The Chief (Highland Guard #1)(56)

“Is there something you wanted, my lady?” the clerk asked.

Christina shook her head, bending down to pick up a piece of parchment that had landed near her feet. She glanced at it, seeing that it was a letter, and handed it back to him. “I was hoping to find my husband. Have you seen him this morning?”

“Nay, but he’s probably in the Great Hall with his men, breaking his fast.” He started to put away the documents. “I was just on the way myself. Perhaps I can accompany you?”

“I would like that,” she said. “But I do not want to take you from your work?”

He shook his head, his long, straight hair cut in a semicircle around his face quickly sliding back into place. “It’s nothing that can’t wait. Some correspondence, that’s all.”

They walked to the Hall together, chatting about the worsening weather and the long winter ahead of them. The young clerk, it turned out, had arrived at Dunvegan not much before her, and Christina was delighted to discover that he had spent quite a bit of time at a monastery near her home in Stirlingshire. Perhaps she shouldn’t have been surprised to discover that the only person who’d been friendly toward her was also an outsider.

“We shall have much to talk about,” she said.

“We shall, indeed.” Echoing her thoughts, he said, “I hope you don’t mind my saying that I’m glad you are here, my lady. Yours is the first smile I’ve seen in quite some time. The chief’s marriage took the clan by surprise, but it’s easy to see why he fell in love with you.”

Christina froze, stopping a few feet from the entry to the Hall. “What?” She croaked. Her breath seemed lodged in her throat.

The clerk turned as red as an overripe beet. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t repeat the servants’ gossip.”

Christina didn’t mind at all. But trying to appear nonchalant, she twisted the thick gold bracelet at her wrist and said idly, “What exactly are they saying?”

The clerk shuffled uncomfortably, looking down at his feet. “That the chief took one look at you and decided he had to have you. One of the lads heard it from the chief’s personal privy counselor himself.”

Christina flushed to her roots with pleasure. She knew there could be no truth in the story, even if it had come from her husband’s closest confidant … could there?

“There has been much speculation because it happened so suddenly,” he explained. “And the chief had given no indication that he intended to remarry. An alliance with the house of Fraser was even more unexpected, given the current climate.”

Christina was confused. “What do you mean?”

He lowered his voice. “War.”

The word stopped her heart. “Have you heard something?”

He shook his head. “Nay, but there are rumors that pockets of rebellion are springing up around Scotland with the capture of Wallace. The chief has been careful to maintain his neutrality till now. But your family is well known for being in the thick of the patriotic cause. Marriage to a Fraser …”

He didn’t need to finish. Marriage to her put that neutrality in question. It was what her husband had alluded to on the boat—the reason he’d refused the marriage with her initially.

“Our marriage had nothing to do with politics,” she said adamantly. “An alliance with my father is the last thing he wanted.” She couldn’t hide the wry note in her voice. “Anyone who thinks differently would be wrong. Very wrong,” she emphasized.

But a little voice at the back of her head wondered whether there was perhaps a wee bit of truth to the rumor of his caring for her. Tor MacLeod was not a man to be forced into anything. He wouldn’t have married her if he didn’t want to, particularly given the political objection.

The clerk’s easy talk of treason concerned her. Though she did not know Edward of England personally, she knew well enough the danger of defying him. “This talk of war is dangerous. Skye is a long way from London, but King Edward has ears everywhere. I hope you’ll put a stop to any rumors of this sort if you hear them. I don’t want our marriage to cause my husband unnecessary trouble.”

He nodded understandingly. “Certainly, my lady. You are wise as well as beautiful.”

Christina accepted the gallantry with a smile, refusing to allow the black cloud of war and politics to put a damper on the day. Last night had been a dream come true—a night to build a future on—and nothing could temper the happiness in her heart.

Or so she thought.

The clerk and Christina entered the Hall unobserved. For so early in the morning, the number of people milling about surprised her. Her gaze instinctively went to the large thronelike chair on the dais, and she stilled. The happiness that she thought so entrenched drained out of her like water through a sieve.

Sitting beside her husband on the dais, in the seat that belonged to her, was the beautiful woman she’d noticed the first night she’d arrived. Their heads were bent close together, their shoulders touching. The intimacy between them was evident in their ease with each other.

“Is something wrong, my lady?”

Knowing her emotions were far too easy to read, Christina cursed her fair complexion and willed color back to her cheeks. But she had to know. “The woman,” she said without looking, “seated next to my husband. Who is she?”