“You’ll not show our laird such disrespect. Any man who goes against my brother will answer to me.”
Bowen stepped forward, sword drawn. “And to me.”
“And me,” Douglas said quietly.
One by one his senior men-at-arms stepped forward to stand at Graeme’s side.
“ ’Tis time you stop acting like children,” Douglas said in a firm voice. “Robert Montgomery would be shamed by his clan’s treatment of the laird’s wife. He would never condone such hatred of a woman innocent of any wrongdoing save being born into an enemy clan. ’Tis Eveline’s only sin. I’ve seen with my own eyes her effort to make the best of a distasteful situation. ’Tis time for the rest of you to open your eyes and your minds and rid yourself of such senseless hatred.”
“You’ll show her respect or suffer the consequences,” Graeme vowed. “Now go about your duties and think on all I’ve said and make your choice. I will show no more leniency, as God is my witness.”
His clansmen scattered as they hastened to go about their duties. Several of the women went away, their faces ravaged by tears. He had no sympathy, though. All he had to do was think on Eveline’s ravaged hands and fury raged through him all over again.
“ ’Tis done,” Bowen said quietly. “They’ll not disobey you again. Not when you’ve made the consequences abundantly clear.”
Graeme nodded. “Aye, ’tis done. I’ll not go back on my word.”
Teague nodded. “Aye, I know it.”
Graeme stared over at his brother. “But you don’t agree.”
Teague slowly shook his head. “I saw what their actions have wrought. I’m as disgusted as you at their treatment of the lass. She does not deserve the treatment she has recevied. I fear they’ve crushed her spirit. I did not like what I saw in her eyes when she realized all that had been done.”
Graeme’s stomach knotted. He hadn’t liked what he’d seen in Eveline’s eyes either, and he only prayed that he’d not stepped in too late.
“She said she wanted to go home,” Bowen said quietly. “ ’Twas the last thing she said before she left the table in the hall.”
Graeme cursed and curled his fingers into a tight fist.
“Graeme!”
Graeme looked up to see Rorie pushing by several clansmen in her bid to leave the entrance to the keep. She hurried up, a frown marring her face.
“Where is Eveline? I went to summon her for our first lesson and I cannot find her anywhere.”
Graeme frowned. “She was just in the hall not so long ago. Did you check her chamber?”
Rorie nodded. “Aye, of course I did. I even looked from the tower to the bend in the river. ’Tis one of her favorite places to visit. But I saw no sign of her.”
“She left the keep from the back entrance,” Bowen said. “She said she had need of fresh air. I assumed she’d walk where she so often walks when she leaves the keep.”
“Return to your lesson, Rorie,” Graeme ordered. “I’ll go in search of Eveline.”
“Do you want Teague and me to help you search?” Bowen asked.
Graeme paused a moment. “Nay, ’tis likely she’s not far. I’ll summon you if I need help. I need … I need to speak to her. She was upset by all that has occurred.”
Teague and Bowen nodded their understanding.
“She’s a good lass,” Teague said gruffly. “Seeing her hands … seeing the hurt in her eyes was more than I could bear.”
Graeme’s lips tightened. “Aye, ’tis more than I can bear either and I’ll not allow her to be hurt this way again, even if it means punishing every single person who disobeys me.”
CHAPTER 34
After a cursory search of the area immediately surrounding the keep, Graeme’s stomach tightened into a knot and he went for his horse. Deciding they would cover more ground if his brothers did indeed aid him after all, he sent them to the north while he rode behind the keep in the direction of the river.
He nearly missed her as he topped a rise that overlooked the Armstrong border in the distance. She was hunched down in a patch of wildflowers, her knees hugged to her chest as she stared in the direction of her family’s lands.
She presented a forlorn sight, her gaze distant as her hair lifted and blew in the breeze. She hadn’t seen him and he didn’t want to frighten her by approaching on horseback.
He rode as far as he dared and then quickly dismounted, leaving his horse to graze while he strode toward Eveline.
Her chin rested atop her knees and as he neared, he could see the tracks on her cheeks left by her tears. He let out a savage curse, anger billowing through him all over again.
For a moment he stood, watching her, suddenly unsure of himself. What could he say to her? How could he possibly make right all the wrongs that had been done to her?
He’d seen something in her eyes at the table when she’d realized that she never should have been tasked with bringing in heavy logs for the fires in the hall and that the women had been purposely giving her impossible tasks in their bid to make her feel foolish and unwanted. Something he’d never seen before in her expression.
He’d seen resignation.
She’d faced the situation she’d been forced into with resiliency that surprised Graeme and made him respect her all the more. It would have been a simple matter for her to be resentful, for her to have harbored as much hatred for him and his kin as they did of her.
But she’d done none of those things. She’d tried very hard to fit in with her new clan. And in return her effort had been thrown back in her face.