Page 9 of Forge of the Highlander’s Destiny

C ohen jumped up when his sister’s voice rang through the room. He had no desire to let his sister see that he had been holding a strange woman’s hand in the confines of the library and thinking about kissing her.

Well, Sienna wouldn’t have been able to see what he was thinking, but he was very glad that she hadn’t stepped inside a few seconds later, or his mouth might have very well been on Arya’s, foolhardy as that might be.

Giving Arya, who looked both embarrassed and startled, a quick glance, he walked over to Sienna who wrapped her arms about him tightly.

“Sienna,” he said, “ye are early. I didnae expect ye for another few days!”

“Cohen, I am so glad to see ye alive and well!” He could hear the emotion in his sister’s voice, and he felt sorry for choosing to keep her in the dark about everything.

“Och, so ye’ve heard?” he asked with a wince, and she kissed him on the cheek before pinning him with a reproachful look.

“Aye, but only two days before, when I overheard two maids speaking together about the missing Laird Sinclair while daein’ their duties.

It seems people were tryin’ to keep it from me for some foolish reason.

I came as soon as I heard to offer yer men me assistance and to learn more about what happened. Laird Muir took ye? Why?”

“I daenae ken, Lass. That is what I mean to find out.” His eyes flashed with determination.

Sienna stepped back, looking him up and down with her green eyes to assess his health and well-being.

“Ye certainly escaped looking well, Brother.” She grinned.

“When I heard from the guard at the gate that ye were well, I rushed inside, kennin’ that ye would likely be here if ye were restorin’ yerself to health. But ye look well. Very well.”

Cohen remembered that Arya was still in the room, likely waiting to be introduced. He turned aside and motioned to her to come forward. “Well, Sienna, ye can thank me rescuer.”

Arya stepped forward near to his arm, and Cohen had the strange urge to pull her close to present her to his sister. He shook off the ridiculous notion and said, “This is Arya Donaldson, the daughter of Laird Muir, and she was the one who helped me escape.”

Sienna colored with fear, and she spared Arya only a quick glance.

“Why should ye bring the man’s daughter here, Cohen?

Surely that will rain down his great vengeance upon ye.

Or he could have orchestrated yer escape with his daughter in order to find a reason to attack the castle? How could ye be such a fool?”

Sienna’s brown curls bobbed as she shook her head with frustration, but Cohen put up a hand.

“I ken all what ye might be feelin’, Sienna, but ye daenae have to worry.

The lass was in the dungeons with me, and I saw how her faither…

treated her.” He cleared his throat, unable to look Arya in the eye.

“She wanted to escape as much as me. She will remain here until she finds a better place to move on to. She will nae be harmed,” he said in a warning tone, not wanting another incident of Malcolm doing what he thought best for the Laird.

Sienna regarded Arya again. Cohen, realizing that in Sienna’s angry outburst, he had been unable to introduce Sienna, corrected that mistake quickly. “Arya, this is my sister Sienna. She is now Lady McMahon of the McMahon Clan.”

Arya bowed her head and gave an attempt at a smile. “Well,” she said softly, “I will let ye two speak together in private. Nay sense in me interruptin’ ye.” She turned to leave, but Cohen grabbed at her wrist.

“Nay, stay,” he said quickly and then realized what he’d just done and said. In front of his sister. All three of them looked down at his hand on Arya’s wrist, as if it was the strangest thing in the world they had ever seen. Instantly, he released her and even stepped back a bit for good measure.

If he was a blushing man, he would have blushed straight up to the roots of his hair. “I mean, Lass, that ye daenae need to go. It is dinner time, and the meal is ready. We can all eat together. Sienna, where is Thomas?”

Sienna rolled her eyes. “Likely twenty steps behind me as he usually is. He didn’t seem to feel the need for haste as I did.” Stepping beside him, Sienna took his arm. “Well, can ye escort us to dinner, Cohen? I am famished, and I am certain that Thomas is as well. He has brought Calvin too.”

“Fine then,” Cohen said feeling ever so slightly uncomfortable, knowing that his sister would take him to task later for his flirtatious treatment of Arya. He held out an arm for Arya, and she took it. “To dinner.”

Sienna chatted on about how well and clean the castle looked, but Cohen only lent her half an ear.

He was glad for his sister’s company but having her there at the same time as Arya who was confusing him with each second, made things a little awkward.

