Chapter Six
They reached a sizeable village just before sunset three days later, choosing a space adjacent to the river to set up camp. Miran helped the other women unload the cart and assemble their tent. Inside the shelter was six bedrolls, complete with pillows and furs, three braziers, and trunks containing their clothes. They’d spend several days in this village, hoping to find recruits for Jamie’s guard and perhaps a maid for his household.
After everything was set up, Miran washed her face and hands, then changed into a clean, wool gown, fresh leggings, and her second pair of leather boots. Cadha combed her hair out and braided it, weaving dark blue ribbons into the braids to match her dress.
“Are ye comfortable, mistress?” the maid inquired.
Miran gazed at her reflection in the round, handheld mirror another maid held up for her. “Comfort isna something I’d associate with a trip through the Highlands in the middle of winter, Cadha.”
The maid nodded sympathetically. “Can ye bear the accommodations? The food? The lack of civilized company?”
Miran turned around on the stool and glanced at her servant. “Even if I couldna, I’d never complain outside of this tent. The captain and his men must never think us weak.”
“The captain…” Cadha must have thought better of what she had to say, for she bit her tongue and then sighed.
“I understand ye doona trust Captain Kai,” Miran began, “but what grudge do ye have against the man?”
“I wouldna call it a grudge, milady.”
“Nay?”
“Tis safe to say we have a difference of opinion.”
“On what?”
“I am not at liberty to say, mistress.”
Miran frowned. “By whose command?”
“I canna tell ye that, either.”
Miran dinna like vital information being withheld from her, especially from her own maid. Unless… “Are ye a spy, Cadha?”
The older woman chuckled but quickly corrected her rude behavior. “My only task, my only purpose on this trip is to keep ye safe. I swear it before the Almighty.”
Miran stood, eyeing her servant suspiciously. How many times had she heard people swear on anything holy—God, their children, even the scriptures. It made no difference; if someone wished to lie, they would. “I doona know ye very well, Cadha. And we are stuck out here together, meant to look after each other. I am accustomed to taking care of myself, as ye well know. It is unnecessary for ye to follow me around all the time, worrying whether the captain or any of his men will take advantage of me.” She quickly knelt and lifted the hem of her gown, revealing the jeweled scabbard of her dirk. “I know how to use it.”
The maid lifted her eyebrows in obvious surprise and disapproval. “Ladies doona carry weapons.”
“Who said I was a lady?” Miran let her hem drop back into place before she stood again. “I wish ye to eat here. I require a bit of freedom tonight,” she said as she left the tent alone.
She paused just outside the canvas shelter to wait and see if Cadha or any of the other maids would talk behind her back. But after several minutes of silence, Miran was satisfied she had made her point and no one would challenge her authority over the women. Just as she was about to join the men around the fire, Kai approached her.
“Lady Miran.” He bowed casually, a smile playing on his joker’s lips.
“Captain.”
“We have received a formal invitation to dine at one of the finer farms just outside the village.”
“We?”
“Aye.” He stared at her as he always did, looking through her with those haunting, dark eyes. “You, me, and Collin. For our hosts are his cousins, so he must join us. And if you wish, you can enjoy the comfort of a real bed tonight.”
Anytime Kai mentioned a bed, it made Miran’s insides squirm. “Whose bed?”
He shifted on his feet, his smile growing. “A bed,” he emphasized.
“Not yers?” She dinna mean to say it.
At first, he dinna react, but then, as he often did whenever she spoke carelessly in his presence, he bellowed with laughter. “Sounds like a serious question. Is it?”
She folded her hands in front of her to stop the fidgeting. How could she have been so stupid? “Twas sarcasm, Captain, nothing more.”
He rubbed his stubbled chin. “If the inclination to share my bed ever causes you frustration, know you have an open invitation, Miran. Always.”
She’d never give him the satisfaction of surrendering to the growing attraction she felt for him. Would never admit it. Though, ye’d have to be a blind fool not to see it. Cadha had taken notice. And so had Helen and Jamie. Who else? All of Kai’s men? She gazed in the direction of the fire. “And how will we get to the farm?”
“Horseback, of course.”
“Is my mare saddled?”
“No,” Kai answered. “You will ride with me.”
“Excuse me?” Had she misheard him? She’d rather walk through hot coals than share a saddle with him. Maybe even be deprived of air or her freedom than give him an opportunity to hold her close to his sculpted body and grind his manhood into her lower back. Aye, she might be a virgin, but she knew very well why men liked to share a horse with lasses. She’d witnessed it before.
“Did I not speak clearly enough? Colin informed me the space in his cousin’s stables is limited, so we shall only take one horse. And I cannot risk leaving one of our mounts outside overnight. It could get stolen. Colin will ride back to camp after the meal is over.”
Feeling the pang of defeat on the inside, she managed not to let it show on her face. “It seems I have no choice in the matter. Unless, of course, I refuse to go at all.”
He cast her a challenging look. “You would show such contempt for Colin? Shame him in front of his kinsman? He took the time to ride ahead and make arrangements for your comfort. His cousin’s wife sent word she is looking forward to having such a fine lady in her house.”
Damn his foresight and self-righteous manner. Kai never failed to win. And it infuriated her to no end. “I would never intentionally insult anyone.”
