Page 37 of The Burden of a Scottish Chieftain
She nodded, swallowing as she took in the men and women around her.Seven, eight, nine, ten…She squeezed her hands together so she wouldn’t tick off the numbers with her fingers.
Eli offered her a goblet and placed a small table next to her to set it on. Meg, grateful, sipped the warm broth before putting it down.
Lennox motioned to one man. “Grant?” Two men and a woman came forward while another man stood with his arm around a white-haired woman’s waist.
She guessed it to be Tora’s mother and father.
“Meg, these are Tora’s parents and grandparents. Connor Grant, retired chieftain of Clan Grant, with his wife Sela. His nephew Alasdair Grant, chieftain of the clan. Dyna Grant, Connor’s daughter, and her husband, Derric.”
Meg nodded to them, and Connor came forward with a brief word. “We are in your debt, lass. Let us know how we can repay this debt, and I will see it done.”
Meg nodded and waited while Lennox moved to the next person. “My mother, Rut MacVey.”
“My pleasure to meet you, Meg. May the Lord continue to shine His grace upon you.”
Lennox’s mother looked as though she were a queen seated in her court, the gown she wore unlike anything she’d ever seen. Meg’s own mother had talked often of the beauty of the royal court, though Meg had never seen it.
Lennox pointed to another man who came forward, a bit too close for her comfort, but she had nowhere to go so she held still. “This is Rowan’s uncle, Sloan, chieftain of Clan Rankin.”
Also a handsome man, he reached for her hand, but as quickly as he reached, Lennox blocked him. “Do not touch her.”
Sloan turned to Lennox and said, “I was going to kiss her hand as my thanks. The lass is unmarried, is she not?”
Lennox narrowed his gaze and said, “She’s wounded. You will not touch her.”
The two men stood chest to chest for several moments, though Meg didn’t understand it. But she caught a few other movements while the two faced each other.
Rut’s hand covered a wide smirk, Dyna wore a huge grin, and Alasdair came over and placed a hand on Sloan’s shoulder. “Later. We have more important things to do.”
Sloan stepped back, then gave a small bow. “I’m also in your debt, Meg.”
The man with gray hair stopped his pacing and said, “Let’s begin, MacVey. Time’s a-wasting.”
“And who are you, my lord? I did not hear your name.” Meg waited, surprised when the man waved, dismissing her.
“You’ll learn soon enough who I am.” Then he turned away from her again.
Meg stood and said, “Excuse me.”
Chapter Twenty
Meg
The gray-haired man turned back to her, a shocked expression on his face, but the truth was that Meg had had enough of men and their rudeness.
“Were you speaking to me, Meg?” The man’s face held a smirk she didn’t like. Who was he and what was his relationship to the bairns?
She stood her ground, and Lennox moved beside her immediately, something she’d not soon forget. His support meant everything.
“I did, my lord. I spent most of my life being ordered about by my father, even to where he betrothed me to a baron who disgusted me. I left on my own and was insulted in many ways on my voyage, even in a kirk. Then I found men again deciding my fate without consulting me, trying to tell four innocent bairns and me what we were to do with our lives. Frankly, I’ve had enough insults, and I don’t trust many at this point. So, I’ll repeat myself. Who are you? Please be respectful and introduce yourself, or leave.”
The old warrior strode over to stand in front of her, his alert eyes a dark green. Lennox took a step closer, but the man put a hand to his chest. “No need, MacVey. Please take a seat, my lady, and I will explain.”
She did the best to quell the shaking in her legs before she sat again, arranging the fur across her lap. To her surprise, the man knelt and said, “The name is Logan Ramsay, and I am in your debt because I don’t abide men treating women and children the way you were treated. I will avenge what happened to you. You have my word on it.”
“My thanks, Logan Ramsay. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Now, where shall I start? My journey or the bairns’? Though I just told you the major parts of my journey.”
“The bairns’ story, then, if you please,” Connor said.
