Page 1 of Marry the Highland Villain
CHAPTER 1
There wasno one visible on the path behind her—or, at least, not as far as she could tell.
Brigid breathed a sigh of relief as she hurried through the heavy wooden gate and into the sanctuary of the home she shared with her three older sisters. Visits to the market were always trying—the townsfolk always went out of their way to make her uncomfortable, jeering and sometimes even spitting on her—but today had been worse than usual.
She carried the parcels she’d bought—mostly flour for bread, a little bit of meat, and herbs for seasoning—into the warm, bright kitchen. Her eldest sister, Lily, was there, stirring a pot that simmered gently over the fire. She smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners in a way that never failed to remind Brigid of their mother.
“Ye’re back, Brigid. Did ye have a good visit to the village?”
Brigid felt her mouth tighten unhappily. She tried to hide her pain from her sister, but Lily had always been perceptive, and the answer to her question was written all over her face, no matter how hard she tried to disguise it.
Lily sighed and turned back to her cooking, abandoning the question. “Here. Try this stew.”
Brigid took the spoon and sipped at the hot broth obediently, its warmth comforting. “’Tis good.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” said Lily briskly. “Now, what happened in town this time that has ye lookin’ so downcast? Were the villagers cruel to ye again?”
“They always are.” Brigid sighed unhappily. “You ken they are, Lily. It’s always the same. I wish they wouldnae judge me by Father’s actions. I’m nae him. But even when I try to smile at them and act polite, they say such harsh things.”
“Och, they’ve always been a spiteful bunch. And ye ken that Father’s reputation did us nay favors.” Lily wrapped her in a quick hug, which smelt like the spices she’d been using in her cooking. “’Tis fear and bitterness speakin’. Ye shouldnae let it upset ye so.”
“I try nae to. And that isnae why I’m frettin’ now.”
Brigid stepped back from her sister’s arms reluctantly. “I was barterin’ with the butcher, and I saw strange men, Lily. Theywere from a different clan, and they acted like warriors. They seemed to be lookin’ for something, an’ it made me feel nervous. I dinnae ken why. But I hurried home, anyway. It just didnae feel safe to linger.”
Lily frowned. “Do ye think they followed ye?”
“I didnae see them, and I was as careful as I could be, but…”
There was a distant crash from somewhere at the front of the house. Lily and Brigid exchanged startled glances, then turned and ran toward the front hall, their heels clicking loudly on the flagstone floor.
They found Megan and Valerie facing off against half a dozen armed men, all wearing the same, unfamiliar tartan pattern in their kilts. Megan had her bow in hand, and Valerie had a dirk in one fist, but the two women were out-matched by the newcomers, and they knew it, so they dropped their weapons as their sisters appeared beside them.
Lily spoke first, taking charge as she had done ever since they were children.
“What is the meaning of this intrusion?” she said in a tone that sounded far more confident than she felt.
The leader of the men—or, at least, Brigid assumed he was their leader—smiled unpleasantly. “Well, well, look at what we havehere, lads. Our Laird will be highly pleased that we didnae have to search for these lasses.”
Lily scowled fiercely. “Yer Laird? And which Laird sends men to break down our doors and attack four women in their home? What can he possibly want from us?”
The man sneered. “There’s nay need to be so harsh with us, little lass. After all, we’ve come with a message from yer kinfolk.”
Lily’s back stiffened. “We have nay kinfolk. My sisters and I have been orphaned for years, and clanless for far longer.” Her voice was ice cold, but a slight tremor in her hands betrayed her true emotions.
“Would ye truly be so cold as to deny yer own grandfather?”
The mocking tone of the man who spoke made Brigid feel nauseous. She was used to mockery by the villagers. But this treatment seemed far crueler somehow, coming from someone she’d never even laid eyes on, and who could have no possible reason to speak to her sisters in such a way.
“Laird Auchter sent us all this way just to speak with ye,” the man continued, the corners of his mouth turning up into an arrogant smile.
Lily’s expression somehow turned even colder, her anger—sharp as a blade—visible in her normally kind eyes. Valerie, on the other hand, looked ready to leap across the distance betweenherself and the men and attack them with her bare hands. Megan’s hand just clenched around her bow.
Lily saw her sisters’ reactions and shook her head.
“Laird Auchter refused to claim us as kin when we were bairns,” she said in a voice icier than a winter snowstorm. “He refused us any connection, even with our grandmother. Even after our mother—his daughter—perished about ten years ago. Laird Auchter has nay right to speak to us, whether he sends tidings or news, and especially nae if he wants something from us. He gave up that right the day he swore we’d die if we ever dared don Auchter tartan.”
The man’s face darkened at this little speech, and the sneers his warriors wore turned harsh and sharp in a way that reminded Brigid of the expressions some of her father’s rougher friends had sometimes worn.
