Gifted

Suitors

Glenkerrloch, Scotland

December 2, 1214

Lady Alina Kerr rolled her eyes as Sir Euan Kerr tried to conceal his disappointment. His initial delight was evident when he caught sight of the three women entering the great hall. His gaze - like most men's - gravitated toward her stepsister. Elizabeth was a mesmerizing beauty. He stammered through introductions to Alina, the woman whose hand he ostensibly sought to woo for marriage.

A year younger, Elizabeth was everything Alina was not: petite and bountifully curved and graced with a seemingly effortless femininity. Euan's expression went comically slack when Elizabeth sighed and her alabaster bosom gently plumped over the bodice of her sky-blue bliaut. Afternoon sunlight gilded the rich sable of her plaits and her gauzy veil somehow always managed to stay perfectly in place. Her round, violet-blue eyes naturally put people at ease while Alina's opaque gaze often made people squirm. They suspected her to be plotting something. Honestly, their suspicions were often accurate.

Alina resisted an unladylike snort at Euan's fumbling attempts to flatter. Her assessing gaze disconcerted him. She decided they'd make an unprepossessing pair: nearly the same height and, unfortunately for both, a somewhat similar build. Gangly adolescence clung to their frames. They were around the same age - 19 years. His blue eyes and blonde hair were typical of most Kerrs while Alina got her dark coloring from her Saracen mother. She wondered at his breeches as most men she knew wore only their plaids over their tunics even in winter.

"Welcome, cousin Euan. I ken that your father would like to consolidate the Kerr territories." Alina ignored her stepmother's glare and stepsister's wince and continued, "We'd be grateful for your family's aid in protection from the Campbell up north but I worry about the Boyd laird down South. His lands fall between ours. Have ye a plan if he objects to our alliance?"

"Alina!" Lady Lillian, her stepmother, interjected while Euan sputtered. "Our guest has only just arrived. It is our duty to provide hospitality and comfort instead of asking impertinent questions. Those matters are better left to the men."

"Quite right," nodded Euan. "Have to meet the lady first. Make sure she'll suit."

Lady Lillian turned to him placatingly, "Apologies for my stepdaughter, Sir Euan. She returned to us from the abbey only four years ago and has yet to learn how to interact appropriately with men. My son, Sir Christopher, serves as protector here until Alina marries. He will return from England shortly. If you so desire, you will be able to speak with him about any business that might need attention at that time. May I offer you refreshments?"

Sir Euan agreed and Lady Lillian led the trio of youths to the dais where food was laid out. Alina only paid half attention to the pleasantries shared during the light repast. Their guest planned to spend a couple nights at Kerr Castle before sailing back down the loch to the territory of Alina's distant cousins to the south.

It was lucky that Christopher recently traveled back to England with his pregnant wife Gwendolyn, else they'd have to invent a different excuse to delay on a betrothal. Clan politics were complicated. Marrying into one clan might mean war with another. Over the years, Alina and Lady Lillian had become adept at dangling the promise of alliance with more than one clan at a time. Alina was still betrothed to another (as far as Lillian knew) but the lad was balking. They needed to explore the possibility of finding another protector.

The women maintained an uneasy partnership after Alina's father died eleven years prior. Laird Evander Kerr was a legendary warrior who'd fought in the Crusades and brought much wealth back to Glenkerrloch. His name still held much respect even though he'd had an unfortunate preference for marrying foreign women. Lady Lillian, his second wife, was English. Sir Christopher was Laird Kerr's page throughout the Crusades and he remained his squire even after the laird returned to Scotland. Upon his death, Laird Kerr named Christopher as protector over his only child, eight-year-old Alina, until she came of age. Even among lowlanders, though, the clans would only tolerate an English knight running one of their territories for so long.