Free Caelen's Wife - the Complete Collection by Suzan Tisdale

throat from ear to ear? What good would that have done?
    “Nay, ’twas no’ a man ye were up against, but a right bonny lass.”
    “Bonny or no’, she is still a woman andthe chief of the McPhersons. And that has nothin’ to do with the fact that someone wants us at war with one another.”
    “I can only hope that ye let her win because she is a woman and you were tryin’ to avoid a clan war.”
    Caelen imagined he could stand on top of his keep and shout out to the world that he hadn’t let Fiona McPherson win. Winning had not been the point in making his challenge that day.
    “I challenged Fiona to keep one of me men from doin’ it. They’d no’ have shown any restraint, fer they were far too angry with her.”
    “Then why, pray tell, did ye kiss her? ’Twas it all part of yer devious plan to catch her unawares? Were ye plannin’ on kissin’ her into submission?”
    He had no explanation, at least not one that would put him in a good light.
    Fiona had been on her back, pinned beneath him, as he had been imagining far too often. He’d been unable to resist the urge and now he was living to regret it.
    “It matters no’ why I kissed her.”
    “I think it does,” Kenneth argued. “If ye kissed her because yer a devious bastard, then I applaud ye. But if ye kissed her because ye are besotted with her, then I fear we are in a grave amount of danger.”
    “What do ye mean, danger?” Mayhap his cousin had lost his mind.
    With a heavy sigh and shake of his head, Kenneth answered. “If someone is tryin’ to get us to go to war with the McPhersons, and we instead form an alliance …” he let his words trail off.
    Kenneth’s worry had some merit to it. There were too many unknowns at the moment. He had no idea who was behind the raids on McPherson lands or why they wanted it to appear that the McDunnahs were responsible.
    “I kissed Fiona McPherson because I ama devious bastard,” Caelen said, which was not a complete lie. “And contrary to popular belief, I have no’ lost me mind, nor am I bewitched or besotted.”
    Kenneth’s face was awash in doubt and Caelen knew there was probably very little he could say at the moment to disprove his cousin’s theories.
    “We need to find out who is stealing McPherson sheep and why they want us to be blamed,” Caelen said with the hope that Kenneth would begin to focus on something other than lasses who cast spells.
    Kenneth gave a nod of agreement. “Who hates us the most at the moment?”
    Caelen smiled deviously. “Well, now, Kenneth, that be a right long list. Our list of allies is much shorter.”

Chapter Nine
    O ne of the first matters Fiona addressed after becoming chief was to ensure that the women were properly trained in knives, archery, and swords. Only a handful of men had protested. It had taken a good amount of work to prove to the men that the world would not end if a woman picked up a quiver and bow, or a knife to use for something other than slicing bread.
    ’Twasn’t an easy task she had set upon nearly two years ago but she hadn’t for a moment thought it would be.
    In the beginning, many of the men refused to pick up the slack and pitch in to help with chores they thought beneath them — fit only for a woman. But after time, when the men saw how happy their women folk were as well as how well they took to archery, knives, and sword, a slow change began to take place.
    Three mornings a week, the women would take to the training fields whilst the men tended to hearth and home. What once threatened to tear the clan apart eventually brought them all closer together. The women knew there were three ways to a man’s heart and his thick skull. Food, coin, and loving.
    ’Twas a beautiful summer morn with the sun shining warmly and the sky a painted a brilliant blue. Fiona and Bridgett were on the training fields along with two dozen McPherson women. At the northern part of the fields, six women practiced shooting arrows at targets set