Free Debbie Mazzuca Bundle by Debbie Mazzuca

trying to accommodate them all at once. At the table on the raised dais, she spotted Rory. He came to his feet when he saw her. The loud chatter quieted as the diners watched her walk by. Their curiosity was one of the reasons she’d taken to eating her meals in her chambers.
    “Mrs. Mac, maybe it’s better if I eat in my room,” Ali suggested, growing more uncomfortable by the minute.
    “Och, no, the laird wanted you to join him and so you shall.”
    “Of course, we wouldn’t want to upset his lordship.”
    Mrs. Macpherson shook her head, making her now familiar tsking sound.
    “I’m glad you’ve joined us, lass,” Rory said when Ali reached them, indicating the vacant chair to his left, beside Iain.
    “I didn’t think I had a choice,” she muttered, nodding at Iain, Fergus, and Connor as she took her seat.
    “Ah, still prickly I see.”
    Before she could respond, two platters were placed on the table in front of her. She eyed them with trepidation; fish of some sort on one, lamb on the other. Relieved when a basket of fresh bread was placed to her left, she smiled at the girl who put it there.
    “Thank you.”
    The girl bobbed her head.
    “You canna’ live on bread alone, Aileanna,” Rory said, with a hint of amusement in the low rumble of his voice. “Cook took yer suggestions to heart. I’ve checked on the kitchens myself. ’Tis safe to eat.”
    Even if that was the case, Ali wasn’t sure she could. She didn’t know how. Not without a fork or a knife to cut the meat. There was only a spoon beside her wooden plate. She glanced surreptitiously down the tables to see how everyone else was managing. Iain, obviously aware of the problem, took his dirk and sliced off some mutton for her. Everyone was so busy eating they no longer watched her, and she took a tentative bite.
    “So, Aileanna, did you find what you were lookin’ for?”
    Ali choked on the piece of meat and both Rory and Iain pounded her back simultaneously.
    “I’m all right,” she managed, knowing if they didn’t stop with their forceful slaps, she wouldn’t be. She took a deep swallow of wine from the goblet in front of her.
    Clearing her throat, she said, “I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, Lord MacLeod. I just wanted to see more of Dunvegan, since I’ve spent most of my time caring for your men.”
    “Did it meet with yer approval?” Goblet in hand, he swirled the liquid, looking at her over the rim.
    “Yes, it’s lovely.” She bent over her plate, pretending to be absorbed with her meal, ignoring the suspicious look Fergus shot at her across the table and the one she felt coming from Iain. Ali had a sneaking suspicion she would be watched closely from now on.
    She drained her wine.
    Rory refilled it for her. “I’m sorry I didna’ have the time to show you aboot myself.”
    She shrugged. “You were busy.”
    “Aye, and I’ve learned, thanks to you, Aileanna, that my men fared much better than I anticipated.”
    “Aye, and next time we meet the MacDonald, we’ll be ready for the sneaky old bastard,” Iain said. Men all along the tables heard his comment and pounded their fists against the scarred wood. A loud chorus of ayes filled the room.
    Ali couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Please, tell me you aren’t serious. My God, you were almost killed. Several of your men died.” An image of a battlefield like the one she’d seen on the tapestry the day she arrived flashed before her. Her stomach lurched at the thought of Rory in the midst of that slaughter.
    He shrugged. “’Tis the way of it, lass. We have no choice.”
    “Of course you do. You always have a choice. Wasn’t your wife a MacDonald?”
    Iain nudged her foot beneath the table, and she nudged him back. She wasn’t about to keep quiet. It was too important. She had to find a way to make Rory see reason—to stop the senseless loss of life.
    “Aye.” Rory’s expression turned fierce. Gone was the teasing man of earlier,