Chapter 3
Farspag Tower, Scottish Highlands, August 1630
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"THE LASS WILL MAKEan acceptable bride," John, chief of the MacPeter clan, said. His bug-eyed gaze raked Catriona MacCain from head to toe. "She's nay bad looking."
Cat scowled, not caring whether the dim candlelight of Farspag Tower's great hall hid her expression.
Acceptable? Nay bad looking?
This, coming from a man who more resembled a wild boar than a human being?
Unable to abide the sight of him, she lowered her gaze to the rushes covering the stone floor. She envied her shapeshifting older brother, Brodie, at the moment. Even though a witch had cursed him, he was free and frolicking with the other selkies in seal form... while she was trapped here in hell.
"Splendid." Her mother clapped her hands once and gave an almost imperceptible bounce on her toes. "We shall hold therèiteachon the morrow to determine the dowry, and if all goes well in the negotiations, the wedding a fortnight hence."
The MacCain clan elders stood behind her mother, smiling and nodding.
Were they all daft? The lecher before her had already buried three wives. Had they perished from the stench of him? She swallowed the disgust rising in her throat. Death would be preferable to bedding down with him.
Why is Brodie not here to prevent this?
After John MacPeter headed up the spiral stone staircase toward his guest room, her mother walked her to her chamber.
"Please change your mind, Ma," Cat whispered. "I detest the clay-brained horn-beast. His very nose is like an anvil. I do not believe he has bathed in over a year."
"Catriona!" Her mother blanched, her skin contrasting sharply with her black hair. "Do not say such things about this noble and esteemed man." Keeping her voice low, she checked behind herself in the dim corridor. "What if he should hear? You have spent too much time with your grandfather. 'Tis where you heard all those horrid insults."
"On the contrary, I have not spent enough time with him. Could I return to England?"Please, anything but to be thrown to the swine laird.
"No." Ma urged her into the bedchamber and closed the door. "At a score summers, you're old enough to marry and must do your duty for the clan. You will secure peace and protection. You will grow to love John MacPeter." She forced a smile as if Cat were a silly child. "It takes time for affection to grow between a man and his wife. I detested your father when we first married, but soon, I was mad about him."
"Why did you marry him, then?"
"Even though my father is English, my mother is Scottish, as you ken. I was visiting my grandparents at Loch Lomond when your father, a wild and raucous Highlander, came to a gathering looking for a bride. I was not in the market for a husband, but my parents and grandparents convinced me that since he was a chief, I could not do better. He was, of course, handsome, and I was naïve." She gave a bittersweet smile. "It all worked out, and we had a happy marriage."
"Aye, he was young and handsome. Were he alive now, Da would still not be as old as the MacPeter. 'Haps you should marry the odious man."
Her mother frowned. "He is not odious, darling. But that wouldn't do at all. He wants a young wife who will bear him many sons. Besides, as the daughter of a chief, you know you must marry someone of consequence. Since your father passed, the MacPeter is the most powerful chief in these parts, and we need his protection... since your ne'er-do-well brother has taken himself off... somewhere." She waved a hand in the air.
"Brodie is a selfish lackwit," Cat muttered. Since the curse began, anyway. Prior to that, he was a first-rate chief.
"You are fortunate John MacPeter found you to his liking," Ma said. "When first he heard you had ginger hair, he was displeased."
"What?" He objected to her hair color when everything about him was revolting? What a horse's arse.
"My darling Catriona, you know I love your ginger curls." Her mother kissed her cheek. "Sleep well, my child, and dream of your future husband."
"Ugh!" Cat grimaced and closed the door after her mother exited.
"Your mother is right." Her maid, Aggie, approached from the corner. She was half a foot shorter than Cat and stouter.
"You wish me to marry that swine?"
"Aye, and you'll be lucky to have him. He's a powerful man with much land, a fine castle, and a sizable clan."
"He's a real charmer. Said I was nay bad looking and acceptable."
