two men-at-arms splashed into the shallows and tried to pull the craft ashore, Fin jumped out to help him.
His rawhide boots got wet, but he did not mind. He’d worn them to protect feet that had lost their Highland toughness after years of riding in the Borders and lowlands, instead of walking barefoot everywhere, as most Highlanders did.
“The Mackintosh would see ye straightaway, m’lady,” one man-at-arms said when Fin and the lad had beached the boat. “He’ll be in his chamber, but Lady Annis and your lady mother be in the great hall. They want tae see ye, too.”
Fin extended a hand toward Catriona, but she stepped ashore on her own and with a grace that surprised him. Few could emerge unaided from such an unstable craft with anything but awkwardness.
He had seen from the hilltop that the fortress covered most of the island, except for its wooded northern end. When they reached the gateway and passed through it into the yard, he saw that a four-story keep formed the southwest angle of the curtain wall. The fortress boasted two other, smaller towers, one at the north end near the gateway, the other at the southeast corner. One man stayed by the gate.
“Tadhg,” the lady Catriona said, addressing the small gillie, “prithee, run ahead and tell the cook that Boreas will soon want his supper.”
“Aye, sure,” the lad said cheerfully. Raising a hand to pat the big dog’s withers as if to reassure it that it would not starve, he dashed off toward the keep.
Boreas continued to trot alongside Catriona and the remaining man-at-arms.
As they hurried across the rocky, hard-packed-dirt yard toward timber stairs leading to the main entrance, they passed an alcove between the keep and the row of wooden outbuildings against the curtain wall. Fin saw a path leading to a lower entrance, and when Tadhg pulled open the door there and disappeared inside, he decided that it likely opened into the scullery and kitchen.
He followed the others up the timber stairs and inside, then up more stone steps and through an archway into the great hall. It felt chilly despite a roaring fire in the huge hooded fireplace that occupied much of the long wall to his right.
He saw three women standing halfway between the fire and the dais at the other end of the hall. One was thin and elderly, the second a young matron, and the third fell between them in age. She was more attractive than the other two and a couple of stones plumper. Their veils and gowns proclaimed them all noblewomen.
“There ye be, Granddaughter,” the oldest of the three said in a high-pitched voice that carried easily, although she did not seem to have raised it. “Ye’ve been gone an age, lass. I hope ye did not roam too far afield.”
The young matron looked disapprovingly at Catriona but kept silent.
The plump, attractive lady smiled warmly.
“I did not go far, madam,” Catriona said to the eldest as she went to them and made her curtsy. “Nor must I linger here now, because my lord grandfather has sent for me. Before I go to him, though, pray let me present to you this gentleman whom Boreas and I found injured in our woods.”
“Mercy, dearling, I wish ye would no ramble with only that great dog to guard ye,” the plump lady said. “A body might meet anyone these days.”
“In troth, you might,” the younger matron said. “Why, you ken fine that—”
“Never mind that now, ye two,” the old woman said, holding Fin’s interested gaze. “Do present your new acquaintance to us, Catriona.”
“He is called Fin of the Battles, madam,” the lass said as Fin made his bow. “This is my grandmother, Annis, Lady Mackintosh, sir.” Gesturing to the others, she said, “This is my mother, the lady Ealga, and my brother James’s wife, Morag. Fin of the Battles came into Clan Chattan country to speak to the Mackintosh,” she added.
“Then, ye must take him to your grandfather straightway,” Lady Annis said. “But I would ken more about ye, Fin of the Battles. Ye’ll join us for supper.”
“With the Mackintosh’s leave, I will be pleased to do so, your ladyship,” Fin said. He saw that the “great dog” had flopped near the fire and closed its eyes.
When Catriona turned toward the dais end of the hall, her grandmother said with a gesture to the man-at-arms who had come with them from the shore, “Take Aodán in with ye, lassie. The Mackintosh may have orders for