Free The Laird's Right by Mageela Troche Page A

pointed out.
    “Peace is not an option. I will get the land.” Alec snatched up his cup and drank the wine.
    “MacKintosh shall come to the aid of the Chattan, but you are in a better position to attack before he arrives.”
    “The Chattan are weakened already. Ullieam can’t call the numbers you have nor protect themselves.” Lachlan pushed the flagon away from Alec.
    “Clan Cameron cannot fail otherwise we will fall. But this visit isn’t about them. I require your aid with the English. The baron will come for her.”
    “English”—Lachlan rubbed his hands together—“That sounds great.”
    Ailsa raced in to the hall, cutting off Duncan’s reply. “Portia’s gone.”
    “Again.” Ronan shook his head.
    Lachlan snickered. Alec’s shoulders slumped. He pushed up from the chair followed by the others and hurried outside.
    “She won’t get far.”
    Alec led the way into the barn and saddled his mount. “She walked right out of the front,” the stable master said. “Something was on her mind, all right.”
    Minutes were wasted as they gathered their mounts. The crowd parted as they rode out of the castle. “She went that a way—we tried to stop her. Hope she doesn’t fall in the loch like the lairdess—don’t mention that again, the lairdess doesn’t like hearing that story.”
    Alec trotted away, not needing to hear more of the MacLean clansfolk.
    “She runs away often, huh?”
    Alec ignored the humor in Lachlan’s voice.
    “Kidnapped, stabbed, fever—I understand why death is better than marriage to you.”
    He spotted her standing on the shore. She gave no response to their hasty arrival. Her spine was bowed. With her back toward him, he couldn’t see if she wept but she wiped her hands across her face.
    There was no other option for both of them. He was the only one who could right this predicament and make sure her life wasn't cut short because of men’s greed.
    Alec dismounted and closed the distance on foot, leaving the men behind. He didn’t require a gathering for this.
    Alec stood beside her. He didn’t see the mountains reflecting on the loch’s smooth surface. He was aware of the dangers that laid ahead for them and the chance that all ended in death.
    “I wasn’t trying to escape,” she said as the quiet thickened and stirred up a need to explain. “I have no wish to marry again.”
    “That is not possible.”
    “My father can protect me,” she said, her voice shaking from desperation. “He is a powerful man with enough riches to hire hundreds of knights to defend the baron.”
    “Nay, Portia. He cannot. You know that.”
    She did. He sent her to her sister. Even now, he rebelled against the king when he should have fought for her.
    “I had always believed Arthur was a kind man.” She gave a hollow laugh that dripped with disgust at her foolishness. “You both share the same initial. Silly thought, ignore me.”
    “I can keep you safe.” His vow rocked her. He could…he had. What if he was killed like Stephen? Could Alec be cruel like his father? Her husband wasn’t cruel like his brother. Alec had stayed at her side, fighting the fever. That was proof of Alec’s caring.
    “I…I cannot love you.”
    His lip curled in disgust. “I don’t need it.”
    Her stomach hollowed at his even-tone words. The reason why his words cut her was better left unexplored.
    “When shall we marry?”
    “Now.”
    She looked over his shoulder as he walked away.
    “Come, Portia.”
     

 
     
     
     
    Chapter Seven
     
     
    Back in Ailsa’s chamber, Portia perched on the stool while Ailsa combed her hair. She gripped her knees. Too many possibilities raced through her mind. She couldn’t settle on one. Her head began to pound and her breathing shortened. There was no other choice, Portia would wed again…to another man she didn’t know well. This time, though, she lacked the lightness and belief she had felt in her first marriage.
    “Since you will be my sister, I must