Chapter Seven
The midsummer celebration commenced with a feast. The great hall was brightly lit with oil lamps and blazing fires that filled the room with welcoming warmth. The long trestle tables were laden with baskets of fruits and cheeses, freshly baked breads, and roasted meats—suckling pig, beef, venison, and grouse.
MacHeth commanded the high table surrounded by his guests whose cups were kept filled with mead, heather ale, strong cider, and blackberry wine. Sitting at the same table were MacHeth’s sister, Gruaid, her second husband, Magnus, Ailis, and Sibylla. Domnall’s seat was conspicuously empty. Alex feared the worst. Had the hothead dashed off?
Alex’s felt his gaze resting longer than seemly on Sibylla. With her hair in a plaited coronet, crowned with ribbon and flowers and wearing a sea green tunic with gold embroidery, she appeared every inch the noble lady. And he wasn’t the only one to notice. The fair-haired and handsome, Ranald, made no secret of his admiration. Noticing him staring, Sibylla flashed an impish smile. Damn it! Was she consciously flirting with Ranald?
He’d never known feelings of jealousy before, but it was very much alive and twisting inside his gut. But a match with Ranald was surely the kind her uncle and brother would desire for her.
He’d never been more acutely aware of their social divide. Although he now knew that he was also descended from nobility, he could never openly make that claim—at least not without risk to his life. His mother had protected him from his uncle, who might still consider him a threat if his identity became known. Not to mention what the king might do.
Pulling his gaze away from her, Alex sought an open place at the next table with Sibylla’s youngest sister, Fiona, and her half siblings, Duncan and Donata, but Sibylla beckoned him back over. “Please sit with us. Domnall will not be here tonight,” she said.
“Why not?”
“He’s gone. He rode out this afternoon.”
“Do ye know where he went?”
“I cannot say,” she replied, reaching for his cup and filling it with ale. “But I pray he has the good sense to return once his temper cools.”
“Sibylla, there’s something I must tell ye.” Alex had made the decision to leave on the morrow, but refused to sneak away like a thief in the night.
“What is it?” she asked, leaning closer.
His breath caught as he inhaled her sweet scent. If he didn’t leave, he’d soon be helpless to resist her. “I need to leave Kilmuir.”
“Leave?” Her eyes flickered. “Why?
“There’s something important I need to do.”
“And what is that?” she asked.
“I need to find my family.”
She looked puzzled. “But I thought ye had no family?”
“That’s what I believed,” he said, “But I’ve recently learned otherwise.”
“How?” she asked.
“I can’t explain. At least not yet. But I’m not who you think I am, Sibylla. In truth, I don’t even know myself anymore!”
“Where will you go?” she asked.
“I need to begin at the beginning. I’m going back to my childhood home in Fettercairn. I don’t know if any of my family still live, but if there is any chance…” He exhaled a painful sigh. “I have to know, Sibylla. My whole future depends upon it.”
“Will ye return here afterward?” Her gaze searched his face. “Ye could have a home here, Alexander…if ye wanted it.”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Sibylla. Given the circumstances, I don’t see how I can remain here.”
Her eyes clouded. “B-but I don’t understand. I thought we…” She glanced down at her hands and licked her lips. “Does this have anything to do with what happened yesterday?”
“Aye,” he replied. “That’s a very big part of it.”
“What about the promise ye made to me? And there are others—Duncan and Donata,” she nodded to the twins. “They canna read either.”
“I wasn’t thinking when I made the offer. It was ill-advised, given what’s transpired. I care for you, Sibylla. Deeply. But I’ve made my decision.”
“Ye made a promise.”
Her accusation cut like a dagger. “Can’t ye understand that? We canna be together. Staying here would just make things harder for both of us.”
Sibylla rose with a stifled sob. “My brother was right. Ye have no honor.”
“Honor is why I’m leaving,” he protested softly.