Sienna was sharp and focused. Nothing got by her, and that was what made her a relentless sibling, ready to point at all faults and tease until she had teased a man’s face off.

She made a good clan’s Lady, and she ran circles around her useless husband.

“Thomas!” Cohen cried at the sight of the man standing in the entrance way.

Thomas nodded at Cohen and then abruptly set into a fit of sneezing.

He reached into his trouser pocket to pull out a long white handkerchief and pressed it to his nose.

He sneezed three more times while his assistant, Calvin, looked on helplessly.

Thomas held up a finger as if waiting for another sneeze, but then he shook his head, making a loud, dramatic show of wiping his nose and stuffing the soiled handkerchief back in his pocket.

He reached out a hand for Cohen to shake. Reluctantly, trying his best not to recoil in disgust from his oft-sickly brother-in-law, Cohen shook it. “Good to see ye again, Lad! I heard ye had been taken away. And here ye are, back from the dead, it seems!”

Thomas chuckled, making it sound more like a cough, and Cohen nodded. “Aye, ‘twas a dangerous time, but I am well enough. It is now my duty to find out who betrayed me to Laird Muir.”

“Aye, aye, true enough.” Thomas’ graying brown hair, which hung down to his shoulders, brushed against his coat as he nodded furiously.

The man was a laird, but Cohen had often thought he looked like the least lairdly man he’d ever met.

He adopted more of the English form of dress, and he looked as if hadn’t done a day of fighting in all his life.

“Well, ye are both most welcome.” Cohen turned to Calvin, who looked a bit more authoritative in Cohen’s mind with his strong shoulders and dark, angry sort of looks. “Mr. Marshall. Good to see ye again.”

“And ye, Laird Sinclair. Best wishes for yer health.”

“Thank ye.” Cohen turned to introduce Arya again. He decided not to mention that she was the daughter of the Laird of Muir. “This is Arya Donaldson, a…guest,” his brain supplied, although he knew just how it sounded.

Arya narrowed her lovely blue eyes at him, and he knew that he would hear about it later. In fact, the thought of that angry rendezvous set his blood to thrumming. Thoughts of kissing returned to him, no matter how dangerous they might be.

“A guest?” Thomas asked with a raised brow. He looked confused, but the expression cleared soon enough. He was not a man to enjoy or tolerate confusion for very long. “Good enough. How are ye, me dear?” Thomas said, bowing over her hand.

“Aye, Thomas, this lass is the daughter to the Laird of Muir, the very one that kept Cohen in his dungeons,” Sienna offered with a wry smile.

Damn it.

He saw both Calvin’s and Thomas’ surprised and fearful looks, and he knew that tonight would be one of explanation.

Poor Cohen , Arya thought with sympathy. He really did look as if he was trying his best to explain her presence there, and it did sound rather ridiculous.

She had brought this upon him; she knew that, and he had said ‘no’ to her so many times about coming with him.

For this precise reason, no doubt. It was a foolish plan to run away with someone else.

She literally had nowhere to go and no other place to call home besides the dreaded Muir Castle.

And so, she was stuck there, firmly in Cohen’s life and business.

Arya felt utterly hopeless, and even though Cohen had made her sound like she was nothing special, she would have to do her best to help him out.

Looking at the two surprised and confused men, Arya said, “Daenae worry. Laird Sinclair is quite safe from me. I have nay love for me faither, and I willnae by assistin’ him in whatever dreadful plans he has for the man.

Coh—Laird Sinclair was kind enough to help me to escape, for I too was in the dungeons of me own castle while he was there. I owe him me life.”

Turning to look at Cohen, she saw him regarding her with a mixture of admiration and fascination.

“Well,” Thomas said with a quick clap. “That suits me just fine. It will be nice to have another pretty face at dinner. Come now, let’s eat. Nay sense in lettin’ a good, warm meal go to waste, is there?”

Arya was surprised that her explanation had been so readily accepted, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see his wife rolling her eyes, looking after her husband with annoyance.

“Aye, please, let’s eat,” Cohen said finally, stepping out of the way so that the two ladies could walk ahead of him. “It seems we are finally done with the introductions,” he muttered under his breath.

“Aye. So terribly sorry that we’ve come early and disturbed ye,” Sienna said.

Arya could tell she was teasing her brother, and Sienna leaned against his arm.

“I am glad ye are alive and well, though. Once I heard about yer capture, I felt like I wouldnae be set right again until I saw yer face for meself.”