Davina didn’t see Rob again until several hours later that evening. In the meantime, she enjoyed a hot bath, a host of female visitors who brought her food, handfuls of colorful kirtles, and information about the MacGregor men of Camlochlin, and a short nap on a heavenly soft mattress.

Their laird, she learned from two of the women who prepared her bath, was fair and patient, and according to Agnes, who spilled more water onto the floor than into the basin when she spoke of him, as striking as the Cuillin ridge in winter.

When Caitlin MacKinnon brought her a tray of warm leek soup and sops, Davina giggled and gasped when the dark-haired beauty told her of the rogue, Tristan, and how he enjoyed inciting his younger siblings’ fury as much as he enjoyed ridding lasses of their virtue.

“He is cunnin’, and sometimes thoughtless,” Caitlin confided. “But ye willna’ care aboot those things once he smiles at ye. Ye’d do well to steer clear of him,” she added, looking over Davina’s long, flaxen tresses with a glint of envy in her eyes. “Will is just as handsome, and no’ half as wicked.”

Davina found that a little hard to believe after spending so much time with Will. But she liked Caitlin and suspected that the girl cared for Tristan and was trying to keep her out of his bed.

“What about Rob?” Davina asked, sipping her mead and trying to sound as indifferent as possible. She believed she already knew much about him, but she was curious to know what the women of the castle thought of him.

Caitlin followed her to the bed and sat with her as easily as if they were close friends sharing kitchen gossip. “Och, dinna’ waste yer time on that one. He has little use fer anything that willna’ benefit the clan. Besides, I think his faither wants him to wed Mary MacDonald. Mary’s faither is one of the four main chiefs on Skye and…”

Mary MacDonald? Davina’s heart sank to her feet. Rob hadn’t mentioned her—or his plans to take her as his wife. But how could she fault him for keeping secrets? How could she be angry with him for kissing her while being bound to someone else, when she had done the same thing? Still, her heart felt as if it had just been torn in two.

Thankfully, Maggie pushed through the door before Caitlin could tell her anything else she couldn’t bear to hear.

When Rob’s aunt saw Caitlin, she gave her the kind of look one might aim at a cellar rat that had wandered into the kitchen. Seeing her, Caitlin swept off the bed and hurried out of the room without another word or look in Maggie’s direction.

“What has that trollop been telling ye that brings such gloom to yer face?” Maggie asked, shuffling toward the bed to primp Davina’s pillows. “Hell, ye look worse than when ye got here.”

Davina sighed quietly and handed Maggie the cup of mead when she held her hand out for it. She didn’t bother lying, since she was so poor at it and Maggie had already proven that she could see right through her anyway. And so far, the woman hadn’t regarded her like she had the plague. Davina wanted to keep it that way.

“She told me of Rob’s betrothal.”

“His what?” Maggie gave the pillow a soft punch and motioned for Davina to lie down. “To who?”

“Mary MacDonald.”

“What nonsense,” Maggie huffed. “Mary is a mouse who hides behind her father’s rather large arse every time my Robbie looks at her. He does not even like her.”

Davina looked up into Maggie’s huge blue eyes and had the urge to throw her arms around her neck. She might have done it too if Maggie wasn’t tucking her in like a mother.

“Do ye like flowers?”

Smiling, Davina nodded, already growing accustomed to the way Maggie veered from one topic to another.

“Good, because my Jamie has returned from Torrin with a cartload of orchids. I’ll have Agnes bring ye some after yer nap. They are lovely. I swear the man has a gift fer picking out the bonniest ones. Not a one of them is wilted.”

When Rob’s aunt asked her next question, Davina suspected the purpose behind her quirky diversions was to catch folks completely off guard.

“So then, ye have tender feelings fer Robert?”

“Yes,” Davina admitted, unable to conceal the answer already softening her features. “I think he is one of the best men I’ve ever known.”

“Do ye, now?” Maggie asked curiously and sat on the bed beside her. “He can be quite intimidating when he wants to be. Ye’re not afraid of him then?”

“Oh, heavens, no,” Davina smiled and closed her eyes. She hadn’t realized how exhausted she was, or how badly she missed lying in a bed until her head hit the pillow. “He saved me, you know. He rode straight through the Abbey doors and saved me from the flames.”

She barely heard Maggie leaving the room a short time later. She was asleep in minutes and already dreaming of her champion.

Rob entered the Great Hall with Will and Asher, and Finn close behind. He looked around for Davina and spotted his aunt instead. She crooked her finger at him when he reached her chair and kissed him on the cheek when he bent to her.

“What was that fer?”

“’Twas fer being so much like yer father.”

As was often the case, Rob had no idea why Maggie would bring that up now at supper. He hadn’t seen her all day, having returned just a few moments ago from seeing to the villagers. Rather than ask her to enlighten him, he chuckled softly, pulling out his chair to sit. There was only one person his aunt loved as much as him and his uncle—and it was his father. If Maggie saw similarities between them and wished to blurt it out when the notion struck her, ’twas fine with Rob.

“She’ll be along anytime now,” Maggie said knowingly when he lifted his gaze to the entrance of the Great Hall. “She woke from her nap a wee bit ago. I sent Alice and Agnes to help her prepare fer supper. Did ye know that she doesn’t like to eat meat?”

