Read Online Maiden of Inverness by Arnette Lamb - Free Book Online Page B

opposed Revas Macduff? No. Not in the Highlands, for there was always strife up here. Accord reigned now. But tomorrow or next week one clan would slight another. Male pride would bristle. Grown men would act like stiff-legged dogs circling with hackles raised. War would commence. Prosperity would cease. Mothers, wives, and daughters would grow sallow-faced and brokenhearted. Fathers, husbands, and brothers would justify their destruction with talk of might and right and the law of the clan. Daughters would be sacrificed to the enemy.
    Praise be to God her role here was that of visiting spectator.
    The twin towers soared into the sky. The fishtail slits in the stone that usually housed eagle-eyed bowmen now served as vantage points for the curious. To her amazement, Meridene estimated two hundred people milled in the castle yard proper. She saw the very wall where, years before, severed heads of men had rested on pikes. Today, pennons of Macduff and dozens of other clans fluttered in the breeze. One flag caught her eye: Macqueen.
    Now she knew how Revas had found her; her best friend, Johanna, had revealed the information to her husband, Drummond Macqueen. He had passed along her whereabouts to Revas. The logical conclusion disheartened Meridene, and she longed to see her childhood friend again. Out of love for her nephew, the ever brave Johanna had assumed her sister’s identity and embarked on a fulfilling life. For that, Meridene envied her; her own future looked bleak.
    Between the two square towers of Auldcairn Castle stood a small, round structure with costly glass in the windows and a ring of rowans planted in the yard. Cartwright and cooper flanked the smithy, and an impressive barrack and armory butted the castle’s defense wall. In a patch of hard-packed earth, the quintain stood idle and deceptively harmless.
    Looking east, Meridene at last spotted the church, wedged between the carpenter and the weaving shed.
    Sanctuary awaited her there, and the knowledge calmed her.
    Following the bannerman, Revas guided the horse around the well and stopped at the doors of the keep. On the steps, the castle staff stood like soldiers at attention. The maids were neat and composed, the men tidy and serious. Had Revas taken to heart her threat to disrupt his staff? Could she carry it out? Yes, given cause.
    Holding her against his chest, he dismounted in one smooth movement. She felt like a feather pillow moved from here to there, so easily did he carry her. The louse.
    She hadn’t looked at him since their exchange about the church; she feared he’d see through her plan to seek out the priest and request an annulment. But even if he did suspect, she’d wager her best loom that he’d put aside his quarrel long enough to introduce her to the servants. He wanted her here. Showing support for her to the staff was the first duty of a husband to his wife.
    Wife. The word inspired a wealth of maidenly dreams. Not in months had she been beset with longing for a mate and a home of her own. Now she must rid herself of both.
    On Friday she’d go to the priest and set in motion her plan to break her ties with Revas Macduff. Now she would bide her time.
    He waited until she fluffed out her skirt; then he took her arm and escorted her to a man of about fifty. As befitting his age, he wore a long woollen robe tied with a leather thong at his waist.
    â€œLady Meridene, may I present our steward, Sim Grant.”
    With great dignity, he bowed from the waist. “I yield to you the accounting, my lady, and my father’s pouch.” He held out a sporran. Made of an ancient badger pelt, it sported no golden tassels or brooches of silver. His sire had been a common man.
    When she did not take the precious offering, Sim grew insistent. “Should you find my accounting unfairly derived, you must keep my father’s purse.” He looked away, emotion choking off his speech.
    It was his prized possession, and