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1265

Dunvegan Castle

Isle of Skye, Scotland

My step-mama was an evil witch.

I had long suspected it with her deceitful ways and wicked intentions, but this night seemed to be proving my suspicions to be true. I stole a glance at my da, disappointed not to see some sort of horror on his face. Was he really that blind? She even looked like a witch tonight, dressed in a long heavy cloak. It surprised me that a woman as scheming as she was believed the silly whispers that the spirits of the dead rose up on the night of Samhain to find new souls to snatch and take back to the netherworld. If that were true, which it most certainly was nae, it was ridiculous to think a cloak could protect her from evil spirits.

I brought my gaze back to her as she had finally ceased talking, and she arched her eyebrows at me, waiting, I knew, for my response to the unbelievable words she’d uttered. Berry stain covered her cheeks, nose, forehead and under her eyes. The tightly pulled hood of her cloak cast strange shadows on her sharp nose and red-stained skin. Had I met her on the stairwell, I would not have recognized her.

“I willnae wed him,” I finally replied to my step-mama’s ludicrous words. But my voice was less steady than I’d intended. My da was my protector and yet when I looked to him for assurance, he would not meet my gaze. His avoidance sucked the air from my lungs and left burgeoning panic in its place.

“Ye will,” Yennifer replied, shoving her hood back and sitting on the edge of my da’s desk. She moved like a ghoul. The thought was uncharitable, but true, nonetheless. She reached out and took my da’s hand, causing the heavy material of her cloak to slide up her arm and reveal her skeletal frame. The woman never ate at supper. She was too busy complaining about my sister or me to put food in her mouth. I frowned as she squeezed my da’s hand.

It took me a moment of swallowing past the large lump that had lodged in my throat before I could speak. “Da?”

His eyes met mine, finally. I started to release my pent-up breath, but it got stuck again in my chest as remorse darkened his gaze. Sweat instantly dampened my underarms and palms. Nay. Nay. Nay. This couldnae be happening. Da wouldnae allow this. What had Yennifer said? How had she convinced him to agree to this?

He began to speak, but I didn’t hear him. My thoughts raced, and I tugged on the high bodice of my gown. I couldn’t breathe. Why couldn’t I breathe? It was winter, but the heat in the solar was oppressive. A hard yank loosened my bodice enough for me to gulp in some air. Da would not betray me. I knew this to my core. He was my protector. He always had been. This was the man who had given a vow on Mama’s deathbed to allow me and my newly born sister to choose our husbands when the time came. This was the da who had come immediately to banish the nightmares that tortured me when my mama was no longer living to do so. He was the man who had allowed me to sit on his lap as he held council meetings to plot intricate battle maneuvers even after he wed Yennifer and she had insisted women had no place in council meetings.

I needed to remind him. Speak to him in private. Make him see Yennifer was plotting, always plotting to gain power for the clan that Bran would one day rule when Da died. I shuddered at the thought of my stepbrother ruling us MacLeods. His core was rotten, though Yennifer somehow managed to persuade Da otherwise.

“Freya.” Da’s gentle tone brought my attention fully back to the moment. His gaze was fastened to mine, still full of remorse. It twisted my insides into knots. “Did ye hear me, lass?”

My words wedged in my throat, so I shook my head as I struggled to push them out. “Might I speak to ye alone?”

“Nay,” came Yennifer’s sharp reply. “Yer da has already explained things to ye.”

I glared at her. “What did ye say to convince him of this?”

“Freya,” my da said. My name was a sigh from his lips that made me feel suddenly a burden to him.

The room began to spin, so I squeezed my eyes shut until the movement ceased. When I opened them again, his hand was resting on Yennifer’s leg. Unblinking, I stared at that hand, thinking upon what Vanora’s and my old nursemaid used to say. Lust and power were the rulers of all men. There was my answer. Yennifer has used desire to persuade my da that this wedding was somehow for the best. I just needed to make him see otherwise. To remind him of his given vows. “Ye promised Mama on her deathbed that Vanora and I could choose our husbands, as she chose ye.”

The wind whistled outside, filling the silence for a moment. Da removed his hand from Yennifer’s leg and rested his palm flat upon his desk. Then he started drumming his fingers. I’d watched him do this many times when he was considering what to say. “Ye do nae need to remind me of my vow to yer mama. But it was given in more certain times, lass. I could nae have anticipated how things would change.” His words were like a hand squeezing my throat, cutting off my air once more. He exhaled a long breath and then said, “Ye love our clan?”

He was leading me somewhere. Likely to a conclusion I would not care for. I’d seen him do it to grown men, to powerful lairds his equal. Yet I had no choice but to answer or stand like a petulant child. I was no child, so I nodded.

“I know ye would do anything to protect our clan. Our way of life.”

I stared at the fire crackling in the grate. I did not want to answer, yet not answering would get me nowhere. “Aye.” I shoved the word out between my clenched teeth. This is how it went. Da asked a series of questions that somehow led whoever was attempting to defy him to acquiesce to his wishes. I was no fool. I would not walk merrily down this path that led to my sacrificing myself in marriage to a man who thought himself my superior. Who believed my sole purpose was to serve him in pleasure and providing heirs. Who would forever dismiss any counsel I might offer, opinion I might have as inconsequential, unknowledgeable.

