Highland Magic (33 page)

And, if Callum was killed—how could she allow
that Norman swine to raise his bairn?

If only she could get some
advice from Grandmother Maclean! That lady always knew the answer
to any trouble Branwenn had ever brought to her. But, what if she
insisted on telling her brothers? What would they do? Would they
risk their own lives then to keep her and her babe here with them,
if Callum did not win the day?
I beg you,
Lord, let him win the day!
she prayed for
what must have been the thousandth time.

Nay, she must keep silent, she decided. No
one could know of this babe until after the joust two days hence,
not even Callum. For, she’d rather live with the guilt of having
not told him—allowing him to go to his grave not knowing his seed
had taken root in her—than live with the towering guilt of knowing
she might have caused his death by telling him such before the
trial.

With that decision made, she set about
planning the midnight tryst she’d be having with Callum in the cave
that night. Understanding that this might be the last time they
were ever together, she’d decided to bring quite a few tapers, for
she would do this thing for him this night—as she’d sworn to both
him and herself that she would do on their wedding night. This
would be the night that she allowed him to see her at last; allowed
him to see the ugly mark on her thigh. She only prayed she would
not lose her courage.

Nay, she would not,
could
not do so. For
she’d given him a vow and she would not break it. Not tonight, when
all could be lost for evermore in two days’ time.

* * *

“Are you prepared for this Callum?” Bao asked
him as they stood just inside the arched entry to the training
field. “There is a chance, tho’ I’ll admit, I believe it to be very
slim, that Gaiallard will win the day.”

Callum nodded grimly. “Aye.” Looking toward
the lists, he said, “Let us practice the maneuver you showed me one
more time. I want to be sure I can perform it well.”

“I have another one I learned during a
tournament two years past. I believe, if it’s done properly, and
with just the right thrust, you can topple your opponent from his
horse rather easily.”

Callum narrowed his eyes at Bao. “Why did you
not show me this before, cousin?”

Bao gave him a sheepish grin. “I thought to
save some surprises for the day I met Daniel on the lists!”

“You were going to challenge Daniel?”

“Aye. Why not? It seemed like a good exercise
for both of us. And it would be rather comical, I thought, to hold
ransom his armor, do you not agree?”

“But, you were to be my Kipper....”

“Aye, but did that mean I could not joust as
well?”

Callum shrugged. “I suppose not.” Turning the
subject, he asked, “Where was Reys going in such haste
earlier?”

“Off to Cambria he flies, to see his cousin.
He’s sure the letter Gaiallard carries is a forgery, but needs to
see the contract his cousin holds with the English king’s signature
and seal on it before he can be sure. He’s to bring it back here to
compare the two side-by-side.” Bao placed his hand on Callum’s
shoulder. “No matter what happens, cousin, Branwenn will not wed
that Norman, Reys is set on that. We may not be able to keep her
here with us if all does not end as planned, but she will not be
tied to that deviant. Reys gave Daniel and me his oath while you
were with Branwenn earlier.”

“Good, that eases my mind.”

Bao cleared his throat. “About Laire and
David...Jesslyn and I want to take them, raise them, if...” He
shrugged.

Callum gave him a relieved smile. “My thanks,
cousin. I’d hoped to ask you, as you are Laire’s godparents, to do
just that, but it pleases me more that the offer to take both of
them came before I had to request it.” He paused, rubbing the base
of his palm over his cheek. “‘Tis important to me that Laire never
be allowed to live with her Gordon kin, but I fear Laird Gordon may
insist upon it. Do all that you must to keep it from
happening.”

Bao’s eyebrows lifted in question. “All
right,” he agreed. “Why?”

Callum sighed and placed his arms akimbo. “I
believe—tho’ I’ve no proof—that Lara was meddled with in much the
same way as Alyson when she was a bairn. I know not if ‘twas a
member of her family, or someone else, but I think ‘twas what
caused much of her selfishness and brazen behavior toward men.”

