Just Wait For Me (Highland Gardens Book 3) (17 page)

“I am sorry, so sorry, to have hurt you.” He wrapped his
arms around her. Hugged her tight. His heart would remain here in the future
with Jillian no matter what happened in the past.

“Promise me something?” Jillian asked.

“Anything.”

“Take care of Keita and Duff.”

“I vow to do right by them.” He held a palm over his heart.

“I will always love you, Stephen MacEwen.” Jillian kissed
his cheek. “Always and forever.”

“And I you,
m' fhìor ghaol
.” My true love.

“Oh, Stephen.”

“
Soraidh leibh
," he murmured against her hair.
Farewell to you.

But not forever. He had to believe he would return or he
wouldn’t be able to leave.

“’Tis time.” Douglas said “We must hurry before Caitrina
catches wind of what we are doing.”

Stephen released Jillian from his embrace, accepted the
claymore from the man, and secured the sheath to his back. He walked onto the
mound as if his boots were filled with heavy weight. Turning back, he waved.
Jillian’s image wavered as everything spun out of control, and he remembered
Iain’s warning.
If you return to the past, you might not be able to travel
forward through the garden gate again
.

9 March, 1514

Dunadd Castle, Argyll Scotland

The great hall held a somber hush, the clan mourning their
losses six months to the day after the Battle of Flodden. Calyn sat to
Stephen’s side, a smile broadening her mouth as if she were a tabby cat seated
before a bowl of cream. Allain served a fine board, but not that good.

What was the wench so happy about?

Stephen certainly wasn’t. Since arriving at Dunadd, he’d
repeatedly questioned her about how he’d come to wake in her bed on that
fateful morning. She persisted with the claim he’d forced his way into her
chamber, taken advantage of her affinity for him, and she succumbed to his
advances. She claimed to be as surprised as he that she’d grown large with
child from just that one night of carnal knowledge. A night he didn’t remember.

He inhaled sharply as her hand slid up his thigh for the
fifth time. He gently removed it. Her pout only lasted a moment before she
smiled for those watching them.

What was her game? Why did she want an unwilling husband?

Eyes widening and upper lip curling into something ugly, she
stared toward the rear passage. His eyes followed her gaze, and he understood
the cause of the sneer. Munn—having willingly joined Stephen when he could have
remained at Castle Lachlan with the chief—guided Keita and Duff below stairs,
more than likely to the kitchens where the
bairns
would partake of the
evening meal.

“Must those ragamuffins stay with us?” Calyn demanded.

Stephen cringed, still not used to the whiney quality of her
voice. How could he have bedded her? He would have had to gag her first.

“As I told you before, the
bairns
stay with me. If
you wish them to leave, I leave, too.”

“You cannot. You are my husband.”

“Handfasted husband. For but a year and a day.”

“Nae matter?” She rubbed her round belly. “Soon we will have
a
bairn
of our own and a committed marriage assured for our future
together.”

He would have sunk into despair had he not caught sight of a
man he recognized. A man he remembered speaking with the night before he woke
in Calyn’s bed.

“Pardon me, mistress, I must—” Stephen didn’t bother
finishing the statement or staying to hear a litany of curses, instead he
hurried across the chamber to seek out a man who might have answers he
required.

Howbeit, the man was gone by the time Stephen reached the
table where the man had been seated moments before. Stephen just couldn’t catch
a break—to use one of Jillian’s future terms. When he returned to where he’d
left Calyn, she’d already departed in a huff by all accounts.

He collected the
bairns
and the brownie and wandered
to the cottage he’d let for his newly acquired
family
. Calyn already
slept in the bed they were expected to share. That would never happen. They
might be wed for the rest of their lives, but they would never again share a
bed. It would be a dishonor to Jillian.

He bedded down with the
bairns
.

Sleep came slow, and when it did, Stephen tossed and turned
caught within a snare of dreams. He sat at a table with faceless warriors who
would travel with him to do battle for king and country. They drank rounds,
toasting to future success. A buxom maid sidled close, poured ale into his cup,
and propositioned him. He couldn’t make out her face, but kenned he didn’t want
to spend the night with the lass. After another toast, he stood, wanting to
find his pallet. He staggered, though he hadn’t consumed enough ale to be
drunk. A brawny lad offered assistance and then another. Instead they
manhandled him, trying to subdue him. He attempted to throw them off, but he
had no strength. He woke in a sweat.

When Calyn ventured from bed in the morning, she found him
seated at the dining table glowering into a mug. He lifted his gaze and had to
squash the urge to snarl at her. “Tell me true. Did I lay with you the night
you conceived?”

