Page 20 of Stealing a Kilted Heart

CHAPTER TEN

Knox was seething with rage. His heartbeat pounded in his temples, the first stirrings of a headache already making their presence known, even as he stepped out of his study after a disastrous meeting with the council. Several days had passed and Callum’s team had managed to gather no information that was of any use to them, and though other teams were more successful, his was the one which carried most of the burden of the mission. If Callum failed, Clan Stuart would be at a disadvantage, their position so perilous that Knox had half a mind to call everyone back and send them out again in new teams. That would delay them, though, and they didn’t have much time to spare.

I should have never trusted Callum with this. I should’ve sent someone else tae lead.

What was done was done, though, and Knox now had to deal with the frustration and fury that came with the lack of results, while Alastair Gordon was on the move. They had other plans in the works, failsafes and backups, all meant to prevent an attack or at least stop Gordon’s forces successfully. If possible, Knox wanted to avoid a battle, as he wished to protect his men from death and harm, but if it came to it, he knew he could defeat Clan Gordon. For months, they had been planning their defense and he was confident they could emerge victorious.

In a quest to calm himself, he decided to go for a ride, and just as he was exiting the keep, he thought it was the perfect opportunity to take Fia with him and show her how to ride a horse. He had been so shocked when she had revealed it to him, astonished by the mere thought of someone never having the chance to learn something that seemed so basic to him. But he enjoyed riding and the sense of freedom that came with it, the knowledge that he could get anywhere he wished if only he travelled far enough, and he thought Fia may enjoy it as well, once she was acquainted with a horse.

On his way to the stables, he had one of the servants fetch her from her cottage and then continued on his way. When he got there, though, he was surprised to see Bane tending to one of the horses, brushing its fur with a stiff brush.

When Bane noticed him, he gave a small start, dropping the brush as he bowed. “Good mornin’, me laird. Forgive me, I didnae see ye.”

Knox waved a hand dismissively. “At ease,” he said. “I’m only here tae take me horse. Dinnae let me bother ye.”

“It’s nay bother,” Bane assured him. For the first time, Knox allowed himself to look at the other man, really look at him—the solid build of his body, the sandy blonde hair, the hazel eyes, and that perpetual smirk that never seemed to fade. He was a handsome man, even with the scar that ran across his jaw, faint yet long and jagged.

Could he truly trust Fia when she claimed there was nothing between them? The same thought had been plaguing him ever since the night they had spent together in the gardens, when she had claimed to have almost married someone who, by all appearances, was not Bane. He was well aware that none of this was any of his business. Fia was free to love and marry whoever she pleased, and yet the thought still left a bitter taste in the back of his mouth.

Surely, there are more lasses out there like her. This is naethin’ but an infatuation.

Knox had never had time for women or for indulging himself in trysts. There had been a few, of course, but none who had stayed with him for long, incapable as he was to give them his full attention.

“Are ye goin’ on a ride, me laird?” Bane asked, pulling Knox out of his thoughts. “Should I prepare a horse fer ye?”

“Thank ye, but I can dae it meself, dinnae fash,” said Knox as he approached his mare. She gave a soft snort when he petted her head and he liked to think that she was as excited to see him as he was to see her. “I thought I might take Fia on a ride. She told me she doesnae ken how tae ride a horse, so I wanted tae teach her.”

Bane gave him a curious look, and though he seemed quite confused, there was no hint of hostility in his gaze. “Would ye?” he asked. “That is very nice o’ ye, me laird.”

Knox nodded, lips pressed into a thin smile, trying to figure out if Bane meant it or if he was being sarcastic and in fact thought the very opposite. He was on the verge of driving himself insane with doubt over a matter that didn’t even concern him, and yet the more he thought about it, the more he obsessed over the question of Fia’s and Bane’s relationship.

Perhaps I should simply ask him. But he’s already said they’re like family.

They had no reason to lie to him. Had their relationship been romantic, surely, they would have said so. But what if they didn’t even know it themselves? What if their feelings for each other went deeper than either of them realized?

He tried, valiantly, to push such thoughts out of his mind. What good was it, wondering about the same thing over and over? What good was it tormenting himself?

“Ye ken how tae ride, dae ye nae?” he asked Bane instead, who nodded his assent.

“Aye,” he said. “Been ridin’ since I was a wee laddie.”

“So how come Fia never learnt?” Knox asked. “Did she have nae desire tae learn?”

Bane considered it for a few moments before giving Knox a small shrug. “I suppose she didnae find it necessary. An’ she didnae have many chances. We only have this one horse an’ we often lend it out tae others who need it.”

“Surely, bein’ a healer, even a midwife, must pay her enough tae buy a horse, at least,” Knox said. After all, it was a lucrative business—healers were always in demand, even in the smallest of villages, and Duror wasn’t that small.

“Ach, Fia doesnae often receive any payment in gold,” Bane said, much to Knox’s surprise. “Nae everyone in Duror is rich, me laird. In fact, most people in Duror arenae rich an’ Fia never turns them away, even if they cannae pay. Most o’ them pay her in food or fabric or anythin’ they can give her. It doesnae matter tae her as long as she can help them.”

For a few moments, before he could control himself, Knox stared at Bane in disbelief. He and Fia were very poor, that much was evident, and yet even when she could have demanded payment for her services to better her own life and circumstances, she preferred to give her care selflessly to all who needed it. She was truly a good, pure person, more so than anyone Knox had met before.

Something inside him stirred at the knowledge that Fia was willing to go to such lengths for others. Warmth spread over his chest and for a moment, he was struck speechless, the tenderness he felt towards her overwhelming.

“Does it surprise ye?” Bane asked with a small, slanted smile.

“I didnae think…” Knox let his words trail off, staring into the distance. “Nay… nay, I suppose it isnae that surprisin’.”

Bane’s only response was an even wider smile, and a pat on the shoulder as he walked past Knox and out of the stables—a gesture that would have seemed too familiar coming from anyone else, but which Knox could now only find reassuring.