Her Highlander for One Night, page 17
The Cameron had his full attention now.
‘Apparently, he leaves Edinburgh ahead of his planned departure, so your journey there will be postponed until next month,’ he said. ‘I have told Elizabeth, so if you can share the news with Elen?’ Iain nodded.
‘I will seek her now so that she does not prepare without need.’
Tilting his head at Robert, he waited to be dismissed before following the path she’d taken through the hall and out the doors to the yard. He heard her laughter before he saw her—standing by the fence at Tomas’s side, watching the men training. Iain walked towards them and realised that they were not just observing the fighting.
They were betting on the winners of each set of men fighting in the yard. From the pained yell of his cousin, Elen had indeed beaten him again. As he approached, they called out to him.
‘Iain, your cousin has lost to me again,’ Elen said, clearly enjoying every moment of Tomas’s defeat.
‘I may never show my face if she continues to best me in all manner of contests,’ Tomas said. ‘I may have to challenge her to a duel to save my honour.’ He bowed, ceremoniously swirling his hand several times to her.
‘Can you wield a sword?’ Iain asked her. Her cheeks were flushed with joy at the little game she’d played with Tomas. She liked being challenged and given a chance to prove her superior knowledge or skills. Her eyes flared widely and she winked at him. ‘Tomas, for your own welfare, I pray you withdraw before she accepts.’
Their banter continued until Tomas did leave the field, leaving Elen to him. He held out his arm to her and she slid hers around his, tucking up close to him. The fullness of her breasts rested against his arm.
‘Will you walk with me to the village?’
‘Is everything as it should be?’ she asked after nodding.
‘Some news from the King,’ he said. He waited for her to ask, but surprisingly she remained silent as they passed through the gates and made their way along the road that led to Davidh’s house.
He stopped in front of the stone house that was larger than the others in the village. The house given to the chieftain’s commander, it had been his home once his mother moved back here, seeking the chance for her son to know his father’s people. His original home here at Achnacarry was another of the bits of knowledge about him he’d not shared with Elen yet. The cottage above the falls on the road leading north from the village had been the first place they’d stayed all those years ago.
He should tell her of that.
‘Are we going inside?’ she asked, releasing his arm.
‘Nay. This way.’
He led her around the house to the large, enclosed garden that he thought had tempted his mother more than his stepfather had—at first. Pushing open the gate, he held it as she entered.
Being autumn, the garden had passed its full growing season and was filled with only the flowers’ colour, herbs and plants that lasted into the cooler months. His mother would harvest and dry these last blooms for medicinal purposes. Iain walked to the place where the brightest of the flowers still blossoming were and picked one. Giving it to Elen, he took her hand in his and walked with her to one of the benches placed in the shade of the trees that grew around the perimeter of the garden.
‘What is this?’ Elen asked. Holding it close to her nose, she sniffed at it. ‘The scent is lovely.’
‘It is...a wildflower that grows here?’
‘Oh, Iain, even growing up with your mother, you know nothing more than that?’ Elen laughed at him and he decided he liked the sound of it. ‘She spent her time here and you spent yours where?’
‘Working in the stables. Working with the carpenters. Finally training with the other men,’ he explained. ‘I was just happy to be among my father’s kin.’
‘So, tell me of your claim to the high seat of the Camerons? The claims of my family back to the Great Llewelyn are a bit convoluted. I confess, I did not pay heed to all the details outlined in the agreement.’ He’d thought she would ask of the King’s message and yet she avoided the subject.
‘It was a clear path when my father lived,’ he said. ‘He was the son of the chieftain Euan and named tanist as a young man.’
‘Ah. As father does, so does son.’
‘Aye. If the lineage is direct, ’tis quite simple. But my father was murdered before I was born. Before he kenned of me.’ He knew she’d been told of his birth and that his claim came through being the natural son of a previous heir.
‘And your great-uncle Robert became chieftain.’
Iain laughed, for his route was a bit more confusing than that and based on his cousin’s decision to step aside and not lay claim. ‘I think we have more in common than you might think, Elen. But after his other brother was discovered to be a traitor to the clan, aye, Robert became chieftain.’
She inhaled the scent of the flower and they sat in silence for a short time. Unusual for them, but Iain did not feel the need to talk. Finally, she let out a breath.
‘Is there a reason you are avoiding the King’s news?’ he asked.
‘Anything from the King means he’s meddling again.’ Iain could not help but laugh at the disgruntled tone of her voice. Most would never admit being vexed by the King of Scotland, but Lady Elen verch Pwyll had no such qualms. ‘I am ready. What changes has he wrought in my life now?’
‘Our trip to Edinburgh is postponed for some weeks at his orders.’
‘There is more?’
‘Only that his own plans to leave the city have changed and so ours are now to wait on his return.’ She did not offer a reply. ‘Is there something wrong?’
‘I asked you about the woman in your past,’ she said, looking at him. ‘You should have asked me about the man.’
