?” Roan said. Isla didn’t know how long he had been awake, but he was smiling at her with affection.

  “Do ye think so?” Isla asked, wrinkling her nose.

  “’Fraid so, lass,” Roan chuckled, sitting up. He threw his legs over the side of the bed, stood up and stretched.

  “Ye’ll be busy all day again?” she asked quietly. She didn’t mean to cling, but she felt lost without him.

  “Aye, I expect so,” Roan nodded, picking up his breeches. “It canna be helped.”

  “Oh I ken,” Isla said quickly. “I do understand,” she added, “I just - I miss ye I suppose,” she mumbled, color staining her cheeks once more. When she looked up, she found that Roan was grinning at her again. “What?” she demanded defensively, but her husband simply shook his head, still smiling.

  He finished dressing and was ready to go before Isla had even rung for her maid. Roan dropped a kiss to her lips in farewell and then turned to leave. He was just opening up the door when she called to him.

  “What am I meant to do, Roan?” she asked quietly. He looked over his shoulder uncertainly. “I can help - with the running of the castle - with something - my aunt used to -”

  “It might be best if ye dinna try to do too much just yet, lass,” Roan said carefully. “Just let people get used to ye first -”

  “Stay out of the way ye mean?” Isla frowned, hurt. “Roan I’m nae useless!”

  Her husband sighed, and turned around fully to face her properly. “Aye, I ken, lass. Just - give it time,” he implored. Isla continued to stare at him unhappily, but Roan had apparently said all that he was going to on the subject; he turned away again, and left the room.

  ..ooOOoo..

  Isla’s mood was no better by the time Liane arrived to help her dress. If she wasn’t allowed a proper role within the castle than she would surely be bored to death. She bemoaned this fact to Bridghe too, when her sister-in-law arrived as promised to check on her.

  “Ye’ll have roles enough when Roan’s the laird,” she pointed out. “Ye should enjoy lounging around with naught to do while ye can.” Liane gave a vigorous nod of her head, probably wishing that she had a little less to do around the castle herself.

  “When Roan’s the laird?” Isla repeated hopefully. “Ye really dinna think I’ve ruined it for him then?”

  Bridghe frowned. “Roan’s the best man for the position by a long way,” she argued. “People might be a little upset about things now,” she admitted, “but they are nae stupid. Most people will come around, given time.”

  “I hope yer right,” Isla sighed. “But in the meantime, what am I meant to do?”

  Bridghe smiled innocently. “Have lots of little MacRae babies? Roan is nae exactly getting any younger,” she giggled.

  “Bridghe!” Isla gasped, embarrassed.

  “Well he isn’t,” Bridghe continued to giggle. “Besides, my two need some playmates,” she added more seriously. “Eithne and Sorcha have lovely children, but they’re so much older than the twins.”

  “Roan and I have nae really talked about having children,” Isla murmured. She stared down at her hands, all of a sudden glad of the distraction of Liane fixing her hair.

  “Well, tis nae exactly something that needs discussing, is it?” Bridghe raised an eyebrow at her sister-in-law. “Ye forget how long I’ve kenned my brother,” she said, rolling her eyes, before then staring pointedly at Isla stomach. “I can almost guarantee that the twins will have a new little cousin before twelve months pass,” she smirked.

  Isla choked. “My goodness! Ye really do say what ye think, dinna ye?”

  The older woman smiled cheekily. “The consequence of spending too much time with one’s brother when growing up I fear.”

  “Well I have two brothers, and I never -”

  “Ah aye -” Bridghe interrupted Isla, her voice suddenly serious again. “Sorcha was telling me, one of them is the tanist?”

  “Ian’s the war captain,” Isla frowned. “How did yer sister -”

  “Graem told my mother, and my mother told -”

  “Everyone?” Isla whimpered.

  “Oh tis nae as bad as that,” Bridghe assured her.

  Isla thought that it was ever so kind of Roan’s sister to befriend her. She knew that Bridghe had originally been acting out of a love for her brother, but Isla thought there might be the spark of a real friendship between them.

  “What are yer plans for today, Isla?” she asked, sitting down in front of the fire while Liane put the finishing touches to her mistress’s hair.

  Keeping out of everyone’s way… Isla almost replied. She managed to stop herself however, and answered instead with a shrug.

  “I suppose ye could come with me to see Eithne,” Bridghe said slowly. “I’m sure she will nae mind. Sorcha’s going too, so ye could meet the whole family.”

  Isla wasn’t sure that she wanted to meet the whole family, at least not without the protection of her husband. If Eithne and Sorcha were just like Bridghe then she would be fine, but if they took after their mother the prospect was far less appealing.

  “I would nae want to intrude,” Isla said carefully.

  “Yer family now though,” Bridghe continued, apparently warming to the idea. “And if we leave it up to Roan to introduce ye it might happen sometime in the next decade,” she snorted uncharitably. “Eithne might even throw some kind of gathering for ye,” Bridghe continued, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

  “Gathering?” Isla croaked. She loved feasts ordinarily, but a MacRae bash was something that Isla wasn’t sure she was quite ready for yet.

