Highland Champion (20 page)

“Aye,” agreed Sigimor, and Keira’s brothers nodded. “We all gain from this, and at little cost to ourselves. Ye now have more horses than ye will e’er need or want. Use them to barter with your neighbors for what ye
do
need.”

“Ye dinnae want any of them?” asked Liam.

“Weel, there are one or two I think ye should keep, and I will be seeking stud service or a colt or two if ye do, but no more.” When Liam nodded, Sigimor said, “I will show ye the ones I mean ere I leave this place.”

“How fares my sister?” asked Artan.

“It grieves her to see what was done to what is a verra fine keep,” replied Liam, “and, e’en more, what all of the people here have suffered through. Howbeit, that will pass, and if all feel as the women cleaning the great hall do, Keira will finally let go of all that guilt she has clung to for so long.”

Artan cursed softly. “We all told her she had naught to feel guilty about, but ’tis clear she didnae heed us.”

“Aye, but then we werenae the ones suffering, were we? Those women telling her to cease being a fool carries far more weight than anything we did or could have said. S’truth, I could almost see the weight of it lift from her whilst she talked with Malcolm’s wife.”

“Good,” said Sigimor. “Now, tell us if there is aught we and the men can do now. No sense in wasting the chance to put so many strong backs to use.”

“Aye,” agreed Ewan. “Hard work will also help me decide how to act when I get home to my pregnant wife.”

“Fiona is with child again?” asked Liam. “I am surprised ye still joined us for this fight.”

“Had to. I kenned it was why she worked so hard to keep it a secret from me.” Ewan shook his head. “Near everyone at Scarglas kens it, and since not one of them believes she would e’er carry out any of the rather bloodcurdling threats she used to keep them quiet, it wasnae long ere I heard about it. I just have to decide whether I should act surprised or scold her for trying to keep secrets from her laird and husband.”

Liam laughed along with the others. When they all turned their attention to what work might be done before they left, however, Liam often found his thoughts distracted.
As soon as the others left him, he sought out Keira before joining in the work that was being done. Ewan’s announcement that Fiona carried his child made Liam think of Keira, of how she might soon be carrying his son or daughter, and he felt a strong need to see her.

It was a while before he found her sitting in the lady’s solar. The room looked as if it was another one that had mercifully escaped the taint of Moubray and his men. Keira sat on a cushioned bench near one of the surprisingly large windows. He walked over to her, sat down beside her, and took her hand in his. It was only then that he noticed she was studying a long, thin piece of metal.

“What is that?” When she held it out to him, he took the piece from her hand and studied it carefully. “It looks a bit like some piece of a flail or what some men might stick in a club to make it a more dangerous weapon.”

“’Tis exactly what it is,” Keira said. “It was in Sir Archie’s head.”

“Jesu. It must have been a constant source of pain.”

“I think so, too, but he insists that it wasnae so verra bad. I also think it may be why his vision was so blurred, but I willnae be certain of that for a wee while yet. The wound did need a lot of cleaning, but that thing was a great surprise. I had to get one of my cousins to pull it out for ’twas stuck in the bone. Sir Archie is sleeping now, but once he wakes, I will ken better if getting that out will help his eyesight improve.”

“And what of the others ye tended to?”

“The battle wounds will heal. They werenae so verra bad. The poor souls Rauf had locked away in the dungeons will need some careful tending for a while. Some suffered from beatings, some were torttured, but mostly, they werenae fed much or given enough water. They needed washing ere I could e’en see their wounds.”

“They survived it. They are clearly strong, and they have the will to live.”

Keira nodded. “Ah, Liam, they were all so grateful,” she whispered. “They were so verra pleased that I had come back, and in their eyes, I did so more quickly than they would e’er have thought I could.”

“So will ye now believe me and all the others who have tried to make ye understand that ye have naught to feel guilty about?”

