Page 84 of Sins of the Highlander

But Stewart would brook no delay in settling this question. If Drummond could have left him there in the mud and still kept his agreements with Stewart intact, he’d have been gone in a heartbeat.

When Alistair saw that Lachlan was making ready to join him, he reined in his mount and waited just beyond the first ranks of men. Lachlan knew all eyes were trained on them as he caught up to Stewart and they rode to meet the delegation from the castle.

He straightened his spine. Men respected strength, so he always tried to project it.

But his men also appreciated guile. Cunning was strength of a sort, after all. Lachlan wasn’t about to disappoint them.

***

“Well, Robbie,” Hamish said as Stewart and Drummond approached at a trot. “Ye’re about to get yer wish. Dinna say I didna warn ye.”

Rob raised a hand in greeting and also to show that he was unarmed.

Alistair Stewart’s eyes flared with recognition as they drew closer. Lachlan’s shifted from Rob to the castle and back, clearly reasoning that there were more ways into the stronghold than met the eye.

“Where’s my daughter?” Stewart demanded.

“Straight to the point. I respect that,” Rob said. “Your daughter is safe and well.”

“Ye’ll pardon me if we’re disinclined to take the word of a madman,” Lachlan said.

Rob reached into his saddlebag. His opponents’ hands shot to the hilts of their swords. They hadn’t come unarmed to parley.

“One moment, and ye’ll be able to see for yourself,” he promised Elspeth’s father. He drew out a pair of glass discs and attached them at either end of a leather cylinder. His grandfather had brought the strange ocular device home from the Crusades, and it was one of Rob’s most prized possessions. He always called it his “Grandsire’s Eye.” He handed it to Stewart. “Look at the rightmost turret. Elspeth is there.”

Lord Stewart brought the glass to his eye and scanned the battlements for a few heartbeats. A smile burst over his face. “I wish to speak with her.”

“That I cannot allow,” Rob said. “But you have my word she is being well treated. No harm will come to her while she bides in my care.”

“So ye willna kill her as ye threatened?” Lachlan asked with a sneer.

Rob ignored him and spoke directly to Elspeth’s father. “Your daughter has naught to fear from me.”

Stewart’s gaze flicked to Drummond. “We’ve been told she was injured.”

“Aye, she was,” Rob said with a glare at Drummond. “But no’ by me.”

“All this talk is a waste of time,” Drummond said. “Ye’ve heard our demands, aye?”

“Aye,” Rob said calmly. “Ye wish the return of Elspeth Stewart, which I’m prepared to consider. My head is no’ negotiable.”

“All I want is my daughter,” Stewart said.

“Then you and I can come to an accord,” Rob said, deciding he liked Elspeth’s father. “I’m prepared to release the lady to ye, Lord Stewart, on the condition that her betrothal to Lachlan Drummond be sundered immediately.”

“Ye canna do that,” Lachlan thundered. “There have been agreements made, moneys paid.”

“Unmake them. Return the money,” Rob said. “I’ll no’ release the Lady Elspeth if there’s the slightest chance she’ll be forced into marriage with ye. Ye may lay a siege on Caisteal Dubh till Our Lord comes again, but I willna budge. On that matter, ye have my solemn promise.”

Stewart didn’t speak, but Rob could see he was considering the offer seriously.

“And once she is free, Lord Stewart, I ask your leave to court her and marry her,” Rob said.

“So that’s what ye’re about!” Lachlan all but pounced. “Ye wish to increase yer herds and lands by yoking yourself to the House of Stewart.”

Rob shook his head and turned back to Elspeth’s father. “I ask no dowry. I’ll pay whatever bride price ye name, my lord. My men will answer your call should ye find yourself in need of MacLaren swords, with no return promise of aid. All I want from you is your daughter to be my wife. That’s riches enough for any man.”

“If I accept your terms, and I’m no’ saying I do, ye must accept mine as well, MacLaren,” Elspeth’s father said. “While I might give consent to ye courting her, I’ll no’ force Elspeth to marry anyone. It didna work the first time. If she willna have ye, there’s an end to it, aye?”