“Aye!” Merry chimed in again. “All of us know how obstinate men are. They’d sooner set fire to the kirk than admit they’re wrong.”
“What if they do come after us?” another woman asked. “How long will they wait before they punish us for this?”
Maggie closed her eyes in frustration as the women voiced her own concerns and questions. Questions to which she had absolutely no answers.
When she’d started all this, she had never anticipated the daily fights necessary to keep the women on her side.
How could they not see what she herself saw?
“It will end before much longer,” Maggie assured them. Her stomach drew tight as she remembered Braden’s deadline. God help her then, for she was sure the other women would go home relatively unscathed, but there was no telling what the men would do to her over this.
“When?” Edna asked.
“Soon. I’m just asking all of you to trust me for a few more days.”
Edna pierced her with a glare. “My trust is wearing thin, lass.”
Maggie could appreciate that, since her own patience had been stretched so thin it was close to breaking. “Give me a few more days to see what I can do.”
“All right,” Pegeen said, moving back to her seat by Edna. “But don’t you be asking for much more than that. I have a home to see to.”
Maggie nodded, her heart heavy. Saints help her, she had no idea how to conclude this.
What she needed was help.
She searched through her mind, but only one possibility came to her.
As much as she hated to admit it, she needed Braden. He was the only one she knew of who could find a possible solution. If ever there had been a man born to negotiate, Braden was he.
But it stuck in her craw that she would have to go begging an answer from the devil’s own. Even now she could see that cocky walk of his. The arrogance.
He thought himself infallible and now she would have to play into his ego.
Still, she had no choice. Her brothers’ lives and those of the other clansmen depended on her.
Stiffening her resolve, she went to find the scoundrel rogue.
Chapter 6
Braden walked the well-worn path back to the kirk as he thought over what had happened and what he had left to do. The evening sun was just starting to set and if he weren’t so aggravated, it would be a peaceful, cool evening. The kind of evening best suited for finding a willing maid and passing the quiet hours of the night.
But tonight there would be no willing maid in his arms breathing sweet, blissful sighs in his ear.
Tonight he would have to deal with Maggie. And worse, Maggie’s obstinacy, for he held little doubt what her response would be when he asked her, yet again, if she would surrender her women to Fergus and his bunch.
It would be as futile as asking the sun not to rise. Or the walls around him to breathe.
Clenching his teeth, Braden wanted to start knocking heads together. Was there no end to the frustration?
Why couldn’t someone, other than he, be reasonable?
What had Fergus been thinking when he had decided to go after Lochlan anyway?
When Braden entered the small chapel to find his other two brothers, he swore he could feel his blood starting to boil. His every nerve tense, he needed all his strength not to slam the chapel door and rattle its hinges.
The setting sun filtered into the room through the two large stained-glass windows that showed the birth and death of Christ. A myriad of colors dappled the old stone floor as he made his way toward the back of the kirk.
There was an iron stand for candles to the left of the nave, where his brothers were working. Sin held a ladder while Ewan stood on the next to the last rung repairing the ceiling. Braden headed for them, then quickly told them the latest bit of wonderful news.
“Are you serious?” Sin asked as soon as Braden finished his tale.
Ewan descended the ladder. “What do you mean, they’ve taken Lochlan captive?”
“You heard me,” Braden said. “As soon as Fergus left here, he went ’round to the homes, gathering up men and inciting them. When Lochlan returned to the castle, they seized him.”
“Those bastards!” Ewan roared. “Give me a sword and I’ll—”
“What?” Sin asked, interrupting him. “Bleed all over them? I realize you’re quite a bit larger than the average man, but we’re still just three against how many?”
“Two score in the hall even as we speak.”
Sin shook his head. “’Tis too many to fight.”
“Sassenach!” Ewan spat.
Before Braden could blink, Sin grabbed Ewan’s collar and jerked his head until their gazes were locked. The black, evil look on Sin’s face would have made any other man wet himself.
“Don’t you ever insult me again, brother,” Sin said, his quiet voice carrying the wrath of hell. “You forget which of us was cast out of Scotland into the hands of our enemies. I was fighting for my life while your lily arse was being coddled by a doting father and loving mother. If you’ve a desire to learn firsthand what I was taught, then grab your precious sword and meet me outside.”
For the first time in his life, Braden saw uncertainty creep into Ewan’s eyes.
And Braden had had enough. Growling at Sin, Braden separated them by prying Sin’s grip from Ewan’s shirt and stepping between them.
“Jesus, Mary and Joseph, is there not a single soul in the whole town who can go more than a second without letting their emotions get the better of them? Leave him be, Sin, or I swear, in the mood I’m in, I’ll tear your head off your shoulders and use it for a footstool.”
Sin’s face was a mask of utter disbelief as he looked skeptically at Braden.
Few, if any, men had ever stood up to Sin for fear of the knight’s honed skills and short temper. And if Braden hadn’t been so angry, he would have laughed at the expression on Sin’s face.
However, at this moment, Braden couldn’t find much humor in anything.