“Do ye recall why we are warring with Clan MacDonald for control of the channel?”

“Of course,” I said. “Whoever controls the channel has all the power in the Highlands because they can leverage the route for trade and military advantage.” I felt a twinge of pleasure at my display of political knowledge. See Da? I wanted to say. Ye made the right choice allowing me to sit in the counsel and observe, no matter what Yennifer thinks. Perhaps if I showed him more of my knowledge, more of how I could serve the family other than as a sacrifice at the wedding altar? “That channel is the gateway between the Isle of Skye, Inner Hebrides, and the north-west Highlands.” I knew it wasn’t normal for a lass to be educated on the intricacies of power struggles between clans, so I wanted Da to see he had made the right choice in educating me.

The slow, self-satisfied smile that turned up Yennifer’s berry blackened lips made me stiffen. I’d made a tactical error. Somehow, I’d walked into the trap that Yennifer had set for me. I tried to think through what I’d said, but the past felt jagged, disjointed, a series of flawed images. She was watching us, watching him, and her thin lips curled higher in anticipation.

“Colin MacDonald raided Eilean Donnan a sennight ago, drove yer stepbrother’s troops and his warriors—our men—out. He was let into the castle by MacDonald’s treacherous bitch sister. MacDonald now has control of the stronghold.”

I frowned. “I thought when King Alexander demanded the handfasting between Bran and Laird MacDonald’s sister he gave equal control of the channel to both our clans.”

“He did,” Da said. “But the MacDonald is greedy. He does nae want to share control. He wants his clan to be all powerful.”

“So he has attacked Eilean Donnan?”

“Aye, and he killed many of our warriors and drove out the rest.”

“That means he broke the treaty between our clans!” I grimaced that my voice had risen despite my effort to control any reaction .

Da nodded, and Yennifer stared at me, her lips pressed into a smirk.

I tried to grasp at the strings of my control, but they were breaking one by one. I inhaled a calming breath, to consider, think, go forward with care, and yet words slipped from between my lips. “Then King Alexander will send troops to aid us and take the stronghold back. He said so!”

“The king has changed his mind, as kings do.” Her smug tone made me want to throttle her.

I glanced to Da for confirmation, and he nodded. “But that cannae be so! The king decreed the handfast was for peace and shared control!”

“Aye, I recall what he said, Freya.”

“Then he will send troops to aid us!” There were no more strings of control to reach for. I was striding toward panic. “We did nae break the treaty! MacDonald did. And King Alexander vowed he would send troops to aid the wronged clan. We are the wronged clan!” I was huffing with righteousness.

“It seems yer being learned in the political mechanisms of men is a good thing after all,” Yennifer said. The satisfaction in her voice pitched my stomach downward. I was a fool. A novice, trying to outwit a seasoned manipulator.

Da, always the peacemaker between Yennifer and myself, cleared his throat and said, “MacDonald has made a claim to the king that Bran broke the treaty first. He says it was our clan who attacked his castle, who nearly burnt Dunscaith to the ground.”

“The king cannae believe that of ye, Da. Ye are the most honorable man I ken.”

Da gave me the patient smile that I recalled from so many occasions as a child. When he’d told me Mama had died birthing Vanora, but I had not understood it meant I’d never talk to her again, so I’d asked every morning for two sennights to talk to Mama, see Mama. And he’d explain all over again that I could not because death meant never speaking face to face with someone again in this life.

“MacDonald claims his sister overheard Bran planning the attack on Dunscaith,” Da said. “And the king says he will nae pick a clan to aid unless he’s certain of who is lying and who is truthful. That means he leaves us to battle for control of Eilean Donnan once again and whoever gains control this time, has full control of the channel.”

I hitched my brows. “Did Bran do that?”

Da gave me a sharp look and said, “Do nae question Bran’s honor, daughter.”

I pressed my lips together on reminding my da that Bran had once nearly drowned me. And as a young lad, when he and Yennifer had come to live with us, he had teased smaller boys mercilessly, and he now ruled the MacLeods under him with fear, not respect. Da knew these things, but Da was blind to Bran’s faults, because Da was so loyal.

“To do so is dangerous,” Yennifer hissed. “Bran answers to yer da as his laird, follows yer da’s orders. Do ye see?”

I could not reply for a moment. It was not a stalling tactic. My lips had gone cold with understanding and fear of what it meant. If questions were raised about Bran’s honor then people might start to question Da’s. Might conclude that mayhap Da had given Bran the order to attack Dunscaith. That would mean Da had entered Bran into the handfasting, into the treaty, never intending to keep it, but likely to make it seem his intentions were honorable so MacDonald would lower his guard. Da would never have done that. I could not say the same about Bran, and yet I had to admit that Bran had never failed to follow Da’s leadership. I nodded. “MacDonald is lying.”

“Aye,” Da said, “but we do nae have the proof. Eilean Donnan is nearly unbreachable, given where it sits. I need a strong ally to aid in taking it back.”

