father’s missive. I reasonably suspect you aren’t aware of its contents.”
“I am not,” Monty admitted. “My father directed me to deliver it to you with haste, but I wasn’t made aware of its subject.”
“You won’t be sitting so comfortably when you are,” Robert mumbled. He looked at the couple, then Monty. “Lady Laurel, I received a missive recently from your father, which prompted me to order you to find a groom with haste. Your father offered me a choice, one which I was not pleased to receive. His last missive stated that either you wed before the new year and keep your dowry, or you remain here as an attendant to my wife with your dowry to pay for your upkeep.”
Laurel swallowed. She’d known the day would eventually come, so the king’s words hardly surprised her. She was a spinster, and her father had given up hope five years earlier. But she couldn’t imagine what the newest missive could contain if her father had already provided an ultimatum. King Robert sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“I’d rather be crawling on my belly in a bog facing the English right now.” King Robert scowled. “Your father decided on another alternative, retracting part of his previous offer. You are to wed and receive your dowry, or you may remain here either at the queen’s behest and expense, or you may find a protector to pay for your upkeep.”
Laurel gasped. The protector her father intended wasn’t a man willing to defend her honor like Brodie. Just the opposite. Her father intended her to become a man’s mistress, so she might have a roof over her head and food in her belly. As she saw it, her father intended to make her little more than an expensive prostitute.
“Then I am fortunate that it was God’s will to bring me to court,” Brodie responded. “And His will that I should meet Lady Laurel.”
Laurel cast a dumbstruck look at Brodie as though she heard his voice but didn’t understand his words. She shifted to look at the king, but she refused to look at her brother. She believed he didn’t know what the missive held, but she couldn’t bear to look at him since he bore a striking resemblance to their father. She feared she would lash out with wishful thinking that it was Laird Ross rather than Monty.
“Ross and I will sign the contracts this afternoon, and Lady Laurel will remain here as she has, but as my betrothed. I accept responsibility for aught that my lady needs or wants,” Brodie announced.
“Are you amenable to that, Montgomery?” King Robert asked quietly, unprepared for the turn of events.
“Quite,” Monty said tightly. He leaned toward Laurel, but her gaze made him pull back. He looked at a shell of the woman he’d known and knew her expression would haunt him for the rest of his life. He was certain their father had finally struck the blow that broke his sister. “Laurel?” he whispered.
But Laurel looked at him as though she saw nothing. It was unnerving to Monty, who shot a panicked look at Brodie. Easing Laurel from her seat as he rose from his, Brodie guided her around the table before he swept her into his arms. He didn’t wait for the king to dismiss them, nor did he ask permission to go. He carried Laurel to her chamber in silence because she fell asleep before they reached her floor. He laid her on her bed and covered her with a blanket after removing her satin slippers. He noticed for the first time how they were threadbare around the sides. He pulled a chair to the head of the bed and sank into it, his body as weary as his mind. But he refused to leave Laurel to wake alone. She was already isolated enough in her own mind without feeling abandoned by Brodie.
Laurel was in the Highlands, but she didn’t recognize the hills surrounding her. But the swaying wildflowers, bright cerulean skies, and crisp air told her that she was home. Her horse, Teine, nickered beneath her as she galloped across the meadow, and the breeze lifted her hair from her shoulders. It streamed out behind like a shimmering golden banner as she and her steed charged ahead. She knew not where she was going, only that she was free. Laughter burbled from her lips as she tilted her face to the sun before drawing her attention back to her mount. She heard nothing