Claimed by a Highland Knight: Scottish Medieval Highlander Romance Read online

  He had gone to bed somewhat comforted by the honesty of the maid Lilia's words. Uielam asked because he knew she would not lie. She had never been swayed by his position before so she would not lie about what she thought. It was good to know that not everyone believed that he was being allowed to win, but he wanted to convince everyone.

  In the time he had spent awake, he had been trying to find a way to perform this task. The only thing that he could come up with was to attend the tournament disguised as someone else. If nobody knew who he was, they would compete with him in the usual manner. After he won, he would then reveal himself and shock everyone.

  If he successfully carried out that plan, then no one would ever be able to claim that he was being allowed to win. He could already see it in his mind, the shocked faces of all those who spoke ill of him as they realized that the jouster who dominated the competition was none other than their Younger.

  He gritted his teeth as he thought of the soldier he had beaten the day before. He would need to talk to his father to have the man dismissed along with demoting Commander Carlow.

  Would it be better to punish them before or after I prove meself?

  He was still pondering this and enjoying the gratification when he heard the door to his room open. He turned, curious as to who it could be that early and tied his robe to keep it from flapping open and displaying his nakedness.

  "Uielam?" he heard as he began to walk back into his room, and he relaxed, realizing that it was just Osgar. He met his friend standing by the door with a questioning expression on his face.

  "May yer mornin' be merry to ye, why dae ye look so confused?" he asked as he stood by his bed.

  "Aye, May yer mornin' be merry, I was surprised to find ye out of bed so early," Osgar responded, walking into the room to meet him. Uielam rolled his eyes. It was true that he usually did not wake up early unless he absolutely needed to.

  "Ye are also here quite early considerin' the fact that ye ken I usually wake up late. Why did ye come? Did ye mean to wake me?" he asked, motioning for Osgar to follow him to the balcony.

  "I did mean to wake ye," Osgar admitted as they walked back out into the sun and leaned against the balustrade. "I came to find out what had irked ye yesterday, I was surprised to find ye gone by the time I came to watch the practice and Miller told me that ye had left in annoyance. I meant to come to find ye, but it was late evenin' by the time I was finished with me duties, so I decided I would find ye this mornin'."

  Uielam grunted in response to his best friend's explanation. It made sense that Miller would tell Osgar that he had been annoyed; he was closer to Osgar even though he worked for Uielam. He could feel his friend's gaze studying his face as he watched the romantic hues of the sunrise fade into the usual blue of the sky.

  "It would seem that ye truly had been bothered by somethin', enough to have woken ye so early. What happened?" Osgar asked.

  Uielam turned to him, blinking at the simple sincerity in his friend's eyes. Osgar's loyalty was unmatched; he knew this to be true. His friend would always look out for him. It was because he knew this that he spoke.

  "Did ye ken that the soldiers were sayin' that I am nae good at joustin' and that they let me win because I am heir to the Laird?"

  He watched the realization sink into Osgar's expression as his friend pressed his palm to his forehead. He knew it; of course, Osgar had heard it. There were many things that Osgar found out about and kept from him or dealt with behind his back because he wished to avoid the problems they would cause him.

  "Goodness, I thought I ended that rumor in its tracks…" Osgar complained, pinching the bridge of his nose.

  "Ah? Well, it seems they have discreetly continued to slander me despite whatever actions ye took to stop them," Uielam snorted.

  "Ye ken that all they are sayin' is nonsense dae ye nae? Just the jealous babblin’ of those who wish they were like ye. There is nae need to pay them any mind, not to mention, to lose sleep over them," Osgar said in an attempt to appease Uielam, who he already knew would not let it go.

  "Too late," Uielam announced, "ye ken me better than that me friend."

  To this, Osgar only sighed regretfully, leaning against the balustrade again.

  "I suppose that ye have come up with a mad idea to deal with these rumors,” he said with another sigh, causing Uielam to grin.

  "I am going to enter the tournament in disguise! If no one knows who I am, they will compete with me normally, and when I win, they will all agree that it is by merit. Once they begin to cheer, I will remove me disguise, and they will be so shocked that their eyes will nearly fall from their sockets," Uielam explained, his grin widening as he thought through his plan again.

  Osgar raised a finger, still staring over at the sky and not looking at Uielam.

  "Not to poke holes in yer plans, but may I just point out a few things I daenae think ye thought of. First, yer faither, how will ye explain yer absence at the tournament? In fact, I believe everyone will wonder. Second, who are ye goin' to pretend to be? Ye cannae just appear from nowhere and be allowed to participate," Osgar said.

  Uielam groaned, having already expected Osgar to criticize his plan and find all the weak spots. However, since Osgar was loyal to him, he usually had solutions for his criticisms, and if there were no solutions, he had new ideas ready to get Uielam what he wanted.

  "Ye have a way to remedy this, dae ye nae?" he asked expectantly while Osgar tapped his finger in thought.

