Aidan (11 page)

H
e brought the food to the pallet and settled down beside her. “Try this, I made it meself.”

She felt so awful right now, that a knot formed in her stomach. She looked back to the Stone of Destiny, knowing this st
one would be her destiny after all. “I dinna think I could eat right now,” she told him.

“Then let
me help ye.” He took a spoonful of food and popped into her mouth. It exploded on her tongue with wonderful flavor, and she realized this man was talented with cooking. “It’s . . . really guid,” she said, swallowing and licking her lips. “I had no idea ye had such talents.”

“I’ll show ye more tale
nts as soon as we’re finished. I am goin’ te practice me caber toss this mornin’ so I can beat Storm at the Highland Games competition. He has held the title fer the last ten years.”

“I’d like
te see thet,” she said, feeling better, and digging into the food.”

“Then ye will join us at
the festival.”

She stopped chewing and looked up slowly. She wanted to be there more than anything, but she knew her stay here was going to be short. Any day now,
Tasgall would show up with the English and her time with Aidan would be over.

“I . . . dinna
ken if I’ll be here then,” she said.

“O’ course ye will, Effie. As soon as I ask Storm if ye can be a part o’ our clan, ye’ll be one o’ the MacKeefes. Ye’ll have a new family
te replace the one ye lost.”

She just looked down and shook her head. She knew this would never be.

“Och, I’m sorry, lassie. I didna mean te make ye sad aboot yer family.” He took her hand in his and with the fingers of his other hand, he raised her chin and looked into her eyes. “I ken this is crazy, Effie, but I have always been a madman, so I’m jest goin’ te say it. I think I love ye, angel, and I dinna want ye te leave me side. So please, stay.”

“Lo
ve?” She jerked back so quickly that the food fell off her lap to the pallet.

“Did I
say somethin’ wrong?” he asked, scooping the food back into the bowl.

“Nay . . .
I jest didna expect thet.”

“I ken it is crazy, lass, but I feel as if ye’ve been brought
te me fer a reason.”

“Oh, I can say thet is probably true.” Little did he know the real
reason.

“The stone brought us together,” he said with a smile, rubbing his hand over the s
mooth rock.

“Again, I’d have te agree with ye there.”

There was a knock at the door, and Effie looked up quickly. “Dinna let yer friends in afore I’m dressed,” she said, reaching for her torn and worn clothes. “I dinna care te let them see me naked a second time.”

“Aidan, are ye in there?” came a girl’s voice from the other side of the door.

“Kyla, ye ken I told ye te ne’er to come in unless ye knock and are invited.”

“Thet’s why I’m
knockin’, now can I enter?”

“Dinna come in,
unless ye want te see yer brathair naked.”

“Is thet yer sister?” Effie asked.

“Aye,” he said, pulling on his clothes hurriedly. “She must o’ come back from the fair early.”

“Is Ian in there with ye, brathair?” His sister’s muffled voice was heard from the other side of the door.

“Nay, he and Dagger are huntin’ fer food.”

“Why do ye call yer friend, Dagger?
” asked Effie curiously. “And why does he have such odd eyes?”

“
I dinna ken why his eyes are two different colors. He was born thet way,” said Aidan, pulling his clothes into place. “And Dagger is what Onyx’s close friends call him,” he explained. “E’er since he was found in a box with a dagger when he was a bairn.”

“He was?”

“I’ll have him tell ye the story sometime.” He didn’t bother to wear shoes, and stood up quickly. “Get dressed and meet me in the field outside the cottage, and I’ll show ye how I toss a caber.”

“All right,” she said, starting to don her old clothes. He reached out and grabbed the new MacKeef
e clothes and held them out to her. “No’ those auld clothes, wear these instead.”

She looked up to him and saw the hope in his e
yes. Wearing them would be like accepting the fact he’d just said he loved her and wanted her to stay with him. It would be like saying she wanted to be one of them – which she did.

“I dinna ken, Aidan.” When she looked up t
o him again, she saw sadness in his eyes, and his face took on a dour disposition. Something tugged at Effie’s heart and she felt as if she were going to cry. She didn’t want to disappoint him, but neither did she want to lead him on with hopes of something that could never be. She couldn’t wear his sister’s clothes when she was about to betray them. The MacKeefes were the family she always wanted, but she didn’t deserve these wonderful people in her life.

But then her eye
s went to her old clothes and settled on the MacDuff brooch, and she felt a whole new aching within her heart. How could she wear them after Aidan had told her how proud she should be after what her grandmother had done? She didn’t deserve to dress like a MacDuff either. Not with what she was about to do. The MacDuffs stood for the heritage of Scotland. Pride, determination, and doing anything to show their loyalty to their king and the land they loved, not betraying their king and country.

Either way, she was doomed.
She only wished she had a third option right now. Perhaps she should just walk around naked. She sat there just staring at the clothes, not knowing what to do.

“Aidan, what are ye doin’ in there?” came Kyla
’s voice from outside the door. “I’m comin’ in.”

Effie quickly grabbed the MacKeefe clothes from Aidan and held them in front of her body when his sister opene
d the door and burst inside. The girl stopped quickly, and jerked backward when she saw Effie.

“Ye werena jestin’ aboot all thet
naked stuff, were ye?” she asked her brother.

“I told ye no’
te come in,” he said, scowling at his sister. “Why dinna ye go find and pester Ian and Dagger like ye usually do?”

“I’m Kyla,” the girl said,
ignoring her brother and smiling kindly at Effie.

“I’m . . . Effie.” She felt very awkward.

“Are those me clothes?” she asked, looking first at the clothes in Effie’s hands and then back to her brother.

“She di
sna have anythin’ te wear, Kyla. I didna think ye’d mind.”

