Healing the Highlander's Heart Read online

  “How much time does it take to buy a string of garlic?” she demanded from Ailis, but the small woman was busy fluttering her lashes. With her plump dimpled cheeks, big dark eyes and petite stature, she had men falling for her, except for the grocer it seemed since she was trying extra hard.

  They have gotten all they needed save for the garlic, mistress Eubh had exhausted all they had and her need for them was so great she couldn’t wait till they brought more in in a sennight, so she sent them out to get more. They were to be back in an hour but here they were, one hot and sweaty hour later with Ailis trying to get the man to bed her.

  “Just a wee bit more, Master Murtagh here is bein’ a bit difficult.” Ailis said, her famous dimpled smile on.

  Murtagh looked uncomfortable and not in any way difficult. Lili would have like to whisper to her to stop but the tiny woman could be a bit temperamental and a blazing row in the middle of the market was not what she would want.

  “It’sna much, just a siller.” Murtagh said, turning his attention to Lili.

  “That’s less than Mistress Eubh told us to get the garlics,” Lili whispered into Ailis’ ear and the tiny woman’s smile slipped a bit, but she hitched it back on, even more blinding this time if only a bit stiff.

  “Thank ye for reminding me, Lili. I musta forgotten that for a moment there.” She hissed through her smile turning to give Lili a disgusted look.

  Lili ignored her and watched the transaction with burgeoning hope. They would return to the castle and mayhap she would be able to lie down before the feast began, if only for a moment.

  “Now we ha’ two sillers left,” Ailis announced as Lili hefted her basket again. She could have sworn the garlics added another pound or two to the weight and was soon struggling under the combined weight. “Master Beauchamp promised he’ll sell me a bit of rouge if I have a siller and maybe he’ll sell me a strip of silk.”

  Ailis had begun weaving through the stalls that Lili, hampered as she was by her load, couldn’t replicate.

  “Ailis! Wait!” she’d started puffing again. “We should give the coin left back to Mistress Eubh.”

  “Och! Why? Why shouldna I buy a bit of gude silk for myself? It’s goin’ to be the festival soon and Tom has already asked me to save him a dance and maybe ‘twill lead to somethin’ more later.”

  “We dinnae have time for this. Mistress Eubh said to return in an hour and the bell has chimed the hour’s change.”

  “Och condemn it all to hell!” Ailis burst out, spinning so sudden that Lili was startled, the heavy basket falling from her hands and she lost her footing, falling over backwards and right in the path of a horse.

  The horse, a black hell beast, whinnied loudly as it reared back its two front hooves pawing the air.

  “Woah!” said the rider, struggling with the reins to bring his horse back to order.

  Lili’s eyes widened and the two gleaming hooves began descending and she rolled out of the way as the two appendages fell upon the spot that her head once occupied. Frightened and her heart stuttering, she got to her feet, dimly noting her clothes had mud and dirt stuck to them. She was glad she was alive at least until the horse rider glowered down at her. Lili flinched back and looked around for Ailis. She had disappeared. A curse bubbled up her throat.

  “Are ye mad wench?” the rider demanded. ‘Throwing yerself in front of the horse like that!’

  Lili’s mouth had gone dry, but she nonetheless tried to speak for herself only to stop when she noticed the colours of his plaids. She paled. A McLagan. She had just shamed herself in front of the reason the castle had been in a tizzy this past days. But why was he riding alone? She looked back and saw more horses were coming. He must have ridden ahead then!

  “Have you no mouth?” he demanded gruffly. Lili looked up at him and seeing the harsh glare on his face, she dropped her gaze.

  “I’m sorry. I didna mean to fall afore the horse. I felt a bit faint and musta collapsed. I’m sorry for causing such trouble.”

  She must have looked contrite enough because his frown dissolved and he looked back at the column rapidly catching up with him. He must not have wanted them to catch him berating someone who clearly looked like a kitchen maid because he gave a disgruntled grunt and rode off.

