Her Wicked Highlander (Glennoe Highlanders Book 2) by Nicola Davidson

Author:Nicola Davidson [Davidson, Nicola]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-05-30T16:00:00+00:00

Trapped in the dark abyss of his grief and guilt, the silence of the mountain and solitary meals in his sparsely furnished dwelling had been endlessly lonely. Yet here in this warm and noisy great hall, surrounded by more than a hundred others…Keir could feel the walls he’d built around himself cracking a little.

Already a few men from the village had offered handshakes or hearty claps to the shoulder, and they’d included him in their argument over ale or whisky being the finer drop. He’d been the target of several ribald jests as both a tavern wench and a weaver he’d spent evenings with in the past had bluntly asked if he wished to resume bedsport that evening. Those offers he’d politely declined.

But he’d missed this sense of belonging, even the stares and scrutiny and lack of secrets that went with life in a smaller clan. In Glennoe, the castle kitchens offered breakfast twice each week for all close by so the laird could make announcements, publicly approve betrothals, greet newborns, or share news of a death. Dispute trials were also heard in the great hall, but they were separate to the breakfasts and only held on the last day of each month. Unlike his father, Callum was a fair, generous and caring laird who put his people rather than war first.

He’d learned that from his mother.

Keir glanced over at Maude once again, unable to keep his gaze away for long. She was watching everyone eat, a pensive look on her face. Was she concerned about the investigation to come? What they might discover? That would be entirely understandable. It had certainly rocked him to the core knowing that someone from the clan had tried to kill her, him, and Sorcha. Perhaps someone he’d broken bread with, fought alongside, or bedded. But any friendship before yesterday wouldn’t matter at all now. Not when they’d threatened what he held most dear.

“Uncle, I’ve eaten all my egg.”

“Good lassie,” he replied, nodding at Sorcha. “Do ye want something else, or is that belly full?”

“I hope it is full,” said a laughing voice behind him, and he rose to bow at Lady Isla.

“How so?” he asked.

The Lady of Glennoe tilted her head in the laird’s direction, then beamed. “I hoped to convince Sorcha to accompany me to the practice area for a lesson with a wooden sword. A lassie is never too young to learn a warrior’s skills so she might protect the castle.”

His niece gasped, her eyes bulging. “A sword lesson? Like how Uncle fights?”

“Indeed.”

Sorcha’s whole face lit up, but then she bit her lip and looked at him. “You might be sad without me.”

Damned heart clench.

“Well, I’ll miss ye of course,” he said, very gruffly. “But imagine what you’ll learn from Lady Isla, the finest swordfighter in Scotland. I couldnae step in the way of that. Go on, now, be a good bairn, and I’ll see ye soon.”

Picking up a second piece of warm buttered barley bread, Sorcha gulped it down, grinning the entire time.

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