Bao nodded. “I confess, I’d never thought of
such before, but, hearing this from you now, I see how you could be
right. For there were several such women I knew during the time I
was at the Procuress’s house.”

“So you see why it would ease my mind to know
that Laire will not ever reside there,” Callum said. “Of course, I
will need to send word to Robert, but I think that he will not
fight me on this decision for you and Jesslyn to take his nephew to
raise.”

“It’s agreed, then,” Bao said. Shoving Callum
ahead of him, he said, “Go, soldier. To the lists!”

* * *

She wore her sea faery
clothing to the cave that night. For some reason, she thought it
appropriate to do so—after all, they’d never met in the cave as
Callum and Branwenn; always it had been Callum and Mai, or
fey Mai
, as he liked to
call her.

And Branwenn wanted what might be their last
night together to be filled with magic. Tho’ just the thought of
once again feeling Callum’s mouth on her bare skin, of having him
deep inside her, of knowing that she gave him pleasure, was magical
in itself.

And tonight, he’d see the
thing she’d been hiding from him since their first time
together.
Please,
Callum
, she thought,
love me in spite of it!

She was surprised to find that Callum must
have already been here earlier, for there were several layers of
furs laid out against one wall of the cavern, near where he’d lain
when he’d dropped from the ceiling that fateful day last summer. On
top of the furs, he’d spread a sheet of linen and placed a folded
woolen blanket on top of that.

She walked closer to it and
stared down at the lush bed he’d prepared for them. There were four
pillows and—she leaned down, her lit taper out before her—rose
petals! She smiled happily, a warm thrill of joy spreading out from
her heart’s center into her whole being.
Oh, Callum! I do love you!

For that, he truly did deserve as many lit
tapers as she could find places for about the bed.

* * *

“You are here,” Callum said as he walked the
last few steps into the cave from the passage. When Branwenn turned
toward him, he opened his arms to her.

She ran to him and propelled herself into
him, holding tight. “I thought you’d never get here!” she said
against his chest.

Callum smiled down at her, stroking his hand
over the silky-soft hair on her head and letting it trail down the
back, finally coming to rest between her shoulder blades. “Are you
Mai, then?” he asked, at last noticing what she was wearing. “Will
you be taking me back to your faery kingdom, as you once
threatened?”

She shook her head, her cheek rubbing against
the rough material of his woolen tunic. “Nay, tho’ I wish with all
my heart I could—we could—just fly away from here and live out our
lives together as we’d planned.”

He leaned back a bit and
cupped her cheeks in his hands, bringing her chin up, forcing her
to look him in the eye. “We
will
live out our lives together as we planned. I
swear this to you. We must. For God will surely give me the
strength, the cunning I need, to beat that devil and get him from
our lives for good.”

“I pray—have been praying—that you are not
wrong.”

Callum looked around the cavern chamber.
“Branwenn! There must be o’er a hundred tapers in here—tell me you
did not take them from the chapel?” he teased.

She shrugged and dipped her head. “Nay,” she
said softly, “they were given me by your mother this day past for
our”—her voice cracked—“wedding night.”

Callum curled his fingers
under her chin and rested his thumb on top of it. With a nudge, he
brought it up so that he could see her countenance once more. “‘Tis
perfect, then, do you not see? For this
is
our wedding night.”

“Aye, tho’ ‘twas never blessed by the priest,
I feel the same. We are wed, and this is our wedding night.”

“Come, my love, let us settle upon our
wedding bed where we can be more comfortable, for I’ve much to say
to you before we join our bodies at last—and once again—to
consummate this union.”

Branwenn nodded and allowed him to lead her
by the hand to the bed of furs. After he’d positioned himself upon
it with his back against the cave wall and two pillows behind him
as a cushion, he settled her between his legs, her back resting on
his chest, his arms wrapped around her and tucked under her
breasts. “Lord, you feel so good,” he rumbled against her ear.

She nodded. “Aye,” she agreed. “You, as
well.”

