Highlander’s Broken Love by Fiona Faris

Chapter Two

Nairna ran up the stairs and rushed into her chamber, throwing herself on the bed and allowing herself to succumb to her tears for the first time that day. Unlike Aileen, she did not cry easily, but she could not hold it in any longer.

A new wife! How could her father even think of it? It was just too much to take on board after the shock of her mother’s death. And now this! To think that she had been worried that her father was to announce her betrothal when all the while he had been arranging his own nuptials. Surely her father could not really expect her to love these people as family and to accept them graciously?

She sighed as the thoughts crowded her head. Her sister was much more sweet-tempered than her, and she was sure that Aileen would try much harder to be nice and welcoming towards them when they did arrive at the castle. But she knew that she could not do it. She would not be able to put on a show for them. It simply wasn’t in her nature to dissemble and pretend to feel something that she did not.

She felt guilty for leaving her sister behind just now in the hall, but she knew that Aileen would come up to her room soon to check on her. Neither of them could allow the other to suffer alone for long

It was a mixture of fury and disbelief that she felt as she lay there on her bed, sobbing her heart out in the silent room. Her mother and father’s marriage had been a love match. She had always known that. And they had been content for many years together. But now her father was to marry another woman, out of convenience, because he did not wish to be alone! It was such a betrayal to the memory of her mother.

She knew that it had always been a source of sadness to her parents that no sons had come, but it had not been enough to mar their happiness. And now her father was getting a ready-made son too! His announcement about the lairdship had stung Nairna to the core, realizing that this woman, this lady – Joanne, came with an heir too! A stranger taking over the clan! She could scarcely believe that her father would even think of it. And yet, she knew that he was right. The clan had to be led by a strong man. It was ridiculous to think that a woman could hold power over the clan and fight off their enemies.

She groaned in frustration, burying her face into her pillow. She knew that she was powerless to stop it. But if her father thought that she would play the role of the dutiful daughter, smiling sweetly when their interlopers arrived at their door, then he was mistaken. Perhaps Aileen would go along with it, but not her. And she would not help with plans for the wedding either; he could not expect that of her.

Her reverie was broken by a tap at the door, and Aileen came in, just as she had expected. Her face was blotchy from crying.

“Nairna, ye must go down and apologize to Father!” she said, sitting down on the bed next to her.

“Is he very angry?”

“He’s unhappy that ye willnae accept what’s to happen,” Aileen said. “ ‘Tis a shock; I know it is, but we cannae expect him to be alone forever, and he’s right too that there must be a man tae take over the clan when he’s gone.” Her eyes filled with tears as she spoke. “I cannae bear to think of him being gone as well! Must we lose everything?”

Nairna wrapped her arms around her sister as she sobbed. It seemed as if they were to lose everything, after all. Life would never be the same again in the castle after these strangers arrived and became part of their family. She did not know, truly, how she was going to bear it.

* * *

Nairna looked around quickly to check that the coast was clear before making her way across the courtyard to the stables. This part of the castle was deserted today; all the servants were indoors, focusing their attentions on cleaning and polishing everything in sight in preparation for the arrival of the honored guests later on that day.

She had refused to have any part of it. Her father had tried to involve her in the planning and preparations for the welcome feast, seeking her opinion on various menu options and asking her advice on how to decorate the great hall for the occasion. But she had steadfastly declined to enter into any discussion about it. She knew that her father was struggling, having never planned such an occasion by himself, and that as his eldest daughter, she should have been heavily involved in the plans, supporting him in the domestic arrangements. But it just made the whole thing smart even more; her mother had always been the one planning the festivities when they had visitors before. And now she was gone and would never plan another celebration at the castle again! Her grief was still raw, and she found that she did not care much about which vegetables would accompany each course and whether there would be enough venison to go round.

Nairna entered the stables and found her favorite horse there, a chestnut mare named Nessa that her father had given her for her birthday. She was a fine horse, steady and biddable, and with a love for galloping across the moor, whatever the weather.

The stable boy was nowhere to be seen – even he had probably been dragged inside and made to polish something. So she saddled up the horse herself, whispering soothingly to her as she did so. Her mother had taught her from a young age how important it was to know how to prepare and saddle a horse for riding without help. She always said that you never knew what could happen when you were out riding and that you must be able to look after yourself.

