In Bed with a Scot - Bonus Prologue Scene

In Bed with a Scot – Bonus Prologue Scene

1520, Rósmire Castle, Scotland

Madden Kinnaird sat in the library of Rósmire Castle drinking brandy with his best friend, Keelin Macrae. She was visiting her sister, Edith, lady of Rósmire Castle, where Madden was a skilled warrior and advisor to the laird. Edith had married the Laird Braden Hamilton and they had a newborn baby together named Teigue. Keelin had come for the birth and stayed to help her sister.

“Give me yer hand,” Keelin requested.

“My hand?” Madden asked in confusion. “Why dae ye need me hand?”

“There was a gypsy woman at the last gathering from Wick, and she taught me how tae read palms. I want tae read yer future,” Keelin explained.

Madden chuckled. “I doubt that ye will see very much, but if it pleases ye.” He surrendered his hand to her for examination.

Keelin sat looking at his palm for quite a while in silence.

“Is there nothing tae read, lass? Dae I nae have a future?” He asked in jest.

“Haud yer wheesht. This is harder than it looks,” she reprimanded him returning to silence.

At long last, she finally looked up at him with a smile. Madden laughed at the pleased look on her face. “What did ye see that has ye so pleased? Dae I have a future after all?”

“Aye, ye do indeed,” she informed him with a wide smile. “Ye will soon meet the woman who is tae become yer wife.”

“I willnae,” Madden argued, shaking his head. “I have nae interest in marriage at this time.”

“Whether ye have any interest or nae, it is going tae happen. Ye will meet this woman, ye will marry, and ye will have three bouncing bairns,” Keelin argued.

Madden shook his head. He had no interest in finding a wife. When his mother, Elaine, had been ill, he had taken her to France to see a physician that was believed to work miracles. While there, Madden had fallen in love with his mother’s nurse. He had planned to wed the lass, but she had proven unfaithful, as she was married to another. Madden had been heartbroken. Soon thereafter his mother had died, and he had torn through France drinking, whoring, and fighting his way through his grief until a near death experience had awakened him to his foolishness and he had returned to Scotland a different man.

“Life is nae that simple, Kee,” Madden explained with a sigh.

“I did nae say that it would be simple. Ye will have a difficult beginning.”

“What kind of difficulty?”

“I dinnae ken. Yer palm does nae tell me everything. Given yer reputation, ye will probably have yer way with the wrong woman. There is something about being unfaithful that is coming through. I dinnae ken if it is ye or nae. It will all be well in the end as ye find yer truest love, just as yer maither and faither did.”

Madden frowned. “My maither and faither had to flee their own families tae be together. That is how they came tae be here on Hamilton lands. They were never unfaithful tae one another. True happiness can nae be found in infidelity.”

“Ye will see,” Keelin gave him a knowing eye.

“And when dae ye propose that this mystery wife of mine will appear?”

“I am reading yer palm, nae a calendar,” Keelin laughed.

“Ye saw that someone was unfaithful and that was nae in my palm.”

“True,” she nodded. “I will try.” Keeling closed her eyes. She squinted them shut in concentration, then opened them with a wide smile of satisfaction. “Ye will meet her this summer.”

“But it is summer now,” Madden pointed out, laughing. “Where dae ye believe that ye are getting this insight from anyway?”

Keelin shrugged her shoulders. “I dinnae ken from whence it came. I simply felt it. Mayhap it is God, mayhap it is the spirits of our ancestors. It doesnae matter. Ye will meet yer wife this summer.”

“I would nae perform this palm reading fer just anyone, Kee. Ye might be mistaken fer a witch and put tae death.”

“I will be careful. I promise.”

Curiosity got the better of him and he could not help but ask. “And how shall I meet this wife of mine?”

Keelin’s smile took on a mischievous turn. “I dinnae ken, Madden. Maybe the gods will be gracious, and she will fall intae yer lap from the sky.”

The door to the library swung open and the Laird Braden Hamilton entered. He looked at his dearest friend and his sister-in-law with a smile. “Just the two people that I wished tae speak with.”

“Oh?” Madden raised an eyebrow, passing Braden a drink.

