"Next time, you'll knock and await permission before ye enter my chamber." Connor folded his arms and raised an eyebrow at Lachlan, who was seething over something, judging by his clenched hands and heaving chest. "I take it ye lost Hugh?"
At the end of the battle yesterday, Connor had sent Lachlan with a galley of men to follow Hugh's departing boats in the hope of discovering his new lair. After seeing how Lachlan fought against Hugh's men, he had decided Lachlan could not be his uncle's man. That did not mean Connor trusted him completely.
"Aye, I lost him," Lachlan bit out.
"Well, you're not the first. Hugh has a well-earned reputation for disappearing into the mists." When Lachlan did not relax his stance or offer an explanation, Connor asked, "Is there something else?"
"I thought ye were different from your father - better than him," Lachlan said. "But now that I see how you're taking advantage of that sweet, innocent lass, I know you're just the same."
Lachlan must have seen him kiss Ilysa in the midst of the battle. It was unlike Connor to forget himself like that, but his attempts to hide their relationship were probably futile anyway. In the close quarters of a castle household, that sort of secret was nearly impossible to keep.
"It wasn't enough that she takes care of your household, heals your wounds, and sees to your guests," Lachlan said, spreading his arms. "By God, that lass cares for ye - she threatened to kill me to protect ye. How could ye mistreat her?"
Connor did not defend himself, though he could have argued that he was not mistreating her. Chieftains took wives to make alliances, and they had mistresses and second "wives" to please themselves or to make other alliances. It was expected. Yet he knew in his heart that it was wrong to do this to Ilysa. She was meant to be a man's one and only.
"You're right. I should give her up." Connor sank into his chair and rested his head in his hands. "But I'm a weak man. I love her too much to let her go. At least not yet."
"Do ye mean that?" Lachlan asked. "That ye love her?"
Connor didn't bother lifting his head to answer.
"Then why don't ye make her your wife?" Lachlan said. "If a lass like Ilysa loved me, I'd do the right thing before she changed her mind."
The thought of Ilysa falling out of love with him hit him like a blow to the chest.
"I am chieftain," Connor said. "I must choose for the clan and not for myself."
"For such a clever man, Connor MacDonald," Lachlan said, "you're a damned idiot."
* * *
"Chieftain, we have visitors!"
They were practicing in the muddy field again, and Connor crossed it to take a look. From the top of the cliff, he watched as a single war galley drew into the bay. He narrowed his eyes, wondering whose it was. It was not one of the MacDonald's, and MacIain would be coming with half a dozen galleys.
The bad feeling in his gut turned sour when he saw two women, whose brightly colored gowns showed from beneath their capes as they were lifted out of the boat. For a moment, he thought perhaps MacNeil had come with a couple of his daughters, but Alex's father-in-law would not bring them here just days before the battle for Trotternish was to begin.
This was a poor time to entertain guests, but there was no exception to Highland hospitality. Connor took a deep breath and started down the steps. As he approached the group gathered on the beach, the two women clutched each other and stared at him as if in fear for their lives. What was wrong with them? He stood alone, while they had two dozen warriors to protect them, and no Highland chieftain would attack his guests.
The blade of Connor's claymore made the familiar whoosh as he swung it over his shoulder and slid it into the scabbard on his back. Unaccountably, the younger woman emitted a loud gasp and buried her face in the older woman's bosom.
"A thousand welcomes," Connor greeted the group. "I am Connor, son of Donald Gallach, and chieftain of the MacDonalds of Sleat."
This set off a flurry of excited whispers between the women. Connor felt sorry for the men who traveled with them. After a day at sea in the confines of a galley with them, Connor would be ready to drop over the