Nairna knew that she was being cowardly and childish stealing away like this, avoiding having to be there to greet her new stepmother and stepbrother. But she just could not bring herself to stand there, acting the part of the fine lady. She could not put on a show of welcoming them to the castle and pretending that she did not resent them with every fiber of her being. Nay – it was better to make herself scarce and ride away as far as possible so that she didn’t have to face any of them.

A stepmother! What a thought! She smiled ruefully to herself as she mounted the horse and took off down the lane leading to the castle gates at a trot. Joanna MacBaine probably was not like the wicked stepmothers of fairytales; no doubt she would not bring an enchanted mirror to the castle or try to murder Nairna and Aileen with apples laced with poison. And yet, Nairna felt that she knew why children – even fully grown ones like herself and her sister – found it hard to love their stepparents. The pain of the loss of her own mother was so great, and the wound in her heart so deep that another woman appearing to replace her was just too much to bear. And her feelings of anger towards her father for such a hasty betrayal of her mother’s memory had not abated; in fact, they had only strengthened as the days passed since the announcement of his impending marriage.

She thought of her sister, who she had left behind in the castle without a word. Aileen would be worried about her, no doubt, but would soon realize that she had absented herself to avoid having to meet Joanne and Magnus and welcoming them to the clan. Aileen would do a better job of it anyway, standing by their father and putting on a polite show for these interlopers. Her sister was far sweeter-natured than she; Nairna knew that.

She left the castle grounds and took off at a canter across the open moorland, Nessa only needing the slightest encouragement. She had been cooped up in her stable for too long and was glad of the opportunity to stretch her legs. Nairna had barely ridden out at all since her mother’s death, and now, as she felt the wind in her hair as they sped along, she felt something like happiness for the first time in many days. Temporary happiness, at least, and an escape from reality.

She rode on, along her favorite paths and through dense woodland, until she reached a track running along the hillside with a steep incline to one side and thick undergrowth to the other. The track was stony and uneven, so she slowed down to a walk and allowed Nessa to pick her way along at her own pace. She slipped into a daydream as they traversed the track, remembering all the times she had ridden with her mother in these woods and the stories she used to tell them when they were small, about fairies and goblins and all the other magical tree-dwelling creatures of legend.

She was just smiling softly to herself, her hands barely even gripping the reins, when Nessa let out a whinny and skittered to one side of the track with a sudden jolt. Nairna grabbed onto the front of the saddle and looked around, trying to work out what had caused the horse to react like that. Her eyes scoured the track ahead and all around. In the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of silver grey moving along the edge of the track. A snake! No wonder Nessa had been startled. Snakes were a rare sight in these woods but were well known to be a source of fear among horses.

Nessa scrambled about frantically, her hooves slipping and sliding on the loose stones of the track. Trying to keep calm even though her heart was pounding, Nairna spoke soothingly to the horse, reaching forward to pat her neck, but she was scarcely able to keep her balance. “Yer alright, Nessa. ‘Tis just a silly old snake. Look – he’s gone now!” The snake had slithered back into the undergrowth, but the damage had been done, and the horse was panicked and struggling to keep her footing on the path. She began to buck and rear, and Nairna was fighting to hold on. She felt her own panic begin to rise, knowing that this would make the situation worse but barely able to control her feelings. She gave a yelp as she felt herself beginning to slide from the saddle as Nessa reared up again.

All of a sudden, she heard a thunder of hooves approaching, and a horse appeared in a cloud of dust on the track in front of her, ridden by a man who she had never seen before. Nessa was still bucking and rearing, and Nairna was still struggling to hang on to the reins as the unknown rider drew up next to her.

“Woah!” he said commandingly, reaching out to grip the reins of her horse, his fingertips brushing Nairna’s as he did so. “Woah, now,” he said again more softly, as Nessa dropped back onto four hooves and shook out her mane with a splutter, looking about her as if she couldn’t remember what all the fuss was about. “There now, lass,” he said, still focused on the horse, patting her neck as she settled down.

Nairna dropped back into the saddle, still hanging on tightly to the reins in case the horse should take fright again. Her heart was still racing, and she found that she was breathing fast. She’d had a lucky escape, she knew; if she’d fallen off the horse and been badly injured out here alone in the woods, she’d have been in real trouble, far away from home with no one knowing where she was.

“Are ye alright, My Lady?”

