Page 6 of Highlander’s Wild Lass (Wild McLeans #1)

Celestia woke the next morning to an empty room. The chair Anthony had sat in was back in the corner by her chest of drawers, and Auralia was gone.

She could hear the stirring of life beyond her bedroom door.

Celestia felt her forehead, still slightly warm but not nearly as bad as it was. She was still in her clothes from yesterday, so she stood from the bed gingerly. The lightheadedness from yesterday lingered still.

She grabbed her large tartan plaid and wrapped it around her again.

She heard a commotion coming from outside her window. She peered out and saw Clyde scampering around gleefully, kicking his back legs in the air as two men she didn’t recognize chased him about. In the distance, she saw a few women in the garden, kneeling in the dirt looking as if they were planting.

“What in the name of God…” she murmured to herself.

When she opened her bedroom door, she was met with a bustling the house hadn’t seen since her mother was alive. A maid dashed passed her, greeting her with a toothy grin, with a pile of rags hanging out of a bucket in one hand and a broom in the other.

“Auralia?” she called out.

“In the kitchen!” Auralia answered cheerfully.

Celestia entered the kitchen to see Anthony sitting around the table with Auralia, Chester, and Hugo with a kitchen maid laying out plates of bacon, eggs, bannocks, and what looked like canned pears from last year’s harvest.

“What’s all this?” she asked, attempting a gracious smile toward the older kitchen maid.

“Anthony brought some castle servants with him when he came back this morning, he even brought women to plant the summer crops and men to tend to the animals,” Chester told her, bursting with excitement.

Beside him, Hugo was piling his plate high with eggs, bacon, and bannocks. “And someone to cook for us!”

“Aye…” she said, eyeing how beautifully crisp the bacon was. “I can see that.”

“Oh! And Anthony told us he’ll be teachin’ us how to shoot arrows soon,” Chester told her.

She looked to Anthony who looked too proud for his own good. His emerald eyes gleamed as if he was expecting Celestia to shower him with compliments. “Anthony…ye ken, this is far too much. I’ve fallen sick, I’ve not died.”

“But…but, Cellie, look at the house. The maid has it nearly sparklin’ again,” Auralia said. “The cobwebs are all gone.”

The difference in the house was obvious, it felt lighter.

“Mistress,” the maid came up to her, a wave of citrus following her. “Master McLean asked me to take him for a walk about the yard, would it be alright with ye?”

Celestia stared at her for far too long before answering, “O-of course, if ye wouldnae mind. Just be sure to stay close, his legs are nae so strong these days.”

The maid smiled, wiping her hands on her dust-smudged apron. “Ah, thank ye, mistress. I’ll be sure to be careful with him.”

She turned to leave, but Celestia grabbed her shoulder.

The maid turned back with a hesitant, polite smile. “Aye, mistress?”

“Thank ye very much for cleanin’ our great big mess, I greatly appreciate ye for doin’ it.”

“Oh, aye, yer welcome. It was nothin’.”

Celestia nodded and the maid was already heading down the hall toward her father’s room.

“Will ye sit down and eat, Cellie? Ye don’t want the eggs gettin’ cold,” Hugo said.

Celestia took the only open seat between Anthony and Auralia.

“Here, lass, I’ll put together a plate for ye. I’m sure ye are still feelin’ a bit weak,” Anthony offered, standing to put together her breakfast.

Celestia nodded, dumbfounded, looking around at each of her siblings. Chester and Hugo were lost in their overfilled plates. She was sure they would probably throw up if they ate every single bite. It had been months since any of them had that much food in one sitting.

Auralia was eyeing Celestia carefully as she took a small bite of her eggs. “Are ye feelin’ any better?”

“Aye, much better than yesterday. Daenae worry.”

Anthony placed a plate of food in front of her. “Eat up, ye missed lunch and supper yesterday.”

Celestia picked up a fork and started to pick at her food, eating small bites of egg and then bacon. She ripped a piece of bannock off and popped it into her mouth. It tasted just a tad richer than the ones Auralia loved to make.

“Ye ken this willnae be happenin’ again,” she said to Anthony. “I’ll be back to myself tomorrow and I’ll be able to take care of things.”

“Quit playin’ tough, Cellie,” Chester said, pointing a fork accusatorily at her. “Yer still sick and ye deserve to rest and get better.”

“Aye,” Hugo chimed in, half of his plate already gone. “Ye ken he asked ye to marry him, right? At least, that’s what he told us. And a man is supposed to take care of his woman…and her family.”

“What!” Celestia exclaimed.

Hugo grimaced.

Beside her, Anthony choked on his drink. He wiped his mouth and clumsily placed the cup down on the table. “Good lord, lad. I told ye that in confidence.”

Hugo simply shrugged and continued to tuck into his breakfast.

Auralia quietly placed her silverware on her plate, feeling the anger radiating off Celestia. “Boys, let’s go outside and see how the men are gettin’ along with Clyde.”

“I’m nay done eatin’ yet, Aurie!” Chester exclaimed.

“There will be more to eat later, come now,” Auralia said as she stood. “Ye can show the men that trick ye taught him.”

