Highlander’s Lost Pearl: Scottish Medieval Highlander Romance Read online

  “Aye.”

  William’s eyes widened so wide that Peigi feared they would fall out of his skull. If it were anyone else, she would have been much more cautious with revealing the fact that she had plenty of gold on her, but she trusted William with her life, so she also trusted him with her gold.

  He was a good man, an honest man. She had nothing to fear from him.

  “Are ye serious?” William asked. “Peigi, are ye serious? Are ye telling me the truth?”

  “Aye,” Peigi said with a small nod. “Before I came here, I . . . I brought some gold with me. I didnae wish to use it until an emergency and, weel . . . I canna think of a bigger emergency.”

  William looked at Peigi as though she had suddenly grown a second head. “Peigi, if ye have the gold ye say ye have, why dinnae ye start a new life? Ye can go anywhere, do anything ye wish. Why stay here and work in the kitchens? Why give yer money away?”

  Peigi didn’t know how to explain any of it to William without betraying her secret. She would have to choose her words very carefully, she thought, so that he would never know where she had really come from.

  “The gold that I have, it’s not . . . it doesnae belong to me,” she said. “I took it from my father, who took it from others. It wasnae his to take, and he shouldnae have done such a thing, but now I want to use it for good. I want to help the people here, I want to pay back the debt that my bloodline owes. I cannae start a new life with that money . . . I dinnae even want to do that. I am perfectly happy working in the kitchens here, and I dinnae have any other plans for my life. Perhaps I will travel one day, but for now, I am content here, and I want to give the money back to the world.”

  William sighed, running a hand through his dark hair and all but tugging it straight off his head. “Weel . . . if that’s what ye wish, who am I to stop ye? Yer a good woman, Peigi. No, not a good woman. Yer a saint.”

  “I’m no such thing,” Peigi assured him. If anything, she was the spawn of the devil, what with her father being the evilest man she knew. “Will ye help me, William? Will ye help me help the clan?”

  “Aye.” William nodded, firm and certain. “What do ye need me to do?”

  “I need ye to find the merchants that come here and make deals with them,” Peigi explained. “I will give ye money every time they come so ye can pay them, but it must be done discreetly. I dinnae want anyone to ken that I am the one who pays for the goods, ye hear? No one must ken.”

  “Why not?” William asked. “Everyone in the clan should ken that yer the one who’s helping them! Everyone should be grateful to ye.”

  “No,” Peigi said firmly. “No one can ken. Promise me.”

  William seemed reluctant to make that promise, understanding the importance of knowing one’s benefactor, but Peigi was so insistent that he could only nod.

  “I promise.”

  “Good. Then we’ll buy flour and salt, and any other goods that we need and that the merchants offer,” Peigi said. “I can make ye a list of things that we need and the quantities that we need. Alright? Can ye do that for me?”

  “Aye, dinnae ye worry,” William assured her. “I’ll help ye any way I can, and I willnae tell anyone that it’s yer money.”

  Peigi reached for William’s hand, taking it in hers and giving it a gentle squeeze. “Thank ye, William. Ye cannae ken what this means for me.”

  “No,” William said. “Ye canna ken what this means for me. Not only for me, for everyone in the clan. Peigi . . . ye’ll save us.”

  Peigi shook her head. William was excited, and rightfully so, but Peigi knew that her money would only be enough for a few months’ worth of food. After that, she could only hope that Hendry would come up with another plan to keep the money coming in.

  “No, I willnae do such a thing,” she said. “It’s only temporary, William.”

  “Aye, but with some food, the people can get their strength back,” he pointed out. “They can begin to work once more without fearing they will breathe their last breath. They can feed the cattle. They can feed their children.”

  For a moment, William seemed to be overwhelmed with emotion, and then he flung himself at Peigi, pulling her into a tight embrace.

  “May God bless ye, Peigi,” William said.

  When Peigi was finally released by William’s embrace, she smiled at him, wiping a tear that was running down his cheek. She didn’t need any other reward than that, than seeing William and, soon, the rest of the clan happy and fed, with roofs over their heads that didn’t leak every time it rained.

  “Alright . . . the next time the merchants come should be in a week, no?” Peigi asked. “The night before they come, I’ll meet ye here, with the money. Dinnae tell them where ye found it either. Only tell them that someone wants to keep the clan fed, but ye cannae say who, and they cannae tell anyone that ye are involved. Again, William, no one must ken.”

  “Aye, aye, no one must ken,” William said. “I understand. No one will ken. I’ll make sure that everything happens as ye wish it to happen, I promise.”

  “Thank ye.” Peigi could not say that enough. No matter how many times she would thank William, it wouldn’t be enough for all the help that he was giving her.

  “No . . . thank ye,” William said. “Thank ye for everything. Thank ye for helping my family and everyone here. Dinnae forget that whatever happens here, the people’s smiles and their rejoicing . . . it will all be because of ye, because of what ye’ll do for them.”

