Betrayed

she replied, T have nothing to say to Donald MacDonald's son,' and after that she was silent once more.

'My grandfather was a quiet, gentle man. It was he who raised me in the early years, along with my nurse. It was he who loved me. He taught me to ride, and the beginnings of swordplay,' Nairn said with a smile of remembrance. 'Occasionally my father came to see me when he was in the district. It was he who convinced my grandfather to pass over my mother and leave Nairns Craig to me. I loved it when my father came, for he was a big, bluff man with a barrel chest and a laugh that sounded like thunder to a small boy. When I became a man he did not seem so big.

'When I was six he asked me if I should be willing to leave Nairn for a time to live with him on Islay. I would have brothers and sisters to play with, he said. A grandmother who was a princess, who would love me verra much. I went with him gladly, but with one regret. I had to leave my grandfather behind, but each summer I would return from Islay to be with him for three months. We had grand times then! When he died seven years ago, Nairns Craig became mine.'

'Yer mam never married?' Fiona asked, curious.

“There was no man who ever suited her, and no man who was willing to have such an unpleasant woman in his house. She could cause chaos among the angels. When I returned for good, she thought to take up our relationship as it had been in my childhood, but I quickly disabused her of the notion. I told her that as master of Nairn, I would brook no foolishness. She would come to my board each day, and we would speak together. To my surprise, she agreed.'

'Ye don't fill me with confidence regarding yer mam,' Fiona said, sounding concerned. 'Will she welcome ye with a wife, my lord?'

'She doesn't have any choice,' he answered her. 'Ye are now mistress of Nairns Craig Castle. My mother must accept ye, or I will turn her out. Ye carry my bairn, Fiona mine. My heir. I will not have her distressing ye, and should she attempt it, she will find herself placed in a convent to live out her days in prayer, sustained by salted fish and brown bread. Be warned. She will be jealous of ye, for ye are young and beautiful, and I wed ye.'

When they stopped for the night, Fiona told Nelly what The MacDonald of Nairn had said about his mother. 'I will have to behave as mistress of the castle for as long as we are there, Nelly. We canna allow this woman to frighten us or to discover our true purpose.'

'It would seem, my lady, that for now yer only purpose is to have yer bairn in comfort and safety. It is unlikely that any information of importance will pass into yer hands or hearing once the winter sets in here in the highlands. The bairn will come in the spring, and after that perhaps we will be free to go home,' Nelly said hopefully.

'What do ye two whisper on?' Nairn said, coming upon them.

Fiona laughed. 'Roderick Dhu would court my Nelly, and the lass seeks my advice, my lord.'

'And what advice do ye give her, sweeting?'

'She says I am to box his ears and tell him to mind his manners,' Nelly told her master pertly.

Colin MacDonald chuckled. 'Ye will have him before a priest before the poor man knows what has happened to him,' he teased her. 'Now run along and give the poor laddie a kind word while I tuck my sweet wifie into our bed.' Tugging one of her braids playfully, he turned the pretty maidservant about and sent her off giggling.

'Ye’ll have her eating out of the palm of yer hand soon, my lord,' Fiona told him, a small smile touching her lips.

He had made her a bed of pine boughs and put a large fur throw over it. When she lay down in her chemise and cloak, he gently laid another fur over her. 'I don't want ye catching cold, sweeting, not in yer condition. And no swims in the lochs, for they're too cold now. Ye’ll not die if ye don't have a bath until we get to Nairn.'

'Yes, my lord,' she answered him meekly as he lay by her side atop the fur robe, wrapped in his own cloak. 'Are ye not to join me?'

'Not while we're traveling, Fiona mine. I would not injure ye. When we have a bed to cushion us, then we will dally for a bit until yer belly is too big for comfort's sake.' Turning his back to her, he soon fell into an easy sleep.

She was astounded, and not just a bit guilty. He truly wanted a child. Pray God the bairn was not his father's spit, but she wondered, would Colin MacDonald even see it if it were? It was comforting to know that her child would be safe with this man. Nelly was right. It was unlikely that she would obtain any further information of use to the king in the next few months. Best she settle into her new home and have her child. If The MacDonald would make peace with James Stewart, then all would be well. She would face that future when it came. Until the autumn of the next year she did not have to worry. Only when the handfast was past would she face trouble on the horizon.

It took them a bit over two weeks, traveling overland from Islay, to reach Nairns Craig Castle, which was in the vicinity of Inverness. It sat atop a steep, high cliff, and had two rectangular towers and a Great Hall, connected by high, dark stone walls. Its only access was a slender track of roadway up the face of the cliff. A narrow strip of land on the far side of the castle offered a view of high walls with absolutely no outlooks at all, and the forest below.

'It has never been taken,' Colin MacDonald said proudly.

'I can certainly see why, my lord,' Fiona replied dryly.

He pulled his stallion to a stop for a moment. 'Ye are about to enter my home, yer home,' he said to her. 'Ye are my wife, Fiona mine. Do ye not think ye can call me by my name? It is but a small boon, lady.'

'Aye, Colly, I will call ye by yer name in the privacy of our home, but in public I would not dishonor ye by addressing ye as anything but 'my lord.' Will that suit ye, Colly?'

He took her hand in his and kissed it. 'Aye,' was all he said, but his smile went all the way to his eyes.

She smiled back, cursing James Stewart in her heart as she did so. Did he realize the havoc his passion to rule Scotland was causing? And what of Angus Gordon? What had he thought when told of her disappearance? Did he miss her? Did he truly care, or had that English girl already captured his heart? She breathed deeply, resolutely shaking off her questions and her sadness.

The castle gates were open to receive its lord. Fiona noted the two doors were bound in iron and, looking up, she saw the iron yett ready to be drawn down in the event of danger. Within the court they stopped, and Nairn lifted her from her gelding, gently setting her upon her feet for a moment, then softly kissing her mouth.

'Welcome to Nairns Craig,' he said. Sweeping her up in his arms, he turned to carry her up the steps into the building.

Before he had progressed more than a few steps, however, a woman appeared at the top of the stairs. She was petite, but her look was commanding. 'So, Colin MacDonald, ye are back,' she said in cold tones, 'and ye have brought yer latest whore with ye, I see. She'll not enter into my house. Why do ye not house the wench in the stables with the rest of the animals?' Her arms were crossed over her spare bosom.

Fiona saw a small muscle near Nairn's eye twitch several times, but for a moment he said nothing. Instead he carried her up the steps, pushing past his antagonist and setting Fiona upon her feet once more within the entrance hall of the castle. When the petite woman whirled about, her mouth opening to protest, Nairn roared, 'Don't say another word, madam! This is my wife. When did I ever bring my whores into this place or shame ye with lewd public behavior?'

'Yer wife?' The lady, obviously his mother, Moire Rose, was astounded. 'Who is this wench? Where did ye meet her? Where were ye wed? I demand that ye tell me this instant, Colin MacDonald!'

'My wife is Fiona Hay, chieftain of the Hays of the Ben,' he began. “We met at court. We were wed on Islay in my brother's hall. As my wife, Fiona is now the lady of Nairn, madam. Ye will render her the respect due her as such.'

'I suppose she is with bairn,' his mother said scathingly.

'Aye,' Nairn said proudly. 'Did ye doubt I would not get a bairn on her immediately, madam?'

'No, I didn't doubt it,' she said bitterly. 'But for yer coloring ye are all MacDonald, yer father's son, from yer great height to yer randy and fertile cock.' She turned her gaze to Fiona, saying caustically, 'Ye know yer not the