Highlander's Reckoning (The Sinclair Brothers #3) by Emma Prince Page B

been good at sewing or weaving or
overseeing the household. But Agnes and the other servants had the castle well
under control. And though she was barb-tongued and hot-tempered, people mostly
either admired her for her forthrightness or chuckled at her father’s inability
to control her.
    But having a husband with piercing, observant eyes
and a stubborn, commanding temperament was going to ruin her carefully balanced
life—or worse.
    There was simply too much at stake. She had to keep
finding ways to hold Daniel at arm’s length. For now it was the lie about her
monthly curse, but she would have to come up with something better, and fast.
The way he kissed her said that he wouldn’t be kept at bay for long.

Chapter 8
    “Shut the door behind you,” Daniel said to Kennedy
and his man Malcolm. He was seated behind what had been Kennedy’s desk in the
private study near the top of the tower keep.
    He gestured for the two men to take a seat before
him. Kennedy acquiesced smoothly, but Malcolm eyed Daniel before sitting.
    Without preamble, Daniel launched into his speech,
addressing Kennedy.
    “I’d like you to return to Dunure, Laird. I’m sure
your people would be most grateful to have you among them again, and I have
things under control here.”
    In the week since his marriage, Daniel had indeed
made strides in winning the trust and respect of the people of Loch Doon, as
well as tightening the operations of the castle. He’d gathered that Gilbert
Kennedy wasn’t the most observant or fastidious of men. Daniel had spent much
of his time increasing the training of the men of the castle as well as going
over the ledgers for errors in calculations. Even if Kennedy was completely
loyal to Robert the Bruce, the man was ill-suited to keep the King’s castle in
order.
    Thankfully, Daniel saw little evidence that Kennedy
was openly colluding with the English against the Bruce. The fact remained,
however, that he had paid Raef Warren, one of Scotland’s greatest enemies, an
exorbitant sum to avoid having the castle razed. Kennedy had also continued to
pay taxes to England’s Edward II.
    Dunbraes, Warren’s stronghold, wasn’t far from here,
and the bastard often had his army run drills near the village just to frighten
and terrorize the people of Loch Doon. So far, it had worked. But if the
Bruce’s plan to secure Loch Doon and eventually lay siege to Dunbraes went
right, Raef Warren would finally be stopped. And the bastard would finally pay
for all the harm and strife he had caused Scotland.
    Daniel refocused his thoughts on the two men in
front of him. Malcolm looked shocked, but Kennedy seemed unfazed.
    “I suspected you might send me away shortly after
the wedding,” Kennedy said evenly. “It never does well to have too many cooks
in the kitchen, or too many lords in the castle, as the case may be.”
    Daniel inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank
you for understanding. And know that I will tell King Robert of your
cooperation.”
    “But Laird,” Malcolm sputtered, “what about all the
Kennedys who have come to call Loch Doon home? Are we to be sent away too?”
    Daniel regarded Kennedy’s man for a moment. He was
thin and narrow-shouldered, with a nondescript mop of brown hair on his head. Though
he looked befuddled at the moment, Malcolm normally had the air of a keen
observer.
    “Just to be clear, I am not sending your Laird away,
Malcolm,” Daniel said levelly. “I’m asking him to return to his keep, where he
may better serve his people. Any Kennedys who moved to Loch Doon with you are
more than welcome to stay, or if they prefer, they can return to Dunure or
Turnberry with you.”
    Daniel shifted his attention from Malcolm to Kennedy
as he spoke, watching the man’s face closely.
    Thankfully, he saw no resentment or cunning there.
Kennedy nodded and sighed. Though it was an honor to be asked to run the
Bruce’s ancestral home in his stead and would be a prick to the pride to have
that honor