name for you. The situation would be odd not to have one in mind when Catriona comes to call. But we can think on the matter later. ‘Tis time to break our fast. You shall sit by me and tell me all the foods that you favor.”
Two days . In so much time, he hoped the lass and he could learn enough about each other to play the game. Two days . The time left would have to suffice then Catriona would no doubt give up her procrastination and accept his hand in marriage.
Ian waved another missive. “And this came also, my laird. The missive is from Eanruig.”
James read the message, his blood boiling. More sheep had been stolen near the MacNeill border. Blood littered the heather, and the plants trampled mightily as if a mighty battle had been waged. None of the MacNeill living nearby had seen or heard anything because they had been attending a wedding feast in one of the villages too far away. And none of the clansmen were missing. Eanruig surmised it would not have been the sheep’s blood because the raiders liked to keep the meat on the hoof until they needed it.
The situation was more than strange. Particularly since no bodies were left behind. Although if the Dunbartons had lost a man or two, they would have taken their wounded or dead with them. Still, who had fought them if none of his own people had died, been injured, were missing, or owned up to fighting the Dunbartons?
Intending to discover more about the situation, he kissed Eilis’s hand and led her back to her chamber. He had meant to stay with her longer and learn more about her, but Dunbarton was wreaking havoc on his lands once more, and James would stand for none of it. The time had come to discover what had happened at the Macneill lands bordering Dunbarton’s again.
****
Like before, James and his men could find no sign of anyone along his boundary with Dunbarton’s. Although he questioned his people again, they all offered the same story. None were in the area when the thieving occurred. Unsure as to what to think of the situation, James and the party returned to Craigly Castle to partake of the supper.
By the time James and Eilis sat at the high table overlooking the rest of the tables set up in long rows stretching outward from the dais that eve, the sconces were lighted, and the smell of tallow filled the hall.
Lady Akira gave Eilis a gracious smile and took her seat next to her while James sat on the other side of her. “We have good news, aye? That Catriona will soon be here?” Lady Akira asked.
Eilis didn’t think it was good news, rather, that she could not pull this off. And what was more, she kept feeling it was the second time she’d had to live such a lie. But as much as she tried to recall the circumstances of her past life, she came up empty.
“My son says we must come up with a clan name to make your own.”
“MacNeill,” Eilis said quickly. She thought she had heard the MacNeill were an affable lot, though she remembered hearing they were thought of as being prideful. She didn’t think her clan had ever had any trouble with them.
“MacNeill,” she repeated, hoping God wouldn’t strike her down for lying. Mayhap MacNeill was her clan name after all. She just could not remember.
Lady Akira’s mouth dropped slightly, and she glanced at James. James’s mouth hung agape as well.
The situation was not good.
“You have remembered your clan’s name, then?” Lady Akira asked, frowning.
“Aye, my lady.” Although Eilis was certain the name did not bode well with James and his mother, she couldn’t think of a way to get herself out of the quandary she was now in.
Lady Akira seemed to ponder the notion then asked, “Where from?”
“Glen Affric.” Eilis knew the area well enough, having spent many a summer with a cousin there. And why she knew that, but not the name of the cousin? The gaps in her memories bewildered her, yet as hard as she tried, she could not fill in the details of her past life. Why did