Page 1 of Marry the Highland Villain (Breaking the Highland Rules #1)

CHAPTER 1

There was no one visible on the path behind her—or, at least, not as far as she could tell.

Brigid breathed a sigh of relief as she hurried through the heavy wooden gate and into the sanctuary of the home she shared with her three older sisters. Visits to the market were always trying—the townsfolk always went out of their way to make her uncomfortable, jeering and sometimes even spitting on her—but today had been worse than usual.

She carried the parcels she’d bought—mostly flour for bread, a little bit of meat, and herbs for seasoning—into the warm, bright kitchen. Her eldest sister, Lily, was there, stirring a pot that simmered gently over the fire. She smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners in a way that never failed to remind Brigid of their mother.

“Ye’re back, Brigid. Did ye have a good visit to the village?”

Brigid felt her mouth tighten unhappily. She tried to hide her pain from her sister, but Lily had always been perceptive, and the answer to her question was written all over her face, no matter how hard she tried to disguise it.

Lily sighed and turned back to her cooking, abandoning the question. “Here. Try this stew.”

Brigid took the spoon and sipped at the hot broth obediently, its warmth comforting. “’Tis good.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” said Lily briskly. “Now, what happened in town this time that has ye lookin’ so downcast? Were the villagers cruel to ye again?”

“They always are.” Brigid sighed unhappily. “You ken they are, Lily. It’s always the same. I wish they wouldnae judge me by Father’s actions. I’m nae him. But even when I try to smile at them and act polite, they say such harsh things.”

“Och, they’ve always been a spiteful bunch. And ye ken that Father’s reputation did us nay favors.” Lily wrapped her in a quick hug, which smelt like the spices she’d been using in her cooking. “’Tis fear and bitterness speakin’. Ye shouldnae let it upset ye so.”

“I try nae to. And that isnae why I’m frettin’ now.”

Brigid stepped back from her sister’s arms reluctantly. “I was barterin’ with the butcher, and I saw strange men, Lily. They were from a different clan, and they acted like warriors. They seemed to be lookin’ for something, an’ it made me feel nervous. I dinnae ken why. But I hurried home, anyway. It just didnae feel safe to linger.”

Lily frowned. “Do ye think they followed ye?”

“I didnae see them, and I was as careful as I could be, but…”

There was a distant crash from somewhere at the front of the house. Lily and Brigid exchanged startled glances, then turned and ran toward the front hall, their heels clicking loudly on the flagstone floor.

They found Megan and Valerie facing off against half a dozen armed men, all wearing the same, unfamiliar tartan pattern in their kilts. Megan had her bow in hand, and Valerie had a dirk in one fist, but the two women were out-matched by the newcomers, and they knew it, so they dropped their weapons as their sisters appeared beside them.

Lily spoke first, taking charge as she had done ever since they were children.

“What is the meaning of this intrusion?” she said in a tone that sounded far more confident than she felt.

The leader of the men—or, at least, Brigid assumed he was their leader—smiled unpleasantly. “Well, well, look at what we have here, lads. Our Laird will be highly pleased that we didnae have to search for these lasses.”

Lily scowled fiercely. “Yer Laird? And which Laird sends men to break down our doors and attack four women in their home? What can he possibly want from us?”

The man sneered. “There’s nay need to be so harsh with us, little lass. After all, we’ve come with a message from yer kinfolk.”

Lily’s back stiffened. “We have nay kinfolk. My sisters and I have been orphaned for years, and clanless for far longer.” Her voice was ice cold, but a slight tremor in her hands betrayed her true emotions.

“Would ye truly be so cold as to deny yer own grandfather?”

The mocking tone of the man who spoke made Brigid feel nauseous. She was used to mockery by the villagers. But this treatment seemed far crueler somehow, coming from someone she’d never even laid eyes on, and who could have no possible reason to speak to her sisters in such a way.

“Laird Auchter sent us all this way just to speak with ye,” the man continued, the corners of his mouth turning up into an arrogant smile.

Lily’s expression somehow turned even colder, her anger—sharp as a blade—visible in her normally kind eyes. Valerie, on the other hand, looked ready to leap across the distance between herself and the men and attack them with her bare hands. Megan’s hand just clenched around her bow.

Lily saw her sisters’ reactions and shook her head.

“Laird Auchter refused to claim us as kin when we were bairns,” she said in a voice icier than a winter snowstorm. “He refused us any connection, even with our grandmother. Even after our mother—his daughter—perished about ten years ago. Laird Auchter has nay right to speak to us, whether he sends tidings or news, and especially nae if he wants something from us. He gave up that right the day he swore we’d die if we ever dared don Auchter tartan.”

