Page 4 of The Highlander’s Auctioned Virgin (Auctioned Highland Brides #3)

Elinor placed one of the boxes that had been gifted to her on her dresser and looked up at the mirror. Her hair fluttered gently in the draft. She had done what she needed to do with it today—gauge the room.

The sun had completely gone down, and the sky was beginning to darken. In an hour or so, night would fall. Then, the lairds would retire to their rooms and have a proper rest.

She walked to her window and looked down at the courtyard. She could still see a few of them mingling. She then spotted another laird talking to one of her maids.

The grey darkness couldn’t let her see much, but she could tell the maid was not comfortable speaking with the laird. Chills ran down her spine when the man reached for the maid’s backside.

A knock jolted her out of her reverie.

“M’Lady?” Thomas called out from behind the door.

“Ye may enter,” she called back.

The door creaked open, and Thomas walked in, his hands clasped behind his back. She watched him approach, his sword dangling slightly from his belt.

“Thomas, I need ye to do something for me.”

“Aye, M’Lady,” Thomas responded curtly.

“Who is the maid over there talking to that laird?” she asked, gesturing out the window.

Thomas moved closer and looked out the window. “That must be Louise.”

“Ye ken her name?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him. “Of course ye ken her name.”

Thomas raised his hands in mock surrender. “I promise ye, she came to me on a rainy night, nae the other way round.”

“Aye. They always come to ye, do they nae?”

A broad smirk stretched across Thomas’s face. “Sometimes twice.”

Elinor shook her head. “Well, Louise over there is being harassed by that laird. I have been watching her for a while, and he willnae let her go even though she wants to. I need ye to get her away from there.”

“M’Lady, these lairds are so intense,” Thomas cautioned, his eyes flicking back to the courtyard. “I daenae ken how I’m supposed to do that without upsetting the laird. He’ll think I am– ”

“She is there against her will. All I’m asking ye to do is take her away from there.”

“I daenae ken how I’m supposed to do that without bruising the man’s ego.”

“Ye’re me man-at-arms, are ye nae? I am certain ye will come up with something.”

Thomas swallowed and, without another word, bowed his head slightly to her, then turned around and made his way towards the door.

“Thomas,” Elinor called, just as he crossed the threshold. “If ye have to tell Louise that I summoned her, do so. I daenae want her to spend one more minute with that man, do ye understand me?”

“Clearly, M’Lady,” Thomas responded.

He bowed again and then closed the door behind him, leaving her to her racing thoughts.

Tomorrow, the real test would begin. Tomorrow, she would be able to separate the worthy men from the dung of the litter. She would be able to properly choose a husband.

The man she would like to lead her clan next. A man who was the complete opposite of her late husband.

Another knock sounded at the door. This time, it was Katherine.

Elinor ushered her in and watched as the healer took a seat by the side of her bed.

“Today wasnae so hard, was it?” Katherine asked, brushing what seemed to be specks of sand off her dress.

“Today was nothing,” Elinor emphasized. She folded her hands and leaned back against the windowsill, the cold night air blowing gently against her back. “The real test would start at the feast tomorrow.”

“’Tis all right to give yerself a pat on the back for a job well done, M’Lady. Ye got through the day. Ye stood in a room full of lairds from all over the Highlands and made yer thoughts known.”

“Aye, I suppose.”

Katherine was right. Elinor should be relieved—no, ecstatic that she managed to get through today. So, why did she feel as if a huge rock was pressing down on her chest and squeezing the air out of her lungs?

“I also saw ye talking to that laird. The one with the long hair.”

“Laird MacTraigh. Aye.” Elinor nodded.

“Ye ken there is nay point to these tests if ye begin to play favorites.”

“Favorites?” she echoed.

“I saw the way ye looked at him. Ye seemed excited in his company. Dae nae let his handsome face fool ye.”

“Oh, I daenae plan to. Our man, the Hound, will go through the tests just like everyone else. I daenae plan to be partial to anyone.”

“Aye. We cannae afford to be ruled by another Murdock.”

“Nay, we cannae,” Elinor agreed.

This was her future and the future of the clan altogether. She would not let herself get distracted.

Ciaran would go through the tests like everyone else. She didn’t plan to play favorites.

Not now. Not ever.

The next day came too soon. As the maids scrambled to put her in a new dress, Elinor couldn’t help but wonder what she might face this time around. She couldn’t help but wonder if she would have to call the lairds to order more times than necessary.

“Ye look bonnie . Daenae worry yerself about anything if ye daenae have to,” Katherine advised. “And please let Thomas go with ye today.”