  “Are ye okay?” it was Ailis. She had come crawling out from where she had hidden. “I swear I thought he would ha’ taken the whip to ye. Did ye’na see it? it was a big black thing.”

  Lili offered no response, picking grass and mud off her cloth and returned to her basket only it was missing. She paused staring at the patch of ground she had been sure her basket rested upon while hooves thudded by behind her.

  “What are ye lookin’ for, Lili?” Ailis asked, coming up behind her.

  “The basket,” Lili mumbled.

  Ailis finally caught up on what she was on about. “The basket!” she echoed loudly. “It was right here.”

  I know, but it is not here anymore. Lili pinched her mouth into a single line, her eyes tightly shut, fighting the urge to whirl around and berate Ailis for being so cowardly and useless, hiding away when she should have been looking after the basket.

  “Lili, I see it! There! With that lad over there! He is stealing it!”

  Lili edge past Ailis to see what she was pointing at. A lad of about fourteen was making off with the basket, he had been sneaking off before but at Ailis cry he began to run. Without thinking, Lili hoisted up her skirts and took off after him. Hungry and aching as she was, she soon began to tire but still kept on after him, weaving through stalls and barely keeping him in her line of sight. She thought maybe she should call for help but she was using all of her strength to give chase that crying for help just seemed too much. He’ll soon tire, she thought. The basket weighed a lot and it’ll slow him down soon enough, he can’t keep up the pace forever and that’s when she would pounce. Unless she lost sight of him.

  Determined as she was to catch the thief, she wasn’t looking where she was placing her foot and soon slipped on a particularly slick mud and for the second time that day, she found herself falling on her face, only to be caught but a pair of strong arms wrapping themselves about her waist and yanking her up against a hard torso.

  A bit disoriented, Lili shook her head and looked back into a pair of the most disconcerting green eyes she had ever seen. Master Dougal! Her mouth fell open and a squeak escaped her. A flush reddened her face as she thought of the situation she was in and she gulped thinking to struggle out of his arms, but she was too tired to and his arms were the only thing keeping her from falling on her face. So, she remained still, looking back at him and thinking those sinful thoughts that had continuously plagued her since the day she had set eyes on him. the basket! The thought lanced sharply through her brain and she spun around looking for the thief, but he was gone. She sagged in Dougal’s arms, thinking of how disappointed Mistress Eubh would be. Tears blurred her face and she was so caught up in her misery that she hardly noticed Dougal gently easing her down, but she didn’t notice him striding purposefully away before breaking into a run.

  Lili remained like that for long moments thinking of how she would explain. Mistress Eubh would understand what happened and look for her garlic elsewhere but it didn’t change Lili’s feeling of failure. Picking herself from the floor, she brushed her skirts there was no way she would catch up with the thief now, she should return to Ailis and they’ll return to the castle, God help her is should mention rouge and silk to her on the way back. Lili was starting to turn when Dougal returned with the basket.

  Her heart returned to her with a swoop just as she felt a tight clench down there and almost stumbled again. Her face darkened more as she right herself and she thought she must look a sight, muddied up and red in the face from exertion and embarrassment nevertheless she bravely faced him with a thankful smile on.

  “My thanks to…” she began to say but stopped at the forbidden expression on his face and her heart flew again. It was at times l
ike this she felt like an innocent chick a hawk was lusting after, caught in the vibrant green of his gaze. Even though her instinct was telling her to run, a larger part of her was intrigued by him.

  “Why are ye alone?” he demanded roughly.

  “I chased after him alone,” she answered a bit confused by his question. “My companion couldna in time, so…”

  “So ye thought if ye caught up wi’ him, he would give ye back the basket wi’ a polite smile. Are ye that stupid?”

  Lili flinched and bristled. Of course she knew the thief wasn’t going to give her the basket if she asked for it, she had been prepared to wrestle it from him if necessary while screaming for help. She wasn’t stupid.

