Scourie, northwest Scotland
Eva MacKay was utterly in love.
The exhaustion and pain and fear of the last days faded as she stroked her finger down the soft cheek of the baby lying on her chest. The perfect rosebud mouth pursed and the tip of a tiny pink tongue could be seen. And when the wee bairn’s eyes opened and seemed to meet her own gaze, Eva was lost.
She leaned down and kissed the babe’s forehead, whispering soft words against the damp skin. Through the hours of labouring to give birth, Eva could only think of the man who should be at her side. He would never see his daughter. Never see their daughter. Tears filled her eyes and spilled over as she whispered his name to their child. The babe squirmed a bit and closed her eyes then, drifting to sleep. Eva then whispered the name they’d chosen if a daughter was born to them.
Mairead.
Eva moved her closer, tucking the blanket tighter around the little body and holding her close. The only way out of this would be to throw herself on her father’s questionable mercy and beg to be allowed to keep the bairn. Yet, from her mother’s cold response so far, she knew she would have no allies for her argument.
Her body needed rest now before she could make her plans. She ached deep inside, both from the birth’s trauma and her broken heart. The babe sighed and Eva closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of the little one’s warmth. Drifting off to sleep, Eva woke when someone lifted the bairn away.
‘What are you doing?’ she asked the unfamiliar woman.
The woman said nothing. She simply wrapped the blanket around Eva’s babe and began to leave.
‘Who are you and where are you taking her?’ she asked louder.
Struggling against the pain and the bleeding, Eva pushed the bed linens back and tried to get out of bed. No one would take her bairn. Not now. Not ever.
‘Here now, my lady,’ Suisan, the woman sent along by Eva’s father, said as she entered the chamber. ‘I need to see to you, and the bairn will be well cared for while I do it.’
Suisan was efficient in her actions and within a short time, Eva found herself bathed and wearing a clean shift. The bed linens had been changed and all evidence that she’d given birth was removed from the chamber. Sipping a hot concoction that Suisan gave her, Eva felt the pain and anxiousness ease.
‘You can bring her back now, Suisan,’ Eva said, handing the cup back to the woman. ‘I should try to feed her.’
‘All of that is being seen to, my lady. Nothing for you to worry over now,’ Suisan whispered as she moved around the bed, smoothing and tucking the bedcovers in tighter.
‘Seen to?’ Eva asked, trying to push herself up to sit and finding that her body would not obey her commands. ‘I said to bring her to me, Suisan.’ The chamber grew dim and the room seemed to melt away.
‘She is no longer your concern, my lady. You must rest and regain your strength now,’ the woman urged.
‘She is mine,’ Eva argued, but her words came out slurred and confused.
Eva knew she’d been given something to make her sleep, but that was not the alarming part. This woman’s words struck fear deep into Eva’s heart. But her attempts to sit up and to go to find her babe were for naught, as her body surrendered to whatever herb was in that cup.
‘No longer, my lady.’ Suisan drew the sheet and blanket higher and tucked it around Eva’s shoulders. ‘She is gone now. Nothing to worry over now.’
All thoughts fled as she sank into oblivion.
* * *
Days passed as she rose and sank into its depths. Days and nights melded into one blur until the day, three weeks later she thought, when her father arrived to take her home.
It took another week to reach their home in Tongue, far to the north and to the east of Durness, but Eva knew nothing but desolation and misery. Her father, Ramsey MacKay, chieftain of the Clan MacKay, never mentioned the child. He treated Eva as though nothing had happened, and Eva understood that this was his way of erasing the ‘unfortunate incident’ from existence.
Only when the herb-induced haze wore off did the true panic set in—she did not know if her daughter lived or had died. That fear gave her the resolve she needed at her weakest moments, and Eva knew she would find out the truth somehow. If her father would not tell her, she would seek it out herself. That plan gave her a reason to heal and to gain her strength back.
Pretending to be the dutiful daughter, she struggled through the terrible emptiness of loss, while deciding how she should proceed. With no kith or kin to support her, she knew she must do it alone. And she would.
* * *
Three more weeks passed when the news came. Not word of her daughter as she’d hoped and prayed, but instead news about her own fate.
She was to be married off to the kin of a powerful chieftain in the south to bind their families together. Her father’s edict gave her no choice in the matter of marriage. His declaration that it would happen spurred her into action. Refusal was not an option for her in this—her father could be ruthless in getting his own way. If the Mackintosh’s man arrived and Eva was here, she would be wed to him.
So, Eva did the only thing she could do...
She ran away.
Drumlui Keep
Rob Mackintosh, cousin and close friend of chieftain of the powerful Mackintosh clan, glared at that friend and was met by an expression he could only describe as glee. Brodie did not even attempt to hide his enjoyment of Rob’s discomfort.
‘Damn it to hell, Arabella!’ Rob cursed. Brodie’s wife had neatly undermined his argument against this proposed marriage with a few words. ‘How am I supposed to refuse it now?’ He turned and strode out, still cursing under his breath as he left.
The last six months since Brodie had taken his place as chieftain of the clan and the head of the Chattan Confederation had been busy ones for Rob. After struggling to help his friend defeat his treacherous cousin Caelan and undo the damages wrought during Caelan’s rule, Rob had taken a position on the council that advised and guided Brodie. But, everyone knew that Brodie trusted Rob as he did no other, and Rob soon became the one to seek if someone needed or wanted something from Brodie.
Rob nodded to several in passing as he made his way down the corridor away from the chamber Brodie used as his workroom. From the way their mouths twitched, he knew they’d