Elinor’s head snapped towards her friend, who stood by the dresser, watching one of the maids tighten the laces of her corset. “Why?”

“So they can listen to ye more.”

“Ye daenae think they’re doing enough listening already? Ye think I need Thomas there just to get them to be attentive. Oi! That’s too tight!” Elinor winced.

“Apologies, M’Lady.” The maid bowed her head apologetically. “I didnae ken it was going to– ”

“Dinnae worry about that. Just keep going,” Elinor interrupted with a sigh.

Katherine rose from her seat and went to stand beside Elinor in front of the mirror, her fingers toying with the ends of her hair.

“I think ye’re under a lot of pressure, M’Lady.

I think ye need to have Thomas with ye nae because he’s a man and ye need him to control the Lairds, but because he’s yer man-at-arms. ‘Tis his job to stand by and protect ye. Ye kenned that when ye gave him the job, did ye nae?”

Elinor wiped the sweat off her brow and gave her a brief nod. “Alright. Fetch him for me, please.”

Katherine nodded and walked out, leaving her with the maids.

She was almost ready, and in just a few minutes, she would be on her way to the Great Hall for the feast, where she would announce the first trial. That should be easy enough.

All of a sudden, her mind flashed to him, the Hound. Ciaran . All night, she had tried to push away thoughts of his deep voice and confident bearing, such that it had become difficult to fall asleep.

She hated that he had such an effect on her. And worse, she hated that he knew it. At least a part of him. The laird of a relatively young clan should not have been able to talk to her with such confidence. Yet, he could.

He had.

A part of her wished he would fail the first trial just so she could see that smug smile fall off his face.

Thomas arrived, and soon, they both made their way to the feast.

“Lovely morning to ye, M’Lady,” he greeted as they sauntered down the passageway, the sound of murmurs in the Great Hall drifting to their ears.

“I suppose it is. Who did ye wake up with today?”

Thomas squared his shoulders and rested a hand on the hilt of his sword. “Today isnae about me. Today is about ye and everything ye have set out to achieve.”

“Ye’re nae going to tell me her name, are ye?”

“Nay.”

Elinor laughed and walked into the Great Hall.

Maids flitted about the tables, serving food, ale, and cakes. The smell of venison and lettuce filled her nostrils as she made her way to a makeshift pulpit, the only place in the hall where she could see everyone and be seen.

She stood for the better part of three minutes before the chatter died down. Thomas stood fiercely beside her, his arms folded behind him, his eyes sweeping over the tables.

“I believe ye all had a wonderful night and came here well-rested.”

A series of grunts rippled through the audience.

“I even believe some of ye wanted to have an even better night by trying to accost some of me maids. I would like to reiterate right now that ye are all here for one thing and one thing only—the auction. If ye are caught with a maid, especially one who has refused to talk to ye, ye will be kicked out of the castle, and any chance of an alliance with yer clan will be ruined. I hope I am understood.”

Thick silence ensued.

Not that she was surprised. If she had learned one thing from her late husband, it was that men like these lairds only responded to blunt warnings. They also responded to an example, but she wouldn’t go that far. Not now.

“Yer first test is quite simple,” she continued. “Ye all have to sit in this hall for at least an hour and nae cause offense. Ye cannae say anything offensive to me or the maids serving yer food or me man-at-arms. Nae even to each other.”

She swallowed after the words tumbled out of her mouth. A wave of dissatisfied grunts swept through the hall, most of them complaining about the unfairness and how this was a waste of their time.

“M’Lady?” Thomas murmured, slowly placing his hand on the hilt of his sword.

“Relax, Thomas. Let’s give them some leeway.”

“This test makes nay sense,” a gruff voice rang out, the first coherent sentence she had heard since she had entered the hall.

Her eyes flicked in the direction of the voice, only to land on the laird she had used as an excuse to escape Ciaran’s presence the previous day.

“I assure ye, Laird McAllister– ” she started.

“’Tis Macaulay!” he corrected, his voice laden with utter frustration.

Elinor nodded. But before she could continue, she heard it. A mild snicker from a corner of the hall. Her eyes shifted to where it had come from, and she saw him , the biggest grin in the world playing on his lips.

Ciaran.

“Laird MacAulay, I assure ye, these tests were set by me. I ken ye were here yesterday when I made it known that I needed a gentle husband, nae a brute.”

Silence fell over the hall.

“If ye cannae handle that, ye are free to quit and return to yer clan.”

Laird MacAulay lowered his head in response.