The Highlander's Destiny (Highland Rogues #2) - Mary Wine

Chapter One

She’d been promised since she was five.

Normal.

Expected.

Her duty.

Cora curled her lips in disgust. But even as her temper flared, she couldn’t quite sink into her own thoughts and take solace in believing she was right to be so outraged.

Would ye prefer a family that never thought to secure yer future?

It was a valid question. One she’d be very foolish to ignore the validity of.

Her father had negotiated a match for her, which would ensure she had a fine roof over her head and food in her belly, even in the dead of winter. Her children would know security, and she’d never feel the bite of desperation.

Not all daughters were blessed with such fortune. There were maids in the kitchens who would tell her frankly just how well off she was, while they struggled to stay in the favor of the Head-of-House to maintain their positions. Their next meal was never guaranteed, for they might be put out if they failed to impress.

And still, Cora raged against her life. She felt like chains bound her to a wall in a dungeon. Her spirit longed to be as free as the wind. She felt like a bird who was frantic to fly away because it belonged in the sky.

To do what precisely?

That was the question Cora sought an answer to while at the top of the north tower of the Mackenzie stronghold. She’d thrown the shutters open wide, allowing the wind to blow full into her face. The chilly blast seemed to calm something inside her. A recklessness that had been growing stronger in the last few years.

Honestly, maturity should have had the opposite effect. Wasn’t that the way life worked? Only a child embraced recklessness. Her need to rush headlong into the unknown should have diminished as the years of adolescence passed.

At twenty-two years of age, Cora should have discovered healthy respect for a secure home and a future where she was assured of prosperity. Logically, she understood that life had to be planned, and then, deep inside her soul, she fought against such order as she would have struggled against chains around her body.

It frustrated her.

She bit her lower lip for a moment. No, better to say—she frustrated herself.

Perhaps she was still a child, to rage against what made sense. Cora closed the shutters and moved over toward the bed. Stripping out of her clothing, she ended up looking at her reflection in the polished mirror.

A woman stood there.

Her figure was full. No traces of childhood left.

And besides, she didn’t even feel a tiny twinge of heat on her cheeks for looking on her nude body. No, she wasn’t a child anymore. Not in flesh or thought. Which left her contemplating her reflection and trying to decide why she was so discontented.

She’d never met her betrothed. He might suit her well enough.

Ye might detest each other…

Cora shook her head. Not because she agreed that she might not care for her intended husband, but because she was honest enough to admit that what burned inside her had nothing to do with Cormac Grant. She hungered for something else.

It would certainly be nice if she could decide what precisely it was she craved.

Yet, it eluded her.

She crawled into the bed and drew the bedding around herself. She noted the fineness of the sheets and how thick the comforter was. Above her head was a canopy supported by poles hung with thick curtains that might be drawn to keep the heat in.

Aye, she was not childish enough to overlook how fine her life was.

And yet, she looked toward the shutters. The latch rattled just a tiny amount with the wind. She stared at that latch. Something inside her longed to be out in it. Facing the gusts and feeling the tingle of its chilly touch on her face. She contemplated facing the brunt of nature’s wrath.

A foolish thought.

Yet it stayed with her throughout the night.

*

Rhedyn Lindsey stood beside her husband on the steps of the main keep at the Mackenzie stronghold. In the yard, Mackenzie Retainers were checking their saddles to ensure they were secure before mounting. Cora was in their ranks, her eyes sparkling with anticipation and her step light because she was so excited.

Rhedyn moved close to her husband. “Are ye certain about this? The Grants might send for her any day.”

Laird Buchanan angled his head down to look at his wife. “I suppose I see Cora’s complaint in the matter of her match with the Grants. Cormac has no’ even