Ailis touched Sibylla’s arm as she turned to leave. “What is wrong?”
“I feel ill.” She shot Alex an accusing look. “Pray make my excuses.”
Alex wanted desperately to go after her, but he knew it would only create a stir and make matters worse. He forced himself to remain at the table, doing his best to keep up a front while the others feasted and reveled.
“What did ye say to overset her?” Ailis asked.
“I told her I’m going away.” It was the noble thing to do, but Sibylla’s stricken expression made him heartsick. Nevertheless, there was no point in delaying, he would notify MacHeth and depart—while his honor, and Sibylla’s virtue, were still intact.
“Och.” Ailis nodded with a knowing smile. “That explains everything,”
Hoping to end the awkward conversation, Alex took a sip of ale.
“I think she loves ye,” Ailis said.
Alex sputtered his drink.
“But if ye do not wish to court her, there are surely others who might.” Ailis nodded to the empty seat of his would-be rival, Ranald.
He was gone? Alex’s gut told him it was no coincidence. How could he have been so self-absorbed not to have noticed the bastard following her out?
His protective instincts told him to go. Now. He slammed his cup down. It was more than just jealously. Something didn’t seem right. He instinctively reached for his sgian-dubh. “Alert MacHeth if I don’t return in a few minutes.”
Too distraught to return to her bedchamber, Sibylla climbed the staircase leading to the ramparts. It was her second favorite place when she needed solitude to sort out her thoughts. The sky was clear and black as onyx, making the countless stars appear as tiny explosions of light. Staring up at the heavens, she filled her lungs with the salt-tanged and heather-scented air, and gazed out at the glittering waters of the firth.
Why did she care so much for Alexander? She could make no sense of her feelings. He’d only come to Kilmuir a short time ago, yet it felt as if he belonged here—as if they belonged together. She knew he felt it too. Why was he leaving? How could she convince him to stay?
“Ah! How fortunate I am to find ye alone,” a deep rumbling voice intoned.
Her heart leapt, but it wasn’t Alexander who’d come after her.
“Ranald?” She spun with a gasp. “Did ye follow me?”
“Didn’t ye want me to?” He flashed a wolfish smile and moved in closer.
She immediately regretted flirting with him. He was not a man to toy with, yet she had done so in a childish attempt to make Alex jealous.
“I only came for some fresh air.” She sensed danger but tried not to show her unease. “I think I’m ready to go back now.”
“So soon?” he asked. Her pulse sped as he moved closer, reaching out a hand to skirt up her arm. His light touch made her shiver but it wasn’t pleasure that made her body react to him as he moved in to trap her against the wall. She was beginning to fear.
In other times, there might have been a sentry on these walls, but men were in short supply. If she cried out, it was unlikely anyone would hear her.
“I will soon be missed,” she replied tightly.
“Aye,” he said. “Ye will be missed, but not until the feast ends. I came to negotiate with your brother, but having seen his sister, I am tempted to bind this alliance myself.”
“W-what do ye mean?”
He wrapped a stray curl around his finger. “Surely ye understand how these things are arranged? Shall we seal the bargain?”
“But I’m already pledged to another,” she lied.
He pulled back with a frown. “Aye? Then I would know my rival’s name.”
Sibylla opened her mouth to answer but promptly realized she’d trapped herself.
“Ah,” he laughed. “’Tis but virginly qualms. It only hurts the first time,” he assured her as he pressed his hardness against her. “You will soon come to enjoy it.”
His mouth came down on hers. Unlike Alex, there was no hesitancy or tenderness. He had come to plunder and pillage, and Sibylla was powerless. She tried to scream but she could barely breathe.
In seconds, he’d freed himself from his leather trews. She squeezed her eyes shut on a whimper. There was no use fighting him. He would effortlessly overcome her. Please, God, let it be quick.
