Highlander’s Broken Love by Fiona Faris

Chapter One

The MacEwan Castle

“I feel that I shall never be happy again,” Nairna sighed, feeling the weight of her sorrow threaten to take her over as she gazed at her pale reflection in the glass.

Her sister, Aileen, standing behind her, continued to brush her long red hair gently. They had sent their maid away, preferring to prepare for the day by themselves. They desired only to be alone in their grief.

“Aye,” Aileen said sadly. “I cannae believe she is gone. I thought that after the funeral, it might have sunk in a bit, and I would begin to accept it, but every day I wake up and I expect to see her at breakfast, and then I remember…” She trailed off, a sob choking her voice.

It was scarcely two weeks since their mother had died so suddenly. She had been taken ill with a fever, and the healing woman had tried all the remedies she could think of, but nothing had helped. For three long days and nights, Nairna and Aileen had sat with her, mopping her burning brow with cool water and trying to keep her comfortable. But then, just before dawn on the third night, she had slipped away from them forever.

“She was out hunting only the day before!” Nairna said, her thoughts returning again to what a shock it had been that her mother had grown so incredibly sick so very quickly. No one could fathom the cause; it was just one of those things, the healing woman had said fatalistically.

“That’s how she would want us tae remember her, though, out on her horse in the forest,” Aileen said, her voice soft. “She wouldnae want us to think of her moaning in that bed in pain and confusion, or afterward, lying there…” She stopped. She could not bring herself to say the words out loud.

As was the custom, after her death, the women of the clan had watched her body day and night until the time came for her to be buried. Their father, in the depths of his grief, had disappeared off riding for hours every day, unable to bear being inside the castle with the scent of death all around and the sound of weeping women echoing around every dark corridor.

The rituals that came next were as fine and grand as would be expected for the wife of the Laird, with a procession and pipers before the burial, followed by a lavish funeral feast attended by all the members of the clan. But for Nairna, it had all passed in a blur; she could not remember the taste of the food or any of the conversations that she had had with the numerous guests who had wished to speak with her during the feast. She had simply forced herself to get through the day before collapsing sobbing on her bed when she could finally be alone. She knew that her sister had found it equally as painful, and they had supported one another as much as they could throughout the day.

She sighed again and gazed out of the window of her chamber. The spring sunshine was streaming in. It felt almost as if nature was playing a harsh trick on them, to take their mother from them in such a cruel and sudden way when all around them was rebirth and renewal. The birds were twittering happily in the trees, and every shrub and bush seemed to be a brighter shade of green today than it had been the day before.

She turned to Aileen. “Sister, shall we go for a walk before dinner? I feel that we shall waste away if we pine indoors any longer. ‘Tis not what Mother would have wanted.”

Aileen nodded, wiping her eyes, which were red at the rims from many days of weeping. “Let’s go and see the flowers. Mother did love them so, and the bluebells may have begun to bloom in the woods.” She gave a wistful smile, remembering the many walks they had shared with their mother in the woodland near the castle.

The sisters were preparing to leave the chamber when there was a knock at the door, and their maid entered, dropping a curtsy as she did so.

“Milady,” she said to Nairna after nodding to her younger sister. “Your father is in the great hall. He wishes to speak wi’ ye both.”

Nairna blinked in surprise. It was unusual for their father to be inside the castle before dinner. Usually, he rushed back just in time, wiping the dust from the road off his clothes as he hurried in to join them for their meal. He was often absent from the castle for days at a time, on long hunting trips or attending to clan business further afield.

The maid withdrew, leaving them looking at each other in confusion.

“I wonder what on earth he could want to talk to us about?” Aileen wondered out loud.

Nairna frowned, glancing again at her reflection in the glass, as a small seed of suspicion began to plant itself in her mind. She was twenty-four now, and she knew that it would be time for her to be wed soon. Her mother had always tried to dissuade their father from arranging their marriages while they were too young, saying that she wanted them to wait until they were ready, but she knew that she really could not expect him to wait much longer. But so soon after her mother’s death? It seemed unlikely that he would put this upon her now, not while her grief was still raw.

She looked at her sister, so pretty and fair and just two years younger than her. Perhaps he had found a match for Aileen instead? Nay, he would not arrange for the younger daughter to be wed first unless it was a love match that she desired herself and that he also considered being suitable for the clan

“Aileen, ye dinnae ken what this is about, really, do ye? ‘Tis not some secret o’ yours?”

