Highlanders Collection. Ann Lethbridge

she heard Cora and Elizabeth laugh at the sight of so many people and animals and stalls. She’d chosen to ride her horse and followed Tavis’s order to stay next to him at all times. With so many things to look at, it was difficult not to get diverted, but Tavis soon led them to a quieter street when the buildings were spread out from each other. They stopped before an inn and Tavis helped her, then the others, down. Young Dougal guided the wagon around the wooden inn to the yard where they would secure it for the night.

      Though she probably looked like a peasant, Tavis made certain that the MacLerie name and title eased the way to the best room for them. He stayed with them while they found their chamber and waited for Iain to bring in the satchels they prepared for this stay. A bath was promised and Ciara imagined how good it would feel to soak in a tub of steaming water as they climbed the stairs to the upper level that held but two small bedchambers.

      ‘One is for you and Elizabeth, the other for Cora and our trunks,’ Tavis explained as the other men began to carry their supplies past them. ‘And the innkeeper will set up the bath in here.’ Once they were done, Ciara gained Tavis’s attention.

      ‘Can we walk around a bit after getting settled here? There were so many interesting things to see,’ she asked.

      ‘Did you see the stalls as we passed?’ Elizabeth asked. ‘It would be such a treat to visit them.’

      She and Elizabeth named several more places and people who’d caught their eye as they rode in and Tavis just watched in silence, turning back and forth between them as they spoke. Then he held his hand up, stopping them. Though she had travelled with her parents to cities like Glasgow and Edinburgh, Elizabeth had not. This trip was a treat for her and Ciara wanted her friend to enjoy all that she could.

      ‘Aye,’ Tavis finally said. ‘Since it is not yet overwhelmed for the Michaelmas tryst, it is safe enough to walk. Finish seeing to your comfort and I will tell the men.’

      Their excitement even spread to the usually calm Cora, who had a few coins with her to buy something that appealed to her. Elizabeth and Ciara both had small purses, too, and permission to buy what they needed or wanted, so it should be an enjoyable few hours.

      And it was. The three men who walked with them had joined in the enthusiasm and made suggestions for purchases. It was a surprise to Ciara for she worried that they would keep to themselves as Tavis had done these last days. They arrived back at the inn just as supper was served. The lively conversation and good, hot, well-flavoured food all lent itself to a pleasant evening among people she’d known almost all of her life.

      A fitting way to end her life with the MacLeries before beginning one with the Murrays.

      Was she destined to be passed from one family to another? Was she wanting in some way that no clan wanted to keep her? She remembered little of her time with her mother’s family. The last half-score of years with the MacLeries were all she knew. But most of that time was grooming her to make her appealing to some other clan. Never was a marriage discussed or offered that would allow her to remain in Lairig Dubh—the only place she knew as home.

      Trying to push away the maudlin feelings that threatened to overwhelm her, she looked around and noticed that most of all the other inhabitants at the inn had gone off to their rest, so Ciara and Elizabeth sought theirs. The steaming bath, scented with oil Cora had packed away, eased the aches and pains in her body, but not the one in her heart. Tears tracked down her cheeks to blend into the water around her. Silent tears for the loss. Tears for what could never be.

      Worse, she now realised that Tavis had been correct—she had played at loving him all those years. Childish worship, all of it. Now, now when she’d thought she’d moved on and was ready to accept that he did not share her feelings, he did.

      ‘Damn him!’ she whispered, hitting the water with clenched fists and sending some in a cascade over the edge. ‘Damn him.’

      And damn her foolish, now grown-up heart.

       Chapter Seven

      The road leading into Perth from Crieff grew crowded and Tavis kept their small party together as they moved along the way. A royal burgh, Perth was the centre for trade with many other countries across the sea on the Continent. Due to the establishment of so many religious orders in towns nearby, Perth drew pilgrims as well.

      The English King Edward had captured it. Robert the Bruce took it back. This left Perth with the strongest stone defences in Scotland now, which were visible as they moved ever closer. A high wall with many towers surrounded it now and they would pass through one of the gates soon. Tavis planned to stop for a meal there before continuing through and to the south-east to reach the Murrays’ lands.

      Although connected by past generations of marriages and purchase and kinship to the ancient Highland mormaers of Moireabh and of Atholl, the lowland branch of the family that Ciara was marrying into was distant in location, wealth and power. Connor believed this match would be good for the clan MacLerie in order to gain access to the important ports of Perth and Dundee, so that was all that truly mattered.

      With the weather co-operating, they should reach their destination by mid-day. Ciara and Elizabeth’s excitement as they travelled through the city forced a smile from him more times than he would like to admit. They would be able to visit here often once Ciara married the Murray heir.

      At least it would be easier than seeing her day in and out in Lairig Dubh. Calling on his honour and hers, seeing the dark abyss of possibilities opening before them and then stepping back from that edge had a sobering effect for him. It made it easier to let her go.

      He would have to remind himself of that every day and night from now on. For now, he would see her safely on. He’d sent young Dougal ahead to the Murrays to tell of their arrival. Once they stopped for food on the other side of Perth, it would be a direct ride from there.

      ‘You seem caught in your thoughts, Tavis,’ she said now, riding next to him. ‘Is all well?’

      Startled by her nearness, he shook his head. ‘All is well.’

      ‘Have you been here before?’ she asked, never taking her eyes from the street or the people making their way along it.

      ‘Once, many years ago with your father.’ They skirted a group of people examining the wares in the stalls here in the wool district. ‘We were heading to Edinburgh and to meet with the king’s ministers about a trade agreement. We passed through here and on to Dundee and then by ship down to Edinburgh. You will like being closer to the sea, Ciara.’

      Where the hell had that come from? Good Christ! Would these bits of things remembered about her never cease? She’d always liked the water. Boats.

      ‘James said his home is north of the Tay, before it widens to the sea.’

      ‘Your father travels to Edinburgh several times a year. It would not be difficult or far for him to visit you here,’ he offered.

      ‘He is not my father, Tavis.’

      The words made him tense his body and his horse shifted in reaction, pushing them closer to Ciara. She was able to keep hers under control and guided them a pace aside to avoid bumping.

      ‘He raised you as his own, Duncan did.’ Safe words since it was commonly known that she was his wife’s child.

      ‘If I lasted five years with the Robertsons and just more than ten years with the MacLeries, do you think the Murrays will keep me longer?’

      His breath caught at her disclosure and at the sense of hurt and abandonment behind them. Lord Iain’s words about her knowledge of her father came back to him and he now saw her curiosity and her accomplishments in a different way.

      She was not the confident young woman who had come to him in the night to propose a marriage to him. She was instead an insecure girl who did her best in the hopes of making