Alex went first to Sibylla’s room, but just as he’d feared, she didn’t answer his knock. He then began a frantic search of the castle. He found them on the ramparts with their bodies joined in a kiss. Jealous rage raced through his blood and pounded in his ears. Had she met him here by design? Sibylla’s whimper told him otherwise.
Alex was on them in three strides, sgian-dubh in one hand, and her assailant’s ballocks in the other. “Release her, or I’ll slice them off. Nod if ye understand me.”
Ranald’s head bobbed vigorously.
He let her go so abruptly that Sibylla collapsed against the wall. Alex suddenly understood the meaning of blood lust. He shook with it. It was all he could do to refrain from emasculating her would-be rapist.
“Sibylla? Would ye care to do the honors?” Alex asked. “Or would ye have me take care of it?”
“’Tis a misunderstanding,” Ranald said. “I would have taken her to wife.”
“Let him go,” Sibylla responded in a choked whisper.
Ranald eyed Alex with disdain as he jerked up his trews. “Did ye think she’d choose ye over me?”
Was it true? He’d come thinking to protect her, but had he just made a great ass of himself? Alex stepped away but kept his weapon at the ready. He looked from one to the other. “Is it so, Sibylla? Do ye intend to have him?”
“Nae.” “I would never have such a man. I don’t care if he were king of the world.” She gazed up at Alex with plaintive eyes. “If given a choice, I would choose ye.”
Alex’s heart pounded in anticipation of a fight, but Ranald had the good sense to back off.
“Your brother will feel quite differently,” Ranald said.
“My brother is not here,” Sibylla said. “But feel free to appeal to my uncle. I will be certain to inform him how eagerly ye wooed me.”
“Touch her again,” Alex threatened, “and I swear I will kill ye.” He realized he meant it. He never would have believed himself capable of taking a life, but he would not have hesitated. Nor would he have grieved his actions.
“Ye have nothing to fear,” Ranald retorted. “She’s not worth the trouble.”
“Thank ye, Alexander,” Sibylla whispered. “I begin to think ye my guardian angel. ’Tis the third time ye saved me.”
He took her face in his hands and titled her chin upward. “Because ye canna be trusted to take care of yourself. I begin to think ye need looking after.”
“Aye? But who is there to do it?” she asked. “Ye said you are leaving.”
“Aye,” he said, “But then I heard something that made me think twice on it—Ailis says ye think yourself in love with me. But how can I know ’tis true and not just a passing fancy?”
“Ye need proof?” She reached down for his hand and placed it on her left breast. “It aches here since ye said ye were leaving.”
“Aye?” Mirroring her actions, he reached for her other hand, and placed it over his own heart. “Mine began aching almost the moment I laid eyes on ye.”
It only took a moment for Alex to realize their hearts were beating in synchrony.
Her widened gaze said she felt it too.
“Do ye believe in fate, Alexander?” she asked breathlessly.
“I believe in Providence,” he replied. “I believe in the Divine will of God. And I now believe He sent me here for a purpose, Sibylla. ’Twas not for your brother that I came. He sent me for ye.”
Even as he spoke, Sibylla’s grandmother’s prophetic words echoed in his mind. From your loins will spring two sons and many daughters. They will sire two great clans that will spread over the Highlands from east to west…but with this blessing also comes a curse—for your son’s sons will ever be at odds. Relentlessly, they will make war upon one another—until the very last drop of blood is shed.
Could it all be true? Was it not madness, after all? Did it matter? Did knowledge of the future change how he felt? No, it did not. He’d lived the past sixteen years isolated and sheltered from emotional turmoil. But passion rarely existed without pain. He would accept the one in order to embrace the other.
She reached up and entwined her arms around his neck. “Are ye saying ye’ve changed your mind about leaving?”
“Aye.” He tilted her head to place a long and lingering kiss on her sweet, supple lips. “I’ve found my heart and my home, and that is with ye.”
The End
If ye enjoyed this story, please look for my upcoming SONS OF SCOTLAND series coming summer of 2017
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