  Peigi could only smile at that. Then, she turned around and made her way back to the castle, as it was already getting late and the sun was quickly setting in the horizon, behind a blanket of grey clouds that never quite seemed to disappear.

  The smile on her face stayed there for a long time, as she thought about what she was about to do. Finally, she wouldn’t have to worry about the clan that her father had destroyed, she wouldn’t have to watch them starve and die from malnutrition and sickness.

  They would have their money back, the same money that her father had once stolen from them.

  “What are ye smiling about?” Glenna asked that night when Peigi joined her in their chambers.

  With a shrug, Peigi perched herself on the edge of her bed. “Nothing,” she said. “Why? Cannae I smile without a reason?”

  “Nobody smiles without a reason,” Glenna pointed out. “What is it? Is it a lad?”

  Peigi rolled her eyes at her friend, shaking her head. “No! Why does it always have to be a lad, hmm? Cannae I be happy for a different reason?”

  “I’m certain it’s a lad,” Glenna insisted. “Whether ye ken it or not.”

  Peigi considered that for a second. She was certain that she had no feelings about William, but there was someone else that had begun to occupy her thoughts.

  Hendry had been in her mind for the past few days from the moment she woke up to the moment she fell asleep, and then he even was in her dreams. Even though she had not seen him for a few days, as he seemed to be too busy with clan matters and she was too busy in the kitchens, Peigi could not stop thinking about him.

  She knew he would be so happy when he realized that his people wouldn’t suffer anymore. There would be some confusion at first, sure, about who had purchased the goods for the clan, but as long as he would never find out that it was Peigi’s doing, then all that mattered to her was that he would worry about his people a little less.

  That night, Peigi couldn’t sleep. She was too excited about her plan, as well as a little nervous, in case anything went wrong, but she spent the night going over all the possible outcomes in her head, and all she could see was an ecstatic Hendry, a relieved Hendry.

  She allowed herself to indulge in that thought for a while, even though there was no point in thinking that she could ever have a future with the Laird himself. Perhaps it didn’t even matter whether or not she could ever have what she really wanted; at least she would have done her best to help Hendry and the clan.

  When the time would
come, Hendry would marry someone else, and they would go on to have a family together, a legacy for the Dunbar clan, and Peigi would always have the memories of Hendry’s smile.

  It wouldn’t be enough, but it would have to do.

  Chapter Eight

  Hendry was stumped. He stood by the castle gates, scratching the top of his head as he stared at the crates and barrels that the merchants had brought for him; crates and barrels that he had not paid for and could certainly not afford.

  “There must have been a mistake,” Hendry said to one of the merchants, the one who stood closest to him. “I never asked for any of this. I cannae pay for this, the clan doesnae have the money to pay for it.”

  Another merchant, one that stood at the back, shrugged. “It’s already been paid for, m’lord.”

  If Hendry was stumped before, now he thought his head would explode. “What do ye mean it’s already been paid for? Who paid for it?”

  The merchant shrugged again as he cleaned his fingernails with a small blade. “We dinnae ken. We were given the money and told to deliver the goods to ye.”

  Hendry began to get more and more suspicious. It sounded to him as though the merchants were withholding information from him on purpose, and he couldn’t help but think that the Black Stags had something to do with it.

  “Who gave ye the money?”

  “We dinnae ken,” another merchant said, and the others agreed in a buzzing murmur. “It’s a donation, we were told. Someone wants the clan to have these.”

  Hendry narrowed his eyes at the nearest crate, as though that would help him peer through the wood. Now, he was convinced that the Black Stags had come up with some elaborate ploy to sneak inside the castle grounds, and they wanted a siege so bad, that they had paid off the merchants.

  Then again, the merchants already knew that he made a habit of opening the crates and the barrels to inspect the goods, so he thought that they would be smart enough to warn the

  +Black Stags about it.

  Still, it was better to be safe than sorry.

  “Open the crates!” Hendry ordered, and immediately, three of his men began to open the crates and the barrels one by one, as Hendry walked around, inspecting them.

  There was flour there, plenty of it, salt, and ale, thread and fabric, and all sorts of other goods. The only thing that Hendry couldn’t see was a brigand hiding in there.

  He could have grabbed one of the merchants and kissed him. He had never felt such overpowering relief before, and Hendry went weak in the knees, having to hold onto a nearby wall to support himself.

  It was no ploy. There was nothing there for him to worry about. Someone, somewhere, had taken pity on him and his clan, and they had sent him all those goods. All he had to do was to accept them.

  Hendry turned around, facing the courtyard full of clansmen and women.

  “The morrow, there shall be a fair! There will be dancing and games, and ale!”

  It was all Hendry had to say for the courtyard to erupt in cheers, the people of the castle excited to have some reprieve from their everyday life. Hendry himself was excited, but he was also curious to know who had been kind enough to send the clan so many goods.

