Page 7 of Highland Guard

“Nay,” Harcourt replied. “I came up on the wall from another route and found her here. I was actually hunting ye down. Ye have made a fine place for yourself here.”

“I have. It is a fine keep with good lands and it used to have a verra fine mon as its laird.” Nicolas cursed under his breath. “He suffered and I will make the one responsible for that pay when we find him.”

“It may be a her.”

“Doesnae much matter to me. The murder of the laird was the darkest of betrayals, especially when that laird was as good a one as Sir David. I was nay here long before I realized I had found my place and often silently thanked ye for that. I didnae fool the mon for long, either. He soon kenned just where I had come from and who had sent me.”

Harcourt smiled and nodded. “I thought he would. A quick-witted mon was David. Since he didnae send ye back, I will assume he wasnae offended that I asked ye to come here.”

“Nay. He said he was nay surprised ye would do so, either. He occasionally expressed regret that he had e’er asked ye for that gift. He kenned it wouldnae be easy for ye to turn your back on the lad. By the looks on their faces, I suspicion your companions wonder on it all as weel.”

“They do and took the first moment we were all alone to question me. I told them the truth. They understood yet I still suffered under the lash of their tongues for just walking away from my own child and the woman who bore him. That took longer to explain. Since David was such a good mon, and my companions kenned that soon after entering the keep, it softened the inquiry and what could have been a harsh condemnation. E’en from the MacFingals.”

“Weel, for all they are a mad lot and their father breeds more bairns than should be allowed, that mon ne’er walked away from them.”

“True enough. There was no other way.”

“Nay, there wasnae, nay if David was to have the heir he and Glencullaich so badly needed.”

“I am ashamed to admit how long it took me to realize that I wasnae truly comfortable leaving my child in the hands of another mon.”

Nicolas studied Harcourt for a moment and then said, “I suspect it wasnae so easy for ye to walk away from the lass, either.”

“Nay, it wasnae but it took me a while to admit to that, too.” Harcourt gave a laugh that held little humor in it. “Foolish young idiot that I was, it took me a while to accept that I hated nay being able to claim or raise the lad as weel as claim his mother. The beliefs of my kinsmen are obviously rooted more deeply in me than I kenned.”

“The lad was weel loved, and treated weel, too. David was a good father to him. Wheesht, he adored the lad. One reason Sir Adam was banished from the hall is because he openly stated his opinion of the lad’s legitimacy. In front of the boy. For a moment I thought David would kill the fool. Now I wish he had.”

“And how do the people of this clan feel about Benet?”

“They love him. I have ne’er seen anyone be anything but kind to the boy, even a wee bit too indulgent from time to time. They ken he wasnae David’s.” Nicolas nodded at the shock on Harcourt’s face. “They dinnae care. The laird made his love for that boy so clear, his claim of the boy so loud and unwavering, that they all just joined in with the game. They kenned the mon might ne’er sire his own child and it had worried them. Benet’s birth soothed their fears. Most e’en suspect their laird arranged it all for they kenned he could be sly and ruthless when needed. Their acceptance of Benet as their future laird was complete, ne’er a doubt shown or spoken. ’Tis why I find the possibility that someone here murdered David verra hard to accept. I do believe Callum is right about it being poison but it will take a while ere I can think of it without that instinctive denial.”

“Annys also found it hard to believe but she does now. She also accepts that Benet is now in danger.”

“Good. It will make it easier to keep a watch on the lad. It willnae be easy. He is accustomed to running free here and in the village. I will make certain someone is with him at all times though.”

“Just be certain it is one ye trust.”

Nicolas nodded. “I will.”

“How ready are these men to meet what could become a full fight for these lands?”

Harcourt listened to Nicolas’s report and was heartened by it. Work was needed but the men of Glencullaich were not completely green. He was determined, however, to turn them into a highly skilled fighting force that any king would envy. Every instinct he had told him that Sir Adam MacQueen would soon get weary of playing with Annys and then the real fight would begin.

Chapter Three

Sir Adam MacQueen’s appearance at the gates of Glencullaich the next day did not surprise Harcourt at all. Knowing how fast word could travel about any strangers in an area, he had suspected the man would hear about him and his men arriving and staying with Annys. Harcourt had had his men watch for anyone leaving the keep or village, for anyone acting the spy, but they had found no one slipping away. That, too, was not surprising although he had hoped for a bit of luck there. The talk roused by the appearance of strangers had obviously been enough to alert Sir Adam, however.

It took but one look at how the people of Glencullaich reacted to the arrival of Sir Adam MacQueen and his men for Harcourt to know that the man would never be a welcome choice for their laird. The people in the bailey looked at Sir Adam and his men as one would a pack of feral dogs, worried that one of the animals would leap at someone’s throat at any moment. Harcourt looked into the man’s cold blue eyes and decided the people of Glencullaich had very good instincts. David had used the same judgment as one of the reasons he so desperately needed an heir. It also better explained how it was these people could accept as heir a child they were all fairly certain had not been sired by their laird.

“Greetings, Sir Adam,” Annys said as she walked out of the keep and stood next to Harcourt on the steps. “We were nay expecting you. Have ye stopped for a rest in your travels?”

“I have come here to judge for myself if the rumors I heard were true or nay,” he snapped as he dismounted and strode to stand at the base of the steps. “I now see that they were the truth. Ye have hired yourself some swords.”

“Nay, I havenae. These men are nay hired swords, Sir Adam. Ye lack courtesy to so quickly name them so. They are old friends.” Seeing the way Sir Adam’s eyes narrowed as he studied the six strong men now flanking her, Annys hastily performed the introductions.

Anger had put a hint of color into Adam’s cheeks. Recalling how he could strike out when angry, Annys desperately tried to think of something else to say before the man had a chance to spit out his anger in ill-chosen words. The very last thing she needed was a battle starting right inside her bailey.

“I have heard of the MacFingals,” Sir Adam said, disdain weighting each word.