“Is there anything I can do, aunt?” Seona asked.
“Nay, I just want to rest.”
“M’lady,” one of the MacKenzie’s maids addressed Seona from the doorway. “Would you like me to show you to your chamber?”
“Aye,” she told her, happy to see she would have her own room and some privacy. “I will return soon,” she told Aunt Patience.
Her aunt waved her off as if she didn’t want to be bothered with anything. Seona followed the maid down the corridor to the next room.
“Will this suit you?” she asked.
“Aye, ’tis a lovely chamber.” Seona surveyed the blue velvet counterpane and curtains on the bed, and the finely made blue, gold and green Turkish carpet underfoot.
The maid lit a fire in the wood and peat that was already laid in the hearth. “Lady Isobel said you might want a bath.” The maid stood and faced her.
“That would be wonderful.” Seona almost sighed at the thought of sinking into a tub of hot water and scrubbing herself with a nicely scented soap.
“I will have it sent up. Supper will be ready in about an hour.” The maid curtsied and left.
Seona moved toward the small window which offered a splendid view out over Loch Alsh. The orange and gold sunset and the blue-gray mountains reflecting in the water was one of the loveliest sights she’d ever seen. She wished she could share it with Keegan. He seemed to enjoy beautiful scenery as much as she did. But of course, he could not enter her bedchamber. Although she would like him to.
What would it be like if they were married and allowed to sleep in the same bed?
She shook her head, trying to dislodge the spellbinding but impure thoughts.
One of the MacKenzies’ manservants arrived, carrying her large sack of clothing which a pack horse had carried from Durness to Ullapool. Poor animal. Well, the bag weighed no more than a hundred pounds, so ’haps it hadn’t hurt the animal overmuch.
“I thank you,” she told the servant. When he left, she closed the door.
An hour later, she was bathed and dressed in clean clothing, wondering if she should’ve asked for a tray to be sent to her room instead of going to the great hall.
Nay, she wished to see Keegan again. ’Haps he would escort her to the high table and she would get to touch him for a few moments. ’Twas one of the few joys in life.
A maid arrived to tell her supper was being served. Her heart rate sped up with excitement. But she would not get to talk to Keegan if her aunt joined them. She knocked at Aunt Patience’s door. Getting no answer, she poked her head in.
“How are you feeling, aunt?”
“Awful. Just awful!” she griped from the large four-poster bed. “I thought this blasted seasickness would cease once I got off the water.”
“I’m sure it will go away soon. Can I bring you something to eat?”
She groaned. “Nay, the very mention of food turns my stomach. I only wish to sleep.”
“Very well.” Seona exited, and closed the door. She was truly sorry her aunt was so miserable, but maybe she would get some time to talk with Keegan.
In the great hall, everyone was gathering for the meal. She paused, glancing over the crowded room, and Keegan appeared at her side, as he often had at Dunnakeil.
“A good eve to you, Lady Seona.” He offered his arm.
“Good eve.” She savored the familiar and comforting motion of sliding her hand around his arm and feeling his hard muscles.
“You look lovely,” he murmured.
She noticed his hair was still damp from a recent bath and that he’d changed into his finer clothing—a newer blue and green plaid, a clean white linen shirt, and a green doublet. “I thank you. And so do you.”
He grinned. “I look lovely, do I?”
“Indeed.” She smiled. “Astonishingly handsome, too.”
“Och. Lady Seona, you do ken well how to flatter a man.” He lowered his voice to a deep, seductive murmur. “That can get you into trouble.”
A heated blush seared her skin just as they arrived at the table. Keegan pulled out the chair beside Isobel’s and Seona sat.
“I thank you,” she told him.
He gave a wee bow and stepped down from the dais.
“How is Laird Dirk?” Seona asked Isobel, hoping her blush was fading.
A small frown drew Isobel’s dark brows together. “He is sleeping now. Earlier, the healer soaked his injured leg in hot water and various herbs, then she put some kind of smelly poultice on it. She assured me it would draw the infection from the wound.”
“Oh, I certainly hope it does.”
“Aye, indeed. My stomach has been in knots with worry.”
“He will likely show improvement very soon.”
The chair next to Seona slid out. She glanced up to find Keegan taking a seat beside her. She smiled, but then felt her blasted blush returning. Why could she not stop doing that? He sent her a wee smile.
Everyone else took their seats at the high table, including Rebbie and Isobel’s five brothers. She had met four of them when they’d visited Durness last winter. They were devilishly dark and attractive men. But none of them captured her interest the way Keegan did with his tawny hair and blue eyes.
After grace, the meal was served, starting with succulent quail and brown crusty bread with butter. Seona didn’t realize how hungry she was until she started eating. Never had food tasted this delicious. She barely paid attention to the conversation going on around her about their journey from Durness and the attacks. Enjoying Keegan sitting beside her, which he rarely did, she focused on devouring her food. Though she tried to mind her manners.
“We would like to stay here until Dirk is recovered,” Isobel said, drawing Seona’s attention. She would also like to stay here, or anywhere Keegan was, instead of going home, but that was impossible.
“Aye. I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Cyrus said. He had the look of a formidable chief and warrior, tall and broad of shoulder, with long black hair and penetrating dark eyes. Seona found him to be an intimidating man. But when it came to his family, ’twas obvious he cared deeply for them. After all, he had allowed Isobel to choose her own husband.
“Dirk was planning to go with the rest of the men to escort Lady Seona and her aunt home and take her father a gift,” Isobel said. “But now he won’t be able to.”
“What gift?” Fraser MacKenzie asked. Isobel had told her that Fraser was the second youngest brother. He appeared to be in his mid-twenties, but he had to be younger than Isobel, who was five-and-twenty. Fraser resembled Cyrus, except he had blue eyes and his expression was much lighter and carefree. In fact, almost every time she’d seen him, he’d been grinning or smirking. And he possessed a leaner build.
“The horse,” Keegan said. “’Tis the finest ever bred at the MacKay stables.”
Seona felt bad that Chief Dirk had to give up such a valuable animal because of her. She thought her father would like the horse, but very few things made him happy.
“Why is he taking him such an expensive gift?” Fraser asked.
“Because Lady Seona was not able to marry the MacKay chief. ’Tis complicated,” Isobel said.
All eyes turned to Seona and she was glad she didn’t have a mouthful of food at that moment. She blotted the linen square against her lips.
“You stole her husband to be?” Fraser asked Isobel with a wide grin, his gaze darting back and forth between the two women. “I didn’t know that. You kept that quiet while we were in Durness.”
“Nay,” Seona spoke up. “In truth, I was never betrothed to Dirk.”
“There was merely an old contract between Seona’s father and the late MacKay chief,” Isobel said.
“Dirk’s father?” Dermott asked.
This was the first time Seona had met Dermott, Isobel’s second eldest brother, because he hadn’t traveled with the others to Durness last winter. He appeared to be around thirty summers. He possessed dark brown hair and green eyes and was not quite as massive in stature as his oldest brother.