Black Raven's Lady: Highland Lairds Trilogy Read Free Page B

of fur-lined leather gloves. She’d placed them carefully in the canvas bag tied across from the leather satchel on the back of her horse.
    Mounted once again, Keir had led Raine out of the harbor town, ringed by hills and anchored on the sea at the eastern end of Glen Mór. The cozy burgh straddled the River Ness and stood poised on the edge of the great Loch Ness.
    They cantered side by side up a road that followed the precipitous edge of a rocky bluff. Heather bloomed along the hillside. The scent of Scots pine filled the crisp air. Farther up, a forest of spruce and larch rose against the blue sky.
    “Where are we going?” Raine asked, though she’d already surmised their goal was the soaring tower house ahead. Her fingers clenched the reins as a feeling of unease tightened the muscles of her shoulders and neck. She forced a smile. “You told me we’d be sailing on the evening tide.”
    “That’s Inverloch Castle,” Keir replied in his usual brusque manner. “I need to speak with Laird MacSween before boarding ship. He’s promised to stable my horses while I’m gone.”
    When they arrived at the fortress, Keir motioned to the sentries guarding the main gate. One of the men recognized the chief of Clan MacNeil and immediately waved them through. At the sudden clatter of hooves on the cobblestoned courtyard, a young groom came hustling from the stables to take their horses.
    Keir dismounted and moved to stand beside Raine. He clasped her booted ankle in his strong grip and squeezed a warning. “Now be a good lass and mind your manners while we’re here. And for God’s sake, don’t tell Lady MacSween that you traveled to Inverness from Archnacarry without a decent escort.”
    “I had an escort of nuns,” she protested. “You can’t get more decent than that!”
    He grinned mirthlessly as he lifted her down from the saddle. “Leaving your home without permission can hardly be considered decent, Raine. Not by anyone’s standards. Not even your fool-headed aunt’s.”
    “Aunt Isabel is far cleverer than you know, Laird MacNeil,” she retorted. “And when you address me, please use my title. I’m no longer a child.”
    He shrugged. “When you start behaving like an adult, Raine, I’ll address you as a lady.”
    Keir led her across the courtyard and guided her into the windowless ground floor filled with provisions. He spoke quietly to an elderly servant, who stood scooping grain from a barrel into a large crock. At the white-haired man’s invitation, they followed him up the steps to the second story and into the great hall.
    Raine looked around the cavernous room. The tower house appeared well prepared for a siege. Lochaber axes, pikes, and claymores decorated the stone walls, along with swaths of blue-and-white tartan. In the past the Macdonald lords of the Isles had sacked and burned the city of Inverness, putting its inhabitants to the sword.
    Raine and her gruff escort waited in the hall only a few minutes before the castle’s laird and lady hurried in to greet them. Laird MacSween had a thick brown beard and a bald pate. Though he lacked Keir MacNeil’s sheer muscular bulk, the middle-aged man appeared to be as battle ready as his castle. His wife had a large, square frame and a face splashed with freckles. Wisps of graying red hair poked out from under the edges of her unfashionable double-horned headdress. But her wide smile conveyed a sunny disposition.
    The two men clasped hands, then turned to their feminine companions.
    “Keir!” Lady MacSween exclaimed. “What a surprise to see you! We thought you’d have set sail by now.” Her blue eyes alight with curiosity, she looked questioningly at Raine and then back to Keir.
    Keir honored his hosts with the briefest of smiles. “May I introduce my young charge, Lady Raine Cameron?”
    Finn MacSween smiled broadly in welcome. “I greatly admired your father, Lady Raine,” he said, taking her hand to kiss. “I felt sore distressed at the