  "I am considerin' it." His friend murmured absently, mulling it over. "There are many things to sort out, the harder I think about it."

  At this point, Uielam could only wait expectantly. It was best to allow Osgar to think. His friend's mind worked very quickly and thoroughly, making him the perfect strategist.

  "Alright, I think I have an idea to deal with the first problem," Osgar announced, making Uielam perk up.

  “Alright then, what’s the plan?” Uielam asked, unable to keep the eagerness out of his voice.

  “We ken that yer faither willnae be easily deceived, nor will he agree for ye to carry out this ruse if he ken of it. So we need to give him a half-truth. There has been some news of raids in the Southern borders of the clan. I had been meanin’ to see yer faither and ask him for permission to dispatch a few soldiers to deal with the problem, but now I am glad that I didnae dae so,” Osgar said, beginning to pace as he spoke.

  “This is the perfect opportunity. I will tell yer faither of the threat; it is small enough that he should nae worry for yer safety, while at the same time large enough that yer presence wouldnae be unnecessary. Ye will ask for permission to take yer soldiers and go there personally to put an end to the irritating brigands,” he finished.

  Uielem cocked his head to the side, considering it.

  “And I am guessin’ that I will nae truly go, correct? I mean, the southern borders are a little too far to travel there and return in time to sneak into the tournament,” he added, and Osgar agreed.

  “Aye, of course, ye will nae go. We will send trusted men to get the job done while ye find a place to hide around here that nay-one would suspect, and partake in the tournament secretly. That is as much of a plan as we have right now. I will need a day to come up with the rest of it,” Osgar said.

  Movement in the courtyard below caught Uielam’s eye, and he shielded his eyes from the sun, enabling him to see better.

  “Is that Lilia?” he asked Osgar, who also looked over the balcony to watch the maid cross the courtyard, basket in hand as she approached the castle gates.

  “Aye, that is indeed the maid,” Osgar said absently. “Ye are usually asleep by this time, so it makes sense that ye havenae seen her leave before.”

  Uielam turned to his best friend with a frown. “Seen her leave? Where is she goin’?” He asked.

  Osgar blinked at him, looking quite surprised at the question even as Lilia exchanged greetings with the castle guards and crossed the gates.

  “Surely ye
jest. Lilia doesnae live on the castle grounds, she has her own home, so on days when she is nae workin’, she returns home to her cottage nae too far from here,” Osgar explained. “I ken this because me sister is close to her, but I expected that ye would ken since ye have some interest in the lass.”

  Uielam had not known at all. He had thought that Lilia lived in the castle, like all the other maids, and simply made herself scarce when she was not on duty. It was surprising to find out that she left the castle when she was not needed. Osgar was shaking his head.

  “Yer attentions are truly fleetin’. And to think this lass is the only one ye have maintained an interest in for so long,” his friend said, judging him. Uielam frowned.

  “I remember her name, ye ken! That is a lot more than I can say for the rest, and she isnae even noble-born,” he defended himself, but that only made Osgar’s expression turn even more judgemental. Uielam laughed, giving up on defending himself, but then he got another idea.

  “Ye said that I will need to find a place to hide while everyone believes that I have left for the southern borders, did ye nae?” he asked, making Osgar’s eyes narrow suspiciously.

  “Aye… Where are ye goin’ with this?” His friend asked, sensing that he was about to come up with another crazy plan.

  “I have found me a perfect hidin’ place; Lilia’s home,” he announced, and Osgar pinched the bridge of his nose again.

  “There it is. I ken that ye would say somethin’ nigh on to impossible,” his friend murmured tiredly. Uielam threw his arms open,

  “Oh daenae dae that, ye ken that this is perfect, nay one would expect it,” he argued. Osgar nodded,

  “Aye, nay one would expect it, but there is also the question of how ye would get the maid to agree to allow ye to use her home. She has ignored all of yer advances since the very beginning, what makes ye think that she will agree to this?” Osgar asked.

  “We will have to give her more gold than she can refuse. Besides, this is nae an advance, I am simply in need of shelter and borrowin’ her home. She can consider it payment and pretend that her home is an inn,” he said.

  Osgar continued to blink at him with a deadpan expression, clearly not convinced, but then he shook his head.

  “Alright then, since that is what ye want, we will attempt it. If she rejects the offer, it will nae be for lack of tryin’. Get dressed, will ye? And decide how much gold ye are willing to spend on this endeavor. I will be lookin’ into the details of the rest of the plan, so come find me when ye have decided,” Osgar announced, turning to walk away. “We will visit yer maid and see what she thinks of this arrangement.”

  Chapter Four

  Lilia let out a contented sigh as she stepped into her home. In one movement, she removed her cloak and hung it in its place beside the door. Stepping further inside, she dropped the basket she was holding on her dining table and began to wrap her hair up into a bun.

