After one curve in the road, they entered a clearing, an outcropping that positioned them high above Mackintosh lands. The view was one he liked, one he visited often when he needed solitude. The clouds were low and heavy right now, but when the sun shone and the breezes blew, you could see for miles and miles, across the hills towards the sea and back to the loch.
‘Beautiful.’ Her breathless voice startled him, for he had forgotten for a moment that she was there.
‘Aye.’
He dared a glance and found her usually empty gaze now filled with wonder at the sight before them. Brodie thought, for one daft second, that she might appreciate not only the view but the lands themselves. Lands much larger than those of the Camerons even if you considered the lands they stole all those generations ago. As quickly as it had appeared, her gaze changed at the sound of the others arriving. And the dreaded smile returned.
‘I am confused as to our orientation,’ she said. ‘The loch is...where?’
Brodie turned in his saddle and pointed to the right. ‘Loch Lochy is about five miles that way. Arkaig is north,’ he said. ‘And the sea is about thirty miles to the west.’
‘And Mackintosh lands?’ she asked, glancing from one horizon to the other.
‘To the loch and as far as you can see to the west,’ he said, not keeping the pride from his voice. ‘And miles to the north and south, as well.’ She stared out at the distances in the directions he’d indicated and nodded.
‘You were correct then, sir,’ she said softly, meeting his gaze then.
‘Correct, Lady Arabella?’ He tugged the reins slightly and turned his horse to face hers. A step or two closer and their legs nearly touched. ‘Correct about what?’
Brodie could not remember a single thing he’d said to her other than the direction of their lands. And he knew he was correct about those. He knew their lands in the light of day or dark of night.
‘That additional cattle or horses would be useful to you. Mayhap you should add that to the list of Mackintosh demands in the negotiations before it is too late?’
God save him, but her eyes blazed like icy fire for a moment and the smile left her face. Only when Rob snickered behind them did she regain control over her expression. It was the most he’d heard her say and the only time he thought he might be seeing the lass herself and it was gone. The ice maiden sat smiling at him for a moment more. Then, with a slight motion of her hand, she directed her mount around him and out of the clearing. The rest of them scrambled to follow her, leaving him alone to look out over their lands and ponder the mistakes he’d made so far.
First, he’d been so busy trying to ignore her and the possible match that he had not paid enough attention to her and had missed her true nature. For the man who oversaw the Mackintosh clan’s spies, that was a huge failure.
Second, Brodie had failed at doing what he did best—notice things that affected the clan’s security and preparedness for battle. He’d seen only what the lass wanted him—them—to see: a woman who had no mind of her own and did as she was told.
And last, and worst for his peace of mind, discovering that she was not a mindless, empty-headed beauty pleased him in some way he did not wish to think on or even acknowledge.
Riding out of the clearing and on to the road leading down the mountain, Brodie understood he would need to keep a closer watch on her. Why that brought a smile to his own face, he knew not. He caught up with them and placed himself at her side, edging her cousin ahead with Rob and the guards. He still needed to offer an apology for his coarse words of insult.
‘Lady Arabella,’ he said, slowing his horse’s pace so that there was some distance between them. ‘I would speak privately with you.’
When her maid glanced back across that growing space, the lady waved her off. The lass matched his horse’s gait and they rode for a short time in silence as he tried to choose his words more carefully than he had earlier. Once again, she saved him.
‘Sir...Brodie,’ she began quietly without looking at him. ‘I have been raised to carry out my duty for my family. Marrying whoever is named as the next chieftain of your family is that duty. And I will carry it out, no matter my personal feelings on the matter. I assume you will do the same?’ Her blue eyes rose until they locked with his.
‘I will carry out my duty,’ he said, nodding. Brodie could not be certain what his personal feelings were on the matter when she stared at him so, but later he would sort through it all. For now...
‘Lady Arabella, I...’ He stumbled over the words he now wanted to say. ‘I should not have said such things about you.’
‘Did you mean it? About needing cattle or horses more than me?’ she asked. Neither her tone nor her expression gave away her feelings on his words.
‘Do you wish to hear the truth?’
‘I prefer the truth. I hear so little of it.’
‘Aye, we need more cattle.’
Silence sat between them, but neither looked away.
‘Then the good thing about getting a wife is that she’ll be bringing the gold with which you can buy more cattle.’
The lass shifted in her saddle then, he could tell she was going to move away. Brodie reached out and touched her hand. She startled at the contact of their skin yet did not pull away.
‘Aye. But I still should not have said that.’
‘Aye,’ she agreed as she lifted her hand from beneath his and gathered the reins. ‘You should not have.’
Now, as she rode towards where the others were, he laughed aloud for the first time in a very long time. Arabella glanced back and nodded at him, wearing the first genuine smile he’d seen on her face.
There was more to this lass than he had thought. Mayhap marrying her, if he had to, would not be so bad at that?
Malcolm approached the table, making his way through the crowd of Mackintoshes gathered for the meal. More than once, she noticed that he stopped to speak to one or another young woman. Her brother had that effect on women. Tall and handsome, he drew many an eye as he moved on towards the dais. He smiled at her as he took his place next to her.
‘So, two more days and we will be gone from this place,’ he whispered to her as his cup was filled by a very attentive and buxom serving woman.
‘Two more days and, aye, we leave,’ she said. ‘I, however, will be brought back to remain here for ever in a few short months.’ He stared at her, perusing her face and then her eyes.
‘Are you unwilling to marry here? Have you changed your mind?’ He lifted her chin and narrowed his gaze. ‘Tell me the truth.’
This was the only person with whom she could share her true feelings. They’d shared their mother’s womb and spent much of their lives together since their birth.
‘Willing or not, I will do what is expected of me. You know that,’ she whispered. ‘I just wish I knew more about the two of them. I wish I had more time. I wish...’
She stopped. Her wishes meant nothing in the negotiations or what would come after it. Her throat burned with unexpected tears and she lifted her cup and drank some of the ale to wash them down.
‘What can I do to ease your burden and your worries, sister mine?’ She knew he would help her, if he could.
‘Marry the one selected as tanist?’ she suggested.