Torrian (The Highland Clan Book 2) (15 page)

Chapter Seventeen

Torrian stood rooted to the ground, watching as Kenzie whispered to his father. Still stunned that he’d missed a target twice, he was frozen in place, unable to speak, unable to nock another arrow.

Logan, who was standing behind him, pushed him forward enough so he could hear the conversation between his sire and Kenzie.

“Kenzie, we must continue this,” Quade was saying. “The competition is almost finished. It can wait, whatever it is.”

“Begging your pardon, Chief, but nay, it cannot wait. ‘Tis about the arrows.”

“What about them? I know Torrian missed the target.” Quade crossed his arms in front of him as he awaited Kenzie’s answer.

The wee laddie handed two arrows to the chief. “See for yourself. I’ve seen this before in Ayr. ‘Tis how they cheat…”

“Who’s saying someone cheated?” The Buchan bellowed loud enough to call everyone’s attention to himself and then ran toward Quade, Dugald following fast behind him.

Torrian moved close enough to see the arrow in Kenzie’s hands.

“See these two Ramsay arrows?” Kenzie asked, shaking them in front of Quade’s face. “They are not the same. Someone tampered with the spine of this one, throwing off the path of the arrow. If you hold both of them at the spine, you’ll see the difference. The strong one was the first one Torrian used, and this weak one was the one he just shot. Do you not see and feel the difference?” He peered up at the Ramsay chief, hope blooming bright in his face.

Quade picked up the two arrows to examine them before glancing at Kenzie again.

“I promise, Chief Ramsay. I seen it happen twice in Ayr. If they are too soft or too hard, they fishtail.”

Torrian stared at him in surprise. The lad was correct. His last one had fishtailed quite a bit, but how had they managed to tamper with his arrows? There was no question they were
his
arrows; they had the right colors and came from
his
quiver. Then it dawned on him. He turned to the Buchan, the fury inside him growing. “That explains it. ‘Twas you. You came up from behind me, you on one side, Ranulf on the other. You both clasped my shoulder. One of you threw the tampered arrows into my quiver.”

“Here now,” Buchan said, chuckling nervously, “there’s no truth to any of this. I did naught. My son is winning and you do not like it. Admit it, Ramsay. You set this lad up to cause trouble. I say ‘tis all a lie. Back to the contest. ‘Tis one more round until the end.”

The crowd began to stir, though, and their unsettled mutterings turning louder.

Just then, Torrian heard a familiar bird-like call. Looking about, he realized Ranulf was missing. “Where the hell is MacNiven?”

The Buchan said, “His leg was bothering him. He returned to the keep.”

Torrian recalled seeing the two of them wander off into the trees. “You were in the trees together. Did you stash your arrows there?”

Logan’s eyes lit up. “That was Gwynie’s call to me. Quade and Buchan, I think you both need to follow me into that patch of trees.”

Quade, the two competitors, and Buchan all followed Logan. As soon as they found Gwyneth, she held out the quiver full of Ramsay arrows. “My laird, I watched as Buchan and this fool—” she gestured to Ranulf, “—hid this behind those bushes a short time ago. The blackguard just now came back for the rest of them.”

Quade said, “Put your bow down, Gwyneth. I’ll deal with the situation.”

“What in hell are you doing, MacNiven?” Buchan bellowed with an almost convincing scowl.

Quade pulled three arrows out of the quiver. They were the same as Torrian’s two arrows that had missed—weak spines and bearing the Ramsay colors. He rubbed his thumb along each one, testing the strength, and then passed them around to everyone there. “You are correct, Gwyneth. These are not our arrows, though they do bear our colors.”

“Do not blame this all on me, Buchan,” Ranulf snarled. “‘Twas you who wanted your son to win. I only did your bidding.” He turned to Quade. “Aye, ‘tis true. We tried to fix the contest. What of it? It means naught to me.”

“Your reputation as a cheater means naught to you, lad?” Quade said with raised brows.