“Why can nae Bran wed another then to gain an alliance to aid us in taking Eilean Donnan back?” I demanded. “I assume his handfast with Katherine MacDonald was nae consummated if ye are demanding I wed Donald MacKinnon.”

“I am nae demanding, lass. I am asking ye to help me, our clan, because ye love me, yer family, and yer clan. And I am in talks for Bran to wed again, but I do nae ken how long negotiations may take or if we will even be able to come to an agreement, and I need an alliance now. I did nae break the treaty, lass. I want peace. MacDonald wants power. Control. He will use Eilean Donnan to cut off our passage between the island and the mainland. He will do this until we submit to his control or starve. Or he may simply allow enemy vessels to pass through the channel to destroy our home.”

I wrapped my arms around my midriff and squeezed myself. My future stretched before me as a hound to my master Donald MacKinnon. My stomach roiled. Finally, I swallowed past the hard knot of doom. Our clan had yet to regain full strength from the years of war with the MacDonalds. I knew this. To attack Eilean Donnan and gain it back my da was correct that we would need an ally who believed they’d control the channel with us. And if Donald MacKinnon wed me, Clan MacKinnon would not only gain shared control of the pass, they’d gain a strong political alliance with my clan as well and that could put land in their hands and coin in their coffers .

My head hurt, and I whispered, “Mayhap MacDonald will nae cut off the channel or aid other clans to attack us? We do nae ken for certain.” After all, the MacDonalds had not had control of Eilean Donnan until a sennight ago.

“Every indication is that he will,” Da answered.

My stomach clenched and a wave of nausea rolled over me. I inhaled a long breath to try to settle my stomach. “And if I refuse?” I asked, each beat of my heart pounding in my ears.

Yennifer and my da exchanged a long look that made my stomach do a flip. “Yer da would nae ever force ye, Freya. But fearing ye may selfishly refuse—”

“Yennifer,” Da said, his tone a gentle chastisement.

Yennifer stiffened but gave a curt nod. “Fearing yer wish to nae wed Donald could possibly bring ye to refuse, yer da and I spoke to Vanora. She is willing to wed for the sake of the clan’s safety.”

Bile rose in my throat as I gaped at my da. Vanora! He would wed Vanora! She was a child yet, and every bit as silly as her thirteen summers allowed. More so! It seemed she fancied herself in love with someone new every other sennight. No doubt she now currently fancied herself in love with Donald MacKinnon.

“What did ye say to Vanora?” I demanded, looking between Da and Yennifer. “Did ye weave fanciful tales of Donald’s bravery and honor? Did ye tell her how wonderful her life would be?” I pointed at my da, my finger shaking. “Ye would sacrifice Vanora for power?”

“Listen to her insolence!” Yennifer crowed, jerking upright. “I warned ye husband that ye allowed too much opinion from her. That ye needed to control her.”

“Enough!” Da slammed his first on the desk causing his wine goblet to rattle and red wine to slosh over the rim to spill crimson drops on the dark wood. Da stood as well, towering above Yennifer.

A deep red rose to the surface of his skin, coloring his cheeks in a splotchy manner and a vein bulged by his right eye. “I’ll join ye at the festival in a moment,” he said to Yennifer, dismissing her without saying the words.

“As ye wish, husband,” she replied with a nod, “but try nae to tarry too long. All the other clans will have arrived, and the ceremony to mark the festival beginning of harvest end can nae be started without ye.” With that, Yennifer brushed past me with a cool look, and Da sat on the edge of his desk and faced me.

“I hope ye ken me well enough to realize I would nae ever sacrifice ye or Vanora for power.”

A large lump settled in my throat, and I nodded. The reasonable part of me knew this to be true. I knew Da sought to protect us all but did Yennifer? I had no doubts that she’d be willing to sacrifice Vanora and me for power for my da, which meant power for Bran and her, and I greatly feared she knew just how to manipulate my da into thinking it was all for the safety of the clan. But what could I do? If I did not agree to wed Donald, my foolish sister would. I could not allow that. I was Vanora’s protector, her older sister. The grief that sometimes hit me for the loss of my mama rose in me and tears slipped out of my eyes.

Da’s face softened, and he moved around his desk to cup my cheek with his warm, rough palm. “I love ye daughter. I ken I ask a lot of ye. I ken ye are angry about us speaking with Vanora.”

I stared at him, seething on this regard. “That was meant to manipulate me.”

“I am sorry. ’Tis nae for power for the sake of power. ’Tis to protect us all. ”

I needed to leave before I said horrid, hateful things I could never take back. “May I go?”

“Aye, but ye should ken that Donald is on his way here. I’ll be announcing the joining of our families tonight. Ye will be properly nice to yer soon to be husband.”

I clenched my teeth on railing at Da. Knowing he would gain my consent; he had sent for Donald. It may be for the clan protection, but I felt manipulated. “I will be properly nice,” I repeated, purposely leaving off the part about the soon to be husband. If there was a way to get out of this, to protect my clan without sacrificing the rest of my life, I was going to find it.