Page 2 of Marry the Highland Villain
“Och, ye wouldnae think to defy the Laird, little lass, would ye? Ye’ve nay one to defend ye, and our Laird kens it well. So do ye, I expect.”
He stepped closer to Lily, his uncomfortable proximity clearly designed to threaten her. Lily stood her ground and stared back at him, like a lioness defending her cubs.
“We can defend ourselves,” she said boldly, making Brigid want to run forward and hug her for her bravery. Instead, she stood firm behind her sister, hoping her presence would let Lily know she was not alone.
“Against armed and armored men? Four feeble women? Maybe ye could if ye had warriors of yer own.” The man shrugged. “Or if yer father’s crew still guarded ye. But ye dinnae have any of those things, do ye? And so ye’ll hear what our Laird says, I’ll be bound. And ye’ll obey the command he has sent us to deliver. Otherwise, yer blood will turn these stones another color.”
Cold fear skittered down Brigid’s spine. Her sister stood bravely before her, but these men were hard, dangerous. They meant every word they said. Her three elder sisters, however, were clearly in no mood to listen. She didn’t even need to look at them to know that Valerie and Megan were preparing to strike at the men who had invaded their home. It was their way. And Lily, normally the peacekeeper of the family, was too angry to stop them.
Brigid spoke before anyone else could, the fear of losing her sisters winning out over the almost irrepressible instinct to hide in the pantry and never come out. Love, however, made her brave.
“What do ye mean, we will obey the command Laird Auchter has sent to us?”
The leader’s gaze shifted to her, and it was all Brigid could do not to shrink under the weight of it. A mocking smirk tugged at his mouth, as if he’d assessed her with a single glance and found her wanting.
Brigid felt a familiar lump of shame tighten her throat. She knew what he saw. She was shorter than her sisters, with soft,rounded curves rather than the lean, sleek lines that formed her sisters’ elegant figures. She’d always been more full-figured than them, bordering on plump, even though they shared everything else. She looked like exactly what she was, in fact—the soft and sheltered youngest daughter of the infamous pirate, Magnus Blackwood.
Brigid turned her attention back to the man just in time to hear his answer.
“One of ye is to come with us, back to Laird Auchter’s lands,” he said with a shrug that implied this was a simple—even reasonable—request.
The sisters, however, knew better.
“Why?” The question snapped out of Megan with the force of a twanging bowstring. “He’s never wanted any of us afore. Why now?”
The soldier smiled unpleasantly, his yellow teeth showing under pink, fleshy lips. “Laird Auchter has lost his wife and has nay sons. Ye might be little better than bastards, what with yer father bein’ pirate scum, but at least ye’re of his bloodline. Therefore, Laird Auchter has decided to claim one of ye as his heir.”
There was a short silence as the four sisters struggled to take in this outrageous request.
“And if we refuse, wishin’ nothing to do with the clan that abandoned us years ago?” Lily’s voice was as hard as steel and sounded almost exactly like her father’s. “What then?”
“If ye willnae serve the clan yer mother’s blood belongs to, then Laird Auchter has given orders to kill ye, so nay others can use yer blood ties to the clan against him.”
Lily frowned. Valerie, on the other hand, was not so silent.
“I dinnae believe ye. Laird Auchter never cared aught for us, and he disowned Mother. Why should he care now, when he didnae give a bent copper farthing for the past ten years?”
The leader of the soldiers scowled as if he was growing irritated by the women’s questions. “’Tis nae yer place to question Laird Auchter,” he said with a shrug. “Ye only have two choices: Do as ye’re bid, or we’ll see all of ye dead afore we depart.”
He meant it. Brigid could see it in his eyes. Worse, she could see the glimmer of excitement in the eyes of some of his men.
Some of the soldiers wanted the sisters to refuse. They wanted an excuse to kill them—and maybe even worse. She’d heard stories of what could happen to women—they all had. And now, it seemed, they were about to find out if those stories had any truth to them.
Lily could see the danger just as well as her younger sister could. “I suppose I could visit with Laird Auchter for seven days, then come home,” she said, her voice soft with resignation.
“Nay!”
“Lily!”
“Ye cannae!” Brigid’s protest joined Megan’s and Valerie’s. She pushed her way forward, despite her terror at the sight of the soldiers. “Lily, ye cannae go! Ye’re needed here. Ye cannae leave us!”
“I am the eldest, Brigid,” Lily said softly. “If anyone is to go, it must be me. Surely ye can see that?”
“Ye might be the eldest, but ye’re also the only one of us who kens how to heal folk. Ye cook, and ye keep the house in order. If it werenae for ye, we’d have perished of winter fevers or injuries long ago. Valerie and I wouldnae have kenned what to do when Megan ran into those wolves an’ came home with their teeth marks carved into her flesh. And which of us could keep the kitchen and make sure we’re all cared for as well as ye?”
Brigid shook her head as if to shake away the gathering dread that sat like lead in the pit of her stomach. “Nay. Ye cannae go, Lily. It wouldnae be right. I’ll be the one to accompany the soldiers. It’s only right.”
“Brigid!” three voices rang out in dismayed refusal.
