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“Ye stole her?”Alexander MacDonald laughed in delight. “I'm glad to see yer heart is all MacDonald, brother. ’Tis rare in these days that we steal our wives. Why was it necessary for ye to do so? Has she a hardhearted guardian who could not see that young lovers will not be denied, and attempted to keep her from ye so he might wed her to some rich old lord? If that is the case, ye were wise to steal her.”
“He stole me from the man I love,” Fiona said suddenly. “Even if Black Angus knew where I was, he would not have me now that yer brother has had his hands all over me, my lord. I can only hope Angus Gordon thinks me dead.”
“Colly?”TheLord of the Isles was serious now. Helistened to his brother's explanation, nodding in satisfaction when it was concluded.
“No one can connect Mistress Hay's kidnapping with me, my lord,” Nairn said. “I left court several days before she did. Although I did attempt once to gain her favor there, she would have none of me. No one will suspect that I took her. There is no danger to ye or to the Isles over this matter. I would not bring trouble to ye, Alexander.”
“So there is little or no harm done, then,” the Lord of the Isles said. He looked again at Fiona. “I canna blame ye, Colly. She is verra bonnie. I'm sorry this is one we canna share.”
“No harm done?” Fiona was outraged. “I have been taken from the man I love, and mistreated, and ye say no harm is done, my lord?”
“Ye have but exchanged one husband for another, my bonnie,” the Lord of the Isles said reasonably.
“Angus Gordon is the king's good friend.”
“Then surely he will find his friend another bride,” Alexander MacDonald answered her with perfect logic. “Even if it were known where ye were, there is little likelihood they would come after ye, unless, of course, ye are a great heiress. Are ye?”
“I am a chieftain in my own right,” Fiona said proudly. “I am the Hay of the Ben, my lord.”
“A steep hillock with a tumbled-down tower-house,” Colin MacDonald said matter-of-factly, “and don't deny it, sweeting. Maggie told me.”
“Maggie MacLeod is a wretched gossip!” Fiona muttered balefully.
“Ye saw Margaret MacLeod, brother?”
“Aye. She has wed with her bonnet laird, and is with bairn,” he answered. “She is happy, Alexander,” he finished meaningfully.
“So be it, then” the Lord of the Isles replied. “Besides, the old lord they were to wed her with has died. They wouldna want her back, considering the shame she brought on her family by running off as she did. She cost them a dowry they could ill afford, though, for the old man would not give it back to them. He considered it damages for the insult done his fine old name. She was always a wild lass, our cousin Maggie MacLeod was.” He laughed at his memories.
Fiona was fascinated. Maggie had never spoken about exactly why she had fled her home on Lewis. And in learning her friend's story, her own anger cooled. Fiona chided herself for appearing to be eager to escape Nairn. What if the Lord of the Isles had believed her and sent her back? She would be no use to the king then. She had to learn to better temper her apparent outrage with her actual purpose in being here. She moved to the far end of the barge and watched as the shore came closer.
“When will ye wed her?” the lord asked Nairn.
“I'll handfast her in yer hall tonight.”
“Not with a priest, Colly? Why will ye not wed her properly?” Alexander MacDonald asked him, disturbed.
“She is still angry at having been taken from Angus Gordon,” Nairn replied. “I have spared her my attentions each night that we have traveled for I swore to myself I would not have her without a wedding. The term of a handfast marriage is a year. I will have brought her around in that time, and I will then wed her before a priest.”
“Will she agree to a handfast union?” the Lord of the Isles wondered. “She appears a hot-tempered lassie.”
“Aye,” Nairn grinned, “she is, but she will, for she has no choice. Within a year she will declare her love for me, brother.”
The Lord of the Isles looked his younger sibling in the eye. “I can see yer already in love with her, Colin. Love is a dangerous condition for a man. Ye know it to be true. A man in love does not think clearly. Are ye certain ye will not wed her before a priest? I have one temporarily in residence. Father Ninian. He could do the deed.”
Nairn shook his head. “I would have to coerce her before a priest, and I will not do that.” He chuckled ruefully. “I am not certain I could force her. When we stand before a priest it will be because she wants to do so. No, a handfast marriage will have to do us now. Under a handfast any child we produce will be legitimate, brother”
The barge bumped onto the island of Islay. Leaping out, the men-at-arms drew it up onto the shore. The ramp was lowered, and the horses and riders made their way off the vessel. Fiona looked about her. Whereas Jura had been mountainous, Islay was a fertile, green pastureland of softly rolling earth. In the distance she could see a castle, obviously their destination. She moved her horse forward and found herself between the two brothers.
“Welcome to Islay, sister,” the Lord of the Isles said graciously. “I hope yer stay with us, short though my brother says it is to be, will nonetheless be a pleasant one for ye.”
“I thank you, my lord,” Fiona responded politely.
As they rode toward their destination, Fiona could not help but be impressed by the large herds of fat cattle grazing in The MacDonald's green meadows. When she commented upon it, Nairn laughed mischievously.
“Fiona has been a cattle thief, though not a successful one, in her time,” he told his elder brother.
“I never admitted to such a thing!” Fiona said indignantly. “Why do ye all assume that the charges Black Angus made against me were true? Why does no one believe me?” she demanded.
