An Enemy at the Highland Court: An Enemies to Lovers Highlander Romance (The Highland Ladies Book 5) Read online

  Innes met Collette when the French hired him as a mercenary. When he sailed away from Kennedy territory, he was a second son, and there seemed little chance that he would inherit the lairdship. The money he earned while in France lined the Kennedys’ coffers and helped them finance the ongoing skirmishes against the English. It was while Innes was away that an English neighbor killed his older brother, during a standoff over land that had changed hands many times. It thrust him into the role of the laird’s heir and forced Innes to return, but he refused to do so without his French bride. He’d married Collette without telling his family, having planned to remain in France permanently. When Innes and Collette had no choice but to go to Scotland, Collette adopted her mother’s surname, Aubert, hoping to make her transition easier, but a single glance at Collette spoke of her Arab lineage.

  There were few who could contest that Cairren was a stunning woman, but she was not the epitome of Scottish beauty. While her features were striking and created an exotic appearance compared to the fair-haired and fair-skinned Scots, her appearance was an albatross around her neck. As a young woman taught to read, she discovered ancient practices rumored to lighten skin tones for women whispered to have foreign heritage. She’d even gone so far as to try various tonics and herbs to lighten her skin when she learned she was to serve among the queen’s retinue, but nothing she used made a difference. She’d often worn peasant straw hats at home to protect her face and neck from the sun, but somehow her skin tone always deepened in summer. The veils many women wore at court did nothing to deflect the sunshine when she rode or strolled in the garden. She’d spent her first summer at court inside as much as possible, but the queen enjoyed a long morning constitutional through her gardens and insisted her ladies-in-waiting join her. Now she stayed in the shade whenever she could, claiming too much sun gave her headaches and strained her eyes.

  “Why did your parents come?” Laurel Ross asked as a servant placed a trencher before Cairren.

  “I will be leaving court to marry. My father informed me of my betrothal,” Cairren shrugged, hoping to play off her sense of impending doom that returned with the mention of her upcoming nuptials.

  “Do you know who it is?” Blair Sutherland asked.

  “Aye. Padraig Munro.” Cairren’s gaze shifted to Laurel as her friend began to cough. The look of shock made the hair on Cairren’s arms stand up.

  “Just went down the wrong way,” Laurel gasped as she lifted her mug of ale to her mouth.

  “The Munros aren’t far from Sutherland!” Blair bubbled. “Perhaps I could visit the next time I travel home.”

  “I would like that very much,” Cairren smiled, but she was still watching Laurel, who seemed to have recovered but had grown withdrawn. Cairren wasn’t about to inquire while the worst gossips in the kingdom surrounded her, but she intended to ask Laurel about her reaction when they could speak in private. Fortunately, they were roommates.

  “When do you leave?” Arabella Johnstone asked softly. Her best friend, Blair’s sister Maude, left court just before Cairren’s friend Allyson. Maude married Kieran MacLeod after a whirlwind romance that set every tongue on fire at court. Cairren grew closer to Blair and Arabella after Maude’s departure, but they hadn’t become genuine friends until Allyson left to marry Ewan.

  “In two days,” Cairren plastered a smile on her face that hid her regret. She’d worked hard to make the few friends she had, and now she would have to start over again. “I’ll be wed within the fortnight.”

  “So soon?” Laurel blurted.

  Cairren narrowed her eyes at her roommate, but she was resolved to keep her questions until later.

  “Aye. It’ll take a sennight to travel, and then my father says I’ll be married within a sennight of our arrival. My parents will have another fortnight’s journey ahead of them to return to Dunure. With the weather as it is, I suspect we’ll have an early winter. I wouldn’t want them trapped somewhere along their route. They’ll be gone more than a moon as it is. My father doesn’t care to be away from home that long with how things stand. There have been English ships spotted off our coast several times since Beltane.” As Cairren spoke about the upcoming journey, she groaned internally as she pictured the days spent on horseback and camping outside. There was no sign that the weather would improve, and as they moved further into the Highlands, the likelihood of experiencing all four seasons in a day increased. If she and her parents were departing from home, she might have convinced her father to sail along the western coast and come inland near Assynt. Then it would only have been a couple days' ride to Foulis.

