Chapter Twelve
The weather and all of Christendom seemed against them as they headed to Sigurd Castle. Thank God Kier could traverse these lands in his sleep, because no sane man would be out in the sleet and snow and whipping wind unless he was running for his life.
They made it to the stables beside Loch Dochart well past dark and there wasn’t a stable hand in sight. After tending to his horse and giving the garron a double ration of oats, Kier led Skye to the pier and helped her board a skiff used to ferry people to the tower house built by his ancestors atop a rocky isle.
Shivering, she blew on her fingers and panned her gaze up the looming old keep as he rowed. “It looks enormous, but brooding almost as if it’s abandoned.”
“’Tis the weather. Come spring when the bluebells and primrose are in bloom, ’tis not so stark.”
“I’ve never been inside a castle afore.” She cringed while her teeth chattered.
“It isn’t much different from MacIain’s manse.”
With that, Skye’s face fell. Kier didn’t have to ask why. The shock of yesterday morn’s events still stewed in his chest like boiling tar.
“Do you think your father will like me?” she asked.
“Aye.” Kier knew Da would be difficult, but he would grow to love Skye in time.
Finn, the valet, met them at the enormous oak door. “Master Kier, whatever are you doing out in this weather? I reckon nary a fox has crawled from his hole for near on two days.”
Kier embraced the faithful old servant. “Have you heard the news from Glencoe?”
“Nothing recent.” The man looked to Skye and a shadow crossed his face. “Something grave has happened, has it not?”
“I’m afraid so, my friend. An act nothing short of genocide, led by Glenlyon.”
“Dear God.”
After introducing Skye, Kier explained about the rescue of her family and skirted around the details of his hasty marriage. “Would you please show Mistress Skye to my chamber and send up a tray of food and ale?”
She glanced at him with wide eyes. “You’re not going with me?”
“I must have a word with my father alone first.” He gestured toward the stairwell. “I’ll join you anon.”
Finn bowed. “Your da is in his solar, sir.”
“I thought as much.” Kier bowed in return and waited until the patter of their footsteps on the ancient sandstone stairs disappeared, then he dashed upward to the second floor.
When he entered the solar, Da lowered his gazette and looked up in surprise. In the past year, Father’s hair had gone grayer, his face gaunter. “Kier? What the devil are you doing here? It has been blizzarding for two days.”
“I’ve a great deal to tell you.” Kier met his father’s eyes with a somber stare. They shook hands as they always did. Da believed it was a sign of weakness for a man to embrace another, even in private. “Finn said you haven’t received a messenger in days.”
“No. Not that any sane man would venture out in this weather. There must be three feet of snow on the ground. Why the devil did you risk riding in a blizzard? Were you not in Fort William?”
“Glencoe.” Keir moved to the sideboard and poured a tot of whisky for them both. After taking a seat, he launched into a detailed explanation of his regiment’s arrival in the Coe and all that ensued right up until they arrived at Sigurd Castle.
Da’s bloodshot eyes grew redder and enraged. “You mean to tell me you have not only committed treason against your clan, you have gone and wedded a MacIain, the scourge of the Highlands?”
Kier shoved back his chair and rose to his feet, grinding his knuckles into the table. “After all I’ve said, you cannot tell me you support the annihilation of an entire clan.”
Whisky spewed from Da’s lips. “Good God, Son. Are you daft? Clan Iain Abrach is our greatest enemy. We have feuded with the MacIains and MacDonalds since the rise of the Lords of the Isles.” He pushed from the table so hard, his chair clattered to the floorboards. “You have gone against an order of the king and, worse, you’ve brought a fugitive into my house?”
Taking a step back, Kier looked at his father in disbelief. “Do you not care what is right, what is honorable?”
“’Tis about time you learned that honor has nothing to do with protecting clan and kin.” Da pounded his fist. “To survive in these times, a man must bear that which he cannot change and ensure he stands on the right side of every feud. And if that means taking up fire and sword to rid the lands of thieving tinkers, then I stand by it with all my heart and soul.”
If only Kier could plant his knuckles in that proud face. After four and twenty years, he finally saw his father for a yellow-bellied hypocrite—all the Campbells for their hypocrisy.
Da thrust his finger toward the door. “I would not turn a dog out in this weather, but come morn, you will take that bitch and never set foot on my lands again!”
Skye knew something was wrong as soon as Kier walked into the chamber. And all along, she’d known his father wouldn’t see reason. The laird was a Campbell, after all. “What happened?” she asked.
“We’ll be leaving come first light.”
“That bad?”
“Worse. I’ve lost my inheritance.”
Skye looked from one tapestry to the next. Kier’s chamber was more opulent than anything she’d ever imagined. “Because of me?”
“Nay, because of injustice and outdated parochial views of an old man who could not see reason if it were presented to him on a platter hewn of solid gold.”
She hid her face in her hands as her heart twisted inside her chest. “’Tis all my fault. Forgive me for bringing this upon you.”
“Och, lass. You are nay the one who penned the order to put a clan to fire and sword.” He pulled her into his arms. Skye tried to push away, but he held her with fierce strength. “I am a wealthy man for loving you. We shall make our own dynasty, you and I.”
“What are you saying?” She craned her neck to see his face. “You weren’t serious about sailing for the Americas?”
“I was. I hear there’s land for the taking and it matters not where you were born. What matters is how you live your life and the honor borne in your heart.”
“But what of Tommy, Ma…Da?”
“Once we’re settled, we can send for them.”
Closing her eyes, Skye clung to her husband. She knew her parents would never leave the Highlands, not unless Hugh ordered it and that wasn’t likely. What were her parents doing now and what must they think of her for leaving them in the mountains? Who knew when it would be safe to go back? Her home was destroyed and the contents burned.
She looked Kier in the eye and cupped his whiskered cheeks between her palms. “My place is with you now.”