The man’s face darkened at this little speech, and the sneers his warriors wore turned harsh and sharp in a way that reminded Brigid of the expressions some of her father’s rougher friends had sometimes worn.

“Och, ye wouldnae think to defy the Laird, little lass, would ye? Ye’ve nay one to defend ye, and our Laird kens it well. So do ye, I expect.”

He stepped closer to Lily, his uncomfortable proximity clearly designed to threaten her. Lily stood her ground and stared back at him, like a lioness defending her cubs.

“We can defend ourselves,” she said boldly, making Brigid want to run forward and hug her for her bravery. Instead, she stood firm behind her sister, hoping her presence would let Lily know she was not alone.

“Against armed and armored men? Four feeble women? Maybe ye could if ye had warriors of yer own.” The man shrugged. “Or if yer father’s crew still guarded ye. But ye dinnae have any of those things, do ye? And so ye’ll hear what our Laird says, I’ll be bound. And ye’ll obey the command he has sent us to deliver. Otherwise, yer blood will turn these stones another color.”

Cold fear skittered down Brigid’s spine. Her sister stood bravely before her, but these men were hard, dangerous. They meant every word they said. Her three elder sisters, however, were clearly in no mood to listen. She didn’t even need to look at them to know that Valerie and Megan were preparing to strike at the men who had invaded their home. It was their way. And Lily, normally the peacekeeper of the family, was too angry to stop them.

Brigid spoke before anyone else could, the fear of losing her sisters winning out over the almost irrepressible instinct to hide in the pantry and never come out. Love, however, made her brave.

“What do ye mean, we will obey the command Laird Auchter has sent to us?”

The leader’s gaze shifted to her, and it was all Brigid could do not to shrink under the weight of it. A mocking smirk tugged at his mouth, as if he’d assessed her with a single glance and found her wanting.

Brigid felt a familiar lump of shame tighten her throat. She knew what he saw. She was shorter than her sisters, with soft, rounded curves rather than the lean, sleek lines that formed her sisters’ elegant figures. She’d always been more full-figured than them, bordering on plump, even though they shared everything else. She looked like exactly what she was, in fact—the soft and sheltered youngest daughter of the infamous pirate, Magnus Blackwood.

Brigid turned her attention back to the man just in time to hear his answer.

“One of ye is to come with us, back to Laird Auchter’s lands,” he said with a shrug that implied this was a simple—even reasonable—request.

The sisters, however, knew better.

“Why?” The question snapped out of Megan with the force of a twanging bowstring. “He’s never wanted any of us afore. Why now?”

The soldier smiled unpleasantly, his yellow teeth showing under pink, fleshy lips. “Laird Auchter has lost his wife and has nay sons. Ye might be little better than bastards, what with yer father bein’ pirate scum, but at least ye’re of his bloodline. Therefore, Laird Auchter has decided to claim one of ye as his heir.”

There was a short silence as the four sisters struggled to take in this outrageous request.

“And if we refuse, wishin’ nothing to do with the clan that abandoned us years ago?” Lily’s voice was as hard as steel and sounded almost exactly like her father’s. “What then?”

“If ye willnae serve the clan yer mother’s blood belongs to, then Laird Auchter has given orders to kill ye, so nay others can use yer blood ties to the clan against him.”

Lily frowned. Valerie, on the other hand, was not so silent.

“I dinnae believe ye. Laird Auchter never cared aught for us, and he disowned Mother. Why should he care now, when he didnae give a bent copper farthing for the past ten years?”

The leader of the soldiers scowled as if he was growing irritated by the women’s questions. “’Tis nae yer place to question Laird Auchter,” he said with a shrug. “Ye only have two choices: Do as ye’re bid, or we’ll see all of ye dead afore we depart.”

He meant it. Brigid could see it in his eyes. Worse, she could see the glimmer of excitement in the eyes of some of his men.

Some of the soldiers wanted the sisters to refuse. They wanted an excuse to kill them—and maybe even worse. She’d heard stories of what could happen to women—they all had. And now, it seemed, they were about to find out if those stories had any truth to them.

Lily could see the danger just as well as her younger sister could. “I suppose I could visit with Laird Auchter for seven days, then come home,” she said, her voice soft with resignation.

“Nay!”

“Lily!”

“Ye cannae!” Brigid’s protest joined Megan’s and Valerie’s. She pushed her way forward, despite her terror at the sight of the soldiers. “Lily, ye cannae go! Ye’re needed here. Ye cannae leave us!”

“I am the eldest, Brigid,” Lily said softly. “If anyone is to go, it must be me. Surely ye can see that?”