She smiled and rested her head against his shoulder. “Aye, I will. ’Tis odd, but when Joan spoke of how surprised they all were that I had come back at all, let alone in only a few months’ time, ’twas as if unseen hands had lifted a huge weight from my shoulders. And from my heart. Now, it just aches for the lives lost, the pain the living still suffer, and the ill done to a place that was all beauty and peace.”

“Good. ’Tis as it should be.” Liam looked around, yet again noticing the elegant touches that seemed to run throughout the keep, from a beautiful tapestry upon the wall to the carpet upon the floor. “The MacKails had a taste for fine things, aye?”

“Aye, they did. A lot of these things are made here, ye ken. A long time ago, the laird here began to gather fine craftsmen into his fold. Since word spreads quickly amongst such people, more came here for ’tis usually a peaceful place, and the land is surprisingly good here. Ye will find wares from Ardgleann at every market. Unlike so many others in this land, Ardgleann is quite a profitable place for all of its people. I think that is why I found it so verra hard to bear that Rauf would come here. All these people wished to do was to make beautiful things. To have such a mon come here seemed an abomination.”

“Weel, we shall put it to rights, and it will be peaceful again.” He told her of how certain it was that strong alliances had been made with the neighboring clans; of the horses that could be used for barter; and anything else he could think of that could be considered good news, no matter how small.

Keira smiled as she listened to Liam talk. He was trying so hard to turn her eyes toward all that was good and to keep her from grieving on all that had been hurt or lost. She almost laughed when he sighed heavily and muttered a curse, for she knew it meant he had run out of good news.

She sat up, took his hands in hers, and gave him a brief kiss. “That all sounds wonderful, and we are most fortunate in our kinsmen. Now, tell me all the bad news.”

He did, and it was bad, yet Keira realized it was not quite as bad as she had feared. Rauf Moubray and his men had been crude brutes, but it appeared that Rauf had kept the destruction of the finer things in Ardgleann to a minimum. He had wanted to play the laird, and thus he had seen such things as the tapestries, the glass in the windows, and rugs as the trappings of a laird. It had obviously never occurred to him to do his very best to keep the people who made those things alive, if only just to keep his purse full.

“The worst, aside from those who died, is the loss of so much food and the delay in the planting of the fields,” Keira said when Liam was done. “Howbeit, it appears our kinsmen will save us this year.”

“As Sigimor and Ewan said, they have gained by this, too. Another laird in the family, more allies, and a stronger bond made with some old ones.”

“Such practical men,” she teased and stood up. “’Tis time to go to work. If naught else, we need to find a place to sleep.”

“We already have one. Nay, not the laird’s bedchamber,” he said when he saw the consternation she could not hide. “The lady’s bedchamber. Only Hattie stayed there. Do ye have any trouble with that?”

“Why? Because she is a whore? Nay.” She smiled faintly. “She was a verra clean whore. I just wonder how she got herself in here.” Her eyes widened as Liam told her what Hattie had done, as well as the offer he had made to the woman. “I hope she accepts that offer. I always got the feeling that she was what she was because there was naught else she could do, or thought she could do. And I think if she does step away from that life now, she will be accepted by the other women. She could have a new life.”

“I believe she will. If naught else, she seems a clever woman, and she will see all of that for herself.”

“Shall we get to work then?” She hooked her arm through his.

Liam kissed her and whispered against her lips. “It will be alright, love.”

When she stared into his blue-green eyes, Keira could almost believe him.

Liam grinned as he stepped into the area where the kitchen gardens were. Keira and Joan were working side by side on their hands and knees, weeding the garden. What made him smile was that each had a cat riding on her back. Keira’s two cats had arrived with the supplies from Scarglas a month ago, and they had quickly become two very spoiled animals. Rauf, it seemed, had loathed cats, and he had had his men kill every one they could find. Most of the dogs had fallen victim to cruel games as well. Only two cats had survived, both females, although one of them was rather old. Lightning was going to be one happy torn when he finally came of age.