  “Which gown will you wear?” Blair prodded. Cairren recognized Blair’s attempt to cheer her up, but any thoughts of the wedding soured her mood as much as it did her stomach.

  “I suppose my mother brought the gown I made before I left for court. It’s pale blue with embroidery at the neckline, the waist, and the hem.” What Cairren didn’t mention was the higher than fashionable neckline and the billowing sleeves that covered as much skin as possible, no matter how she moved.

  “That sounds lovely,” Laurel offered, but Cairren caught the uncertainty in her voice.

  The women eventually turned to other topics of conversation before the dancing began. Cairren was never short of dance partners, but their intent was rarely innocent. When she was newly arrived at court, it had shocked her to hear the propositions courtiers made to women, but the ones she received were often among the lewdest she heard. Men who had no intention of an honorable outcome suggested acts that Cairren initially believed were depraved. As she grew more accustomed to her new way of life, she learned that the acts were normal parts of bed play, but they were inappropriate to suggest to a maiden. The men assumed that she was desperate for a guardian to offer his protection and often reminded her that she wouldn’t do better than to become a man’s mistress. She’d hidden in her chamber more than once during her first year, and she’d learned to never walk alone in the passageways and to steer her way into the crowd if an unsavory courtier or guest approached for a dance, but it was inevitable she could not avoid some of the brasher ones. She never considered relenting. She had always trusted her father would find her a match, and if not, she would happily retire to Dunure when her tenure as a lady-in-waiting ended.

  “Lady Cairren, it’s always a pleasure to partner with you,” an Armstrong delegate whose name she couldn’t recall spoke from behind her shoulder. Cairren turned to see the attractive man sweep his gaze over her, lingering overly long just below her waist and at her bust.

  “I thank you for the compliment. Please excuse me. I must join my parents,” Cairren sidestepped the callow man’s implied request.

  “I am certain they won’t begrudge you a turn around the floor with a neighbor.”

  They may not, but I will. The man didn’t give Cairren an opportunity to refuse before he grasped her hand in a hold that was far too tight and virtually dragged her into the mass of dancers. The set was one where each dance was with the same partner. Unlike a reel, she would be stuck with the Armstrong warrior who held her too close.

  “You’re even lovelier than the last time we danced,” he whispered beside her ear. The shiver that raced along Cairren’s spine was from fear. She understood where the conversation would go before long. “You are enticing and could lead a mon to sin.”

  “Then perhaps you should make your way to the kirk, and I can make my way to my parents,” Cairren’s tone was like syrup, but the put down was clear.

  “Where would the fun be in that?” The man steered them toward a door that led to a darkened passageway Cairren knew couples often used for trysts. She dug her slippered heels into the floorboards, but the man took little notice, or rather he ignored her opposition.

  “Cuthbert, who is this fine piece?” Another Armstrong asked as they came closer to the door than made Cairren comfortable. She recalled now that the delegate had an English name because his mother had English parents.

  “Do
n’t you recognize the Kennedy’s daughter, Nevil? I intend to discover if she’s as smooth as French women are reported to be. She’ll be good for a tupping. I’ve heard her people own women just to pleasure men.”

  Cairren gasped, understanding Cuthbert’s meaning. She recalled Cuthbert and Nevil were brothers. She had no intention of allowing any man besides her husband discover what her grooming habits were. She twisted away, but the man’s hold on her hand made it impossible to break free. She grabbed his little finger and pulled it back as hard as she could. His hand dropped from hers only for his brother to wrap what felt like an iron manacle around her arm.

  “Let go of my daughter,” Innes’s quiet hiss made Cairren and both Armstrongs halt. Suddenly, Cairren was free and stumbling toward her father. He pulled her against his side, dropped a kiss on her crown, then pushed her behind him as he cracked his knuckles. “I heard what you said to my daughter. I saw my daughter trying to get away. To me, it looked like you intended to accost her.”

  Innes took a menacing step forward, but the men were foolish enough to stand their ground. Innes’s grin made the men finally realize the grave error they made. It was an expression that made warriors cower on the battlefield. He grasped a handful of hair on each head and slammed their foreheads together.