  It was the one thought that occupied his mind the entire day, as he went through an admittedly small list of people in his head over and over.

  In the end, he realized that there was only one person who could have done such a thing. It must have been the father of the woman he was supposed to marry, he thought, the one with whom his father had arranged a marriage when both Hendry and she were children.

  He remembered meeting Beitris when they were both around ten years of age, and he remembered being infatuated with her back then, in the way that little boys sometimes become infatuated with little girls. He remembered her fondly, and he wondered what kind of woman she had grown into, but there was only one problem.

  Every time he tried to imagine Beitris, he could only conjure up Peigi in his mind. She occupied every corner of his mind, creeping up to him when he least expected it. He thought he saw her everywhere, every time he walked around the castle, only to be disappointed when it turned out to be someone else, and overly eager when it turned out to be her.

  Hendry was a realistic man though. He had been young and foolish for long enough, and that had driven the Dunbar clan almost to ruin; he was not going to make such a mistake again, no matter how much Peigi’s gorgeous green eyes tempted him to do so.

  One day, he would marry Beitris. For now, he had a feast to hold. He made sure Mrs. MacLeish and the women of the castle cooked for the entire clan, while the men prepared ale and games.

  The next morning, Hendry was astounded by the sight that greeted him in the courtyard. He could hardly believe everything that he saw there, from the people that danced happily to the music of the bards to the archery games and the flowing rivers of ale, was the product of one night’s preparation.

  The air was sweet with the scents of small treats for the children, the courtyard was filled with the laughter of men and women, and Hendry had to take a moment and bask in the happiness of his people. It had been so long since the clan had last had the luxury to throw such a celebration, since his parents’ deaths, and it was something that the clan sorely needed.

  As he began to walk around the courtyard, Hendry caught himself trying to spot Peigi, but he didn’t try to stop himself from doing so. It was a day of joy, a day of celebrating, and he could go back to reality the next day when he would absolutely have to.

  Soon, he found her handing food to some children who were gathered around her, laughing and shouting as they thanked her.

  She looked good there. There was nothing different about her; her clothes were the same drab clothes that she wore every day, and her hair was pinned back like it always was, but she was radiant, as though she had gathered the light of all the stars inside her.

  “I’m afraid I’ll have to steal ye for a moment,” Hendry said when he approached her, and Peigi turned around to look at him, smiling that smile of hers when she saw who it was that was talking to her.

  She gave the children some more food, and then followed Hendry, the two of them walking around the courtyard. “This is . . . it is unbelievable, Hendry,” she said. “Look! Look how happy everyone is.”

  “Aye.” Hendry looked around, seeing the smiling faces of his people. They were loud and rowdy, but they were his family, and he couldn’t have asked for anything better. “Aye, I ken. It’s good, no? They are enjoying themselves?”

  “Aye, verra much,” Peigi assured him, pointing at William, who was already on his seventh cup of ale and was showing it. “Some of them a little too much.”

  Hendry laughed, but then shrugged a little. “Ach, let him have some fun,” he said. “Spending every day in the stables cannae be verra nice.”

  Hendry’s eyes couldn’t leave Peigi. There was something about her, something that drew Hendry to her and made her hard to resist. It was more than just her beauty, which was obvious to any man with a pair of eyes –or even one eye, in Hendry’s case. It was the warmth that she radiated, a kindness that was rare in the world. It was the feeling that his words mattered every time that Peigi spoke to him, listening with that unwavering intensity to what he had to say.

  It was the laugh that escaped those rosy lips every time Hendry said something funny.

  “What are ye looking at?”

  Peigi’s question snapped Hendry out of his trance, and he gave her a small shrug. “Nothing . . . ye. I’m looking at ye.”

  Hendry didn’t fail to notice the flush on Peigi’s cheeks, endearing and irresistible. Her hand bumped against his over and over as they walked, until he took it in his, lacing their fingers together.

  This time, Peigi didn’t pull her hand back.

  It hadn’t occurred to him that they were walking away from everyone else, until Hendry suddenly found himself alone with Peigi, the two of them standing close to each other, at the side of the castl
e, in a small dent in the wall that hid them from the world. Perhaps Hendry had been heading there from the moment he started talking to Peigi without even realizing it, his subconscious moving his feet before he could control them.

  Hendry leaned against the wall, and he watched as Peigi did the same across from him. The two of them stayed there for a few moments, silent, just gazing at each other.

  The sun shone that day over the castle, so brightly that Hendry had been surprised that morning. It was as though the entire world was celebrating with him and his clan, and as he watched Peigi, he realized that he had never seen her in such a light before.

  Her eyes, green like a pair of precious stones, shone brightly under the sun, and her cheeks were flushed from the heat. He could not take his eyes off her even for a second, and Peigi held his gaze, too, bold and unashamed.