Free Highlander Unmasked by Monica Mccarty

learning the business of managing the lands and handling the financial concerns of Clan Mackinnon.
    But she needed to find a man who would stand beside her brother where she could not in his dealings with the king’s men and who would fight beside him if need be. A clan was only as strong as its chief. When her brother inherited, their land would be at grave risk from attack by more powerful clans—clans that constantly sought more land to provide for their ever increasing numbers. Her father’s guardsmen were no longer young, they might not be able to protect Ian’s position, so Meg’s choice of husband was crucial.
    With her help and her husband’s support, Ian would make a fine chief. Ian was her father’s tanaiste, his designated successor. That position was his by right of birth, but vestiges of tanistry from the old Brehon Laws made some think it could be challenged. On Skye, he was derisively known as “Ian Balbhan.” Ian the Dumb. She despised the epithet and had done her best to shield her brother from others’ cruelty.
    And from her father’s disappointment.
    Her chest tightened with the pressure of expectation. She’d worked so hard to prove to her father that it could be done. She had to do the right thing. There wasn’t room for mistakes. Really, there was only one choice.
    And it was up to her to make it.
    So much for fairy tales. No one was going to ride in on a white horse and make her decision easy for her.
    Alex MacLeod was not for her. She was attracted to him in a way that she never had been attracted to a man before. But it did not matter. She would not let it interfere with her decision. He was a mercenary. A warrior. A man of the past. Men like Alex harkened to a bygone era. A time of feuds and forays and the unfettered authority of the chief. The role of the Highland chief was changing. No longer just a warlord, he must also be prepared to deal with the king and his men.
    She needed a man to put the king’s men at ease. Alex was a threatening presence the moment he walked into the room. Every inch a Highland warrior, he was exactly the type of powerful man these Lowlanders feared.
    She took a long look at Jamie, who stood patiently beside her, not allowing her thoughts to slide back to the forbidding man who’d just exited the hall. The man who threw her emotions into a tumult.
    Taking a deep breath, she placed her hand on the crook of Jamie’s arm. This time, there was no shock. The lean muscle beneath her fingers did not elicit wild, uncontrollable emotions.
    She was tired of this charade. Meg was out of her element at court, and she knew it. Jamie Campbell was the most logical choice for a husband.
    There was only one decision she could make.

 
    Chapter 5

    Alex left the hall unaccountably edgy, if not down right angry. And the worst part was that he didn’t know why.
    After slipping outside the palace gates, he started down Vai Regius, the Way of the King—a cobble-paved road recently constructed by King James that stretched between Holyrood and Edinburgh Castle. Although he’d made no effort to hide his departure, he was careful to make sure he wasn’t followed. Most people seemed to have accepted his story about being a merce nary looking for work, but Highlanders were always viewed with suspicion. He’d take no chances.
    Alex was late. He was supposed to be meeting his squire, Robbie, at the White Hart Inn to report what he’d learned so far, but he’d been delayed. Delayed by a wee enchantress with big green eyes. Instead of observing the king’s men to gather more information, he’d found himself watching Meg’s conversation with Jamie Campbell with increasing frustration. He’d seen some thing in her eyes….
    He suspected she’d made her choice.
    But, he reminded himself, it didn’t concern him. Alex had made his own choice a long time ago, and it didn’t involve taking a wife. His future was uncertain at best and short at worst.
    He’d been tempted to go to