"You arrived much quicker than I expected!" King James said, coming forward to embrace Kane. He reluctantly returned it. Kane had never been one for affection, no matter how brotherly it was. A hug could quickly become a knife in the back.

Luckily, this was the king.

"Yer missive said to ride with haste, so I did."

"As reliable as ever," the king commented. "How have the MacLeods been? I haven't heard them complain about you in a while."

Kane grunted. "Donna care to answer that."

The MacLeods were always searching for compensation for something. Missing cattle, a runaway maid, stolen sheep. It was always the same problem with them, and it was always Kane having the blame foisted on him.

"I'm guessing that means I'll be hearing from them soon, then," the king sighed, though there was a hint of humor to it. "That is fine with me. I always take joy out of watching Connor MacLeod walk in here with the arrogance of a peacock, only to leave with lost hopes. How you haven't gone to war with them amazes me."

"I have too much on my hands to deal with those bastards."

"That is true." The king gave him an odd look, one that instantly set Kane on guard. "Whisky? Bread and cheese? Grapes?"

"Nay." Kane leaned his forearms on the back of the chair, facing the king. "What is it you called me here for? I rode for a fortnight to make it in time."

"Yes. Well." The king sat in his great purple chair. He looked at Kane, consideration lighting his eyes. "I do not feel the need to justify my decisions, as I am your king. However, I will tell you because of your years of loyalty and our friendship."

His stomach dropped. The king never tried to spring things on him—in fact, the only time the king called him aside to speak to him personally for matters of business was...never. If something needed to be done, a missive was sent, and the matter was taken care of.

Now, as Kane stood before King James, he wished he hadn't come with such haste. He wished he hadn't come at all, actually.

"What is it?"

"I have sent you two women. They should have arrived by now."

"Aye?" He knew very well that they had arrived. He'd told his men to escort them as soon as they were a night away from his estate. He hadn't thought anything of it when the king had sent a missive concerning it. Many a traveler stayed on Shaw territory. He was a known friend of the king, and trusted more than any laird in the Highlands. He might have an unsavory battle reputation, but that only added to his credibility with like-minded men. Not that Kane cared. As long as the visitors left him alone and didn't bother his people, he couldn't be bothered.

"They are very dear to me. Their parents passed some time ago, my aunt and uncle-in-law. Very kind, sweet, gentle-hearted people. I've sent their daughters to stay with you."

"Aye?"

The king sighed. "I am relying on your judgement to make the right decision in this." In what? "My cousins are very kind-hearted women. They are not ones for games. Although one does cater to her sister's every need. I feel that she needs…” He paused. “A reprieve from her sister."

"Aye?"

The more King James talked, the more Kane felt like a lead weight was pressing on his shoulders.

"It is time you marry."

The lead weight could not have gotten heavier.

"Your Majesty—"

"I will take no ifs, ands, or buts on this matter. You will, of course, have time to become acquainted with both of my cousins.”

"I canna marry right now, Your Majesty. The MacIntires are ready for war, and my men and I will be gone for months. It's—"

"You can go to war after you woo one of my cousins," the king snapped. "I told them that they could decide who would marry you. You will do your best to remember that despite our friendship, I am your king, and you are my subject."

Kane ground his teeth together. "How long do I have to 'woo' one of yer cousins?" He was so furious, that he couldn't ask it as the question it should have been.

"As long as is needed. You are to make sure they are content, and have everything they need. For your compliance, there will be a reward as well—besides the happy marriage you will have."

"Aye…"

"The Sinclairs come with lands to their names that are right on the border of the Lowlands."

"You've sent me Lowlanders?" he hissed. Lowlanders—especially females—were weak, frivolous. They only lived for court and gossip. There wasn't time for either of those in the Highlands. It was about survival, plain and simple. Lowlanders held no concept of that.

"Do not sound so disgusted," the king ordered. "Blaine is very strong in her will of things. She would make a fine wife for a Highlander. As would her sister, though her ways are more subtle. Do not generalize them."

"Aye," he growled.

The king stared at him.

"My cousin does that same exact thing," he commented fondly, reaching into one of his drawers.

"I donna know what yer talkin' about."

"That 'aye' thing you do. Although she does it when she's distracted. I fear you do it when you're not pleased about things, as you are now. Really, Kane, I've known you for years. Have I ever led you astray?"

"Nay," he bit out.

King James put a piece of parchment on the table, unrolling it.

"The girls are aware of the conditions of this arrangement. They had the choice to stay at court for a little while longer, or go to you and win your favor immediately. It must mean good things are to come that they were so eager to see you. Am I right?"

What kind of women would choose to stay with the fiercest man in the Highlands, when they could have stayed safe and happy at court? His lip lifted in a sneer. The women were going to have a great time with him.

"The woman that you do not choose? She will be sent to Lord Grayham."

King James's words chilled him to his very soul.

"No."

The king frowned. "You cannot 'no' me, Kane. What I say is the law—"

"No," he snarled again. He didn't care that he was talking to the king. He didn't care that if King James wanted, he could have Kane's head on a pike. "I will not go through with this, if that sick bastard is involved."