  “Perhaps if you put your heads together, you’ll come up with some sense.” Innes pulled them apart only to ram them together again. “You can tell your laird that I expect a proper apology or our alliance is through.”

  “We offer that apology now, my laird. We beg your pardon and Lady Cairren’s for the slight.”

  “Nay,” Innes growled. “Not good enough. You’re here to represent the Armstrongs and your laird. Since you act on his behalf, your behavior is a reflection of him. He will offer an apology or he can fight the English without the Kennedys.”

  Cairren listened to the exchange and was prudent enough not to interfere, but she wished her father would let sleeping dogs lie. She didn’t want this to become public fodder for her last two days at court. While she appreciated her father’s intervention, his overprotectiveness was creating a scene. As if sensing his daughter’s growing anxiety, he released the men and spun on his heel. He wrapped his arm around Cairren and led her back to where Collette sat with the senior guardsmen who traveled with them.

  “Que s’est-il passé?” What happened, Collette asked as she noticed their approach.

  “Rien, Maman.” She knew her father would say it was more than nothing.

  “Two Armstrong swine tried to pull our lass out of the Great Hall and made inappropriate comments. I handled it,” Innes stated as he took his seat on the bench beside Collette. A speaking glance at his men had them hurrying away from the table.

  “You don’t seem very surprised, Cairren,” Collette observed. “What did they say?”

  Cairren’s face flushed as she glanced at Innes, whose temper seemed ready to flair again. She looked back at her mother and shook her head. “They were interested in learning aboot French grooming customs. They intended to see for themselves.”

  Collette’s French temper was shorter than Innes’s Scottish one, which meant her mother was ready to commit bloody murder to defend her daughter. The older woman’s eyes swept the crowd, narrowing when she recognized the Armstrong contingent.

  “Maman, please. Just let it go. I’m used to it.” Cairren wanted to swallow her tongue. She hadn’t intended to admit that she was accustomed to such insults.

  “Pourquoi?”

  “Because that wasn’t the first time I’ve heard that. Court is not a place known for morality. The ladies-in-waiting receive uncouth offers, but most refuse them.”

  “But most aren’t likened to a harem slave,” Innes growled.

  “Harem?” Collette’s eyes narrowed as she left her seat.

  “Maman, s'il vous plaît. Non,” Cairren begged, but Collette was already winding her way through the crowd until she reached the Armstrongs. Silence fell among the men as they recognized Lady Collette Kennedy.

  “Qui? Who?” Collette demanded. She kept her voice low, but the steel edge cut through the awkwardness.

  “Who, what, madame?” Cuthbert spoke up. His smarminess dripped from his words. But Collette refused to play his game. She reached out, grabbed his groin, and squeezed mercilessly.

  “C’est vrai. It is true. They say the English have tiny cocks. Perhaps your mother shouldn’t have lain with one and kept herself to a good Scotsman.” Collette squeezed once more for good measure. “Give my regards to your mother, Lady Anne. And I’m certain your uncle will offer the apology I imagine my husband demanded.”

  Those surrounding them chuckled at Collette’s put-down. She stepped away as the crowd of onlookers parted to allow the angry Frenchwoman through. But she turned back to face the Armstrongs once more. “By the by, if I learn a single one of you insults another young lady, you’d better guard your cods because I will cut them off.” She made a slicing motion through the air, and more than one man winced.

  Cairren wanted to melt into the floor. Her humiliation was complete, even if she recognized her parents’ good intentions. It was just as well she was leaving because she wouldn’t be able to show her face again. She prayed she could spend the next two days hidden away.

  Chapter Three

  Cairren finished scrubbing her face and neck before turning to Laurel. She eyed her roommate before putting the drying linen aside and pulled on the chemise she preferred to sleep in. Steeling herself for whatever she would learn, she cleared her throat. Laurel looked over at her as she combed her hair.

  “Why won’t I be welcome at the Munros? Is it because of how I look?” Cairren saw no point in mincing words.

  “There’s that,” Laurel glanced back at her before settling in to braid her hair. By silent agreement, both women had dismissed their maids.

  “Then what else?”

