Page 18 of Captured By the Highland Devil
“Nay need,” Ruben said, while his eyes followed Norah out of the room. “It’s a complicated issue but nae one ye need to be sorry about.”
Daisy nodded and turned to the laird., “And what do ye like to do, Laird McKinnon?”
“Swordplay and plannin’ how to damage more people,” Paige muttered darkly as she stabbed an egg with a knife. “What do ye expect of a brute?”
Aghast, her mother admonished her, “Paige!”
“Nay,” Ruben’s eyes were cold and piercing. He swirled his drink while staring at Paige. “It’s better to be a brute than to be as soft and naïve as ye are.”
She scowled, and he ignored it. “It is in yer best interest to return to yer room and ready yerself for the day. Yer duties as Lady McKinnon start now.”
“Duties?” Paige echoed, stunned. “What duties?”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Good lord, the lass hasnae even been taught how to run an estate. What were her parents preparin’ her for? A life of luxury with nay responsibility?
His eyes landed on her mother and a brow ticked up in question. The lady turned to her daughter. “Much like I have been doing our clan, Paige. Ye’ve seen me attend to the women and children, the widows and the orphans."
“Yer duties are to manage the homestead,” he said. “If the harvest is poor, ye need to ration the food, findin’ ways to make sure everyone is fed. In times of rich harvest, ye would do the opposite and make sure we have stores replenished.
“There are certain women and children who need help every month,” he went on. “The matrons of the village church will help ye with that. Those are yer duties.”
“I see,” Paige said.
“As the laird and the chief, I am responsible for makin’ important decisions on behalf of the clan, such as leadin’ the clan in battle or negotiatin’ alliances with other clans.
“There are many villages in me lairdship, with many offshoots. However, years ago me faither and I decided to consider the offshoots as a part of the village closest to it. We have a round number of thirteen villages, each with its own lesser chief and landowners. These thirteen men make up me council,” Ruben explained.
Paige did not look pleased. “Are there any otherdutiesye need me to perform?”
She was goading him, he knew it, but he would not give into her. He knew—and she had to know—about the need to conceive a child as quickly as possible. It was uncouth to mention such matters in front of his father and her mother.
“Aye, ye are directly in charge of the orphanage in the village,” he said, “As a matter of fact, I am takin’ ye there this mornin’. That is why I told ye to get ready. Have ye finished eatin’?”
“I have,” she said.
“Good,” Ruben pushed away from the table. “We’re to leave.Now.”
They left the gates of Castle McKinnon behind them and Paige sat atop a loaned mare, secretly relishing the feel of the breeze upon her face. It had been a long time since she had ridden like this.
At home, her mother had not approved of a woman riding, thinking it vulgar for a woman to be on horseback, but her father had insisted upon it. Thankfully, her father’s word had overruled her mother and she’d taken the lessons.
“Choille Village houses over four hundred souls.” Ruben said, adjusting the thick plaid sash he wore, tied from shoulder to hip. “It used to be almost five, but the war claimed forty men.”
“A war ye started for nay reason,” she said.
He was silent as they rode over a stretch of green. “Yer faither sheltered ye.”
She shot a look to him, “What do ye mean by that?”
“I’ll explain later,” he said.
Paige had the strange feeling that he would not be explaining anything at all. Ruben sat atop his great steed, his back a slab of iron, his shoulders rigid.
He led them down a road to the east that skirted the wide bay with bracing winds. They skirted round a backend of a seaside bluff that made a natural narrow gate to the village. The thick wall that curved away on the other side; it made a narrow gate to the village.
It’s good to stop invaders, but bad to stop the people from fleein’ if attacked.