“Fine,” Chester grumbled, laying his fork and knife down loudly.

“Ye too, Hugo,” Auralia said.

Hugo stuffed his mouth with a forkful of egg and bacon before letting his silverware clatter to the table and following his brother and sister out the door.

A few quiet, tense moments passed until Celestia was sure her siblings were out of earshot. Celestia eyed Anthony, glaring at him. “Ye told them?” She stood from her seat, needing to get as far away from him as she could in the small kitchen.

“Careful,” he said, reaching out to her. “Daeane get up so quickly, ye daenae need to be faintin’ again.”

She ignored him, twisting away just before he had the chance to touch her. She was sure she would lose her nerve if she felt the rough warmth of his hand. “Who else have ye been tellin’? Everyone livin’ in the castle? All yer men? Sebastian?”

“Of course nae, Celestia. I’m nae a damn fool.”

“Are ye sure yer nae? I have told ye nay twice since ye asked, and ye still think we are goin’ to get married? Somethin’ must be wrong in that big head of yers.”

With a nod, Anthony dismissed the kitchen maid who was looking wide-eyed and nervous. She rushed silently out of the kitchen, leaving them alone.

“Nothin’ is wrong with my head,” he told her calmly.

Celestia noisily knocked each chair against the rim of the table as she pushed them in and began gathering the empty plates.

“Ye daenae have to be doin’ that, that’s what I brought the maids for,” Anthony protested, standing up to grab the plates from her.

She turned, facing Anthony, and leaned against the washstand, hands holding the stone basin for support. “Ye cannae be gettin’ their hopes up like that, what was goin’ through yer head?”

Anthony was stacking the last bit of plates on the table. “I wanted to ken what they thought of the idea, since yer own faither thinks it’s a smart one.”

“Aye, but we are nae a smart match,” she said. “I already told ye I will only marry for love, and I daenae love ye.”

“My parents had an arranged marriage, and they ended up fallin’ in love,” he told her.

“Is that what we’re doin’ here? An arranged marriage?” She eyed him warily. “Did ye already write up the contract with my Da then? Arranged marriage…”

“What? Nay, lass. It would…I suppose, in a way, this would be an arranged marriage, but I am nae makin’ that arrangement with yer faither. I’m tryin’ to make it with ye. He said—”

“I ken what he said!” she shouted.

Celestia pushed away from the washstand when the wave of dizziness finally left her.

Anthony leaned against the table, palms spread wide. “If ye only thought of the positives of what a marriage could do for us both. I’ve told ye time and time again how it would benefit Auralia and the boys. And when ye all move into the castle yer faither will get constant care from our healer.”

“Move into the castle?”

“Aye, Celestia. Do ye expect me to move here with ye? I cannae be doin’ my war plannin’ at this table.” He slammed a fist into the wooden table, causing it to shake and rattle the leftover silverware. “Or collectin’ the rents from the front of this house.”

“What I expect is ye to stay in yer castle, and I’ll stay here.”

“Ye can’t be stayin’ here when yer my wife, that would look too odd to folks. We would have to make it seem like we truly get along and share a bed.”

“Share a bed with ye!” Celestia shouted, wrapping herself tighter in her arisaid. “There’s no chance of that happenin’. Ye willnae be beddin’ me!”

“I truly cannae stand ye most of the time, Celestia. Yer insufferable. But we would have to consummate the marriage, people will make sure of it.”

Celestia balked at the idea of people waiting outside Anthony’s chamber doors, waiting to see if they had indeed done what a husband and wife were supposed to do on their wedding night.

She held up her hand. “Stop. We’re discussin’ this like I already agreed. There will be nay movin’ to the castle, nay weddin’, and nay beddin’.”

“Will ye nae listen to reason? I ken ye to be a smart woman, Celestia. Our marriage will benefit us both. It will get the other chiefs off my back about marryin’ their daughters…I’ve gone too long without a wife; they’re gettin’ hungry for alliances.”

“I’m nae stoppin’ ye, go make yer alliances.”

“I daenae care to make marriage alliances with them,” he told her. “That’s beside the point anyway. Yer goin’ to give up yer entire family bein’ well off and taken care of after yer faither passes all because ye won’t agree to marryin’ me?”

Celestia was silent.

“Ye could do much worse, Celestia.”

She rolled her eyes. “Ye think far too highly of yerself.”

“Maybe I do, but I would nae be as stubborn as ye are bein’ about this entire thing. It’s simple, Celestia. We marry, the other clan chiefs leave me alone, Auralia gets proper tutors as do the boys. Chester and Hugo will be trained in swords and guns, to be soldiers. Yer faither will be well looked after. And ye will be able to do whatever ye wish.”

“Whatever I wish,” she repeated. “What do ye mean?”

“I mean whatever ye wish,” he told her. “We’ll be able to do whatever we want behind the castle walls. The only time we will truly have to act as man and wife is at gatherin’s, weddin’s, and the like. All other times, we can do as we please with our time.”

“Separately, ye mean?” she asked, loosening her hold of the arisaid around her.