Chapter Seventeen
He liked her even more now. After her shocking disclosure about the reasons she was chosen to be given in marriage to him, to his clan, Iain felt less beholden and more at peace with his betrothed. Of course, learning the truth—that she’d tried to escape a previous arranged marriage by running away with the man she loved—gave even the fair-minded Robert pause. For a moment before anger filled his chieftain’s expression, he thought Robert might cast up his supper. The insult offered to The Cameron and his clan and status replaced any softer reaction.
Davidh stood in the shadows of the chamber and said nothing other than asking a few questions. Struan answered Robert’s call and Iain did not remember either older man having been caught unaware like this before. But a betrothal arranged by the King to his kinswoman made most men ignore any warning signs. The King had proved himself to be like so many common men who would hide their family troubles by foisting them off on someone unsuspecting.
‘The lady suggested...the lady suggested I press the matter with the King? That I demand more now that we are aware of the true motives behind his agreement?’ Robert asked. Lady Elen had shown herself to be extremely pragmatic in this situation. Robert shook his head before putting the heels of his hands over his eyes.
‘My lord,’ Struan said. ‘She...ahem...the lady has a point. If this becomes kenned among our allies and, God forbid, our enemies, it puts us in a disadvantageous position.’ Struan sat at the table and drank deeply from his cup.
‘Why would the King risk such a thing?’ Robert dropped his arms and joined the steward in the next cup.
‘Because of me,’ Iain admitted. The other three faced him, stunned by his words. ‘I am the natural son of a man who was murdered before he could claim me. Not holding a direct line to the chieftainship, I claim it by your good graces and the acquiescence of my cousins,’ he said, looking at Robert. ‘A tenuous connection for a man who has no business calling out the questionable past of the betrothed given him by the King.’
‘Davidh? This is not under your purview, but what advice do you have to offer?’ Robert asked.
‘Iain, do you have cause or desire to call out this deception—for that is what has happened—publicly?’
‘None. But this is not my decision.’ Strange how he realised that truth as he said it. In order to achieve what he wanted, others made the choices for him.
‘Will you hold ill will against the lass?’ Davidh asked.
‘Nay. I ken her part in this. She told me the whole of it.’ A young man and a younger woman, in love, and making mistakes because of that love.
‘I will think on this more and I will speak to the lady before making any decisions, but I see no good outcome for any exposure for either of you or the Clan Cameron.’
The discussion was over, yet Iain had a feeling that it was not done. Even in Elen’s honest appraisal and explanation, her words made him think that there was more going on in the background with the King and her family than possibly she was privy to or knowledgeable about.
It would take some time to sort out and Iain was not certain he would like what they found, even if it meant large concessions from the King.
* * *
The next morning, after speaking to Elen, Robert confirmed his decision to go through with the arrangement. At the same time, he would send word to his factor in Edinburgh to push for some additional concessions from the King in light of this new disclosure. Since Robert would not reveal the source of it to the man, his representative to the King could rightly claim no knowledge of it.
Though Elen claimed to have been looking forward to visiting the city, Iain was glad to not travel there. He thought that the keep was nigh to unbearable when all those living within the household were caught inside on the worst of wintry days. His few visits to Edinburgh had left him feeling even more crowded and cramped.
Very few in Achnacarry even had knowledge that anything between them was awry, so in the eyes of the clan, the betrothal moved ahead with the marriage being arranged after the harvest, later in October. There was little doubt that the King would avoid the ceremony and would instead send someone to represent him.
None of that mattered to Iain.
He liked the woman who would be his wife. The honesty they’d already pledged to each other had kept his clan from being humiliated by the King. She laughed and made him laugh. He could find no fault and had no objection to taking her in marriage.
But, in the dark of night, ’twas Glynnis that came to him in his dreams. Glynnis he thought of when he woke. Glynnis to whom he compared every word and action that Elen said or did. She would never be Glynnis and he knew he must leave her behind if he was to be fair to Elen.
So he would.
* * *
Glynnis stopped for what felt like the hundredth time that day to seek out the privacy of the bushes along the road. If the men she’d hired to take her north had any issues with her strange pace of travel or her need to stop frequently, her gold coins had eased them. The stablemaster on her father’s estate had found them—his two cousins—and sworn to her safety. Married to her mother’s maidservant, the man had always held Glynnis in high regard and agreed to help her arrange this journey. Though he’d counselled her about the dangers in such a trip, she could not take the chance of putting into writing the concern that she must face. Thus far, his arrangements had worked out and his men had proven to be capable and steady.
Glancing up at the sky, she tried to estimate how many more hours they could ride before stopping for the night. She needed to arrive in Achnacarry while Iain was in Edinburgh with his betrothed to seek out the clear-headed advice of her godmother. She had no one else to ask and little time so she’d made arrangements to leave her father under cover of night before he could stop her.
‘At least two more hours, if ye can ride, my lady,’ one of the men called out after seeing her stare at the sky.
‘Very well,’ she said as the other man helped her back on to her horse. ‘Let us try.’
They made it past Tor Castle without being noticed or challenged. Finding a place to camp just outside a small village, Glynnis knew she would not sleep as she waited for the morn and the final hours on the road.