“Nay!” Aileen said, a look of bafflement on her face. “What do ye mean, sister?”

Nairna shook her head. “Oh, nothing,” she said quickly, dismissing the idea from her mind as quickly as it had blown in. The idea of her sister having a secret romance and not telling her about it was not at all likely; they had shared everything, all their lives.

“I cannot imagine what it could be,” she shrugged, smoothing her hair and shaking out her dress in preparation for making their way to the great hall. “Come, sister, let’s go and find out. We mustn’t keep Father waiting.”

They left the chamber and made their way down the gloomy corridors of the castle, lit by torches on the walls. To a stranger, it might have seemed an eerie, unwelcoming place, with dark corners and secret passageways, but to Nairna and Aileen, it was the only home they had ever known, as daughters of the laird. They walked arm-in-arm down the grand central staircase and entered the great hall, then approached their father, Laird Edward MacEwan, who was standing by the fireplace, gazing into the flames. The main room of the castle was grand, with servants scurrying about and the bright sunshine outside streaming in through the large arched windows all around. This was the scene of so many important moments in their lives: great celebrations, meetings with other members of the clan, and most lately, their mother’s funeral feast. Nairna winced at the memory as they crossed the room together. Her sister tightened her grip on her arm as they went, perhaps intending to be reassuring, but it just made Nairna feel even more ill at ease to know that her sister was nervous too.

At the sound of their footsteps echoing across the hall, he turned and gave them a wan smile. “My lasses,” he said, kissing them each in turn. “Join me in a drink of wine?”

Nairna raised an eyebrow but agreed to his request, taking a goblet of wine from a servant who approached. Her sister did the same, meeting her eye with a quizzical glance as she did so. It was unusual for their father to partake of wine or ale before dinner. Something strange was going on.

“So, my daughters, what have ye been doing today?” Laird MacEwan said after a long pause.

Nairna looked up at him, her green eyes wide. “Why, Father, we have been doing what we always do these days. We have been feeling sad and thinking of Mother.”

“We were just about to go for a walk in the woods, Father, before coming back for dinner,” Aileen added softly. “Ye remember how Mother used tae love the bluebells?”

“Aye, lass, I do remember,” the Laird replied. He took another sip of his wine.

Why will he not say what is on his mind?Nairna thought, beginning to feel frustrated. Her father was always kind and gentle with his daughters, but he was a man of few words. She could tell that he had something he wished to say, but he was holding back.

“And Father, where have ye been this morning, and yesterday too?” Her father had been absent from the castle the day before; although that was not unusual, perhaps therein lay the truth of his strange behavior today.

“I have been tae the MacBaine castle,” Laird MacEwan said slowly. “I did not return home until very late last night.”

Nairna nodded, waiting for him to continue. Philip MacBaine was their father’s oldest friend, brother of the MacBaine laird, and a highly respected man in his own right. It was not at all unusual for their father to go visiting him, to discuss matters of business, and to hunt and socialize together. But she could tell from the look on her father’s face that there had been something different about this visit.

“And I must tell ye, my daughters, that my best friend is dead,” he announced gravely.

“Oh, Father!” Aileen moved closer, ready to comfort him. “I am so sorry tae hear of it!”

“Aye, I am sorry too,” Nairna said earnestly. How hard for her father to go through the grief of the loss of his wife, then to suffer another loss so soon afterward! It was a terrible chain of events, and her heart ached for him. She sensed, though, that there was something more that her father needed to say.

“How did he die?” she asked, trying to lead her father into telling them what was really going on.

“It was a hunting accident,” Laird MacEwan said, his brow furrowed. “He leaves behind him a son, Magnus. Do ye remember meeting him when ye were wee bairns? ‘Twas a long time ago now. I think ye may have been too young tae recall it?” He smiled as if transported to a memory of happier times when he and his friend stood and watched their toddling children playing together.

“Nay, Father, I dinnae remember it,” she replied honestly. She had no memory of meeting this boy called Magnus.

There was another long pause as the Laird drained his glass and set it down on a stone table next to him. “Now, I must tell ye something else, girls,” he said.

Nairna was almost fit to burst with frustration now. “Yes, Father, tell us!” she urged him.

“I had an agreement with Philip, one that we made many years ago. If one of us were to die, and the other remained alive, then we promised that we would look after each other’s families. It was a most solemn vow. I never thought that either of us would have to act on it, not in this way, any way, and not so soon.” He gave a deep sigh and ran a hand through his mane of hair, which in his youth had been a fine russet color but was now turning white with age. “He leaves behind him a wife, Joanne. And of course, my wife, your mother, is gone too.”