“Aye, it means naught. Do what you will. The marriage shall take place on the morrow and then we’ll be on our way. Now, I must attend to more important matters.”

After casting one final threatening glare at Gwyneth, Ranulf moved past everyone and made to leave the area, but Logan Ramsay stopped him. He seized him by the throat and held him in the air, threatening to collapse his windpipe. “I think you need to apologize to my wife for your rudeness. I did not approve of that look you just gave her.”

“My apologies,” Ranulf rasped. He just barely managed to catch himself when Logan dropped him. Striding away, one hand rubbing his neck, he tried his best to yell over his shoulder, “This is not over.”

They headed back out to the field, and Quade took his son’s arm and held it up in front of the crowd. “I declare the winner of the contest to be Torrian Ramsay and the entire Ramsay team. The Buchans lose by default for cheating.”

Torrian relaxed, grateful they’d found one more reason for him to refuse his marriage. But would it be enough to satisfy his king?

***

Heather had returned while most of the clan was gathered in at the archery field. Fortunately, she came in from the opposite direction and took the back way to escape being seen. Once inside the portcullis, wee Nellie had already put her finger up to her mouth on three separate occasions to shush her mother, demonstrating to her mother that she would comply with her request to be quiet until they were inside. She had to admit, Nellie had found some wonderful friends at the Ramsay keep. But then, so had she.

She came around the path behind the keep to the kitchens and the back stairway, then settled Nellie in the chamber with the wee lassies, who were thrilled to have her back. They needed a new patient and Nellie was quick to oblige by saying she was almost dead and could not talk—a clever way of following with her mother’s rules.

Brenna had not attended the archery contest, so she was there to tell Heather about it, and about how the family had banded together to investigate and observe the Buchans. She’d stayed behind to keep an eye on the littlest members of the family, as she did not trust the Buchans any more than Heather did.

They fussed with herbs, cutting and sorting them into jars. Brenna said, “You know I do believe Torrian has verra strong feelings for you. I’ve not seen him stand up to his sire the way he did over this proposed match. I hope you know that.”

Heather’s eyes misted. “Aye, I know he does. I consider myself to be quite fortunate. He’s the finest man I’ve ever met.”

“What about your sire?”

“I never knew him. My grandsire was a good man, but Torrian, well, he’s different.”

“I understand. ‘Tis a different kind of love.” Brenna smiled, then turned away.

She opened her mouth to deny it was love she felt for Torrian, but she could not lie. She loved him with all her heart. She hoped her heart was not about to be broken.

Brenna said over her shoulder, “I did not expect to see you. I thought you’d gone back to your cave.”

“I did.” Heather hesitated, but since Brenna was Torrian’s stepmother and they were alone, she decided to confess her intentions. “I decided to come back. Torrian is worth fighting for. I could not sit back and watch him marry another without doing whatever I could to stop it. Though I must admit, I am lost as to how to do aught about it.”

“Would you like to go to the archery fields? ‘Tis where everyone is.”

“Nay!” She answered a bit too vehemently.

Brenna quirked a brow at her, but said naught.

“I cannot go for two reasons. One is that I have a fear of crowds.” She wiped her hands on a linen towel.

“And the other reason?”

Heather took a deep breath. “Nellie’s sire is there and he’s threatened to take her away if I tell anyone about her. I’ll stay hidden, but I’d still prefer to see if there’s aught I could do.”

Lady Brenna thought a moment before she responded, “We do not judge people for their past here, Heather. Do not worry. I’ll support you in any way I can. If you need help, please come to me.”

“Many thanks. I will remember that.” Heather recognized what a special woman Lady Brenna was, and understood part of the reason Torrian was so special. He’d been raised to be strong.

A short time later, the noise returned to the great hall, enough for Brenna and Heather to hear them. Heather asked, “Would you mind if I went out the back door? I’m capable of eavesdropping to find the truth at this point.” She was determined to hide and watch for any unusual behavior on the part of the Buchans.