  “He had a dirk and woulda killed ye if you had caught up wi’ him.” he went on in a berating tone that made Lili feel like a wee lass. Why was he angry? Why was it making her angry?

  “I wasna goin’ to catch up wi’ him as I would be busy picking myself off the mud and woulda lost sight of him. So my thanks Master Dougal for catching him and returning the basket of goods for the McLagan feast. If ye please, I’ll take the basket off your hands and return it and myself to the castle.” She was thoroughly annoyed by the easy way he was holding the basket as though he was holding nothing more than dandelion fluff.

  There was a moment of silence where Dougal’s forbidden look smoothened into an inscrutable mask that frightened Lili.

  “My thanks, Master Dougal,” she repeated noting that her voice wasn’t all that steady. “The basket, please?”

  “It’s too heavy for ye to carry alone,” he finally said.

  “I’ll be fine Master Dougal. I mightna look it, but I reckon I can lift things more than my weight.”

  A thick, dark eyebrow shot up in a skeptical move and Lili fought a shiver. “Verra weel, here ye go.”

  He handed her the basket and the weight pulled her down. Lili hoisted it up and gave Master Dougal a half embarrassed smiled before turning to leave, feeling very hot and very flustered. And as she walked away, she could swear he was laughing at her.

  Chapter 3

  When the McLagan stood for a toast, Dougal thought it was time he left.

  For the past one hour, he had been sitting in his own little corner in the great hall, drinking deeply from mugs of ale that kept on refilling each time he was done draining it. The great hall felt stuffy this night, the twins fire in the great hearths burning to full blaze and with twice the people in here, drinking, jesting and making merry while Dougal said under his personal dark clouds. He had eschewed sitting with his family, choosing instead of seat amongst his men and listen to their ribald talks and jokes, the hounds weaving between his feet, righting over scrapes.

  He could feel his father’s disapproving glare from the dais, but he couldn’t care less. He wanted to get as drunk as possible, even though he knew that wouldn’t make the McLagans any more bearable. So he ignored the glances his father kept passing his way, half in awe that the old man would leave his sick bed knowing he would have to linger almost through the feast, gradually growing weaker and weaker until he’d have to be helped out. They had taken special care in preparing him for the feast, his prematurely grey hair oiled and combed but even now the lines of wear were showing, and Dougal hated the McLagans even more.

  Seonag was present in the feast as well. Dressed in samite and jewels, she was to present the image of a flower, Dougal thought in the heat and ribaldry she looked like a wilting flower. A beautiful yet pitiable image. And there was the seven-year-old Lucas who was trying his best to appear older than he was when all he truly wanted was to be in bed. His mother must be trying her hardest to groom. Lady Caitir herself outshone all, in her jewels and silks, as regal as a queen and as cold as ice, glaring imperiously at everyone but graciously bending her head with a smile whenever approached. Dougal, to enrage her, had raised his mug of ale towards her in greeting, only to have her eyes bug down at him which he responded with a crooked grin.

  In the hall, the McLagans and the Domhnalls almost numbered the same. All wearing plaids of their own colours and behind them banners and tartans hung on the walls between the windows, plaids, heraldry and tapestry adding more spots of colours to the different ones the people were clad in. A stream of servants issued from archways at either ends of the room, bearing trays laden with bowls and trenchers and mugs, some holding ewers that they refilled wine cups or ale mugs with. Even though Dougal looked up each time they came in, he still saw nothing of Lili. Since their last encounter a few hours ago, he had thought of little else. The look on her face and she turned with her heavy basket before stalking away was an image that amused him deeply.

  He had been done with Moire earlier than expected but he still wasn’t satisfied, and the horses didn’t do much to distract him, he had decided to head out the castle and even though he wouldn’t admit it to himself it was to look for her. And he found her, racing after a thief without a thought of herself. He had just arrived in time to keep her from falling on her face and the anger he had felt from her bein so reckless was enough to dry out a loch and before he could stop himself, he had let his anger spew out. She hadn’t cowered, instead she had thanked him with heat that barely concealed what she had really felt and when she took the basket from him, it felt like she would have liked to take a swing at him with the basket. He smiled as she thought about it. He’d almost offered to let him have it back even though he knew she would never agree, annoyed as she was and desperate to prove she could lift it on her own, she had stalked away as stiff-spine as the heavy basket would let her be.

