Page 76 of Stealing Sophie

Trust me not to abandon a wounded comrade,Connor had said.

They will save me if I am to live. Wade will order a doctor for a clan chief—

MacCarran of Duncrieff had shouted then, loud enough to bring the soldiers toward them. Connor refused to leave, but as the dragoons came nearer, Rob had shoved him with the last of his strength away, shouting at him to flee, sacrificing his own freedom and his life to save Connor—and his sister, and his clan.

And Connor had watched them go.

“I left him there,” he repeated. “It was the only way to help him. They would not kill him, would try to save him. And there might be time, then, to free him from prison. I gave him my word to marry your sister. He insisted on it. I kept my promise.”

“Duncrieff trusted you. He said only you were good enough to marry Sophie, and that he would see it done,” Allan said.

Connor felt his throat tighten. He sensed Neill and Andrew at his back, silent and strong. He took Duncrieff’s paper from his sporran and handed it to Allan, who read it and passed it to Donald.

“You had no choice, I think,” Allan said.

Connor nodded. “I felt so. I wanted to save Rob. We can go back—“

“He is not there,” Donald said. “They moved him. They took him off to Edinburgh, they said. But we believe now he may be dead.”

Silence, and wind, filled the air between them. Connor shook his head. “I pray it is not so,” he finally said.

“As do we. And so you took the girl, and married her,” Allan prodded.

“I did. And I beg your pardon for the soaking you took that night. It was the fastest way to take her away before Campbell could interfere. I did not know you would be there as well.”

“If her brother, our chief, wanted it, we accept it,” Allan said, handing back the note. “Treat her well, Kinnoull.” His hand rested on the ballock handle of his dirk. “We will be watching.”

“I would never harm her,” Connor growled.

“Sophie is a treasure,” Donald said. “She has the gift.”

“The gift?” Connor narrowed his eyes.

Allan nodded. “The fairy gift of the MacCarrans.”

A suspicion began to dawn. “Why would Duncrieff insist that I marry Sophie to solve a dilemma with Campbell?”

“Surely you know why,” Allan said.

“He did not explain.” There had been no time to clarify which sister was meant, either, Connor thought, so that he had assumed from the first it was Kate. But her cousins knew there was a reason. “Tell me.”

“Sophie is the Maiden of Duncrieff,” Donald said. “The female heiress.”

He stared. “Heiress of what, exactly?”

“Duncrieff has not yet married and has no child,” Allan explained. “Sophie is the older sister. Should anything happen to Rob, she would inherit as clan leader.”

“Inherit the estate,” Connor said, hoping that was what they meant. He feared there was more.

“The estate would be divided with her sister. Sophie would become head of Clan Carran should her brother die without an heir.”

Chief.The hills, the sky seemed to tilt on their axis. Connor summoned his wits. “Sophie would be chief of the clan? Why not a male kinsmen–either of you, perhaps?”

“Some clans name a cousin or kinsman when there is no close heir,” Donald said. “But MacCarran tradition says the heir must be the chief’s closest kin, regardless of gender.”

“Surely there would be some dispute of that,” Connor said.

“Not when legend declares it so. But no matter. Duncrieff is being kept in Edinburgh and we will petition for his release. All will be well.” Donald nodded.