Surrender (38 page)

"Swiving hasna anything to do with it. In
fact, the mere thought of bedding with ye takes away any desire to
eat another bite."

She dusted off her hands and made a quick
survey of the table. Everyone else had finished and was waiting on
her. How had the time passed so quickly?

Their leave-taking was so swift she suspected
Graemme and Magnus had planned it that way. When she descended the
stairway leading down to the front bailey, she saw mounted warriors
patiently waiting. Magnus and Graemme's mounts were at the front
with Brian and Colyne, several warriors were between them and
Muriel and Elyne's waiting horses. Gille was to ride close to the
women to relay any messages between them and their husbands. Behind
them was a cart with soft pillows, blankets and padded benches on
each side for Grunda, Ysabel and Ada. In the middle was a square
wooden form around a small pallet covered with sheepskin for Squat.
When Gille had learned the dog was going back to Clibrick, he'd
made a bed saying the little beastie couldn't survive the trip
bouncing around on a wooden cart.

Toward the end were several large carts
carrying Elyne's things and those going with Muriel to Blackbriar
Castle. Between each section, armed warriors rode for
protection.

Before she knew it, she had hugged and kissed
her family until Graemme led her away and lifted her into her
saddle. She was glad to have Muriel riding beside her. When she
looked back and saw her family waving, she blinked and
swallowed.

Not until they cleared the drawbridge did the
squires unfurl the two gray Morgan brother's banners with the black
wolves. Graemme's with the wolf leaping down off the rock, and
Magnus' wolf baring his teeth in a mighty snarl.

"'Tis added protection, Elyne. When traveling
through Scotland, the wolf banners warn everyone the Morgan Clan is
not to be trifled with."

"Aye." Elyne grinned and lifted her left
skirt to show Muriel her leg. She had strapped her dagger there.
Her short sword hung from a strap on the pommel of her saddle.

"We think alike." Muriele laughed and flicked
up the side of her own slit skirt to show she also had worn her
weapons. One on each leg. "I dinna travel without them."

"Do ye feel like we are overrun by women on
this trip?" Graemme looked at Magnus somber face and winked.

"Aye. From the looks of it, ye'd think we
will be slow in making our way to Clibrick."

"Dinna fear. Elyne is as good a rider as
Muriele. They'll not hold us up. My fear is the carts will break
down or some such thing."

Squat's shrill bark reminded him not only did
they have the women to consider, but someone would have to stop
each time the dog needed to relieve itself. His stubby legs
wouldn't allow him to run alongside the horses. Poor misshapen
thing would collapse within a league away from Raptor.

Turning in his saddle, Graemme signaled
Gille, who in turn dropped back beside the women's cart. He reached
out and Ada passed the squirming dog to him. Before long, he
returned the dog to the women's cart and pulled in behind Elyne and
Muriele.

"Magnus?" Graemme called.

"Aye?"

"Have ye learned who Gille's father is? Chief
Olaf or Feradoch?"

"I dinna know. I tried to find out when his
birth month was to see if Feradoch may have been spending his weeks
at Kinbrace, but no one in the village recalled when he arrived
there. I suspect it was Feradoch, though."

"Why?"

"Chief Olaf didna care who knew he'd fathered
a bastard. So many of them were in villages close by, he seemed
proud of the fact. Gille was at an outlying village. I think he was
meant to stay hidden." He frowned. "The day we cleared Gille's
village of raiders, Feradoch was scornful when I'd killed the man
holding a knife on the boy. He said the young man wasn't worth
killing a man over. I insisted on bringing Gille back to Kinbrace.
Later, I found he had a brown birthmark on his lower belly."

"What has it to do with the boy?" Graemme
glanced at Magnus, who seemed to be considering his answer.

"Feradoch would never acknowledge he had a
son who wasna perfect. He'd have killed him at birth, so the mother
must have hidden him at the village." Magnus shook his head. "The
man was obsessed with his own beauty."

Surprisingly for Elyne, the day passed
quickly. When they stopped for the evening, she was surprised at
how tired she was. The men had ridden hard to come to a clearing
next to a loch where they had stopped before. 'Twas large and
surrounded on three sides by dense woods.