  “Eithne holds the best feasts,” Bridghe nodded, although the look on her face seemed to imply that she didn’t care too much about gaining such labels herself. “I hate to say it, but it would really help if Eithne was seen to show ye such favor,” she added gently.

  Isla nodded nervously. “Yer sister does nae live here at the castle?” She asked quietly.

  “Nae, her husband has a large holding of land, with its own house, a couple of miles away from Erchlochy Castle,” Bridghe explained. “So, what do ye say, are ye going to come?”

  Isla paused thoughtfully. It was definitely tempting to leave the chamber and explore a little. Even the prospect of meeting someone new wasn’t wholly disagreeable. But it was daunting, and Isla wasn’t entirely sure if Roan would approve of her leaving without him. She would be with his sisters though. Surely there was no harm in that.

  “Isla?” Bridghe pressed, tired of waiting for an answer.

  “Oh, sorry, aye,” Isla blurted. The words tumbled out of her mouth before she’d really finished considering them.

  “Excellent,” Bridghe smiled. “Ye seem quite like Eithne,” she mused thoughtfully. “I’m sure ye’ll get along famously.”

  ..ooOOoo..

  I’m sure ye’ll get along famously.

  That wasn’t quite how Isla would have put it. Eithne took after her mother, in both looks and demeanor. She met Isla with a glacial smile and then bid her a frosty welcome to her home - a large, manor house. Sorcha hadn’t joined them after all. She had sent one of the maids to tell Bridghe that one of her boys had fallen ill, so she was staying at the castle to nurse him.

  “So, yer the one everyone’s talking about?” Eithne asked without requiring an answer. “Hmm,” she mused, looking Isla up and down as if she were in a cattle market. “I thought ye’d be prettier.”

  Isla scowled and opened her mouth, it was one thing to grin and bear the insults from her mother-in-law, but quite another to take them from Roan’s sister. However Bridghe spoke before she had a chance to respond.

  “Isla’s tired from her journey,” she said.

  Bridghe’s voice held a little note of warning, but from the way that Eithne simply tossed her hair carelessly over her shoulder Isla doubted very much that she was taking any notice of her younger sister. Their hostess showed them through to the main hall and offered them bo
th a seat and refreshments.

  “I hope ye are nae feeling unwell.” Eithne asked sweetly, looking as though she dearly hoped that the answer would be yes.

  “I’m perfectly well” Isla replied silkily. “We Camerons are a hardy bunch, ye ken,” she added innocently, stirring sugar into her tea calmly. This time, Bridghe’s warning glare was directed at Isla. Eithne’s lip curled in sneer that matched her mother’s.

  “Well, that remains to be seen,” she hissed.

  “Eithne, stop it,” Bridghe snapped. “Ye ken Graem is working towards peace between the clans and that Roan will uphold that peace when he becomes Laird.”

  “If he becomes Laird,” Eithne said, scowling at Isla, who scowled right back at her.

  “Well now ye see, that’s something I thought ye might like to help our dear brother with, Eithne” Bridghe said, smiling widely, and helping herself to a cake off the platter in front of them, as if she was wholly unaware of the silent battle taking place between the other two women.

  “Help how?” Eithne asked suspiciously.

  “People are only so… resentful at the moment because they dinna ken Isla,” she said simply. Isla frowned at the way Bridghe had phrased the point, but listened attentively nonetheless.

  “Yer point being?” Eithne snarled.

  “That we need to help everyone ken Isla, of course,” Bridghe said simply, flashing a smile in her sister-in-law’s direction. Isla wanted the floor to open and swallow her. “For Roan’s sake,” she qualified.

  A muscle seemed to be twitching unpleasantly in Eithne’s jaw. She was silent for a full minute. However, her lips finally twisted into a thin, pinched smile. “Well, if it’s for Roan,” she simpered, “I’ll see what I can do.” The look she shot Isla was positively lethal.

  Isla looked from Bridghe’s satisfied face to Eithne’s sinister one. She was a Cameron lamb being led to the MacRae slaughter.

  ..ooOOoo..

  Roan looked around the empty chamber and frowned. He hadn’t told Isla to stay in their rooms, but frankly he had expected her to. She didn’t really know anyone, and he hated to even think it, but she probably wouldn’t be well received if she went wandering around the castle alone. So where on earth was she?

  Roan dropped a posy of wild winter flowers onto a table, feeling decidedly foolish for having gone to the trouble of picking them now. He thought about finding a vase, but in a fit of pique left the little bouquet where it was to die. He called for Liane, hoping that the maid might be able to enlighten him as to the whereabouts of his wife, but not really expecting her to be able to tell him much.

  He was surprised therefore when Liane was able to tell him where Isla had gone. Roan wasn’t sure if he was entirely comforted by the explanation however. He was certain that Bridghe would only ever act with Isla’s best interests at heart, but he didn’t know if taking her to see their eldest sister was the wisest of moves.

