“I won’t be.” She patted his hand and smiled back at him. “And if Rory makes me mad, I’l just come visit you.”
Alasdair chuckled. “I’m certain that wil please him to 266
no end. Ye do ken, my pet, ’twil no’ be easy. The lad was verra young when he was forced to become laird, no older than this one.” He jerked his chin at Connor.
“I didn’t know. That couldn’t have been easy for him.”
“Nay, I ken it wasna’, but he had no choice. His father was mad with grief over the loss of his wife. I ken how he felt. I lost my wife and daughter, but ye have to go on fer those left behind, those who depend on ye, and he couldna’
do it. He took his own life. ’Tis said ’twas Rory who found him. Bad enough that, and on top of it his father had left them in dire straits. They were practical y starvin’.”
Ali’s heart ached for Rory. No one should have to go through what he did. But she welcomed the insight, and in some ways she thought the trials he had faced created the very characteristics that drew her to him, made her love him as much as she did.
“Sounds to me like you admire the man.”
Alasdair gently tugged her hair. “Minx. And ye’l no’ be usin’ that against me.”
“I can see by the end of it I might be knocking your two stubborn heads together to make you both see reason.”
Alasdair’s amused laughter brought a smile to his manat-arms’s face. It was obvious his men were fond of their laird and glad to see him happy.
Over the next rise, Ali spotted the towers of Dunvegan. Bathed in gold, they gleamed as the sun set behind them. Excitement tingled from the tips of her toes to the top of her head and she wanted to urge the horses to pick up their pace.
“Hoist the flag, Gilbert,” Alasdair directed the man Connor rode with.
Ali nudged him. “I don’t think that’s real y necessary, do you?”
“Aye, my pet, I do. Look to the men linin’ the wal s.”
She looked to where he pointed and swal owed hard.
LORD OF THE ISLES
267
Bows were aimed in their direction. “No, there must be some mistake. Rory would never al ow it.”
Rory walked the parapet. Aidan, Iain, and Fergus fol
lowed in his wake. Even though Aileanna and Connor rode with the MacDonalds, a show of force was necessary. As the contingent broke through the line of trees he couldn’t help but smile. In a short time he would have her in his arms again. But his smile quickly faded when he saw who rode at her back—Alasdair MacDonald, and the old goat had dressed her in his colors.
“Yer lady looks as bonny as ever. His plaid suits her,”
Aidan said, a hint of laughter in his voice. Rory shot him a quel ing look over his shoulder. “Lower yer bows,” Rory commanded down the line. The show was over. He wouldn’t al ow Aileanna to be wounded by an archer with a twitchy finger.
“Do ye think his presence means he’s amenable to ne
gotiations?”
“With Aileanna, anythin’s possible, but doona’ get yer hopes up, Aidan. He’s a stubborn old goat.”
Aidan chuckled as they crossed the courtyard. “I’m thinkin’ ye may have to give as wel , cousin, or yer lady may no’
be as welcomin’ as ye hoped.”
Fergus, Iain, and his cousin shared a laugh, but al fel silent as the drawbridge lowered and the sound of the horses’
hooves clattering on the wood heralded their arrival. Before Rory could reach Aileanna, the MacDonald had her off the horse, her hand tucked beneath his arm, and they shared a smile. Rory clenched his hands into fists at his side.
“Easy, lad,” Fergus murmured.
His anger was forgotten the moment Aileanna turned 268
her bril iant blue gaze upon him and smiled a smile that he knew was meant for him alone. When he reached her side, he brought a hand to her cheek. “Yer wel , mo chridhe?” he asked quietly, fighting the urge to take her in his arms, knowing it would be in poor taste considering the man at her back was his former father-by- marriage.
She pressed her cheek to his palm. “I am. I missed you,”
she said shyly, keeping her voice as low as his.
“I missed you, too, and later I’l show you how much,”