  Dougal had thought he would see her amongst the serving maids and wondered if she would still be stiffly annoyed with him. but one hour has passed and she wasn’t among the maids that went back and forth. His disappointment further darkened his mood and he grew annoyed at that, together with the alcohol, it wasn’t a good mix and he was thoroughly pissed by the time the beefy-necked chief of the McLagans nodded to his father.

  Now, when the chief of the McLagans stood up for a toast, Dougal pushed back his bench and clutching on his mug, quietly stumbled out, leaving behind the heat and noise of the halls for the solace of the abandoned yard. Groaning, he emptied the content of his horn and decided maybe it was time to visit Father Colum. He wasn’t as drunk as he wished to be and could walk straight if he concentrated, so he pulled himself up and walked in a slightly shuffling step to the outer bailey

  Father Colum hardly left the comfort of the chapel, choosing only to visit the village or maybe pray with the chief on some days, but most times everyone came to him and he received them all equally and eagerly. So when Dougal stumbled into the chapel, he half expected the priest to be there waiting for him with a patient smile and a kind word, but he wasn’t there. Instead there was someone kneeling before the alter, hidden in the semigloom of the chapel. The flickering tapers casted more shadows than they did light, but they clearly revealed the form of a person, but it was too small to be the bulky man that was the priest of God.

  Dougal turned to leave but paused when the person’s murmuring became louder, it was almost familiar. He silently edged forward between the pews until he was a yard away and the voice became louder. It was Lili. His heart left forward even as his groin tightened. He wondered if he should disturb her or leave her at peace to finish her one-sided conversation with God. Peace. She seemed to be at peace, exuding the very thing he had been searching his entire life. All at once, he grew annoyed with himself and her. Himself for longing for something that could never be his and her for being one of the few things he could never have in his life.

  He was close enough now to hear what she was asking for and he wasn’t shocked to hear she was asking on the behalf of others. She was asking for good health for Mistress Eubh and for the chief, for lady Caitir and even for him. he stifled a snort of amusement at that. And for the sweet lady Seonag she asked that she be happy with her handsome intended. It riled him up hearing him describe another man as hands
ome and wishing his little sister happiness with a McLagan.

  “Now that willna do,” he heard himself saying, stumbling even closer, his speech a bit slurred.

  Lili’s back stiffened and she turned around, her eyes impossibly huge in her face. Her lips, shaped like a cupid’s bow, fell open as she stood up.

  “Master Dougal,” she gasped breathlessly and that sent heat through his body but he noted her eyes were darting about looking for a chance to escape. It made him angry that she would be so scared of him she was trembling.

  Dougal lurched forward, stumbled and righted himself. “That willna do at all. Happiness with a McLagan? That’s not a verra thoughtful request.”

  Her eyes stilled, the blue of them blazing and her chin went up in that defiant way that made him very much want to tear off her clothes and sink deep into her, pounding until she was crying out his name, God house or not. “And what is wrong wi’ my request, Master Dougal? If I might ask.”

  He gave her a lopsided smile, moving even closer until he could smell her scent. Mint and heather. “Have ye considered that the person ye are praying for mightna want happiness wi’ her intended or not want ye praying on her behalf?”

  Her eyes dipped and for a moment the brilliance of her light was hooded. Her fingers pulled at the threads of her skirt in a way that conveyed embarrassment. “It doesna matter if they want me to, I’m not doin’ any harm by prayin’ and a wee bit of prayer wouldna hurt, or do ye think otherwise, Master Dougal?”

  Her tone was polite and almost respectful, but her words were full of defiance to what his question conveyed to her.