on meeting the Murrays the first time that they disapproved the amount of choice her parents had allowed her and that they should be making the important decisions for her. Ciara caught their glances and narrowing expressions when they were in Lairig Dubh and knew they were looking her over as much as she was them, examining her for defects in character and behaviour. The fact that she hailed from the wild Highlands did not help her cause with them. Shaking the dust from her gown and smoothing it down, she looked up to see James watching her.
‘Take a moment to catch your breath, Ciara. That hill tasks even the best of riders,’ he whispered as they stood with the horses blocking his parents’ view of them. ‘Here now, you look lovely.’
Without warning, he leaned down and kissed her. It was nothing but a quick touch on her lips, but it was quite daring for him to do. He stepped back before she could react and held out his arm to her, to escort her to his parents. Ciara met his gaze and smiled, taking his arm and allowing him to lead her.
‘Mother. Father. You remember Ciara,’ he said, bringing her to the doorway. ‘Her companions are behind us and will arrive anon.’
‘My lord. My lady,’ she said, dropping into a curtsy before them, remaining there a few moments and then rising. ‘My thanks to you both for your invitation to visit. My parents and the earl and countess send their greetings and their thanks for your hospitality.’
She might not be Duncan MacLerie’s natural daughter, but she was the one who had learned all about being diplomatic from him from the time he brought her home with him from Dunalastair. She listened and watched and learned and could make it through any situation calmly. She would make certain he could be proud of her actions during this trip.
‘Come inside, Ciara. The servants will see to your trunks when they arrive,’ Lady Murray said, gesturing to her to follow.
Once more the difference between her status as a guest and Tavis’s as a MacLerie underling was pointed out to her. His words about that very thing echoed in her mind then and she knew he understood it well.
Lady Murray graciously led her into the house and up to a large chamber on the third floor. It would be for her and Elizabeth while Cora slept in an outer chamber. Her own chamber at her parent’s house was half the size and not as luxurious as this. Wherever else they might suffer for lack of gold, they lived in a measure of comfort second to few.
It was the custom to put out the best when entertaining guests, especially when that guest was influential or important. Ciara had no illusions that she was either, but her stepfather and his laird were. The tapestries, though, showed evidence of disrepair when she looked more closely at the edges of them. The bedcoverings showed signs of threadbare areas. The bed and the furniture were worn and in need of repair.
The façade all put in place to impress her enough to follow through with this betrothal and marriage. Her dowry would go far, but exactly for what purposes she did not know. Ciara understood that most believed it mattered not, but it did to her. If she was going to marry someone and make them wealthy, she would like to understand. If she was chattel to be bartered away, she would know the real cost and benefits.
There would be time for all that. For now, she needed to acquaint herself with James and to try to suitably impress his parents and ease the way for this betrothal. Over the last few days, it became clear that she would not fall in love with him. Now, her only goal was to discover if she could tolerate the rest of her life with him.
Tavis guided the rest of the group through the village and up to the manor house at the top of the hill. The wagon moved slowly along and he waited by the side of the pathway for it to pass him. Ciara and James were more than an hour ahead. The urge to grab the boy and grind him into the ground had lessened to a controllable one, for now. If his men had thought anything of his sullen silence they’d not spoken of it or to him.
He knew his duty and he knew how to carry it out and he did not need young James Murray giving him orders.
As they entered the yard, a few men waited for them. They began to unload the wagon, carrying the trunks inside and up to the chamber where Ciara and Elizabeth would stay. They had not brought much with them so it did not take long. Once this task was done, they were directed to a building in the yard at the back of the house where they could eat and sleep.
They had no other duties until Ciara made her decision, so Tavis would make the best of this time by training with his men. And it would give him a chance to work out the anger that bubbled inside him before he had to watch Ciara marry another man—anger at her parents for ever letting her consider a man such as this, but mostly anger at himself for not having the courage to claim her.
Chapter Eight
Tavis did not press Ciara about when they would return to Lairig Dubh. He might have if he’d seen her alone, but he never did. Since the Murrays considered him a servant rather than a guest, he did not have access to the main house without a specific reason. Any information from or about Ciara was passed through Cora and that did not happen often during the next days.
He watched her as she left each morning on a ride with the young Murray. He watched as she and Elizabeth walked through the village. He watched because it was his duty to do so. But Tavis did keep watch carefully so that the Murrays were not insulted by it. That he found it no chore was the part he didn’t like to think about much.
Then one day as he and young Iain fought in the yard behind the manor house, he saw her watching him. She wore a deep wine-coloured gown this morning, with no veil covering her long, blonde braid. Without a piece of tartan over her shoulders, she looked like a lowland lass and very much part of this lowland manor. And he guessed that was exactly her aim—to match and to blend in with this family that would be hers soon.
When she laughed and gifted him with a smile as she used to do, the distraction caused him to trip, which then allowed the younger warrior to win their battle and led to much cheering on his part. Laughing at his error, Tavis climbed to his feet and walked to the fence where she stood. Handing his sword off to young Dougal, he accepted a cup of water from her and greeted her.
‘You look well, Ciara,’ he said, swallowing the water down.
‘I am well, Tavis,’ she said as she took the cup and tossed it into the water bucket. ‘Has there been any news from my father?’
She knew that Duncan would keep in touch with him during this journey without pressuring her. He nodded.
‘And I expect another messenger from him soon. I know that he and Marian arrived home safely.’ They’d not gone too far, travelling out to visit one of Connor’s other holdings and then back to Lairig Dubh. For appearances, it worked. ‘Do you have a letter to send back to him?’
She did not speak at first; instead, she glanced at the manor, then stared off beyond it, as she did when she was calculating the cost of something. Her skills with letters and numbers far surpassed his, but they were helpful to him many times. When she turned back to him, her gaze was filled with that expression of determination he’d seen many times before.
‘Send word that we will depart here in three days.’
She was accepting the Murrays’ offer.
He knew it in his gut, but when she met his eyes and said nothing more, she confirmed it.
‘So,