  Eithne was a little too much like their mother for Roans liking, quick to judge and hard of heart, and he was also slightly annoyed that he wasn’t getting the first opportunity to show off his new wife. Roan wandered back out into the hall and made his way towards Graem’s rooms.

  He had been working with the Laird for much of the day. Graem wanted to redraw the MacRae’s western borders with the Camerons, offering the other clan a portion of the land that had been taken away from them a hundred years beforehand. The land in question wasn’t especially fertile. In fact, it consisted mainly of bogs, which was the only reason why Graem would possibly be allowed to get away with it by his own clan.

  His intentions hadn’t been made public knowledge yet. Roan could only imagine the objections that would erupt when they were finally disclosed. His visit to Castle Cameron had originally been intended to test how the MacRaes would respond to such a gesture. However, he hadn’t had that opportunity, and consequently Graem was considering asking an emissary from the Camerons to visit them at Erchlochy Castle.

  Roan had been going to tell Isla the news. He was sure that one of her cousins or brothers would be asked to come, and he’d thought she might be cheered by the prospect of seeing a familiar face.

  Only she wasn’t around to be cheered up, Roan grumped.

  He walked into Graem’s library, took the key that he had been given by the old man, and opened up a locked desk drawer. Roan took from the drawer a roll of old parchment - the roll of old parchment that he had spent much of the day agonizing over. He sat down and began to agonize again. The problem they faced was giving something away that they wouldn’t miss, while presenting the Camerons with a stretch of land that appeared to be of value. Despite popular MacRae opinion to the contrary, the Camerons weren’t idiots.

  Graems library happened to be at the front of the castle, so when a pair of horses stopped at the main doors, Roan heard. He couldn’t seem to stop himself from getting to his feet and wandering over to the window to look outside.

  The sight that met his eyes was expected, but his breath still left his body as Roan looked down on his wife. She was so beautiful. Curvy and lush in all the right places, with bright sparkling eyes that he was too far away to be able to see clearly, and rich locks of red hair that Roan would happily lay tangled in forever.

  His body was already keening towards her. Longing to rush down to meet her, or to at least hurry back to their rooms so that he would be there waiting to draw her into his arms when she arrived. However, whatever his body and heart might long for, Roan’s mind was intent on keeping him exactly where he was - to prove to himself that he was a man still in control of emotions and desires.

  All of half an hour passed before that control buckled.

  Roan decided to take the maps with him back to his own study, so he could look over them there. He argued that he would be more comfortable in his own rooms, and that this was the only - or at least the main - reason for returning to them. He rolled up the maps and tucked them under his arm, locked up the library and then made his way back his chambers.

  Isla was waiting for him this time. She was sitting in front of the fire with a book in her hands, although she didn’t appear to be reading it. The flowers that he had left to wilt had been arranged in a little clay vase and looked only a little worse for wear. Had that been due to Isla or Liane? Roan didn’t know, nor did he ask.

  He nodded in Isla’s direction. A flood of warmth seized his heart at the wide smile that broke across his wife’s face when she saw him enter the room. However, Roan didn’t let himself return the grin. He was still annoyed, although he knew it was petty.

  “Roan?” Isla rose to her feet.

  She frowned anxiously and followed him into his little study. He was going to lay the maps out on the desk, but chose instead to put them away in a secure cabinet.

  “Is something wrong?” Isla asked hesitantly.

  Was something wrong? It felt as though there was something wrong, but Roan couldn’t explain what.

  “Nae,” he sighed. “Nae - I’ve just had a long day.” Isla nodded her head in quick agreement, looking relieved by his response. “And ye?” he murmured, ushering Isla out of the study and back into the main chamber of their rooms. “I hear ye’ve been out and about?”

  “It was Bridghe’s idea,” Isla confessed. She looked uneasy and Roan couldn’t decide if that made him feel better or worse. “She wanted me to meet yer other sisters.”

  “And did ye?” he murmured, shutting the door to the study.

  “I met Eithne,” Isla nodded. “Sorcha stayed at the castle to look after her son.”

  “He’s sick?” Roan frowned, obviously concerned about his nephew. Isla gave his arm a reassuring squeeze.

  “Nae very, tis just a cold, Bridghe said,” she assured him gently. Roan looked down into her upturned eyes and felt himself falling. His gaze fell to her lips, and he felt a heavy aching weight settle in his gut.

  “So, ye saw Eithne?” he asked, his voice slowly becoming gentler. “What did ye think of her?”
r />   “She’s -” Isla began, but she immediately seemed to run into difficulty.

  “She’s?” Roan sighed and prompted.

  He sat down by the fire, in the spot where he’d first seen Isla. His wife followed and was rewarded for her actions by being instantly pulled down onto her husband’s lap. She looked surprised, but pleased, to be there - if Roan was honest, he was a little surprised to find her there himself. He was sure he hadn’t thought about tugging her down, he’d just done it.