* * *
But fall into sleep she had, for she woke as she’d been doing these last weeks.
Kneeling over, emptying her belly on the ground.
The older man held out a cup to her and she rinsed her mouth out and spat in the grass. Sitting back on her heels, she waited for the worst of it to pass. Each morn was different—the only constant was the heaving. Travelling on the boat from the south had been horrible and between the sickness that struck her when she was on the water and this one caused by her condition, there were times when she thought she might die.
This morn was nowhere near as bad as that, but it seemed unwilling to ease. Just when she thought it done, it hit again. Several more bouts of distress happened before she was able to get off her knees.
Mayhap the dread and anticipation of finally arriving in Achnacarry made it worsen? Mayhap the length of the journey affected it? Though each time she’d carried before had been different, this sickness had eased after only a few weeks.
* * *
It took nigh on two hours for her to be able to mount her horse and the clouds grew thick and dark in the skies above as they rode to the place where they would leave this main path and head inland towards Achnacarry. If she could manage to stay on her horse, they could be there by midday.
Pray God, she could!
The threatening storm did little to ease those last few hours on the road. Winds whipped up off the loch and riding, indeed staying upright, was a challenge. Somehow, though, the winds soothed her. Glynnis closed her eyes and allowed them to buffet her until their little group turned and headed west once more and away from the loch. They passed familiar places and slowed as the first cottage came into view.
Pulling her cloak around her and her hood up, she and her escorts made their way along the main road towards the castle. Her plan was to enter and go directly to the keep and seek Elizabeth. Since Iain was not here, it mattered not that she was seen, and by the time he returned she would be gone and her godmother could concoct a story about her visit.
The path rose there, up to the gates, and they drew to a stop because of people riding out.
Iain was riding out. Her gaze took in the beautiful woman on the horse next to his. Everyone stopped and she tried to find words to say. From the shocked expression on his face, he was at a loss as well. It was the beautiful woman—his betrothed?—who finally spoke, breaking the tension.
‘Iain? Who is this?’ she asked. Then, after meeting her gaze and turning to the still-silent, still-staring Iain, she smiled and nodded. ‘Welcome back to Achnacarry, Lady Glynnis.’
‘My thanks,’ she said, nodding back. ‘I am looking for Lady Elizabeth.’
‘She was in her solar when we left her, Glynnis.’ He tripped over her name. ‘Welcome back.’
She touched her heels to the horse’s sides and guided the animal past them. The men escorting her followed.
She wanted to look back at him, but her stomach was roiling and panic was rising that she would be seen being sick. She heard the moment they rode on, listening to the hearty laughter from his betrothed as the need to heave grew. Glynnis turned her mount towards the stables and slid from her horse as soon as possible. Trying not to be noticed as her belly emptied was a valiant goal and not one she was certain she’d reached.
Someone had seen her. Luck was with her for it was one of the lady’s maids who helped her to her feet and led her inside. Within a shorter time than she’d thought possible, Glynnis sat in one of the comfortable chairs in the lady’s solar waiting as the maid sought out her lady to bring her to Glynnis. Though it shouldn’t have surprised her that Anna would be the first person to arrive, it did. She’d not mentioned the healer as the servant brought her here, but Elizabeth trained her servants well.
‘Lady Glynnis,’ she said. She turned to close the door behind her. Coming closer, she said, ‘Forbia said the lady’s guest was taken ill. I did not ken you were visiting.’
‘Elizabeth is not expecting me, Anna. I just need to talk with her. I need her counsel and then I can...go.’
Anna opened her mouth, but closed it without saying a word or asking any of the myriad questions she must have. On her arm was her ever-present basket of bandages and various herbs. This was her smaller collection since her workroom was just below and easy to reach for whatever she might need.
That workroom. That night.
‘Are you ill, my lady? You were very pale and just flushed red. A fever mayhap?’ Anna pulled a stool over closer to where she sat and reached out to touch her cheek.
‘’Tis not a fever, Anna. There is no need.’ Glynnis nodded at the healer’s raised hand and shook her head.
Glynnis leaned back against the chair and sank into the thick cushions. Closing her eyes, she whispered the words she could barely say or hear without pain. ‘I do not understand how it happened. They told me I could not. They told me this was not possible—and it may yet not be. They—’
‘Who told you, my lady?’
‘The Campbell’s healer and several midwives who attended me. After the two were lost in the first months and the third was born too early and died... After I nearly bled to death, they told me it would not be possible.’ Anna let out a loud and angry huff of breath. The woman’s warm hands surrounded Glynnis’s chilled ones.
‘You told me only of the last one. I did not ken about the others. How far along might you be this time?’
She could not look at the woman as she spoke the words.
‘Three months, two days and six or so hours along.’
Though she was silent, Glynnis knew Anna was not stupid. She missed little if anything that happened around her. But how could she speak to the woman who was carrying her son’s child that he did not know about? To a woman who’d never had the chance to tell her own lover of his child. Before they were forced to say another word, her godmother arrived.
