Free Not Mine to Give by Laura Landon Page B

knowing what her future would hold? How could he let her go, knowing she had the crown?
    He pulled on the strap and walked over to the horse she would ride to do the same.
    “If you cinch those straps any tighter, Duncan, neither of your horses will have enough air to walk as far as the drawbridge,” Ian said.
    Duncan looked down at the strap drawn far too tight and loosened it. Then he walked around Ian to loosen the strap on the other horse. “Is my wife almost ready?” Duncan asked, checking the steps to the keep and finding that she still had not emerged.
    “Almost, I think, Duncan. She went into the chapel again to pray. Elizabeth went in to get her.”
    “If hours spent in prayer give her an advantage, Ian, I fear I do na stand a chance.”
    Ian smiled a broad grin. “You worry your fair wife is enlisting God’s help against you?”
    Duncan picked up a smooth, round stone from the ground and turned it over in his hand while he checked the steps again. “I doubt she is praying for my good health and fortune.”
    Ian laughed out loud. “She is indeed a verra brave lass, Duncan. I’m glad. She’ll need more than her strong will to secure a place in your keep.”
    Duncan laughed a shocked burst of disbelief. “That I would like to see. She will na doubt walk in and demand it. Instead of only sending word that I had married, I should have sent a warning for the Fergusons to prepare themselves to be invaded by one small, infuriating female.”
    Ian clasped his hand around Duncan’s forearm, his penetrating gaze filled with warning. “Do not only see the bravery she shows on the outside. Katherine can be hurt, Duncan. On the inside, where she’s most vulnerable. I fear it will na be easy for her to live among so many Fergusons.”
    Duncan hurled the stone in his hand to the dirt. “Do na fear for her, Ian. The lass I married has a will of iron. Nothing will be much of a challenge to her.”
    “Do you really think that?” Ian asked, frowning openly at his friend. “There’s hardly a Ferguson at Lochmore who did na lose someone when Bolton came. There’s hardly a Ferguson who will na question why their laird chose an English for their mistress. Including the laird, himself, I fear.”
    Duncan rebuffed Ian’s comment with a hostile glare aimed at his friend. “Do not fear for her, Ian. In time my people will forget she’s English.”
    “Perhaps when their laird does, they will also.”
    The truth of Ian’s words seared his flesh like a hot poker in an open wound. By all that’s holy, he’d married his mortal enemy in retaliation against Bolton, and to ensure that Scotland would keep the crown. The crown his father had died to protect. God’s blood. He’d sacrificed it all. There would never be a pure Scottish Ferguson from this day on.
    Duncan looked to the top of the steps again, his blood boiling hotter when he did not see his wife standing there. By the saints, she was testing his patience.
    Ian ignored Duncan’s temperament and walked to the side of Katherine’s horse, pretending to check the blankets tied behind the saddle. “What will you do about Regan?”
    Duncan looked at him in surprise. “There is naught to do about her. I’ve never spoken of love or suggested I would take her for my wife. She’ll accept her new mistress the same as every other Ferguson.”
    “Be careful, Duncan. She will na take your news lightly. There’s something about your pretty Regan that gives me cause to fear. She has always thought you belonged to her. She may not give you up so easily.”
    “You worry for naught. Regan has always been there and has been more than willing, but we have never talked of marriage. She knows I do na love her.”
    “Let’s hope so.”
    The frown did not leave Ian’s face, but Duncan didn’t have the time or the patience to worry about that now. They needed to be on their way.
    He turned back to the steps of the castle. Katherine and her sister stood at the top. She was