“Ye might be the eldest, but ye’re also the only one of us who kens how to heal folk. Ye cook, and ye keep the house in order. If it werenae for ye, we’d have perished of winter fevers or injuries long ago. Valerie and I wouldnae have kenned what to do when Megan ran into those wolves an’ came home with their teeth marks carved into her flesh. And which of us could keep the kitchen and make sure we’re all cared for as well as ye?”

Brigid shook her head as if to shake away the gathering dread that sat like lead in the pit of her stomach. “Nay. Ye cannae go, Lily. It wouldnae be right. I’ll be the one to accompany the soldiers. It’s only right.”

“Brigid!” three voices rang out in dismayed refusal.

Valerie almost dropped her knife, her eyes wide with shock. “Why on earth… What are ye thinking?”

“It has to be me.” Brigid swallowed hard, her throat suddenly dry with fear. “Valerie, ye ken how to trade, and if Father’s friends come by, then ye’re the only one who can speak to them. They trust ye and respect ye, more than they do the rest of us. And ye’re the best at finding work to barter for the supplies we need.”

Her gaze shifted. “Megan, ye’re a braw hunter. Yer skill keeps meat in our larder and gives us furs to trade. Ye bring us hides to make into clothing for ourselves or sell if we dinnae need them. Without ye, we’d have had to rely on our little garden, an’ like as nae, we’d have starved. Ye ken that’s the truth.”

She swallowed and said the words that hurt the most. “And I… I go to the village sometimes. I help around the house as best as I can—which isnae sayin’ much—an’ I pick flowers to brighten the place up… but there’s nothing I do that ye cannae do without me. Ye’ve always sheltered me, and I thank ye for it—truly, I do. But yer kindness and protection means there’s naught I do that’s truly important to keep us all fed and safe. So it only makes sense that I’d be the one to go with the soldiers.”

“But… Brigid… ye cannae…”

“It has to be me. I’m the youngest and… well, the most disposable. Nay, dinnae look at me like that, Lily,” she added, seeing her eldest sister about to protest. “Ye ken it’s true. The family can manage fine without me, but if one of ye goes, then the rest of us willnae be able to survive. I’m of nay use to ye here.”

She felt sick to her stomach, scared and shaking inside, but she was also certain it was the right thing to do. Like it or not, she was the least important member of the family. At least if she became Laird Auchter’s heir or something of the sort, then she might be able to do more to help her sisters.

She stepped forward, dodging Lily’s hand as her eldest sister tried to stop her, and addressed the leader of the soldiers. “I will come with ye. Give me a moment to pack my things.”

“Ye’ll nae need anything. Laird Auchter has everything arranged. Grab yer cloak and come.”

She’d hoped for some time to say farewell to her sisters. Perhaps even a few minutes to plan and a chance to gather some of her most treasured possessions. The fact that she would be denied even that much stung. However, at least it meant there would be no time for her sisters to try to persuade her to change her mind. Nor would it allow for any time for her to lose the fragile courage that had somehow carried her this far, but which threatened to shatter at any second.

“Brigid, wait.”

Tears rolled down Lily’s face as she reached for her sister, the baby of the family—the one she’d sworn to protect, no matter what. And yet Lily knew as well as anyone that what Brigid said was true.

She could never think of her sister as ‘disposable’—the very word made her heart throb with pain—but she knew, too, that the life they had created here together was fragile and constantly under threat. Somehow, the three oldest sisters had managed to keep all of them alive in the years since their mother’s death, but it had taken all three of them to do it—and to lose one would be to lose them all.

So, she could either let Brigid go with these men, in the hope that what they said was true and that their grandfather really wanted to make one of them his heir, or she could go in her place and know that none of them would live to see her return.

Lily didn’t want to do it, but she knew what she must do.

“Brigid,” she said again through her tears, her voice trembling. “Ye’re nae disposable. Nae to me, and nae to anyone else who loves ye. And that is why I fear I must let ye go.”

Behind her, Megan and Valerie shifted uneasily. Lily could practically feel the anger radiating from them. But they, too, had understood the truth of Brigid’s words, and so, as their youngest sister turned to gather her cloak, the only sound in the narrow hallway was that of the three women’s sobs.

The soldiers formed a guard around Brigid as she turned for one last look at the life she was leaving behind—the only one she had ever known.

“Dinnae worry about me,” she said, the slight tremor in her voice belying the confidence of her words. “I’ll be back soon enough, I promise.”

As one of the soldiers shoved her roughly into the saddle of a waiting horse, then another tied her hands together and to the pommel, Brigid couldn’t help but wonder how on earth she would be able to keep her word, and if she would ever see her home again.

The rest of the men mounted, and within minutes, the modest cottage where Brigid had spent her whole life had vanished into the woods, almost as if it had never existed at all.

It’s just a few days. Then, all will be well. Right?