“Of course. I have told you before.” Her giggle grated on
his nerves. “You ken you woke in my bed.”

“Aye. But dinnae remember tupping you.”

“Dinnae be vulgar.” She tugged the fabric of her gown,
tightening its fit, drawing attention to her large belly. “You will ken the
truth of it when you gaze into the eyes of
your bairn
.”

Of a sudden, she gasped, eyes widening. Clutching a hand to
her belly, she stumbled. He caught her by the shoulders. Fear glinted in her
eyes. “Help me to the bed then send for the midwife. Hurry! The
bairn
is
coming early.”

Stephen paced the yard, cold air a bracing relief from the
moist heat of the cottage. Munn had taken Keita and Duff up to the castle, out
of range of Calyn’s screams. How long did it take to bear a child?

Finally, the screaming ended. Moments later, a good mother
poked her head out of the door. “You have a strapping laddie, my lord.”

Stephen strode across the icy ground and over the threshold.
Within the heat of the cottage, the midwife held up the screeching
bairn
.

“His eyes are blue like mine,” Stephen said, awed by the
infant.

“All
bairns
have blue eyes at birth, my lord.” She
wrapped the lad in swaddling and handed him into Stephen’s arms. He held the
child awkwardly. The
bairn
was tiny. Fragile.

Still, Stephen felt no warmth toward the lad. Shouldn’t he
feel more for his son?

After Calyn and the wee lad had been put to bed and were
soundly sleeping, Stephen approached the midwife. “I have heard
bairns
born early can be too small to live.”

“You have naught to worry about with your lad.” The woman
patted his arm. “He wasn’t born early and is as healthy as they come.”

Stephen felt a fist punch to his gut. Only six months had
passed since the handfasting. Calyn
had
lied about the conception.

“Are you sure the
bairn
did not come early?”

“Oh, aye. I ken what an early birth looks like.” The woman
smiled, displaying a missing tooth. “If you have a worry for the lad, visit the
witch living near the wee loch in the wood. She can give you a charm of
protection among other things.”

The question now was what he should do about Calyn’s deceit.
Could he leave her and the
bairn
and return to Jillian in the future?
That is, if Iain was mistaken and Stephen could coerce the faeries of the mound
to let him travel through.

While he pondered the question and its consequences over the
evening meal the next night at the castle, he again glimpsed the man who might
be able to shed light on the events leading up to Stephen being compromised in
Calyn’s bed. Stephen hurried across the hall determined to catch the man before
he left. He approached the man’s table and sidled close.

“Might we have a private word, sir?” Stephen asked, keeping
an eye on the man’s companions. They continued to eat, paying him no mind.

The man nodded, rose, and followed Stephen into the
passageway and into a curtained alcove. Although all castles had ears everywhere,
Stephen thought the spot safe for a short discussion.

“My name is Stephen MacEwen. I remember drinking ale with
you the night before I was forcibly handfasted and left for war.”

“Aye. I ken who ye are.”

“Can you tell me what happened that night?”

“Ciaran and his brother will not thank me fer talking to
ye.” The man’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. He pulled aside the curtain
and glanced both ways before pulling the fabric closed again. “’Tis hearsay. Ye
ken?”

“I understand.”

“Yer lass had a nasty lover. Ye ken the man we all hate? Ye
ken
Maclay
?”

The shock made Stephen’s stomach drop. “Aye. Go on.”

“Well, they say he got her with child and her brothers
needed to find someone suitable to wed her and chose you. They had yer ale
tainted.” The man narrowed glassy eyes. “Ye dinnae hear this from me.”

Stephen handed the man a coin for his troubles, and the man
slipped from the alcove.

Maclay? Stephen could hardly believe the turn of events.
What had Calyn been thinking to bed such a man? Had he forced himself on the
lass? ’Twas the only possible reason a lass would bed such a man.

Stephen ran a hand through his hair. Could he leave Calyn
and the
bairn
unprotected, and travel to the future to be with Jillian?
His conscience wouldn’t allow such. Mayhap he could hunt Maclay and kill the
bastard.

The midwife had said something about a witch and a
protection charm. He would seek out the witch on the morrow.

At noontime, Stephen headed for the stable. When he arrived,
he found Keita and Duff already mounted on a horse. Duff raised his chin. “We
are coming with you.”

“How do you ken where I am going?”

“Does not matter.” The lad held firm. “You will not leave us
behind again.”