"Yes, you will," the king said stonily.

"I refuse."

His snarl, the word, and the message it carried was not lost on King James. The silence was tense. Kane was too furious to back down. Aye, this could get him killed. But he would not stand back and watch a woman go through what his sister did.

"You seem to have forgotten to whom you are speaking," the king said. "These are my cousins. My dearest family. They went through a terrible loss. If you think I'm some sort of monster to send one of them to Grayham, you're mistaken. He has changed his ways, Kane. He has learned his lesson."

"Aye, because I was the one who taught it to him! With my blood, fists, and weapons. Do these girls know of Grayham?" Surely they couldn't. No woman would ever go through with this if they did.

"They do," King James said. Kane gripped the chair tightly, shaking from the disgust he felt.

"Any woman foolish enough to go through with this is not worthy to be my wife."

"You have not even met the girls." He waved his heavily jeweled hand, and Kane saw red.

"Is there anything else?" he growled, forcing himself to stay where he was. One move, and he'd have his hands around the king's throat. Even mentioning that bastard’s name in front of him...

Then, to make him decide which woman was going to die because of his choice? Fury flooded him, robbing him of breath. What kind of sick, disgusting man did that to his cousins? Cousins he claimed to love?

"But of course," King James said, grinning as if he hadn't just infuriated the second most dangerous man in the lands. "Payment for your troubles, and the dowry of each girl."

"I donna want yer payment."

"It has been sent with the girls, so you haven't a choice." The king held up the parchment he'd spread out on the table. "This is the list of the things you will receive for each girl, depending on whom you decide."

Kane barely cast a glance at it.

"Take a look, Kane. It will not kill you."

He held the king's eyes, and saw the challenge in them. He'd already pushed his luck by blatantly refusing a direct order. Keeping the infuriated sound of disgust to himself, he glanced at the parchment—then frowned. Though the second name was written in a way that was hard to read, he caught the gist that there were two separate dowries.

"Why is Blaine's dowry thrice the size of her sister’s?"

The king sighed.

"Let me be frank. The girls have a decision on who will go for your hand, but you also have an advantage. Time management. If by any chance Blaine does not want you, I hope that her dowry will encourage you to sway her decision."

"Ye' want me to pick Blaine." Not a question. A statement.

"Yes. I feel that she needs an unwavering man to bring her to heel."

"But ye' said they’re both kind. Ye'd have me send a gentle soul to the murderous hands of Grayham?" he snarled. "If ye' think anyone needs a hand to heel them, ye' send them to Grayham. These lasses donna need to be heeled—not in that way." You’d send unruly boys, not women. At least a man could handle the pain and possibly fight back.

He couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice. The guilt. The regret.

"Do not fight me on this, Kane. The decision is essentially up to the three of you. I'm just here to supply the dowry and payment."

"And to send one of the lasses to their death."

"Grayham," the king snapped, finally letting some of his frustration show, "would not harm a cousin of mine. He knows full well the consequences, should one of them be hurt."

"Oh, aye. Because that stopped him when my sister was involved. Ye'd think that being related to The Lion would scare him into listening—and we both know how that turned out."

"My cousins are not Annalise," the king said softly. "I know the loss of your sister has been hard on you, but he has learned his lesson."

"Aye," he said, voice flat. He rubbed at the tightness forming in his chest, the fury that was burning inside him.

"If I should win the other sister’s hand, will ye' rebuke her?" Kane demanded. He didn't know the lass, had never heard her name before. But something about her, the situation she was being put into, made him want to protect her. The king was practically throwing her to the dogs, while taking a favoritism to Blaine.

"No. I would not rebuke her. You understand that she has a small dowry, though, correct?"

Kane peered at the parchment. Aye, it was indeed small. Little gold, a few sheep, a bull. Nothing that he needed. He gazed at the larger list, the one that filled up most of the parchment.

Thrice of everything the other sister had, but the one at the bottom, the last piece to her dowry, made his heart drop to his stomach.

"I see you caught onto what I added at the end," the king said, sounding like a cat who had caught the mouse. Aye, Kane was caught.

"You canna mean it. That canna be real," Kane said, reaching out to touch the finely written words. His finger trailed over the ink, disbelief surging through him.

"Oh, it is real, and I do mean it." The king took the parchment away from his hand and rolled it up quickly, until just the bottom of it was showing. There were two lines there, both marked with a large, black X. “The dowries will, in no way, shape, or form, be modified, lessened, or added to. Payment for their care until they have decided will be sent to you monthly. The dowry of the chosen bride will be yours once they agree to the betrothal. Do you understand and agree to what I've just told you?"

He pulled back, staring at the king.

Shame. He felt so much shame, but he nodded. Blaine would be his chosen bride. He had no choice. The one thing he had been fighting for his whole life could be returned to him, but only with Blaine's dowry. But the other sister... The other sister, this nameless face, would be sent to her death.

He knew it without a doubt in his mind that his decision would get her killed, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Not without losing what was promised in Blaine's dowry.

Kane took the feathered pen from the king.

He'd just signed a lass’s life away.