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Highland
Knight
    “No
harm will come to ye, lass. Would yer Da send ye off with a scoundrel?”
    “But,
Da, he’s a Sinclair! Ye cannae expect me to marry a Sinclair?”
    “Anna,
I’m an old man. Yer brothers are yet young and peace beckons. I cannae pass up
the chance to settle the differences between the Sinclairs and the Mackenzies
once and for all.”
    Anna
scowled. She understood well enough the importance of an alliance between the
Mackenzies and the Sinclairs. The clans had been warring for many a lifetime
and she had been brought up to hate the very sound of their name.
    But
now her father wanted her to marry one? An arrogant, thick-skulled Sinclair?
    “I
know, Da, but marriage? Is there no other way?”
    Her
father regarded her, his grey eyes softening. “Ye know I’d not ask this o’ ye
if I did not think it necessary. Ye turnin’ into an old maid, lassie, and ye
need caring for. Niall may be a Sinclair but he’s a fine warrior and a good
man. I’d not part with ye to anyone less, Sinclair or no.”
    She
folded her arms. “Ack, if Ma were here…”
    “She’d
say the same, as ye well know, Anna. She’d have no’ let ye remain unmarried at
nineteen summers. I’ve let ye run wild and now it’s time to do ye duty.”
    Wild?
She wasn’t wild. Aye, a little strong-willed occasionally but not wild. “I’ll
no’ expect a Sinclair to want a lass like me. I cannae do submissive, as ye
well know.”
    She
remembered Niall from a brief time of peace some five summers ago. He was
several years older than her and as proud as they come. She had been impressed
with his strong build and sandy hair until she had discovered he was a
Sinclair. Anna could not forget years of war as easily as her father could.
    Her
father grinned, crossing his large arms across his chest, mimicking her stance.
“Aye, ye need a strong man and Niall Sinclair is such a man. He’ll take good
care o’ ye.”
    Anna
shook her head in disgust. Betrayed by her own father! “Ack, I need no taking
care of!” Recognising her father’s determination - one that easily matched her
own - she changed tactics, pasting a serene look on her face. “Da, surely ye
cannae want me to become some meek Sinclair wife? Will ye not miss yer daughter
that looks after yer so?”
    “Ah,
I have no fear o’ ye becoming meek, girl, but ye are right, I’ll miss yer.”
    Anna
smiled tentatively, feeling the hope light in her eyes.
    “So
ye’ll have to make sure to return home regularly. If ye can bear to part from
ye new husband, that is.”
    Throwing
her hands up in frustration, she stepped away from her father. “Bear to part?
He’ll be lucky if he survives the wedding night!”
    Her
father gave her a secretive grin. “We’ll see, lassie, we’ll see.”
    “Ack,
there’s no talking to ye.” Anna spun on her heels and stormed up the stone
steps towards her chambers.
    “Put
on something fine fer yer betrothed, Anna!” Her father called up to her.
    ***
    The
Sinclair clan arrived that eve, seeming as smug and as arrogant as ever. She
watched their approach from her window, trying to see if she could get a look
at Niall before he saw her. He had shown little interest in her upon their
first and only meeting, and she expected him to be no different now. Aye, she
was attractive enough with curly dark hair and big brown eyes but Sinclairs
cared for naught but themselves.
    A
fair-haired man caught her eye and her heart jolted. God’s blood, was that him?
If she had thought him impressive before, then he was astounding now. He had
become even more of a man in the passing years, with wide shoulders and strong,
solid looking arms. Just looking at him made her pulse race. His hair curled
erratically, windswept from the journey and his face was burnished by the sun.
Anna couldn’t see his eyes or lips properly but she imagined they would be just
a perfect as the rest of him.
    Curse
the man. Why could he not be vile? She’d have no problem retaining