Rob glanced once again at the entrance and smiled. So, it wasn’t just men who fell helpless to Davina’s natural enchantment. “I did notice that she ate a good amount of nuts and berries on our way here,” he said, knowing how much his aunt despised the practice of eating flesh. Davina had won her over easily. “Ye have my thanks fer seein’ to her comfort.” When Maggie’s gaze softened on him as if she could see his heart right there in his eyes, he looked away, turning his attention to her husband.

“What were the MacLeods doin’ here?”

Jamie Grant looked up and smiled at the server placing his trencher on the table. “Padraig MacLeod is actin’ as chieftain while his faither is in England. He stopped through here on his way back from meetin’ with Alisdair MacKinnon’s son in Torrin to bolster their alliance wi’ us all in these uncertain times. I had a missive penned to the MacDonalds in Portree, vowin’ the MacGregors’ support, should they need it.”

“Good,” Rob said, bringing his cup to his mouth. He felt a wee bit guilty about thinking Jamie had left Camlochlin to pick flowers. He should have known there was another reason for his going to Torrin. Though many Highland clans fought against each other, if the new king thought to bring his English laws down on them, they would stand together.

“The MacKinnons are with us then?”

“Of course. Skye will always stand secure against outside influences. Our hope is that King James will… Rob?” Jamie paused until Rob looked away from the entrance and back at him. “She must be an extraordinary lass to be able to distract ye from yer passions.”

She was his passion, and he was past caring who knew it. Hell, what in blazes was taking her so long? He hadn’t seen her since this afternoon and he missed her face so much he was tempted to go get her himself.

“I’ve grown accustomed to havin’ her near,” Rob said, his gaze already being pulled back to the stairs.

“I’ve been informed that she is a princess, mayhap even a goddess.” Jamie winked at Finn, sitting across from him, and then dipped his bread into his stew. “But I doubt yer faither will accept divinity as a good enough reason no’ to return to his side.”

“I made my choice, Uncle.”

“And ye couldna’ have chosen to take her to England with ye?” Normally, at this point in any conversation with this particular nephew, Jamie would never have pressed on. Rob was someday going to lead this clan and he’d learned well not to be rash in his thinking. He weighed and measured each decision he made before acting upon it, and once he set his course there was no changing his mind. But he’d never set his course in a different path than his father’s, and never for a lass—who came attached to an English soldier.

Rob ground his jaw, deciding how best to begin. He had intended on telling his kin the truth about Davina, but exactly how could he do so without sounding like an impetuous whelp ruled by his emotions? “Her life is in grave danger,” he said, knowing in his own heart that that was the emotion that ruled him first. “I pledged myself to protecting her, and this is the safest place I know.”

“Why is she in danger?” Jamie asked him evenly.

“Because she is…” They had a right to know, to choose whether or not to stand with him, should anyone come to Camlochlin to remove her. “She is King James’s firstborn daughter and heir to the throne.”

Everyone at the table sat motionless and mute, save for Finn, Will, and Asher. Rob expected shock and dismay and was about to close his eyes to wait out the silence.

“I thought James’s daughter Mary was the Princess Royal,” his aunt said, also seemingly unfazed by the news.

“So does everyone else in England.”

“How did she come to be in yer possession?” Jamie asked him calmly, though he’d dropped his bread into his food and left it there.

Rob told them about the attack on St. Christopher’s, and who was behind it and why. “There is likely a rebellion brewin’ involvin’ the Duke of Monmouth, the Earl of Argyll, and possibly William of Orange. Connor has agreed no’ to tell the king anything aboot her—”

“She is his daughter,” Jamie interrupted.

“A daughter he cloistered away in a convent and has never seen,” Rob bit out.

“If ye don’t plan on telling her father that ye have her,” Maggie asked, “what do ye intend to do with her?”

Here was the part of the tale that would prove all the other emotions that had subsequently directed him. “I intend to keep her.”

“Fer how long?” Jamie stared at him so still that Rob wondered if he was breathing.

“Fer as long as she’ll have me.”

His uncle leapt to his feet, startling Maggie, who then glared at him to show her disapproval. “Ye’ll bring the entire realm doun on our heads!”

“That is what I’ve been trying to tell him,” Asher interjected smugly, but then looked away when Rob’s eyes sliced through him like hot irons through butter.

“Robert,” Jamie continued as if the captain had not spoken at all. “Tell me ye dinna’ mean to claim the king’s daughter. Tell me ye are no’ willin’ to throw away everything ye’ve worked at protectin’ fer this lass?”

“I dinna’ know if I can tell ye that, Uncle,” Rob said, staring at the entrance where Davina stood, her small hands twisting the scarlet and green earasaid draped over her skirts. Her hair was swept away from her temples with two small pearl pins while the rest fell like liquid sunshine down her back. When their eyes met, she smiled slightly, as if the very sight of him reassured her. Rob rose to his feet as the need to go to her overwhelmed him. Behind him, he heard the others push out their chairs as well.

“Good evenin’, yer Royal Highness.”

Rob turned his smile on Jamie, understanding all too well the reverence replacing the anger in his uncle’s voice. He knew every man in the hall was overcome by Davina’s unearthly beauty. He didn’t like it, but he would learn to live with it.

When he looked at her again, her smile had vanished.