Nairna frowned and turned to Aileen, who looked just as confused as she felt herself.

“What is it ye are trying tae say, Father?” she asked, unable to hold back any longer.

“I am tae be wed again, lass,” he replied flatly. “ ‘Tis what I promised, and now I must honor that promise that I made all those years ago. I never thought to have done it like this, but I’ve come to realize ‘tis the best way.”

Nairna felt her stomach lurch. “Wed, Father? You?”

“Aye, lass, she is tae come to th’ castle and live wi’ us here, wi’ her son Magnus too, and he shall be the laird when I’m gone.” He paused, took a sip of wine, and continued, “Ye ken, ‘tis a problem that I have no son. And I dinnae want ye tae be wed too young either. I was always wi’ yer mother on that. So, this is a good way to bring a man into th’ family, tae help me wi’ the duties o’ the Lairdship. And ‘tis tae keep ye safe too, my lasses! I’m gettin’ old, and we dinnae want anyone tae think the clan and th’ castle are no’ protected!”

“But – Father, how can ye say this?” Nairna demanded, her disbelief turning to anger as she listened to him talk. “How can ye even think tae be married again when our mother is only just buried!”

Next to her, Aileen was beginning to sob quietly.

“Lass, ye must be calm!” Edward begged her, casting an eye about the hall, where there were several servants busying themselves with various tasks. Clearly, he did not wish for there to be a scene. “I know ‘tis a shock. Let me explain it to ye some more.” He took both her hands in his and looked at her intently. “I promised him, Nairna, and he promised me that if either of us were to die suddenly, we would take care of the other’s wife and child. And now that Elaine is gone –” His voice became thick as he spoke her name. “Now that she is gone, the best way tae achieve it is fer me to take Joanne as my wife.”

“But how? How can ye be so heartless as to forget our mother so quickly?” Nairna demanded. “How can ye just replace her like this?” She could not believe what she was hearing. It seemed impossible that he could be so cynical to be off arranging his next marriage before his wife was even cold in her grave. “I thought ye loved her,” she said, her voice breaking with emotion.

Aileen, unable to speak, took her hand and looked at her pleadingly. Dealing with Nairna’s anger on top of her own grief seemed to be almost more than she could bear.

“Now, Nairna,” Edward said firmly. “I loved yer mother, truly. She was the great love o’ my life, and I will never forget her, never, not until the day I’m in th’ ground myself. But a great man needs a wife, ye know that, lass. I cannae dae it all on my own!”

“But ye have us, Father!” Aileen said, breaking her silence at last. “We can help ye and support ye!”

“ ‘Tis not the same, Aileen. Ye must see that?” he said.

She sniffed and said nothing more, but Nairna could not stop herself from continuing, “Father, I just cannae believe it,” she said again, her anger unabated.

“There’s the other thing too, though, Nairna, that ye must understand. I have no sons! I need a strong man tae pass on the lairdship to. And Magnus, well, his reputation as a fighter and a fine warrior is second tae none. He’s just the right sort o’ man to take over the clan from me when I’m gone. I have tae plan for these things, Nairna, don’t ye see? God could take me just as quick as he took yer poor mother!” His face was etched with pain as he spoke, but he seemed resolute, despite her protestations.

Nairna glowered into the fire as he spoke, remembering that old resentment, the greatest of her life: that she’d not been born a boy and could not lead the clan herself. She knew that her parents had been disappointed that they had never been blessed with a son. And now this stranger was to come instead and take over! And this woman would try to replace her mother! Well, she would not sit by and allow it to happen.

“I won’t accept them, Father,” she said firmly. “Ye cannae expect us tae love them as family, tae welcome them here when we are still raw wi’ pain from the loss o’ our mother!”

“Aye, lass, I do expect it,” he replied, a hint of anger creeping into his voice at her continued defiance. “I expect ye tae behave as befits the daughter of a laird and welcome them! And they are tae come soon, the plans for the wedding have already begun!”

She flinched. A wedding, so soon after a funeral! It was grotesque, and she could not bear the thought of it.

“Nay, Father, ye cannae make me!” she said hotly, feeling her rage begin to surge again. “I willnae accept them, never!”

She turned on her heel and fled from the room, the sobs of her sister ringing in her ears as she went.