CLAIMED BY A HIGHLANDER (THE DOUGLAS LEGACY Book 2) by Margaret Mallory

wielded the chieftain’s power. Loyalty ran deep for him in the west, where he had spent years leading battles against the MacDonalds. His support here in Eastern Ross was not as strong, so he made the journey as often as he could to shore it up.
    “I believe the chieftain is using his chamber,” someone said, snapping Hector’s attention as he started for the keep.
    “He isn’t here,” Hector said. “I left him at Eilean Donan Castle.”
    “He rode in yesterday, without his usual guard, and rode off again,” the man said. “We assumed he would be back…”
    Big Duncan, who was supposed to be at Eilean Donan watching over Brian, emerged from the keep. He would not have disobeyed Hector’s orders without good reason. A short time later, they were ensconced in the laird’s private meeting room secreted behind the hall.
    “The same day you left, Brian rode out of Eilean Donan with only a handful of men. I followed them. Brian was in a hurry, traveling fast, in the same direction as you.”
    “How did he pass me and my men without us seeing him?”
    “When he came to Loch Ness, he took the trail along the far shore through Fraser lands to avoid you.”
    Hector poured himself a cup of whisky from the decanter on the side table and drank it down. His worries about Rory paled in comparison to the prospect of Brian turning on him.
    “He must have come here to Eastern Ross to look for Rory,” Hector said. “But why now, weeks after Rory disappeared? And if Brian is not here at Castle Leod, where is he?”
    “He rode straight out to Killin to see his half-sister, Agnes’s daughter.”
    “I know whose damned daughter she is.” Hector poured himself another drink.
    So the girl still lived at Killin, the farm Rory inherited from his mother. Killin was a humble abode compared to the MacKenzie castles, but it had always been Agnes’s favorite home. One day Hector would take it from Rory.
    In truth, he had forgotten about the girl, which was a waste of a valuable asset. She had been a useless child when Hector first gained control of the clan, but she would be of marriageable age now. If she had half her mother’s beauty, she would be valuable as a bride.
    “According to the servant we have at Killin,” Big Duncan said, “Brian told her he’d found something that proved Rory was right about everything.”
    “Curse him!” Hector pounded his fist on the table. This was getting worse and worse. “What did he find out?” It could be any of a number of things.
    “Brian refused to tell her. Said he feared it would endanger her.”
    “No matter what Brian thinks he knows, he won’t have the bollocks to act on it without Rory,” Hector said. “I’ll bring him back into the fold. I’ll fetch him from Killin myself.”
    Hector refilled his cup again and drained it. He had not entered that house, his brother’s wedding gift to Agnes, since the day she had refused him for the last time.
    “He’s not at Killin any longer,” Big Duncan said. “He left MacKenzie lands, headed south with his cousin Farquhar Mackintosh and a guard of only a half-dozen warriors.”
    “Christ!”
    Brian knew he would be in danger if he left MacKenzie lands. The last king held the sons of Highland chieftains in Edinburgh to ensure their fathers’ loyalty. After two years, Brian and his cousin escaped, a daring act that Hector suspected Rory organized.
    So long as Brian stayed on MacKenzie territory, the crown would not touch him. The MacKenzie clan was powerful, and the crown needed them to keep the ever-rebellious MacDonalds in check. Besides that, the king who issued the edict was dead, and the regent had far greater concerns now. Still, there was a warrant for Brian’s arrest, so why would he tempt fate by going to Edinburgh?
    What could be so important? A cold chill settled over Hector. His own support in the clan was so great that Brian could not remove him without royal backing.
    Hector reached inside his shirt to rub his