"Sweyn, Brian and Colyne, see to the camp.
Sir Magnus and I will take the women to a place where they may
bathe without fear of men hunting firewood coming upon them."

Sweyn, being the most experienced took over,
ordering Brian to see to the men gathering firewood and building
the fire. Colyne was in charge of rounding up the game caught
during the day. As they had ridden through the woods, hare
scrambled to run from their horses, grouse had taken to the sky and
deer were fleet of foot.

Sweyn had Gille and some of the younger men
putting up tents. The one for Graemme and his new wife was on the
fringe of the camp, Magnus and Muriel's was closer in. Ada, Grunda
and Ysabel shared one closer to the warriors for they had no man to
share their sleeping arrangements.

The women were anxious to wash the dust from
their bodies and wondered what took Graemme so long to take them to
the loch. When he joined them, they found they couldn't walk as
swiftly as they'd thought, for banging their behinds on their
saddles or bouncing on the cart benches had made them stiff and
sore. Grunda, the eldest by far, seemed the most rested.

"I think ye are lost, my careless husband,"
Elyne announced as they made their way through the bushes.

"Nay. 'Tis on the other side of this stand of
trees. Canna ye hear the waterfall?"

"Be patient. Once ye see this part of the
loch, ye will want to spend several days here just to be able to
swim." Magnus hiked a brow at the three unattached women. "Ye can
all swim, canna ye?"

"I can keep myself afloat. My brothers tossed
me in a loch every chance they got," Ada spoke up.

Ysabel simply nodded. Grunda gave him a look
conveying several things. Among them was how did he think she lived
this long without being able to swim? Loch's covered the Highlands.
Though drowning was frequent, they were mostly people who feared
the water and had eventually fallen in, or some man wanted one less
mouth to feed and had tossed them in.

"Graemme and I will stand guard just inside
the woods. If anyone is in distress, ye have but to call out and we
will be there."

Elyne stood on the edge of the water and
looked around her, amazed at the beauty. They were only one day
from Raptor, but she could see a change in this sparsely populated
area. Great trees overhung the loch and from the mountain they had
descended, a waterfall cascaded down, making the water foam and
sparkle in the sunlight. A large flat rock stood close where they
placed their clean clothing.

Graemme was right. She'd like to stay here
for days. Judging from the delight on Muriele and Ada's faces, they
would also. The women threw off their clothes and tossed them atop
branches nearby, then raced to stand in the water, tentative with
each step they took, testing the ground. When they waded out to
their waist and didn't feel any drop-off they jumped up and down
like lasses at play.

Even Grunda's eyes shone with delight. She
looked years younger. While Elyne stared at her, she could see the
beauty hidden by age. Why, she must have been quite beautiful as a
young woman! Elyne felt Muriele watching her and nodded. She seemed
to have thought the same thing, for a tender smile touched her
lips.

Grunda astounded them all by plunging to the
bottom of the pool and coming up with sand clutched in her
hands.

"Ye dinna need scented soaps out here. The
sand will wash the dust off yer bodies and leave ye feeling cleaner
than ye have afore."

For those who had never done it, she put a
little in their hands and they copied her movements as she rubbed
it on her arms, chest and neck. When 'twas gone, she showed them
how to dive deep. Muriele helped, for after Magnus had besieged and
captured Blackbriar Castle, Grunda had taught her and her mother
when they had escaped to live in the woods.

"If ye stay in the water any longer, ye will
be shriveled near to nothing," Graemme called.

"Get back into the woods, ye uncouth churl!
Dinna spy on women when they have asked for privacy."

"Why not?" Magnus cut in. He, too, stood in
the clearing watching them. "'Tis a charming sight to see mermaids.
I begin to think Grunda was first born a fish, for she is the
strongest swimmer I have e'er seen!"

"Turn yer back, please, husband," Muriele
ordered.

He did. But Graemme, with a soft smile on his
lips, continued to watch them.

"Did ye not hear Muriele, ye randy goat?"
Elyne called to Graemme.

