Page 10 of The Tempest
“She is,” Payne said softly. “But my father bleeds the Highlands. It is the blood in his veins and the song in his heart. Old Shane, and then my mother, moved their operations tae Scotland and England and Wales because it was more lucrative than simply raiding the Irish coast. Instead, they raid their enemies.”
St. Sebastian shrugged. “That is what I would do,” he said. “The Irish are too poor.”
Payne eyed him a moment before breaking down into soft laughter. “I would expect nothing less from ye,” he said. “Ye’ll always see things from a business view.”
“And that is fortunate for the continuation of Blackchurch,” St. Denis said, his focus on Payne. “But this place might suffer if Bloody Maude has murder on her mind, for whatever reason, so go now. Meet her on the road and discover her intentions. And do not let your fellow trainers come to harm at your mother’s hand.”
Payne shook his head. “I will not,” he said. “And I’ll do my best tae keep her away from Blackchurch.”
“I am depending on you.”
Payne knew that. He’d never been so acutely aware of anything in his life. His mother was coming, his friends were on edge, and he wasn’t quite sure how he felt about any of it. But one thing was for certain.
He was going to get to the bottom of this.
His only fear was what, exactly, he would find at that bottom.
God help him.
CHAPTER THREE
The blasted womanhad actually knocked her out.
Hit her in the head!
Astria knew that because when she opened her eyes, she was watching the sky and trees pass by overhead and the last thing she remembered was Maude saying something about a marriage to her eldest son. There was a fight.
Then… nothing.
“Are ye calm so that we might continue our discussion?”
It was Maude, standing somewhere behind her. Astria tried to lift her head, but the pain was too much.
“You broke my skull,” she groaned, hand flying to her head. “You did not have to do that.”
“Aye, I did,” Maude said frankly. “Lass, ye need tae understand something. Ye canna escape. Ye have nowhere tae go. All of the fighting in the world will not force me tae release ye, so it would be better for all of us if ye cooperate. Do ye understand?”
Astria did, but she was stubborn. Too stubborn to admit defeat. Still, the sensible part of her had something to say about this, given the fact that she’d received a fairly serious blow to thehead. She couldn’t take another one, so it would be to her benefit to behave herself at this time.
But, God, she hated the mere thought of it.
Surrender wasn’t in her nature.
“I understand,” she muttered, eyes closed against her throbbing head. “But I cannot marry your son.”
“Why not?”
“Because I am already married.”
Maude came around the side of the wagon bed where she could look Astria in the eye. “I’ll give ye praise for a good effort,” she said, her eyes twinkling. “I happen tae know ye’re not.”
Astria’s eyes flew open, her brow furrowing. “How would you know?”
“Because when we boarded yer ship, that lovely vessel I plucked ye from, the captain begged me tae show mercy because ye were a new widow,” she said. “He said that yer husband was Armand de San Miguel, Duc de Tarragona, a very old man who died last year. Now, if ye’re truly mourning him, then I’ll give ye time tae do that, but not forever. One way or the other, ye’ll marry my eldest.”
“If he doesna want her, I’ll take her.”
The words came from someone standing off to Astria’s left. Maude looked at the man speaking but Astria couldn’t manage to move her head in that direction because she was still in too much pain. She watched Maude’s impatient expression as the woman focused on the man who’d made the offer.