They sat in silence for several moments, each
lost in their own thoughts and enjoying the close contact they now
shared.

“Did Jesslyn tell you that she and Bao want
to take Laire and David to raise, if I am killed two days hence?”
Callum asked softly.

Branwenn tensed. “You swore you will not
die!”

“Aye, and I surely plan to do all I can to
live. But, Branwenn, there is always the chance, no matter how
small we believe it to be, that all will not go as we believe.
Therefore, we must think of our bairns.” He gave her a light
squeeze. “Do you object to your brother and Jesslyn taking
them?”

“Nay.” She tipped her head up and to the
side, looking up at him. “But what of our vow to Isobail? We swore
that we would raise David and now we are forced to foster him to
Bao and Jesslyn. Do you think Isobail would not approve, be
angered?”

Callum rested his head back against the wall
and thought on that a moment before answering at last. “Nay,” he
said with a shake of his head, “she would not. Not knowing all that
we know and seeing that we are acting in good honor and to ensure
justice.”

Branwenn’s brows furrowed. “Reys came to see
me in my bedchamber before he left. He’s sworn that, no matter what
happens, my cousin and he will never allow a union between me and
that depraved Norman to whom I was once betrothed.”

“Aye, and neither will Daniel or Bao, that is
certain. They will each challenge the man to the same trial as I
have done, should I lose this battle and my life, and aught happens
which undermines Reys’s promise.”

Branwenn sat up straight. “Nay! They must
not! I will go with the Norman before I let that happen.”

“Sshhh, love, no need to fret now, for I do
not intend to lose this trial.”

Branwenn settled back against him, but her
mind churned with yet a new worry. No matter what Callum said, she
would not allow her brothers to risk their lives—again—for her.
For, Bao had already come near to death last spring due to her,
with the injury he received during her cousin’s siege of the
Maclean holding, and that alone had given her such a guilt. So much
so, in fact, that she had yet to completely feel relieved of
it.

Callum leaned down and pressed a kiss first
to her cheek and then moved up to her ear, nibbling and stroking
the outer perimeter with his tongue and teeth. “I’m remembering
that day in this cave—do you recall?” he said, his voice a rumble
and his breath hot and moist against the inside of her hearing
canal.

Branwenn had no idea why she did so, but she
blushed. ‘Twas hot and it stung her cheeks. Why, after all they’d
shared, the memory of the first time they’d been together, of what
she’d demanded, of what he’d offered, should suddenly make her shy,
she could not fathom. But it did.

“Aye,” she whispered with a nod.

“I’ve often wondered—what made you request
such a thing of me?” He tightened his hold around her, bringing her
buttocks more snugly against him. This is when she realized the
extent of his arousal. Her own body readied in response and some of
her timidity fell away.

She felt a tickle on the side of her cheek
and she rubbed it against her shoulder. “Umm,” she began.
“Well...”

“Aye—what? Tell me,” he urged.

Her heart pounded. But, she
wanted to tell him, be honest with him. For, this might be their
very last time together alone and she wanted him to know
her,
really
know
her, as if they’d been wed for fifty years and there was naught
else to learn, and all was comfortable, as some of the old couples
she’d known in the Maclean village had been. Aye, ‘twas what she
wanted. To be the wife she would have been to him fifty years from
now. No secrets.

Except
one
, her heart whispered, but she ignored
it. For, she would not risk Callum’s life this close to the trial.
For the other thing—the patch—would be secret from him no more by
night’s end.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she
said hurriedly, “I saw my brother and Jesslyn—together—at the
waterfall in the wood.”

“Together?”

“
Together
. I watched
them.”

“
What!
” Callum exclaimed, and then,
in a voice as smooth as warmed
uisge
beatha
, “Branwenn.”

She felt his manhood throb against the base
of her spine and he pressed her closer still. “Christ’s Bones! I
know not whether to be appalled or amused! But, in either case, I
admit, the thought of you watching anyone making love causes my
blood to rush.”