Recovering his stoicism, Sin said sharply, “Believe me, there is nothing more I would love than to stain my sword red with Scottish blood, but should we storm the castle, the first casualty would be Lochlan.”
Braden nodded. “They said as much before I left.”
A tick started in Sin’s jaw while he thought the matter over.
When Sin spoke again, his tone was ominous. “Let us not forget that we are dealing with men here. Men who are horny and hungry. In their state, they are capable of most anything.”
“So, what are we to do?” Braden asked.
Sin stroked his chin in thought. “How much time did they give you?”
“Four days. If the women aren’t out by then, they’ll kill Lochlan and storm the kirk.”
“Four days,” Ewan repeated. “Well, it gives us time to poison the lot of them.”
Sin gave a short half laugh. “Remind me to take you along on my next siege, little brother. I like the way your mind works. However, if we poison the men, then we’ll have the women out to kill us for the deed.”
“He’s right about that,” Braden concurred. “After all, they’re hiding in here to protect their men.”
Silence settled between them as each tried to think of something to end the stalemate.
“I’m afraid we have no recourse,” Sin said at last. He met Braden’s gaze. “You’ll just have to complete what you started. Seduce Maggie.”
How simple that sounded. If it were anyone other than she, Braden had no doubt of his success. But at the moment, her seduction was nearly out of the question. “It’s not quite so simple a matter anymore.”
“How so?”
Braden sighed. “You realize that if I continue pursuing her after she told me she’s doing this to protect her brothers, she will think I’m a total monkey’s arse for it.”
Sin arched a brow at him. “Are you telling me you’ve never seduced a woman who thought you were a monkey’s arse?”
&nbs
p; “Nay,” Braden said, aghast at the very idea of what Sin intimated. “Women love me.”
“Lucky you,” Sin said dryly. “Most of us have to work for our bedmates.”
Braden gave him a droll look. “I’m not most men and you’re not amusing.”
“Actually, I am, but that’s another conversation. Right now, we must stay focused. You work on seducing Maggie, and I shall see if there’s a way to get Lochlan out alive.”
“Let me help,” Ewan said.
Sin shook his head. “You’re too large to skulk about. They’d see you in an instant.”
Braden nodded his agreement. “He’s right about that. You’d end up bumping your head or if you had to hide, you’d never get all your body parts into a single nook or cranny.”
“I’m barely an inch taller than Sin.”
“Aye,” Sin said, “but I’ve had a lot more practice at being deceptive than you have.”
“Fine, then,” Ewan said resignedly. He looked at Sin. “You go skulk, I’ll repair the roof, and Braden gets to have all the fun.”
“Doesn’t this remind you of childhood?” Sin asked sardonically.
Braden snorted. “All except for Lochlan being tied up.”
Sin arched both his brows.
“On second thought,” Braden said, finally smiling, “we did do that to him a time or two, didn’t we?”
“Just a time or two.” Sin started away from them.
When Sin reached the door of the kirk, he paused in the doorway and gave Braden a meaningful stare. “Braden, don’t disappoint me.”
“Braden, I am so disappointed in you!” Maggie snapped as she glared at him.
Braden’s lewd proposition rang in her ears. Surely the man had gone daft.
But worse than his casual invitation to spend the night in his bed was the fact that in her heart she really wanted to accept that which was unacceptable.
How could her heart want something her head knew was wrong and impossible?
Confused and disappointed with herself for her conflicted feelings, she lashed out at the source of it all: Braden.
Why on earth had she thought, for even an instant, that he might be the one to help her?
He’d help her, all right. But only if the helping involved a little tupping. To the devil with that. She didn’t care if he was the most handsome man in the world, or even that she was, if she dared admit it, attracted to him. Physically, at least.
The man was the devil!
Anger and pain mixed inside her. And to think she had actually started liking him again.
He’d been such a dear boy. Her hero. How many times had he come to her rescue back then?
More times than she could count.
In those days, he would scoop her up in his arms and fight or scare off whichever brother was after her. She had looked to him as her champion.
Why did that dear, precious boy have to grow into such a man? A man who had no soul.
“How can you come back here and try this with me after I told you the reason we’re here?” she asked. “Have you no shame, man?”
Braden sighed inwardly as he wished he were the one tied to the chair, and Lochlan left to woo Maggie.
I am a monkey’s arse.
This is what I get for listening to Sin. I should have known better. The only advice Sin can give that’s worth a damn is when it involves war, not women.
The entire day was starting to wear on his nerves. Would it ever end?
Taking a deep breath, he tried again. “Maggie, my love, don’t you understand that Lochlan can’t just give in to you? If he does that, it’ll make him look weak before his men, and what man is going to follow a laird who got led about by a mere lass?”
Maggie glared at him. How could he be as dense as the others?
“Damn you men for your pride,” she said between clenched teeth. “’Twas that pride that led two of my brothers into their graves. Can any of you ever admit when you’re wrong?”