Munn strolled out from another stall with Stephen’s saddled
horse. The wee man shrugged. “The
bairns
are persuasive.”

“Aye. They are that.” Stephen shook his head and mounted the
horse. Munn leapt up on the beast’s rump.

Luck provided a clear sky and warmer weather than usual.
They rode the better part of the afternoon, until gloaming shadows covered the
ground. As they cleared the wood near the hut on the loch, the hair on
Stephen’s arms lifted and the air bristled with…
magic
.

“Stay here at the edge of the wood while I visit with the
witch. If anything bad happens, ride like a
banshee
chases you back to
the castle. You understand?”

Both children nodded, and Stephen dismounted. He handed the
reins over to Munn. “Keep the
bairns
safe.”

Keita grasped his sleeve. “Take a care.”

He rubbed a tender spot on his chest over his heart. “I
will.”

With a nod from the brownie, Stephen inhaled a calming
breath and approached the witch’s lair. A cackle sounded from within the
moss-covered structure, and he stiffened.

The heavy oak door swung open and a woman of minute stature
stood on the threshold. The hunch of her back must be painful. Stringy gray
hair hung over a face with creases upon creases and a hairy wart protruded from
a crooked nose. Howbeit, the hag’s emerald eyes were remarkable. They seemed
familiar, though Stephen couldn’t comprehend why.

“What brings you to my humble doorstep, Lord Stephen?”

Hardly a lord
. “How do you ken who I am?”

“I saw your coming in my herbal tea leaves. Why have you
come?” Her intense gaze seemed to see right through him.

Stephen shifted his weight, uneasy with her perusal. “I need
a protection spell for…my newborn son.”

“Ach! I ken the
bairn
of which you speak is nae of
your blood, but of that of the villain Maclay.”

A chill traveled over Stephen’s spine. The witch had an
uncanny knowledge.

“Does not matter who fathered the child.”

“Heed my warning for the evil man’s son can come to nae
good.”

“You speak nonsense. The
bairn
is my responsibility
and I will see him protected."

“Hah! You have not even given him a name.”

“Nae matter. What must I give you in return for a charm to safeguard
the wee lad?”

She handed him a mat of woven reeds with a symbolic etched
black stone at its center. “Place this talisman under the
bairn’s
cradle. We will discuss your payment at a later time.”

Stephen clutched the charmed mat and turned to leave.

“Not so fast.”

He pivoted back to the witch. “Aye?”

“Is there not something else you need to ken?”

“I dinnae understand your meaning.”

“A way through the time gate at the
Sithichean Sluaigh
perhaps?”

“What do you ken of the faerie knoll, witch? My understanding
is that a body can only travel through once in each direction.”

“You ken little of the ways of the fae. One faerie took you
forward. Someone else brought you back. Each can take you through once again.”
The witch scowled. “Though I dinnae understand how a meddling brownie learned
the ways of the fae royalty. Nae matter. Go to the
Sithichean Sluaigh
on
the next full moon and say these words to induce the favor of the fae.”

“What are the words?” Hope flared within Stephen’s breast.

“
Faeries dance round me, faeries sing to me. Upon this
hill I am free of strife. From this sacred place I will ascend to a new life.
”

Stephen repeated the chant so he wouldn’t forget.

“If the fae look fondly upon you, they will send you to the
one you seek.” She swatted her hands in his direction. “Now go before a late
winter storm keeps you from your journey.”

He found the others where he’d left them at the edge of the
wood and ordered Munn to take the
bairns
on ahead to Castle Lachlan and
then to meet him on the full moon two days hence at the faerie knoll.

Unbeknownst to Calyn, and without her unwanted hysterics,
Stephen placed the witch’s talisman under the newborn’s cradle. Relieved to
have provided protection for the
bairn
, Stephen rode with haste, a
bone-chilling storm on his heels as predicted by the witch.

At the Fir-wood, he found Keita and Duff waiting. “Where is
Munn?”

Duff shrugged. “The brownie sent us alone.”

“Then let us be about this mad business.”

Moments later, Stephen stood at the center of the
Sithichean
Sluaigh
holding Keita and Duff’s hands securely, determined to travel to
Jillian’s future time. They needed the faeries to look favorably upon them.

“
Faeries dance round me, faeries sing to me. Upon this
hill I am free of strife. From this sacred place I will ascend to a new life
,”
he quoted the words given to him by the witch. Excitement flared. The familiar
sensation of falling overcame him. Things began to spin. But then to his
dismay, everything stilled too quickly.