Kai chuckled. “Except for me.”
She narrowed her gaze, remembering how many times they’d argued, how many times she’d disrespected him in front of others. For that she was truly sorry. “All right.” She was resolved to go.
“Good then,” he said, offering her his arm.
She accepted, resting her hand on his forearm.
“Colin is waiting for us over there.” He pointed beyond the firepit.
She walked with him in silence until they reached the horses. And just as he said, Colin was waiting for them.
“Good evening, milady,” the young soldier greeted her, bowing his head.
“Colin,” she said as Kai easily climbed atop his horse, then as if she weighed nothing at all, pulled her up in front of him.
She tried to get comfortable, her long legs dangling over the left side of the horse, her body as far away from Kai’s as she could get.
“Miran,” he whispered. “We cannot ride like this, it will throw Gregor’s balance off.”
“Is he not yer warhorse?” The great beast was trained for combat. It would make no difference how she sat in the saddle. Kai only wished to force her to sit close to him.
“Aye.”
She twisted about to look him in the eyes. “I have seen ye ride many times while practicing in the field. Ye have nearly ridden upside down in the saddle, and Gregor never misstepped, or as ye say, lost his balance.”
Kai gave her an innocent look as he urged Gregor forward, following Colin. But then something came over him and his peaceful expression changed. He trailed his mouth along the line of her shoulder. And though she was wearing a fur cloak, she swore she could feel the searing heat from his lips on her skin. In fact, she jerked from the intensity of the contact between them.
“What if I simply admitted I want to touch you, Miran?” He dinna wait for her reply, and his arm snaked around her waist, holding her in place, as solid and heavy as the guilt she felt for pretending not to like it, not to like him.
“I dinna give ye permission to do this.”
“Would you have me take a chance and let you fall from my horse while we ride to the farm?”
She reluctantly shook her head.
“What would Laird Jamie do to me if one hair on your beautiful head was harmed?”
She trembled against him, losing the battle of wills in such close proximity to the man she couldna accept wanting. “Why did ye come here, Kuresh?”
His features grew stormier at the mention of his former name. “Never call me Kuresh again.”
“Why? Ye canna remove yer past, even if ye wish it away, even if ye live in denial as to who and what ye are.”
“The way ye have all these years?”
“Aye,” she admitted without hesitation.
“Why do you insist on bringing my past up so often, Miran?”
“Because I canna believe a man from Constantinople, a prince, would give up so much to serve as the captain of a minor Highlander laird’s army. Surely ye are hiding something.”
“As ye know, my father betrayed me.”
She waved her hand as if dismissing his excuse. “Tis the way of the Highlands, too. Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters are often at odds with one another. Especially when lands and power are at stake.”
“We had no lack of land and power. My father sold the one thing I hold more precious than anything else.”
Admittedly, their situation required resolution, not furthering their differences. She had been so deeply entrenched in her mistrust and misplaced hatred for him, she had failed to understand what inspired such a brave and loyal man to cast off his superior title and life. But from the look on his face, he was about to remind her.
“Do you know what I’m speaking of?”
She nodded.
“My freedom, Miran.”
“Aye,” she said hoarsely, once again ashamed for provoking him. One of these days, the tight rein Kai kept on himself around her would snap, and deservedly so. What would follow would be her fault.
“Nothing means more to me than my freedom. By the grace of God, Laird Alex did not want a slave in his ranks. He required me to go with him willingly, to serve him wholeheartedly or not at all.”
That detail she had never heard before. And it fascinated her and made her sad at the same time. Sad for him. “Ye had a choice to stay or go, even after yer da sold ye into slavery.”
“Aye.”
“Why did ye no’ stay?”
He swallowed hard before he answered. “Because I would have killed my father and broken my mother’s heart.”
“Did yer father make any provisions for ye? For yer brothers?”
Kai snorted with revulsion. “Nay. Nor would I have accepted anything from his wicked hands. But my mother allowed me to take whatever I wanted from her palace—valuable gifts given to me—items that have ensured my independence and my own personal wealth here.”
She wondered what exotic things he possessed. Diamonds and sapphires, silks and golden-threaded carpets? “Ye are a lucky man to have such a mother.”
“I am.”
Plagued by her own bittersweet memories, Miran would sacrifice anything to have a father who betrayed her but still lived. Twould be better than visiting the graves where her mam and da were buried. “Once again, I am humbled by yer unfortunate circumstances and how well ye have recovered in such a short time.” Then, wishing to give up on the conversation, she sighed and chose to pay closer attention to the details of the landscape.
Though the sun had nearly set, the sky was on fire with streaks of orange and purple. Wide open fields covered in inches of snow stretched out before them. And if she cleared her mind and took a deep breath of the crisp winter air, she could taste the salt from the sea, which must only be a few miles away.
“How far is the water?” she asked.
“The ocean?”
“Aye.”
“Ten miles, north.”
What she would give to run away and find a ship headed for some faraway place where she could choose her own future. But then… She remembered Helen and Jamie. A bairn on the way. And Alex and Keely. The MacKays needed her, and she needed them. Her future children would be leaders for her clan. Maybe even a laird, or a laird’s wife. Nay, she was stuck there forever.
“Look, lass,” Kai teased in a perfectly mimicked Scots brogue. “I see light up ahead.”