Page 27 of Highlander’s Curse (The Daughters of the Glen #8)
Twenty-one
C olin did not enjoy being made to feel as if he were but a bairn again, called up in front of his mother and the laird to answer for some new misdeed.
“So you drag the lass seven hundred years into her past and then you abandon her? You leave her sitting on yer bed all by herself. And naked at that, if I’m no mistaken, aye?
” Caden shook his head and exchanged a look with their laird and cousin, Blane MacKiernan, as if he couldn’t believe his younger brother’s stupidity.
“What were you thinking, Col? Have you no good sense about women at all?”
“It was she who did the dragging,” Colin muttered in his own defense.
In hindsight, perhaps he should have waited for a private moment with his mother to mention Abby’s need for clothing rather than to have asked within Caden’s hearing. His prudish older brother would be hammering away at this one for quite some time, he had no doubt.
“And as to what I was thinking, my mind was set upon ending up at the camp in Methven in time to see to the safety of Dair and Simeon. I’d no intended to bring Abby here.”
“Then I suppose we should be thanking the Fates the lass dinna end up unclothed in the middle of our king’s army encampment.” The lady Rosalyn spoke wearing her best no-nonsense expression.
“I’d intended that the Magic send her to her own home, in her own time.”
His mother opened her mouth as if to speak, but held back, her mouth drawn into a tight, disapproving line. He suspected she had quite a bit more she wanted to say, but she yielded to Blane with a stiff nod of her head.
“Intent or no, Cousin, the lass is here, seven hundred years from where she belongs, and it falls to you to deal with what’s to become of her.” Blane peered over steepled fingers held against his face.
“I canna.” Colin shook his head emphatically as if by his action alone he could abdicate his responsibility.
“I dinna have time for any female hysterics. Even if I leave at first light and ride my horse into the ground, I may still be too late to reach Methven before the battle that is to come. At best, I can only hope Dair and Simeon survive long enough for me to reach them.”
Not that he’d ever actually found Abby to be hysterical, not even when hiding in that cave.
“You never change, little brother.” Caden pushed back his chair and stood, shaking his head in disgust. “Always so sure only you have the answers. How quickly you seem to have forgotten all the worldly advice you poured in my ears regarding Ellie. Can you no see yer responsibilities lie not in battle but with this woman you’ve brought to our time? ”
“What passed between you and Ellie was an entirely different situation!” The Fae had sent Ellie from the future to this time specifically because she was Caden’s Soulmate.
His older brother had simply been too blindly stubborn to see it without trickery on the part of the entire family to force his hand.
“Abby’s being here is an accident, no the plan of the Fae.
As I explained to you before, it was only a slip of her words that brought her here with me rather than sending her to her own home. ”
Caden threw up his hands and stalked to the door. “I’ve no the patience to argue this with you now, Colin. I go to send my Ellie to the woman in yer bedchamber. If anyone can help her accept what’s happening to her, my Ellie’s the one.”
“My thanks, Brother,” Colin offered stiffly, but his words were lost in the slamming of the door.
Just as well. With Caden gone, perhaps he could get on with making his arrangements to set out for Methven. Surely his laird could see beyond all this bickering to recognize the urgency of his mission.
“With yer permission, my laird, I’ll be off for Methven at first light on the morrow. With luck, I’ll find our king and advise him of the treachery awaiting his army, hopefully in time to save Dair and Simeon.”
To his surprise, it was his mother who spoke up first.
“I’m no so sure our laird should agree to that plan.”
Blane nodded thoughtfully, his long fingers stroking his chin as he spoke. “I would hear your reasoning, Aunt.”
“Our family heritage has long presented us with uncommon abilities and challenges. Those carry with them a heavy burden of responsibility, as well. Yer own father, Colin, fashed himself over what harm we could bring this world if we used the Faerie Magic for our own gain. I dinna believe it wise for you to act based on what you learned of our future while you were in that other time. Yer cousin Mairi told me herself the Fae forbade the changing of history.”
Always it came back to the damn Fae.
“And who am I to follow the rules of the Fae after all the harm they’ve brought down on our family?
Because of the Fae, our lives have been disrupted time and time again.
Two of your own children suffered at their hands and almost died, or did you forget that, my lady mother?
” Not to mention his own suffering thanks to the Faerie Queen.
“I’ve forgotten nothing, Colin MacAlister.
It’s quick you are to point out the bad.
But can you no give equal consideration to the good?
Would either of yer brothers be happily wed today if not for the Magic of the Fae?
And what of yer sister, Sallie? Had she not gone through such as she did, things might have turned out very differently for her as well. ”
Colin ground his teeth but refused to argue any further with his mother.
Rosalyn was obviously blinded by the happiness she desired for her children.
He, meanwhile, was talking about the fate of the entire country.
The knowledge of the future he possessed could make a difference in obtaining freedom for all of Scotland.
“No to even mention all the problems you could cause in the future,” Rosalyn continued.
“There are too many unknown disasters you could bring down on the heads of our own descendants with one careless slip in the here and now. There’s a reason you’re no to tinker with the way things are meant to be. ”
Blane nodded and steepled his fingers again. “I’ll take yer words into consideration, Aunt. And as for you, Colin, I’ll have my answer to yer request by the time we sit down for the evening meal.”
A moment of doubt assailed Colin, but he firmly pushed it away.
It made no difference that he’d not had the chance to read any further in the wondrous book he’d found in Mairi’s library.
He knew as much as he needed. Certainly enough to prevent King Robert’s army from complete destruction at the hands of the MacDougalls after Methven. That was all that mattered.
Colin stood respectfully as his mother and his laird left the room. For now, there was no further discussion to be had. But that didn’t change anything.
At first light on the morrow, he would be on his way to Perthshire to find his king. With or without his laird’s blessing.