  Laurel lowered her arms and studied Cairren for a long moment before sighing. “You’ve been a good roommate to me. You tolerated my rudeness to you and your friends yet never had a harsh word to me. You’re not a gossip, and you don’t spread untruths. Perhaps I should have appreciated that more. Cairren, you won’t be welcome because Padraig wants to marry my sister, Myrna.” Laurel lowered her eyes and shook her head. “They’re in love.”

  Cairren sucked in a breath as the room spun. As though her ethnicity wouldn’t be enough of a challenge, she faced a life with a man who would resent her for taking him away from the woman he loved. She was doomed to fail before she arrived.

  “Thank you for telling me,” Cairren murmured.

  “Be careful, Cairren. My sister isn’t known for her kindness. How she’s fooled Padraig for this long, I can only imagine.”

  Cairren closed her eyes as she imagined her faceless groom in bed with a woman who resembled Laurel. She wanted to cry, but she also wanted to heave. “At least I know and won’t walk in blind.”

  “I suppose you could look at it that way. Cairren, Laird and Lady Munro have wanted to secure an alliance through marriage with my clan since I was a child. They’ve practically turned down the covers to Padraig’s bed for my sister. If she had a greater dowry, they would already be married. But they must need your dowry even more than I thought. Padraig’s not a cruel mon, but he’s devoted to Myrna. He won’t welcome you either.” Laurel stood up and tentatively moved toward Cairren. “I’m sorry to tell you this. But I feel you deserve the warning. It will be hard enough without adding the humiliation of discovering the truth in front of your new clan. Hopefully, you can prepare yourself. I suspect Myrna will be there when you arrive. Padraig won’t have kept this from her, and she’ll want to eye her competition.” Laurel drew Cairren into an embrace. The women had never shared physical affection before, but Cairren found surprising comfort in Laurel.

  “I don’t think I’ll be much competition if Padraig is that in love with your sister. I suspect he’ll do his duty once and then forget aboot me.”

&nb
sp; Laurel nodded, but Cairren couldn’t read the emotion in her roommate’s eyes. If she’d had to describe it, Cairren would have said speculative, even hopeful. What Laurel hoped for, Cairren didn’t know.

  The morning of Cairren’s departure couldn’t come soon enough. She’d faced the other ladies-in-waiting the morning after her parents arrived when she joined them for Mass. She continued to read Thomas Aquinas’s manuscript as the queen requested, but she slipped away from the solar and took her meals in her chamber. Neither Laurel nor Cairren broached the subject of Padraig and Myrna, but it hung as a leaden weight between them. Laurel helped Cairren pack and offered her a set of earbobs that Myrna would recognize. Laurel insisted her sister would know they were a token of friendship and believed it would ease some of the inevitable hostility. Cairren thanked her, but she suspected Myrna would more likely accuse her of stealing than believe they were a gift. Cairren said her goodbyes to Queen Elizabeth, who offered her a blessing and a kind word.

  Then it was time to leave, and Cairren found herself mounted on her horse with a dozen Kennedy warriors guarding her and her parents as the sun raised its sleepy head over the horizon. She wished they headed south instead of north, but as the Kennedys passed through the Stirling city gates, Cairren resolved not to think about how much she dreaded their destination or how her homesickness grew with each clop of her horse’s hooves. A light drizzle seemed like nature’s way of commiserating with Cairren’s feelings, but by midmorning the sun shone, and she found her spirits lifted.

  When they made camp the first night, Innes and several of his men went hunting. One of the men felled a doe, so Cairren worked alongside her mother as they butchered the animal, careful to salt and store the meat so it would last the fifteen-person party for a couple of days. Cairren relished each moment she had with her parents, even during the less-savory tasks. She’d never been an avid hunter even though she knew how, but she’d enjoyed spending time with her mother in the kitchens. Not a noblewoman by birth, Collette grew up in a small cottage where she helped her own mother with cooking and housekeeping. Collette insisted that Cairren and Caitlyn learn each task needed to run a keep so the sisters would appreciate the labors of servants and to remind them of their great fortune as the laird’s daughters. Innes often praised his daughters for their humility and willingness to always assist in any task inside or outside of Dunure Castle.