Part 14 (2/2)

She frowned. ”What does that mean?”

He let go of her hand before he started forward. ”I need a wife at my side who will be steadfast and clearheaded. One who is intelligent and calm-spirited. I don't want someone who will cause conflict in my home or with my clan, but rather a wife who can shoulder her burdens without complaint.”

Cat cringed at what he described. ”You speak of her as if she's a horse. You seek a broodmare perhaps?”

He gave her a hostile glare. ”Nay. While I hope the Lord sees fit to give me children, there is never any guarantee of that. In the event we are childless, I need a wife who is an a.s.set to my clan, not a hindrance.”

While that made sense, it didn't answer her original question. ”But what of you the man, Lochlan? What do you seek in a woman?”

Lochlan glanced away from her probing stare as unnamed emotions choked him. He wanted what his brothers had. He wanted a woman who could hold him at night and stand by his side during the day. A woman who would love him and cherish him. One whose very presence made his day brighter.

But he would never find that and he knew it, so there was no need even to think about such things. His place was to care for others, not have them care for him. His needs weren't important. Only those of his family and people.

However, she didn't want to hear that. So he posed the same question to her. ”Tell me what you want, Catarina? What kind of man would make your heart fly?”

Her eyes were sad and tinged by the same loneliness he felt so often. ”There is no man for me.”

”But if there were...what would he be like?”

When she didn't answer right away, he gave her a knowing smile. ”It's not so easy to answer, now is it?”

A tiny smile teased the corner of her lips. ”Point well taken, my lord. And you're right. I don't know who that man might be. But I know it's not the obnoxiously spoiled prince my father would see me marry.”

And he could well understand that.

”Lochlan!”

Lochlan turned at the sound of a familiar voice. It wasn't until he saw the tall auburn-haired man that he realized who was calling him. It was his brother Sin's foster brother and friend. ”Simon,”

he said, extending his arm to the man as he joined them.

Simon shook it and clapped him on the back. ”Long time since our paths last crossed, my friend.

How is everyone?”

”Doing very well, and you?”

Simon looked a bit sheepish. ”Aside from the fact my wife is pregnant again and can't get comfortable when she sits and has no compunction about letting me know it and sharing said pain, we're all doing remarkably well.”

Lochlan smiled before he realized that he hadn't introduced them. ”Lord Simon of Anwyk meet...Cat.”

Cat arched a brow as Lochlan shortened her name for the first time. It actually made sense. The last thing they needed was to have someone recognize her or hear her name and become suspicious.

She didn't know who Simon was, but he seemed an amiable enough fellow. ”Lord Simon, 'tis an honor to meet you.”

He gave her a courtly bow. ”And you, my lady.” He looked back and forth between them expectantly.

”We're friends,” she explained.

”I see.” But by his tone she could tell he was still trying to figure out their relations.h.i.+p.

Deciding to divert his attention, Cat asked a question of her own. ”And how is it the two of you know one another?”

”Simon was the foster brother to my brother Sin and he's Sin's best friend,” Lochlan explained.

Simon gave her a charming smile. ”Aye. I have the scars to prove it.”

She arched a brow at his light tone over such a matter. ”Scars?”

Still Simon's eyes twinkled merrily. ”Hanging around Sin MacAllister and Stryder of Blackmoor can be quite hazardous to one's health. As I said, I have quite the collection of scars to prove it.”

She laughed. ”So you're friend to Stryder as well. How interesting. He is the reason we're here.”

”Aye,” he said laughing, ”Stryder is the one who told me Lochlan was here. He said you were seeking news of your brother Kieran.”

Lochlan nodded. ”Lord Stryder has agreed to see us to the Scot once the tourney ends to see if he is Kieran.”

Cat was a bit confused by Simon's ignorance. ”If you were so close to Lochlan's brother Sin, how did you not know that Kieran was Sin's brother?”

”Family trees are seldom uncomplicated, my lady. At the time I knew Sin, I knew he was half- Scot, but never once in those days did he mention his family name at all. I knew nothing of the MacAllisters really from him until I'd returned from Outremer. Perhaps I should have made the connection then, but I, as everyone, a.s.sumed Kieran was dead and the two MacAllisters we knew in prison very seldom spoke to me of other brothers.” He indicated Lochlan with a tilt of his head. ”Lochlan was the only one they mentioned by name and, unfortunately, that name is rather common in the Highlands. I thought nothing of it until today.”

It was sad to think he'd been that close to all of them and had never known. But then that was the way of life at times. ”Having known them all so well, can you tell us if the Scot is Kieran MacAllister?”

Simon pa.s.sed a sympathetic look to Lochlan. ”I don't know any more than Stryder does. We buried the one brother and brought the other back to England. The one who survived would never speak a name. Then again, he seldom speaks at all. For the longest time we thought him mute from his injuries.”

She cringed at the thought of the pain he must have known to be so altered. ”What happened to them that night?”

”Honestly we don't know. Again, whatever became of them when they stayed behind was never told. But it must have been horrible indeed. Neither of them was ever the kind of man to s.h.i.+rk from anything. And G.o.d and his saints know that I saw them survive things no man should suffer. I don't even want to contemplate what it was that finally broke the Scot.”

She looked at Lochlan, who remained silent, but she knew what he must be thinking. Kieran had indeed s.h.i.+rked from his family. He'd run from them all into a h.e.l.l unimaginable. It made her want to touch him, but she knew he wouldn't welcome that.

Instead, Lochlan paused as if considering something. ”Simon? Could I impose upon you to watch over Cat for a brief time? There's a matter I need to attend to.”

”Absolutely.”

”My thanks.”

Cat scowled at him as he walked away. ”Well that was certainly abrupt.”

”Were you two fighting?”

”Nay. I thought we were getting along famously...especially for us.”

Simon shrugged. ”Perhaps he had to rush to the privy.”

She laughed at his unexpected comment. ”Possibly. You were raised around all men, weren't you?”

<script>