“Aye, separately, but…” he said, a smirk growing slowly on his pink lips. “We could try the beddin’ part. I’m sure ye’ve nae forgotten that kiss, I havenae.”

Celestia laughed mirthlessly. “Yer nae doin’ a great job at persaudin’ me. The last thing on my mind is layin’ with ye.”

“Is it, lass? Are ye sure?” he said. “I’ve seen the way ye look at me.”

“Look at ye? I daenae look at ye in any such way.” She headed towards the front door. “This is the last time I’ll say it, Anthony. I willnae be marryin’ ye. Now take yer maids and yer men and be on yer way.”

“Fine, if that’s what ye want.”

“It is,” she said, holding the door open for him.

Anthony looked around the kitchen a final time, seemingly stalling to find something to say, before heading towards the front door where Celestia stood. He stopped just before the threshold, right in front of her.

“My offer stands nay matter how long it takes ye to see it as a good idea.”

“Ye’ll be waitin’ forever, then.”

“Nae, I daenae think I will be,” he said, smugly. “I can take care of ye in all ways, lass.”

Anthony reached out a hand and ran one of his fingers gently down her cheek and along the length of her neck. He moved closer, their eyes locked for a quick moment, then he looked to her lips.

He leaned in slowly. Celestia froze, and a heat unlike she’d ever felt before coursed through her body.

Anthony’s lips parted. Celestia couldn’t help but part hers. And she was suddenly hit with the realization that she had been waiting for another kiss, longing for one since the other night.

His lips hovered near hers. He exhaled a short, quiet laugh and pulled away.

“Till next time, Celestia.”

Chapter Seven

“Ye should really be takin’ it easy, Celestia,” Auralia said when she entered Celestia’s room. “I brought ye some toast and butter.”

“Ye can just leave it on the table there,” Celestia told her. She was in front of her chest of drawers, putting away her freshly laundered clothes.

“We want to talk to ye,” Auralia said, handing her the plate. “Will ye sit down, ye have been on yer feet since the chief left.”

Chester and Hugo raced into her room and jumped on her bed. Auralia sat at the end of it, fidgeting with her hands in her lap.

“Did ye agree to marry him?” she asked.

“I dinnae,” Celestia answered, regretting not pulling Anthony to her lips before he left.

“Why, Celestia…he’s a good man,” Chester said.

“Aye, he gave us our very own bows and a pile of arrows!” Hugo exclaimed.

Celestia’s eyes went wide. “He gave ye weapons?”

“Aye, he did,” Hugo said with a nod. “He said we could hunt with him once we’re trained.”

“Ye use them on our property only, ye hear me? I dinnae want old Gavin limpin’ up here with an arrow stuck in him.”

“We were nae plannin’ to use it on old Gavin,” Chester told her, kicking off his boots and letting them fall to the floor.

“But it is a good idea, Cellie. Thank ye for it,” Hugo said, crossing his legs and covering himself with one of her blankets.

“He’s a handsome man, what more could ye ask for?” Chester said pragmatically, getting back on the subject. “Who else are ye gonna marry? There’s nay one in the village that deserves ye.”

“I appreciate yer input, truly. But…I want to marry for love.”

“But ye can learn to love him,” Hugo said. “Can ye nae?”

“Right, people do it all the time—”

“Listen, I have worked hard to raise ye all up after our maither died. I’ve taught ye all everythin’ I ken, to the best of my abilities, despite havin’ the most stubborn little brothers. . .”

Chester scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “We learned that from ye too.”

“Now, we’re all takin’ on the responsibilities of this household and Da’s business. I want to hold out on marryin’ until I find a love match. I daenae want to be married out of obligation, or because there is a great hurry to find someone to care for us. We can take care of each other.”

“That’s admirable, sister,” Chester said.

“So, ye understand then? I daenae love Anthony Moore, and I willnae marry him just because he was the first willin’ suitor to present himself.”

“There’s been more than him, Celestia,” Auralia said.

“Aye, but they werenae love matches.”

“Ye daenae give them a chance long enough for them to become one,” Auralia told her.

As the days passed, Celestia regained her strength and her health once again and was back to running the household. And as April slowly fell into May, the days grew warmer too as spring took its hold on the Highlands.

The leaves on nearly every tree were newly budded and the grass of the moors and glens grew brighter with each passing rain shower. And with each night spent toiling away attempting to understand her father’s business accounts, Celestia felt ready to take the business on.

“Are ye almost ready, sister?” Chester called from the other side of her bedroom door.

“Aye, one moment!”

One of her best skirts was laid out on her bed next to a pair of tartan trews she had borrowed from the twins. She couldn’t decide between the two.

She paced between them, stopping before each to consider them. The skirt would be what is expected of her, and trews were hardly ever worn by women. But would the trews send a stronger message to her father’s customers? Or would it give them the wrong idea entirely?

“Make haste, Celestia!” It was Hugo this time.

Celestia sighed and reached for the safer choice, her green skirt. She threw on her linen shift and fumbled through an open drawer to grab a light brown bodice. She pulled tightly at her stays once she slipped her arms through and settled it comfortably around her chest.