Brenna patted her hand. “Go ahead. I’ll keep an eye on Nellie. Be careful. I do not trust the Buchans.”

It was not long before she saw a couple head toward the stables, looking as if they wished to be unobserved. The sun was setting and the air was misting, so she wasn’t quite sure who it was, but it looked to be Davina. She followed behind only to find them heading to the outer bailey, but then they split.

She lost them, but was surprised to run into Lily, following the puppies. She gave Lily a questioning look, and Lily’s face lit up.

“I gave Bram and Birk something that Davina dropped, and they are following her scent. I want to know everything that witch does. Did you hear how the Buchans cheated in the archery?”

Heather shook her head, a slow smile crossing her face. “Truly?”

Lily picked up the dogs and paused. “Aye. Heather, please forgive me, but I’m not usually this negative, but I love my brother so. I try to see the goodness in everyone, but this situation is frightening me. Please do not believe the worst of me. Though ‘twould be hard for you. You’ve only seen me at my worst.” She hung her head, tears misting in her eyes.

“Lily, I do not think the worst of you. You love your brother and ‘tis clear. I love him, too. Unfortunately, he is always being watched since he is the betrothed and the chief’s son. He needs someone to help him.”

Lily hugged her. “Aye. My thanks for coming along.”

“Tell me more about the cheating? They were caught?”

“Aye, I’ll tell you about it later. Come, we must follow the dogs.” She set the Deerhounds down and gestured to Heather.

The dogs almost caught up with the couple, so Lily and Heather picked them up to stop them from being heard. “Who is it?” Lily asked.

“Davina and someone I do not recognize.”

“You cannot see him?” Lily whispered.

“Nay, I only saw his back. Let’s wait until they go inside, then we’ll get closer and see if we can hear them.” She crouched down in her spot, and Lily followed.

“What do you think this is about?”

Heather rolled her eyes. “Probably a lovers’ tryst.”

Lily shook her fist. “And if ‘tis true, we’ll catch them right in the act. She’ll not marry my brother.”

Heather whispered, “Please do not include me. I’ll stay in the background or run for help, if you’d like, but I do not want them to see me. I must think of my daughter.”

“I’ll go on my own,” Lily said with a nod. “I’m not afraid of that witch. You watch the pups and I’ll handle it.”

They waited in silence until they heard faint sounds of kissing and whispering from inside the cottage. They both tried different vantage points in order to hear everything, and finally, Lily motioned for Heather to join her in a spot near the window.

Davina said, “You know I do this for you. ‘Twill be a sore hardship for me.”

“I know, love. I will not make you wait long.” They could hear sounds of kissing begin anew.

Lily quirked her brow at Heather, but she just shrugged. They would have to keep listening to get the information they sought.

A few moments later, voices began again.

“Do you swear not to make me wait too long, Ranulf?”

“I swear,” Ranulf answered.

The next part Heather could not make out, but apparently Lily did because she gave Heather a shocked look before she handed Bram to her and tore over to the door, which she immediately flung open. “How dare you!”

Heather kept herself hidden in the bushes. She could not be seen. How she wished to help Lily, but she needed to think of Nellie. She listened outside the window, knowing she could at least run for help if Lily was threatened in any way.

“You, sir, are scum, and you, my lady, are just what I knew you were. Oh! Cover yourselves!”

Ranulf’s voice carried out the door. “Why do you not join us? I love threesomes. Davina and I will make it quite pleasurable for you.”

“How dare you make threats against my brother. I said cover yourself. I do not care to look at you…at your…”

His laughter echoed out to Heather, and to her alarm, she could hear someone’s steps cross the floor of the cottage. “You’re covering your eyes, lass? Do you not like what you see?”

“Nay, I want no part of this, but I do know someone who will be quite interested.”

Heather couldn’t tell what had transpired, but Lily’s voice changed. “Leave me be. You are hurting me.”