His smile charming, Braden reached out and touched her cheek in a gentle gesture that sent chills the length of her body. “We are complicated beasties, to be sure, but no more so than you women.”
Even worse than the touch, the light teasing in those greenish brown eyes reached inside her and made her yearn for a time when they weren’t on opposite sides.
It would be so easy to give in to him.
But she couldn’t. Not when she had so important a goal. And not when giving in to him would ultimately break her heart.
“This is nothing to jest about, Braden,” she said more harshly than she meant. In truth, she wasn’t as angry at Braden as she was at herself for letting him affect her this way. “Lives are at stake here.”
“Aye, they are. More even than you know.”
She frowned at the note in his voice. A shadow passed over his face and it was then she knew he was hiding something. “What do you mean?”
Dropping his hand, he hesitated a few minutes before he spoke again. “The clan is ready to shed blood to get you women back home.”
Maggie clenched her teeth in exasperation. Men! How insufferable they all were. It seemed to be the eternal plight of women that they were forever drawn to the unreasonable oafs.
“Does everything with you men have to come down to bloodshed? Canna one of you just sit down and have a conversation?”
He tilted his head in a beguiling, attractive manner that showed off those deep dimples. “If we did that, then we’d be women and you wouldn’t love us as much as you do.”
“Aye, but we might like you better.”
He arched a questioning brow.
Rolling her eyes, Maggie didn’t understand how he could be so nonchalant about the matter.
“How can you make light of this?” she asked. “Are you not worried about dying in battle?”
“Nay, love,” he said gently. “None of us are. We’re Highlanders. Born to fight and to wench. Personally, I prefer the wenching part, but as you well know, I’ve never shirked from a fight.”
Irritated by his words, Maggie tried to think her way through this. How could she get Lochlan to end the feud? “Then what am I to do?”
“Surrender,” he said simply.
“And nothing changes.”
“It will change. Lochlan can negotiate peace with the MacDouglas.”
“But will he?”
She saw the uncertainty in his eyes. And the debate. She could almost see the workings of his mind and she wondered what lie he would devise to feed her.
Finally he spoke, “Nay, even I am not such a beast that I’d lie to you about this. Not when it’s so important to you. Lochlan canna stop the feud so long as the MacDouglas is after Ewan’s life.”
Which was exactly what she suspected.
Still, she respected Braden for being honest. The man might be a scoundrel and a rogue, but he did draw the line at lying. It was nice to know at least one moral was still intact in his wicked body.
However, that didn’t help her for the moment.
How could she end this if…
Maggie paused as an idea occurred to her. It was ludicrous, really, but no more so than the idea of getting the women to withhold themselves from their men. Surely, if she could get the Lady MacDouglas to follow her, she could get Robby MacDouglas to listen to her?
After all, the entire feud had started because of a woman, and now that he was married to another, why would he continue the feud over Isobail?
Perhaps he was even looking for a way to back out without losing face himself.
Aye, ’twas a possibility.
Maggie let the idea loose in her mind. The more she thought it over, the more reasonable it seemed.
It really was a possibility. And if it was the truth, then maybe if she got to the MacDouglas, she would be able to make him see the futility of continuing the feud.
Right?
The very least she could do was try.
Making up her mind, she met Braden’s gaze levell
y. “If I can’t get Lochlan to end this, then I’ll have to get to the MacDouglas and talk sense into him.”
Braden laughed aloud at her words. “Are you insane?”
“Nay, I am serious. If I explain it to him, he’ll—”
“Laugh in your face, then cleave your head from your shoulders and hang it from his walls.”
“I will make him see reason.”
Braden stared at her in numbed disbelief. Never in his life had he met her ilk.
She was something to behold, no doubt about it. Unfortunately, that something wasn’t sane.
And by the tilt of her chin, he’d say her mind was as fixed as Fergus’s had been. There wasn’t going to be any way to talk her out of this.
Still, he felt the need to try. “Is there anything I can say that would sway you from this madness?”
“Nothing at all.”
“Not even the fact that the MacDouglas will more than likely rip out your heart and toss it to his dogs?”
“It changes nothing. I have to try.”
“I thought you’d say that.” Braden sighed. “Can I add another thorn to your bramble bush, then?”
Maggie froze at his words, terrified of what he might say. Every time he got that look on his face, he tossed another formidable obstacle at her. And right now, she was tired of hurdling them. “What?”
“If you women don’t give up by the week’s end, the men will kill Lochlan and storm the kirk.”
Her jaw dropped at his words. Surely he was jesting, but the sincere light in his eyes told her he spoke the truth. “What?”
“It’s true. Lochlan is at the castle even as we speak, tied to a chair.”
If the situation weren’t so dire, she’d laugh at the image in her head. But this wasn’t funny. Not in the least.
“Och, you men!” she snapped, angered over the thought of what they had done.
“Hate us if you must, but I canna let my brother die any more than you can.”
“Nay, and I couldn’t live with myself if they killed him,” she said quietly.
Leaning her head back, Maggie closed her eyes and shook her head. She was weary and tired and frustrated.