Braden took it gratefully and took a sip. “That is good.”

“Aye, it is. It was part of that last batch I brought over from France,” Madden replied.

Braden nodded. “It is on the matter of travel that I wish tae speak with ye. As ye are aware, Keelin will be returning home upon the morrow.”

“Aye,” Madden nodded.

“The man who I had arranged tae escort her has come down with an ague and can nae longer accompany her. I was wondering if ye would be up tae the task.”

Madden nodded. “Aye, I can escort her safely home.”

“I would like tae stop and see me cousin Arran, laird tae the Clan MacKay, on the way home,” Keelin added, looking at them both with hopeful eyes.

“Aye, I believe that we can arrange that,” Madden nodded.

Braden nodded, pleased. “Good. I thank ye, me friend.”

“We can nae entrust her tae just anyone now, can we?” Madden gave Keelin a wink.

Braden shook his head. “Nay, we cannae. She is a braw lass tae be certain. Me wife would have me innards for haggis if anything happened tae her sister.”

“Aye, she would at that,” Keelin laughed at the image his words painted.

Braden nodded. “Speaking of me wife, I am away tae bed. I will see ye both away in the morning.” Braden finished his drink, handed Madden back the glass, then left them to their own devices.

Keelin stood, finishing the last of her drink as well. “I will bid ye a good night as well.”

Madden looked up in surprise. “Ye dinnae usually go tae bed this early,” he remarked.

“I am nae going tae bed,” she retorted with a mischievous smile.

Madden raised a brow in question. “Where are ye going then?”

Keelin threw him a wink. “Aiden.”

Madden laughed. “Ye are going tae drive that poor lad tae madness. Ye have been toying with him and the other lads as if ye were a cat with a mouse from the moment that ye stepped foot in the castle.”

Keelin shrugged. “I dinnae allow any of them tae touch me. Me reputation and virtue are still intact.”

“Heaven help the lad ye finally allow tae kiss ye. The other will be standing in line tae fight him fer the honor.”

Keelin laughed. “Fighting will nae earn a man a kiss from me. It takes a lot more than that tae win me affections.”

“I am afraid tae ask,” Madden laughed in reply shaking his head at her. “Be careful, Kee.”

“I always am,” she replied, then closed the door behind her.

Madden sat in the library alone finishing his drink.

One day she will find her match and neither of them will ken what tae dae with the other.

Thinking about finding a spouse reminded him of Keelin’s predictions. He looked down at his hand, studying the lines of his palm and wondered whether anything she had said was true. He could not help but wonder if there truly was a woman waiting for him in the near future or if it had all been in Keelin’s imagination. Shaking his head, he downed his drink and stood to ready himself for the next day’s journey. “True or nae, I have nae need of a wife.”

***

The next morning, Madden and Keelin set out on horseback after having bid Braden and Edith farewell. The sisters had exchanged hugs and tears.

“Come back soon,” Edith instructed her sister.

“I will.”

Braden gave his sister-in-law a hug. “We thank ye fer coming tae help with the bairn. It meant a lot tae yer sister.”

“Always,” Keelin replied, giving him a squeeze, then had mounted her horse and rode through the gates.

As they rode out of the castle courtyard, Madden started laughing.

“What are you laughing about?” Keelin asked, sniffling and wiping the tears from her cheeks.

Braden shook his head. “I am nae laughing at ye, Kee. I am laughing at the poor men standing on the ramparts that look like they have been gut punched.”

Keelin looked back at the men that he was referring to. Sure enough, every last one of the men that she had flirted with were standing on guard duty looking as if someone had stolen their favorite horse. Chuckling, she turned back towards the road. “They will recover.”

Braden snorted. “Nae likely.”

They rode on in companionable silence, stopping to take care of the horses’ and their own needs along the way. The journey went blessedly without incident. When night fell, they stopped at a village inn and arranged for two rooms and a meal. When Keelin went to bed early, tired from the ride and emotionally drained from having to leave her sister behind once more, Madden, restless and unable to sleep, went for a walk.

And all he could think about was the mystery woman he was supposed to meet just about… now.