It had only been two months since the battle, but Ardgleann was nearly as good as it had been. There was still some grief and unseen wounds, but the healing had begun. There were signs that a few of the men from the neighboring clans had their eyes on the widows of Ardgleann. Life goes on, Liam thought as he walked over and picked Lightning off Keira’s back, giving an exaggerated sigh when the cat draped itself over his shoulder and purred. Thunder hopped off Joan and draped herself over his feet, obviously trying to purr louder than her brother. Very spoiled cats indeed, he mused.

Keira sat back on her heels and laughed softly. “They dinnae believe all of your scowls and grumbles.”

“This isnae dignified,” Liam said, idly scratching Lightning’s back just to see if he could get the cat to purr louder. “A laird shouldnae be draped in cats.” Both women laughed, and Liam enjoyed the sound of the continued healing of Ardgleann. “I have just discovered another skill in our Kester. He is verra good at catching rabbits. He has a string of them and wonders what to do with them now.”

Joan got to her feet and brushed off her skirts. “I will see to that, m’laird. They will make us a fine meal tonight.” She hurried off toward the kitchen.

Liam held out his hand, and when Keira frowned at her own rather dirty hand and hesitated to offer it to him, he grabbed it to pull her to her feet. “I am draped in shedding cats, Keira. A wee bit of dirt willnae matter. If ye would be so kind as to take that cat off my feet, we could sit beneath the apple tree for a wee while.”

Picking up Thunder, Keira walked with Liam to the rough stone bench beneath the apple tree. She sat down beside him, setting the cat on her lap. “I should finish clearing away the weeds.”

“We will both return to our work soon.” He put his arm around her shoulders and held her close. “Do ye think there is enough time left in the growing season for ye to gain a good harvest from your garden?”

“If winter is kind enough to come a wee bit late this year, aye. Otherwise, we will get a harvest, but things will be much smaller than they usually are.”

“Aye, ’tis what the men say about the fields planted,” he murmured, “but ’twas worth a try. Howbeit, e’en the MacKay laird says that for this first winter, he will help if we need it. But there is hope yet, for we seem to be getting an equal share of sun and rain, which is good for the growing. Or, so the men in the fields tell me.” He smiled. “I nod in all the appropriate places.”

Keira laughed. “They are right if that is what ye are wondering. As I keep saying, we are most fortunate in our kinsmen and allies. They willnae allow us to go hungry, and ’tis a great comfort to ken that. ’Tis also comforting that our fighting men have been replaced. Sir Archie is verra pleased with them.”

“As am I. They begin to act as one now, as they should.”

“And ye are verra pleased your cousin Tait has come to be your second. Ye can admit it,” she teased. “I vow to tell no one.”

Liam lightly tugged her braid in gentle punishment for her teasing. “Aye, I am verra pleased. I was only a little hesitant because I feared there was some unhappy reason he came here, such as a falling out with Sigimor. But it is as he said. Sigimor has more men than he needs, and brothers and cousins are plentiful. Tait thought I might have need of another one.”

“And here he isnae just one of many,” Keira murmured. “Here he can be more than just another younger brother to the laird.”

“There is some truth in that. ’Tis also no sin to have a wee bit of ambition. At Dubheidland, Tait was really no more than another one of the men at arms. Here, he is my second, and he has some command o’er the men. Once I kenned Sir Archie’s sight had been restored, I had thought of asking him to be my second, but I hesitated for he didnae seem to want to do more than train the men. I am glad now that I did falter for Sir Archie’s warm acceptance of Tait revealed that I was right Sir Archie likes what he is—a good soldier and a good trainer of men. Oh, did ye ken that he has been courting Hattie?”

Keira nodded, enjoying the rare warmth of a sunny day almost as much as she enjoyed sitting with Liam and being held close to his side. “Hattie isnae sure what to do. She told me there is a part of her that is verra happy living in her wee cottage, making her dyes, and not having to deal with men, but there is another part that grows lonely.”

“Ah, but is that part lonely for Sir Archie?”

“Hattie feels certain it is. When she told him that she had been a whore for five years and had bedded down with a lot of men, he said he had been a mercenary for fifteen years and had probably put more men in the grave than she could bed in a lifetime. He said they would both probably go to hell but at least they could be there together if they were married.” Keira smiled when Liam laughed, but she quickly grew serious again. “Hattie also thinks that she is with child.”