"Aye. I did. Did ye?

"Of course, fool. I asked ye first."

"Well, then, did ye not hear how nicely she
said
please
and
husband
?"

Elyne near ground her teeth together. The
women watched her, hugging their arms across their chest, whether
in cold or modesty, she wasn't sure. When her gaze met Ada's, she
seemed to see her for the first time as she truly was. Why, she was
quite pretty! She had large blue eyes and curly red hair even
though weighted by water. Her lips were near blue from the cold,
but it didn't hide their laughing curves.

Elyne stamped her foot, for all the good it
did her. The water barely moved.

"Dear sweet, loving husband, would ye please
go back into the woods with yer brother?"

"Was being nice so difficult?" Graemme
immediately turned and walked back into the woods with Magnus.

Elyne stuck her tongue out and made a face at
his back.

"Best ye heed yer husband in all things once
at Clibrick. If ye become careless and dinna listen to his caution,
ye will be in great danger."

Grunda's voice was for her ears alone for she
stood so close no one else could hear. The old seer surged out of
the water and walked over to her clothes. She seemed to have grown,
but 'twas because she didna slump or bend. It amazed and caused
Elyne to wonder about her real age. Now, she seemed no older than
her mother had been. As she watched Grunda dress and tend her hair,
she realized the seer deliberately gave the illusion of great
age.

When they returned to the camp, they were
delighted to see everything looked as if it had been there for a
long time. Elyne was especially glad they had provided tents and
hoped the women would share two and the two commanders would take
the third. She knew it was a useless hope when Graemme led her to
the farthest one. Gille had finished putting pillows on the pallet
and furs for warmth.

"Thank ye, Gille. Ye have made a pleasurable
sleeping spot. 'Twill be very comfortable."

He bobbed his head, a shy smile on his lips
as he bowed and left the tent.

"Well, now, ye took so long we have no time
for a quick round of bed sport," Graemme said, a hint of
disappointment in his voice.

"Ye canna be serious! The moon isna even up,
and everyone is about. Forget it, husband!"

"If ye refuse to be adventurous, then there
is no choice but to dine, since the food is near finished."

Food had never tasted so good. Elyne could
only believe it was because they were outdoors all day and she had
become especially hungry. Even Squat had more than his usual share,
since Gille shared his food with him.

When she could put it off no longer, since
all the other women had already retired, she finally allowed
Graemme to lead her to the tent.

She should not have protested, for there
followed the most delightful night of her life. Graemme was right.
They might fight by day, but the nights were devoted to sensual bed
sport—of the most wonderful kind.

By the end of a fortnight, Elyne was sorry
the trip was over.

Elyne and Muriele had spent part of every
afternoon in the wagon with the other women. Muriele was like a
sister to her, and Ysabel had become a good friend, though
reluctant to speak about her past. Grunda had promised to help
Elyne to understand and read her dreams. Each day, when they
stopped to eat or when Elyne and Muriele sought rest from the
horses, Grunda had Elyne start with telling her first foretelling
dream and what she'd thought it meant.

Elyne's mouth gaped when Grunda shook her
head and told her the true meaning. The seer knew nothing of events
which had occurred many years ago, but for each dream she
interpreted, her foreseen outcome had happened as she
predicted.

Whenever Graemme or Magnus required Gille,
they whistled loud and shrill to summon him. Shouting would have
gone unheard, due to the long row of horses and talking warriors.
She grinned, for the first time she had signaled him thus, he had
near jumped in his saddle thinking his lord had somehow circled to
come up behind him. On the last day of their trip, the young squire
pulled alongside Elyne when she whistled as skillfully as any
man.

"Will we reach Clibrick soon, Gille?" Elyne
asked, standing in her stirrups trying to get a glimpse of her new
home.

"Do ye see the shimmering light through the
trees ahead? 'Tis the sun on the waters of Loch Naver. There is a
level spot on the other side of the trees where a watchtower
stands. After Chief Olaf approached around the Loch instead of the
hill, Chief Angus posts a guard to warn the castle which way
raiders are coming. Ye can see the castle from there."