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W ithout waiting for a response, he turned around and walked away from the courtyard, fully aware that eyes lingered on him as he headed to the horses and his man-at-arms.

“How did it go?” Rory asked, raising an eyebrow as Evander approached the horses, the expectation on his face growing with each second of his master’s silence.

“As expected,” Evander responded. “I need to ken everything I can about the lady of this castle.”

Rory narrowed his eyes as he watched him grab the reins and mount his horse. “Things like what?”

“Where she’s from,” Evander began, almost like he was listing them off-hand. “How she came to be the lady of this castle. But for now, I shall make do with her name.”

He flicked the reins, and soon enough, he and his man-at-arms set off toward the village, leaving the castle and its inhabitants behind.

The following morning, Keira stood in the Great Hall with Stella, studying the parchment her maid had handed to her just a few minutes ago.

“So, the Laudanum has been delivered. What else do we need?”

“Food for the animals. There’s only so much grass they can eat. We also need more candles and meat. I have asked the kitchen maids to reach out to me later this afternoon with a more detailed list.”

Keira nodded. “That is quite good, is it nae?”

Stella nodded. “’Tis better than yesterday, I might add.”

“Good,” Keira uttered, scanning the hall for the candles—or rather the shortage of them.

Usually, getting these things should not take as much time and discretion, but now that they had an enemy right beyond their walls, they had to be more careful with their supplies and how they were brought to the castle.

“What else do we need besides supplies for the kitchen?” she asked.

Stella opened her mouth to respond when a crash sounded in the corridor, cutting her off.

Keira heard it as well and almost jumped out of her skin with shock. Before she could register what had happened, men barged into the Great Hall. Men she didn’t recognize.

Their faces were tense, and their hostility was evident as they carried items into the Great Hall and removed the ones already there.

The wooden chairs, the design pieces she had managed to pick in the last few months—she watched them be removed by these men she didn’t recognize.

It did not take her long to put it all together and understand where this was all coming from.

She headed to one of the men who stood in the middle of the Great Hall, a stoic expression on his face as he watched the other men move around.

“And just what do ye think ye’re doing?” she asked, her voice laced with disbelief and anger.

“Orders from Laird Kincaid. Ye’ll have to take up yer reservations with him, M’Lady. He is in the courtyard.”

“Oh, I will be taking up more than reservations with him if he thinks he can just barge in and start disrupting me household just because of some letter?—”

“Ye still dinnae understand, do ye?” the man spoke over her. “The war only ended quickly because of Laird Kincaid. His original plan was to burn this castle to the ground. Bring it to its knees. But the letter stopped him. There is nothing ye can do now. His people are already moving in.”

A wave of fresh anger swept over her. Without flinching, she turned on her heel and headed straight to the courtyard, trying her best to ignore the hordes of strange men, all holding household items as they made their way into the castle in almost what seemed to be a single file.

She found the Laird by one of the trees in the courtyard. He leaned against the bark and watched more of his men and staff make their way into the castle. She marched right up to him, her eyes roaming over his features.

She had asked Hudson about him right after he left the previous day. She knew his name was Evander Sloan, and she knew he was a rather firm man who was feared by all and known not to take no for an answer.

“And what in God’s name do ye think ye’re doing?” she asked.

“Lady Blythe. ‘Tis quite lovely to see ye,” he drawled, folding his hands over his chest, a half smile on his face as he watched her approach.

“What is this?”

“This is me moving in. Great, do ye nae think?”

Keira fumed. “I can think of more appropriate words.”

“Look, me clansfolk are already moving into the village near the castle to be close to their Laird. There’s nothing ye or I can do at this point.”

Keira watched him intently. “Ye seem to enjoy this, do ye nae?”

“Depends on what ye mean by ‘enjoy.’”

“If this is yer brilliant attempt to try to kick me out of me castle, ye have another thing coming.”

“This isnae personal, Lady Blythe.”

“It certainly feels personal to me. Yer men are removing me things from the castle because ye want to establish yer place.”

“Aye. Because yer councilmen handed the castle over to me as a peace offering. I dinnae ken just how much longer I can keep saying it.”

Keira felt like she had run out of ammunition. She had nothing else to say—no defense, no words. All she had left in her corner was her snark, and she planned to use it as much as she could.

“Well, if ye’re trying to kick me out, ye’ll have to try harder than this. Because, like I said yesterday, I have nowhere to go. And believe me when I say I would rather stay in this castle with ye than leave.”

She saw it almost immediately on his face—a flicker of something soft. Something like concern.

“Do ye truly have nowhere to go?”

Keira shook her head gently.

He raised his hands in despair as his men filed in and out of the castle. Some of them even returned to the courtyard to leave their horses in the stables. Keira continued to watch, unable to do anything about it.

“I have nowhere to go either,” he muttered. “And it’s all because of this war ye started.”

“Again, I didnae start any war.”

“Forgive me if I still find that a bit hard to believe.”

“What do ye reckon I do?” Keira asked, scowling at him.

Perhaps she had more than just her snark in her arsenal, after all. She could see the hint of concern in his eyes. The flicker of pity.

She decided to keep hammering down on that.

“Ye shall remain for the night. And I shall help ye find a place to stay,” he finally said.

Keira narrowed her eyes, as if waiting for him to say something else. There had to be a price.

“I will even do ye one better,” he continued.

“What?” She perked up.

He moved closer to her, his arms still folded across his chest. “I shall help ye find a husband.”

Her breath hitched at his words.