“Is she?” There had been only six women so far who had found themselves with child after their ordeal, but as yet, none seemed to think they would need to accept Keira’s offer to give up the child to her care.

“Aye. She still doesnae believe it e’en though I told her two and thirty isnae too old and nothing outside of complete abstinence can guarantee that a woman willnae conceive a child. Sir Archie says he doesnae mind at all, e’en though it is surely Rauf’s child. I thought myself free of the superstitions concerning bad seeds and all of that, but I did suffer a moment of unease when she told me. Poor bairn will probably suffer for it, too, at least a wee bit.”

Liam nodded, having just suffered that same unease. “Ye need to pause and remind yourself that ’tis as much who does the raising of the bairn as who did the breeding that makes a mon. Or woman. One only needs to look at Kester to be reminded, too. Ridiculed and cast aside by his own blood, hard, unkind men, and yet he is a good lad.”

“I think that in some ways, it was good he went to the monastery, that those kinsmen didnae have the full raising of him.”

For a little while, they sat in the sun, quietly enjoying a moment of peace together. Liam soon decided that Keira was not ready to tell him that she was with child. There was a small chance she had not noticed yet, even though she was a healer, being either
too busy or too blind to the changes in her own body. He had noticed, however, if only because it had suddenly occurred to him that there had been no interruption in their lovemaking since the day they had married. If she was not suffering any of the other ills that afflicted a woman with child, it was possible that she had not realized it yet. It was getting harder and harder not to just ask her, however.

Deciding he had better return to work before he did just that, Liam took Lightning off his shoulder and set the cat down, ignoring the animal’s disgruntled look. “I had best return to work,” he said, kissing Keira before he walked away. One more week, he told himself. He would give her one more week to tell him.

Keira watched her husband walk away, admiring his grace as he walked and, she was no longer ashamed to admit, the shape of his legs. Since it was a fine day, he wore what he called the Ardgleann plaid over a rough linen shirt and his deer-hide boots. The deep greens, blues, and touch of black in the plaid suited him. She had teased him the first time he had donned the outfit, claiming he was too shy to show his bare legs, and he had told her that he wore his boots because there were too many things upon the ground he did not wish to have oozing up between his toes. Keira understood that well enough, but she also knew that her husband was a very fastidious man.

She sighed, set Thunder on the ground, and returned to her weeding. Very soon she was going to have to tell Liam that he would be a father in about seven months. It still embarrassed her to think of how long it had taken her to realize it. For far too long, she had excused the uneasiness in her stomach by telling herself she was working too hard or was too concerned about Ardgleann and its people. When she had finally faced the fact that she carried Liam’s child, she had been delighted and then dismayed.

For almost a fortnight now, she had come close to telling him, only to choke on the words. It was probably foolish, but Keira wanted to know how he felt about her before she became the mother of his child. Since she could not discern how he truly felt about her when it was just the two of them, she doubted she would ever figure it out after he knew about the child she carried. The only way she could know what he felt then would be if she asked him outright, perhaps even told him all she felt. Keira did not have the courage to do that yet, and she suspected it would be a long time before she did.

“Ye didnae tell him, did ye?”

Blushing a little, Keira looked up at Joan. “Weel, nay.” She sat back on her heels and shrugged. “It shouldnae be so hard, should it, but it is. ’Tis so foolish, yet, ’tis almost as if I am jealous of my own child. I have no doubt in my mind that Liam will be most pleased, and probably, verra caring, e’en too much so.”

“And ye would like it if he was that way for just you, nay ye and what rests in your womb.”

“Aye, that says it rather weel.”

Joan grabbed Keira by the hand, pulled her to her feet, and started to lead her toward the bench. “’Tis time ye and I had a wee talk, woman to woman.”

“I have already spent too much time sitting,” Keira protested softly. “The weeds—”

“Will still be there.” Joan sat down and then nodded when Keira finally sat down next to her. “Ye have a good mon there, m’lady.”