The man’s voice broke through her thoughts, and she looked up at him properly for the first time. Tall, with a shock of dark curls, he sat bolt upright astride his horse, wrapped in his riding cloak. He was looking at her with concern on his face.

“Aye,” she said, suddenly feeling tongue-tied. “ ‘Twas – ‘twas a snake in the hedge. It spooked her. Normally, she’s a steady horse…” She trailed off, unable to find any more words.

She found that she could not stop looking at him, even though she knew that she should not be gazing upon a strange man in such an immodest way. It was undeniable that he was handsome, despite his slightly weather-beaten skin and the deep groove of a scar above his eyebrow. But there was something about him, and she struggled to tear her eyes away.

“Well, I am glad she’s a steady horse,” he said, with a hint of amusement in his eyes. “I wouldnae like tae think of ye riding a wobbly horse, especially on a path like this!”

She let out a giggle, despite herself. She was finding it hard to keep her composure in the presence of this man.

“Is it usual to see snakes in these woods?” he went on.

“Nay, ‘tis very rare. I’ve only seen one once before, when…” She was about to say when she had been out walking with her mother, but she stopped herself. She did not want to tell this stranger anything too personal about herself or where she came from. She had no idea who he was, and a little voice in her head reminded her to be careful. And yet, there was something trustworthy about his face, battle-scarred though it may be. And those eyes! She had never seen eyes like his, the color of honey with an intense ring of black around the iris. She found herself staring into them once again, and he met her eyes boldly. She colored under the intensity of his gaze, blinked, and tried to shake herself free of these unfamiliar feelings that were building inside her.

She looked at him curiously. “I dinnae think I’ve seen ye about these parts before?” She knew almost everyone who resided in the area around the castle, having lived here all her life and due to the position of her family. It was unusual to see a stranger at all, let alone one whose arrival was not known of in advance by the laird and his family.

He smiled, and her stomach flipped as he held her gaze once more. “Aye, I’m new in these parts, ‘tis true,” he said enigmatically. “But I very much like what I have seen so far, o’ the countryside and the people too.” He looked at her meaningfully, clearly as reluctant as she was to give too much away about himself. But Nairna sensed by the way he was gazing at her that he found her as intriguing as she found him. So few words had passed between them, but she had a feeling that they had exchanged something deeper than words in those few moments they had spent together.

“Well, Sir, I am most glad that ye like what ye see,” she said, meeting his gaze and waiting to see what he said next.

Nessa was happily munching on a shrub next to the path, and the strange Highlander’s horse was similarly engaged on the other side of the path. Nairna looked at him and found herself once again unable to pull her gaze away from those hypnotic eyes.

He seemed to be about to speak when the haunting sound of a horn sounded from a distance, and he looked up, half in alarm and half in irritation.

“Alas, I must leave ye,” he said, meeting her eye again with an intensity which thrilled her to her very core. “I would love tae meet ye again one day, and I pray that it may happen soon,” he added.

He reached over, took her hand, and lifted it to his lips, his eyes never leaving hers for a second. The feel of his soft kiss on her skin was like an electric shock, sending unfamiliar sensations all through her body. She felt a blush rising across her cheeks as she returned his gaze, but she was yet again unable to find the words to reply to him.

He quickly turned his horse around and trotted off along the path in the direction of the horn, which was still sounding intermittently. Nairna vaguely wondered why a horn was blasting and who he was going to join, but her thoughts soon returned to the look in his eyes as he had kissed her hand. It was attraction, pure and simple – that much she knew, even though she was a respectable and virtuous noblewoman. She flushed again at the thought of it and the feelings it had caused inside her, feelings that she had never felt before in the presence of any man. She was fascinated by him.

She reflected for a moment that what had begun as a miserable day, was in fact, turning out to be a little brighter than she expected. She felt elated and unable to stop smiling, and the woods around her seemed even more beautiful than usual. But who was he, this mysterious Highlander? Her thoughts full of him, she persuaded a reluctant Nessa, who had been enjoying her roadside snack, into a walk along the track, back the way they had come before the drama of the day had unfolded.

She glanced up at the sky to see the position of the sun. It must be past midday now. She decided to ride on a little further before returning to the castle, which she knew inevitably she must. She couldn’t run away forever, much as she would like to. She would have to return and face the new additions to her family before long. But she would allow herself another few hours alone first, with the pleasurable memory of the Highlander with the honey-colored eyes to fill her thoughts.