an expert rider.” Laurel turned in his arms and licked her lips. Brodie guided her backward until her legs brushed the back of the bed. She was ready to fall back upon it and bring Brodie with her when someone pounded on the door. They sighed wistfully as Laurel smoothed her hand over her hair. It was tangled, and there was little she could do with it, but she attempted to make it presentable. Brodie quickly finished her laces.
“Enter,” Brodie called as he wrapped his arm around Laurel’s waist but angled himself as a shield should he perceive a threat. Laurel sagged against him for a moment, and he kissed the top of her head. But as the door opened, she straightened and raised her chin imperiously. Brodie glanced down and noticed she stood with the haughtiness that surely contributed to her title. He was proud of his wife.
“You can let go of the lass,” King Robert said. “No one is taking her from you.”
“No.”
“Campbell, let go of Lady Laurel,” King Robert ordered. Brodie narrowed his eyes but released Laurel, only to entwine their fingers together.
“Lady Campbell,” Brodie corrected.
“That’s to be determined,” Robert snapped.
“There is naught to determine, Your Majesty. As least not now. Mayhap ten hours ago,” Laurel stated as she released Brodie’s hand. She moved swiftly to the spot where the pillows and her folded chemise still laid. She picked up the undergown and shook it out. “You can see from the creases that this has been folded and crushed beneath our weight.” Laurel didn’t flinch as she confessed that they’d coupled before the fireplace. “You can also see it’s dried. Neither of us could have done this before you returned. It happened well before you barged in. Your Majesty,” Laurel added the honorific as an afterthought. She walked back to Brodie’s side but thrust her chemise at King Robert, even shaking it when he didn’t immediately accept.
“Campbell and Ross guards witnessed the handfast,” Brodie said.
“Aye. When no one could find Lady Lau—Lady Campbell—” King Robert glared at Brodie. “—Montgomery thought she might have gone for an early morning ride. The Ross guards said she was last seen with you. Her husband.”
Laurel seethed as she looked at her brother. “You knew before you entered that we handfasted. You led the king here with a contingent of men to humiliate me, to punish me. You could have come by yourself. You could have knocked and been admitted. Bully for you. You solved the great mystery of where I went. You also ran to tattle like a wean.” Laurel stepped back to be behind Brodie’s shoulder. “Do not think for a moment that I fear you, Montgomery. I’m making sure you are out of reach, lest I claw your eyes out and spit in their sockets.”
“She’s your wife now.” Monty pointed at Brodie. “You said you would tame her.”
“I’ve discovered I prefer my wife as a hellion. Makes me confident my clan won’t fall to ruin when I must ride out.”
“She has your bollocks in her fist. She’d likely drag you into battle by them,” Monty sneered.
“If it means she’s touching them,” Brodie grinned and winked.
“Enough,” King Robert barked. “You did not have my permission to handfast, Laird Campbell.”
“Neither did you deny me the right to. Whether we handfasted or merely consummated the betrothal, we are married.”
“The church wasn’t done reading the banns,” Robert pointed out.
“I can name several couples who weren’t made to wait for them to be read even once,” Laurel mused. “Something aboot you having the right to decide without Rome.” Laurel threw down a dangerous gambit. Pope Clement V excommunicated King Robert early in the monarch’s fight for the throne. They remained at odds, but Robert used it as an excuse to allow more than one lady-in-waiting to marry with haste. Laurel banked on the reminder being enough to goad the king into relenting.
“Lady Campbell.” King Robert gazed at Laurel, something akin to respect in his tone and his gaze. “You are a formidable woman. I praise the saints that the Campbells are ever loyal. I would not want to run afoul of you.” Neither Laurel nor Brodie missed the subtle reminder that the Campbells served the king and not the other way around.
“We depart for Kilchurn in two days,” Brodie announced, wrapping his arm around Laurel’s waist once more. “We will be sure to say our farewells.”
“What aboot the bride price?”
“Montgomery, inform your father that the bride price was paid the moment he withheld an