“I ken it, and if we are to talk woman to woman, should ye still be calling me m’lady?” Keira had to look away from Joan’s scowl before she blushed with guilt over
her thin ploy to try to halt the lecture she knew was coming.

“Dinnae try to turn my thoughts down another path. Ye have been wed to that mon for o’er two months, and now ye carry his bairn. ’Tis time to stop wondering and sighing and
thinking
so cursed hard about it all.”

“’Tis good to think o’er a problem verra carefully.”

“Wheesht, that is true, but ye think it to death. Ye love the mon, dinnae ye?”

“Oh, aye,” Keira answered softly. “I love him so much that sometimes at night, I can be happy just lying near him, listening to him breathe.”

“And I suspicion it has been that way from the beginning.”

“Quite possibly, though I was quite successful in lying to myself.”

“It hits some of us hard and fast like that. I took me one look at Malcolm and thought, this one is mine.” Joan winked at Keira. “I was ten at the time. Malcolm was six and ten. E’en when he left the village for five long years, went away to learn how to make beautiful things with the metals, I ne’er lost faith. Ye need to have faith.”

“I have faith in what
I
feel, Joan. And I have faith in Liam—as a good mon, a kind mon, one who will ne’er turn from what is his duty. ’Tis what he might feel for me that I lack faith in. He is so bonnie and learned—”

“And ye think he cannae care for a wee lass like ye? Ye arenae still fretting o’er your troubles with Duncan, are ye? I though Malcolm told ye all about that poor mon. It wasnae ye. It was ne’er ye. Ye do ken it now, dinnae ye?”

Keira nodded. “I ken it. The poor mon had been, weel, damaged ere I met him. The verra ones who should have loved him and nurtured him destroyed him.”

“’Tis always sad when that happens,” Joan agreed. “So, ’tis that ye have no faith in yourself.” Joan crossed her arms and frowned at Keira. “And why is that, eh? Why would a bonnie lass like yourself feel she isnae good enough for any mon?”

“Ye havenae seen the sort of women Liam can draw to himself,” Keira muttered, wanting to deny Joan’s insight, yet unable to. She had to wonder just when she
had
begun to lose faith in herself and why.

“I am sure some of them were beauties, but ye are far from plain, lass. Ye have bright, beautiful eyes. Your hair is lovely, long, and thick. Aye, ye arenae a verra fulsome lass, but ye have flesh enough on your bones and in all the right places.” She glanced down at her own reed slim body and smiled faintly. “More than me, and my mon has ne’er complained. ’Tisnae the body that holds a mon at your side either, but the heart, the spirit of ye, and ye have a hearty serving of both.”

Keira was a little surprised when Joan handed her a scrap of clean linen, and then realized she was crying. “This is so verra foolish,” she said quietly as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.

“’Tis the bairn. Weel, some it is. Now, ye listen to me ere ye go to take a wee rest—”

“Take a rest?” Keira said, but Joan ignored her interruption.

“Ye have yourself a verra good mon. He is the laird and your husband, but he listens to you. ’Tis a verra fine thing that. He has made it verra clear to all of us that ye
and
he are the laird here, that ye speak for him as he speaks for ye.”

“Oh. I didnae ken that.”

Joan nodded firmly. “To share his authority with his wife is no small thing for a mon to do. And we ken he shares your bed each and every night. I suspicion he keeps it
verra warm indeed.” Joan laughed softly when Keira blushed. “The mon cannae keep his hands off ye, m’lady. He is always having to touch ye or give ye a wee kiss when ye are in reach. We can all see that he cares for ye. I cannae understand why ye cannae see it. Wheesht, a bonnie lass of your good birth must have been wooed dozens of times.”

“Nay, I wasnae. ’Tis one reason I was quick to accept Duncan e’en though I didnae ken the mon as much as I would have liked to. I was o’er twenty, and I had ne’er been seriously wooed.” She sighed. “I so wanted children, ye see.”