  Every week she worked four days in the castle and got to spend three days in her own home. This meant that her house stayed unattended for four days every week, so whenever she returned, the first thing she did was clean and tend to her home.

  She grabbed the broom by the kitchen door and busied herself with the cleaning, humming as she worked. Her home was so quiet that it would be lonely if she lived in it all the time, but since she alternated between it and the castle, she did not really notice the downsides of living alone, and instead, her home became a haven she could return to after the working week.

  She made quick work of the sweeping and dusting before going outside to weed the unwanted plants in front of her home. The simple routine helped to clear her mind and put her in a positive mood.

  Finally done with all of the work that she needed to do, she went back inside and got out the goat cheese she had bought on her way home before sitting at her table and taking out one of the loaves of bread she had brought from the castle. The cook was a nice woman and made sure to give her a basket full of bread every week when she knew she would be going home.

  Her breakfast of goats cheese and bread was downed quickly, and she went into her bedroom to change into a simple shift while she took her other clothes out to hang in the sun so that they wouldn’t smell. With all of her chores done, she was finally able to throw herself on her bed with a contented smile, letting her hair fall out of the bun atop her head.

  To a lot of people, the way she was living appeared strange. She did not have anyone she considered a friend except for Flora Abernathy, who was a noblewoman. Unlike everyone else, she did not have childhood friends in the clan since she had grown up in England. This also meant there was no romance in her life unless she chose to count the occasional mindless flirting from Uielam Younger.

  The thought made her laugh at how bleak her situation was. While she worked with the other maids, they were always talking about their love lives. In fact, they had been doing this since they were teenagers, but these days it was more serious as they considered which men would make good husbands. The Younger was only a passing fancy, a beautiful man to make their bellies flutter, but not someone any of them would ever dream of falling in love with.

  She could not help but feel stupid as, despite knowing better, she was in love with Uielam. Perhaps she would be able to take her mind off him if someone else came along. If that did not happen, then she would end up unmarried and lonely. Flora had offered to find her a man before, but she had turned down the offer. The way that things were going, she might need to ask for her help meeting someone after all.

  She was still mulling over those thoughts when a knock on her front door startled her. She paused in thought, Flora had not mentioned that she would be coming over. There was no one else who visited her cottage, so who could it possibly be at her door?

  At the second knock, she hurried to her feet and went to the door, yanking it open. To her utter surprise, she came face to face with Osgar Abernathy with his hand mid-air, clearly in-between knocks. He gave her a polite smile and put his hand down.

  “Good mornin’, Lilia,” he greeted. It took a moment before she could get over the shock of finding him at her door and gather her thoughts. She bowed quickly.

  “Me apologies, good mornin’, Master Abernathy… to what dae I owe the pleasure?” she asked.

  Osgar simply pressed his lips together and lowered his head before stepping aside and holding out his arm, allowing for Uielam to step out from where he was obviously lying in wait. Her jaw dropped as The Younger gave her a disarming grin.

  “Are ye surprised, Lilia? We are here to give ye the pleasure of me presence,” he announced.

  Not knowing how to react, Lilia stood there like a gaping fish. Never in all of her wildest dreams had she imagined that Uielam The Younger, with his golden blond hair, bright blue eyes, dazzling smile, and massive ego would be on her doorstep.

  “Well, her reaction is a lot less excitin’ than ye had foreseen, Osgar,” Uielam said, turning to his friend when she spent a few more seconds staring blankly. Osgar sighed.

  “I ken that this is quite the surprise, but if ye will just let us step in for a moment…” Osgar prompted, waving his arm towards the house behind her. This snapped her out of her shock and she moved to the side and motioned into the house,

  “Ah, please dae come in,” she said, allowing Osgar to slip past her and step in.

  Uielam did the same, but less quickly than Osgar did, causing her to stiffen from how close his body was to hers as he leaned down to study her face in the doorway. She was very aware of how long his lashes were as he looked down through them at her and how soft his lips looked when he took a corner between his teeth in thought.

  “I believe this is the first time I have seen ye so relaxed, Lilia, it suits ye,” he said before stepping past her. The short interaction had her heart pounding in her chest as she shut the door. Of course, she was relaxed, she was supposed to be alone, and they had caught her completely by surprise.

  She turned to find both men
standing in the center of the room, their eyes flitting all over the place as they accessed her home. She was forced to follow their gazes and looked over the room with the eyes of a stranger. As she had just finished her chores, the place was spotless and perfectly arranged.

  The basket of bread she had brought from the castle was in the middle of her table, and her two dining stools were on either side. On the wall, a shelf of pots and wooden bowls and cups sat where she put them after the last time she had cooked.

  At the other end of the room, she had her mother’s rocking chair, and sewing table with rolls of yarn arranged. Nothing was out of place, thankfully. However, she could not guess what they saw when they looked at her house because they both lived in much better homes. She held her head up regardless. Her cottage could not hold a candle to their homes, but it was hers, and she was proud of it.