Fifteen
Every day James stayed away was like a knife imbedding itself into his heart. He missed Katie with every breath he took.
He snorted.
Who would have ever believed that the Marbhaiche would fall in love. Since he was a young lad, he’d believed the sole purpose of his life was to be a strong, fierce protector of his clan. His mother, Ailith, died when he was young and he'd only ever had his father. He didn’t remember much of her, but his father had always been honest telling him that their marriage had been arranged. Douglas had had affection for Ailith and her for him, but they hadn’t had a deep love. After she passed, there had never been any allowance in their lives for the warmth and love a woman brought, except for Anne.
He remembered Maddie's mother, and vowed to tell his sister more stories of Anne when he saw Maddie again. Anne had been perceived as weak when she was first brought to his clan. She’d hardly spoken, and she’d withdrawn from everyone. It wasn't until his father had called her weak-willed that Anne had erupted before them. Every day that had followed, the withered flower had resurrected from near death, and blossomed. Towards the end of her time with them, she’d given his father as good as she’d received from him, and had become a feisty woman who had not taken any nonsense from Douglas Menzies.
He thought about his Katie. She'd been much the same when he’d first met her but was now more confident and outspoken.
James loved that about her.
Truthfully, he loved everything about Katherynne Ramsay.
He'd been told that was how she'd been prior to her assault. He hoped that he had something to do with her returning to her normal self.
"Where were ye, son?"
James turned to see his father watching him from the threshold of the great room. He gave his father an odd look.
"Here."
Douglas laughed. "Nay. Yer body is here, but yer mind is elsewhere."
James laughed. "Katie."
Douglas' smile spread. "My soon-to-be daughter by marriage."
James' dimple appeared. "It is my hope."
Douglas held a piece of parchment. "We received what we've been waiting for, so mayhap yer hope will come into fruition."
"What did the Grants respond?"
Douglas laughed. "Is there any doubt? They've been Kerr rivals for the better part of a century. The Grants will join our men if the need arises. Their guards who patrol the border have noticed odd visitors to the Kerrs. The guards mentioned that the men walked oddly. They did not walk like a Highlander. They knew nothing else."
James' eyebrows furled. "Walked oddly? Funny, I didna realize we walked differently than others. Did they identify the plaid?"
Douglas shook his head. "They'd never seen it before."
James turned his head to the side. "Odd."
Douglas nodded.
"What troubles ye, son?"
James exhaled. "I could never hide anything from ye."
Douglas laughed while nodding his head. He poured himself a goblet of ale and drank. "Nay. Never could."
"Marriage. To Katie."
"What about it, son?"
"Would I be inviting trouble into her life? The bastard peacock threatened her."
"For which ye will take yer revenge when the occasion presents itself, soon."
“When I doona marry Fiona, it will begin a feud.”
Douglas shrugged.
“He will go to war for this.”
“Then be it so. I’ve enough cause to begin war with him. I’ve let things be for the time until I heard from Grant, but animals have been disappearing, and there’ve been questionable fires set. That bastard is behind them and probably believes I’ve become weak in my old age.” Douglas’ laugh was sardonic. “He willna expect what I have in mind. War then, it must be.”
James studied his father.
“Truly? D’ye nay worry? The potential consequences to all give me pause.”
Douglas took a long drink before answering his son.
“I once committed the biggest error of my sorry life, James. I allowed the only woman I ever loved to be taken from these arms.”
He held his arms wide. The veins were prominent with the restrained anger Douglas barely controlled.
“I should have cut them all down the moment they passed onto our lands.”
“Why did ye allow them to take her?”
Douglas’ voice was ragged as if rocks were rolling in his throat. He looked at James.
“At that time, Wynton was in verra good rapport with the King. He threatened to go to him, to force Anne’s return. He looked at me, Son,” Douglas stopped as he remembered. His haunted eyes returned to James. “He looked at me, and promised that if that should happen, he would nay only ensure that the remainder of Anne’s life be difficult, but that he’d make certain to find ye, too, and kill ye. If he took her then without involving the king, he said he’d not kill her or mistreat her.”
Douglas nodded at James. “He said that he’d have the protection of the crown. Bastard,” he roared. “I fought when they came for her.”
“I remember.”
Douglas breathed in deeply. “That’s when he made the threats against ye and Anne.”
“Nay ye?”
Douglas shook his head, a humorless laugh on his lips. “Nay. I didna care about myself. My son and the woman I loved? Oh, aye. Those weapons were the most destructive to me.”
James had never seen his father looked as defeated as he’d looked that day, but he came close to it now.
“In the end, Anne refused to cause bloodshed, or to place ye, me, or our clan at risk. She promised me that so long as she remained here, she would continue to attempt to return to Wynton to stop the fighting.” He shook his head, arms out. “What was I to do?”
James looked at his father who showed both anger and hopelessness. When Douglas met James’ eyes again, a hardness had crept in.
“Ye fight. Ye fight for her and for all that ye want, and fock the consequences, James. History will nay repeat itself. I’ll nay allow it.”
James clenched his jaw and looked around their keep. Knowing that he would visit potential death unto his clan, he regarded everything gravely.
Nodding his head, his eyes returned to his father’s.
“Let us prepare for war, then.”