“Well, then I suppose ye willna mind thet I gave yer horse
te Wren’s brathair, Madoc, either, will ye?”

“Me horse?
Madoc? What are ye talkin’ aboot ye mischant lass?”

“I got a ride here with
Madoc and came back from the fair early. He jest came te check on his birds and he is leavin’ again right away.”

“Ye canna give away me ho
rse, Kyla. Why disna he use his own?”

“His horse went lame je
st as we arrived, and he said he disna have time te wait and see if it’ll heal. His wife, Abbey is birthin’ their third bairn any day now, and he wants te get back te Blake Castle te be with her.”

“Bid the devil, ye are always
causin’ trouble, Kyla. Where is Madoc, I’ll go talk with him?”

“He’s gone
te the pigeon roost te take care o’ his birds.”

Aidan collected his squirrel from the table and rushed out the door, leaving Eff
ie and Kyla there, just looking at each other awkwardly.

“So ye’re Aidan’s sister,” Effie
said, surveying the girl. She looked about the same age as herself, and had light brown hair that was tied back and trailed down to her waist. Her big, brown eyes were round with wonder as she surveyed Effie as well.

“I am,” she said, closing the door behind her. “And who exactly are ye
? Another one o’ me brathair’s hoors?”

“I’m no’ a
hoor,” she snapped, thought she felt no better than one lounging naked on the pallet with a bowl of food at her feet.

“Then why did Aidan bring food
te his bed, no’ te mention give ye me clothes?”

“It’s me birthday,” she said. “He was jest tryin’
te be nice te me. He saved me from English curs who were goin’ te accost me. And I’m a gypsy who jest had me whole clan killed by the English. I may be a lot o’ things, but I assure ye, I am no’ a hoor. This was me first time te e’er lay with a man fer yer information.” She jumped up from the pallet and threw the clothes at Kyla, and turned back and started to don her old, ripped and dirtied ones.

“Och
, I’m sorry. Me brathair and his friends usually have a lot o’ women, and I dinna like it. I didna mean te judge ye.”

“It di
sna matter.” She pulled on the dirtied clothes and fastened her brooch into place.

“What is thet brooch
?” asked Kyla.

“What does it matter?”

“Let me see thet,” she said, walking forward, but Effie held out her hand and stopped her.

“Ye may as well ken. I am Effie MacDuff, and
this brooch was me grandmathair’s,” she said, running her hand over it lovingly.

“
Ye’re a MacDuff?” she asked. “The MacDuffs are revered by the rest o’ the clans becooz o’ a lassie named –”

“Isabel
MacDuff,” said Effie. “I ken. The lassie was me grandmathair. But I assure ye I am no’ te be admired like her.”

Kyla walked over and held out the MacKeefe clothes. “Wear these,” she said.
“Ye shouldna wear those torn and dirtied clothes. I would be honored fer the granddaughter o’ Isabel MacDuff te wear me clothes.”

Effie stopped and looked at the girl. She was smiling now,
and her features reminded Effie a little of her own sister. She missed Coira so much and worried about her every minute. She had always confided in her sister when she was feeling sad, and it felt good to have another woman around right now.

“Are ye sure?” she asked. “They are yer clothes, and I
really dinna deserve them.”

“I’m sure
o’ it. I like ye. Ye are different than the rest o’ the women me brathair usually beds. I can see why he likes ye. Put them on and let’s go find Ian.”

“All right,” she said, taking the clothes gingerly and doing a
s the girl suggested. “But dinna ye mean let’s go find Ian and Onyx too?”

“Och, aye. Thet’s what I meant.” The girl’s face blushed and she looked the other way.

“I heard ye ask fer Ian at the door as well.”

“It was nothin’, she said.
“I jest wondered where they were.”

“
Does Aidan ken how ye feel aboot his friend, Ian?” She busied herself dressing in the MacKeefe clothes, liking the way they felt. Then, she took her grandmother’s brooch, and carefully placed it on the table. There was no way she could wear it right now.

“I
didna say thet.” Once again, Kyla’s face blushed.

“Ye did
na have te say it. I have a younger sister, and ye remind me o’ her. And I’ve seen her act this same way o’er a laddie she once liked.”

“Ye have a sister? What’s her name?”

“Coira.”

“Where is she? Is she here too?”

“Nay, she’s been taken captive by the English.”

Suddenly, Effie realized her mistake. She’d been so distracted with the clothes and the fact she actually had another female to talk to, that she’d accidentally told Kyla about Coira. And it was too late now to take it back.

“She has?” gasped Kyla. “Thet’s terrible. Mayhap Aidan can help ye get her back.”

“Nay. Kyla, dinna say anythin’ aboot this
te anyone. Please.”

“Why no’?
she asked. “I’d think ye’d want some help in tryin’ te free her.”

“I dinna need anyone riskin’ their life fer me or me sister. Now, please promise me ye willna say a word aboot it. Especially te Aidan.”

“But I’m sure Aidan would want te help ye.”

“How would ye feel when Ian
went with him, and if neither o’ them came home alive?”

“Och, I see yer point.” The girl’s head lowered and she looked to the floor.

“Ye keep me secret aboot me sister, and I’ll keep yer secret thet ye have eyes fer Ian. Is it a deal?”

Kyla looked up and smiled. “It’s a
deal. I dinna want ye te lose yer sister, but neither do I want te lose Ian or me brathair or any o’ his friends.”

“Neither do I,” s
he said, looking over to the Stone of Destiny. “Neither do I.”

Chapter 10

Aidan was delighted when he saw his sister an
d Effie opening the door to the pigeon loft, and coming inside to join them. Effie had donned the clothes he gave her after all, and she looked damned good wearing them, too. Almost as if she were a MacKeefe. But for some reason, she hadn’t used her MacDuff brooch.