Time Travel Romances Boxed Set (131 page)

She had a funny feeling that something was
being decided. She took a step closer and tried to look as though
she wasn’t straining her ears to listen.

Niall nodded once, quickly, then shot a
glance over his shoulder as though sensing that someone was
watching the exchange. Viviane hastily dropped her gaze to her
hands and hoped he hadn’t noticed her attention.

He was hatching a plan! Viviane knew it.
Just as she knew he was going to do something noble and heroic,
something that would save them all from death.

She decided right then and there that
whatever Niall was going to do, she was going to do it with him.
Sticking close by his side was the best way she could imagine to
get that chance to talk to him, after all.

And they had to talk.

Niall turned back to the cell, the key
grated in the lock, and Majella suddenly screamed. The little man’s
feet scampered in the corridor outside as he fled back to his
station.

“
Yowsers!” Monty roared,
leaping to his feet from his crouch beside the lady in question.
“What is that all about?”

“
My water has broken,”
Majella declared, then lifted her skirts to show the growing
puddle. “The babe is coming!” Her beautiful features contorted with
pain and she teetered unsteadily on her feet.

Niall was across the cell in a flash, his
expression concerned. “Majella, you cannot birth a child in this
hovel!”

She gasped as she obviously had a
contraction, then managed a wan smile for her brother after it
passed. Her fingers gripped his arm tightly. “Niall, we have little
choice. Whether you believe ’tis good sense or not, this babe is
coming and ’tis coming soon.”

Niall swore, then helped Majella to the
rough pallet he had recently abandoned. He shoved a hand through
his hair and scanned the cell, as though looking for aid
unexpectedly hidden amongst them.

“
But Majella, you cannot
bear a child here,” he insisted. “There is no midwife, I know not
what to do.”

Majella heaved a sigh and winced as she
settled on the pallet. “’Tis a boy, no doubt,” she said
philosophically. “They are most unlikely to heed convenience or the
will of others.” She grimaced and caught her breath, exhaling
mightily when the contraction passed. “And he is hurried. ’Tis a
boy, to be sure.”

“
You cannot do
this!”

Majella cast her brother a wry glance that
made Viviane smile. “I have done this afore, Niall. Trust my
certainty that ’twill happen with or without your blessing.”

“
But Majella, something
could go awry! You could die in such unfitting circumstance. The
babe could die in the chill of this place.” Niall appealed to
Viviane with a desperate glance but she had to shrug.

“
I have never witnessed the
birthing of a child,” she confessed, not liking the pallor of his
skin. Majella’s other children gathered around Niall, and several
took his big hand in theirs, though Viviane couldn’t guess whether
they were turning to him for support or offering their
own.

“
Well, it’s a good job I’ve
done my research,” Monty declared, pushing past Niall as he rolled
up his sleeves.

“
You?” Niall
demanded.

“
You?” Majella
echoed.

Viviane blinked in shock and refrained from
comment.

“
Yeah, me.” Monty surveyed
them all, obviously insulted by this commentary on his competence.
“Nobody here has like delivered a child before, right?” Niall and
Viviane nodded reluctantly. “And I spent two months with a midwife
on the island, traveling around to do pre-natal and post-natal
check-ups. We delivered four babies in that time.” He held up his
fingers. “Count ‘em.
Four
.”

“
You aided a midwife?”
Niall demanded, his incredulity more than clear.

“
Hey, it’s not off the deep
end or anything. Just research. Character research. I had a midwife
in a book and wanted to know what she would know, what she’d do,
you know?” He shrugged and glanced at Majella. “You don’t have a
lot of options here, babe. Looks like I’m it.”

Majella grimaced and caught her breath,
puffing when the contraction passed.

Then she smiled for Monty. “With your count
and mine, and this child on the way, we make an even dozen, Master
Monty. I welcome your aid - though trust you will not take offense
that I heartily pray for an uncomplicated arrival.”

Monty winked at Majella. “No offense taken.”
He dropped his voice. “In fact, I’m with you. No breech stuff, if
you can negotiate it.” He cast a telling glance around the cell,
his gaze lingering on a persistent drip that created a dark puddle
in the far corner. “In this joint, we could use all the help we can
get.”

“
Zounds,” Niall muttered.
He strode to the door and roared anew. “We have need of a midwife
here!”

There was a lot of scuttling and heavy
footfalls in the corridor, some muted argument and a running
audibly dispatched to the archbishop. Meanwhile, Majella’s labor
progressed, the child clearly disinterested in what trouble was
taken for its arrival. And in the end, no midwife was summoned.

The archbishop forbade it.

This news was received poorly by Majella, no
doubt because she had expected better from her lover. “Wretched
bastard!” she hissed through her teeth, straining through another
contraction. Her brow was damp, her face flushed despite Monty’s
cheerful coaching.

’
Twas bad timing to
understand precisely how little the man cared for her, Viviane
guessed.

“
Don’t push yet, babe,
you’ll just hurt yourself. Breathe, breathe, breathe.” Monty
puffed, Majella glared and echoed his manner, working in an insult
for the archbishop when she could.

Viviane gathered the children in the
opposite corner and told them tales, hoping to distract them from
their mother’s labor. She believed it was the most useful deed she
could do, since Monty truly did seem to know what he was doing.
Niall paced, his unnatural pallor growing with every passing hour,
his limp becoming more and more pronounced as the evening
progressed.

Monty was surprisingly calm, murmuring to
Majella and even making her laugh at intervals. One at a time, the
children fell into restless slumbers and Viviane tucked each in
with whatever cloaks she could retrieve.

’
Twas late when Matthew’s
grip finally loosened on Viviane’s hand and she was nearly out of
tales as his eyes closed. She brushed the hair back from his brow
and nestled him in beside his brothers. She glanced up in time to
find Niall’s considering glance upon her. Viviane murmured his name
and got to her feet, but Niall abruptly turned to watch his
sister.

The single candle had burned low, almost
gutting itself in the residue of wax. There was not much wick left
so Viviane knew it was late. She could hear the silence of the
night filling the keep, that curious stillness that is broken only
by the scampering of mice. The cell echoed with Majella’s strained
breathing, Monty’s encouragement was so low as to be
incomprehensible.

Niall was watching the candle and as the
flame flickered and dipped dangerously low, he dropped to one knee
beside his sister.

“’
Tis time, Majella,” he
urged. “You must bring this child forth with haste.”

“
First, you want to stop
it,” she huffed, “and now you would rush it forth.” She flicked a
glance to Viviane. “Is that not like a man? To want all the world
to bend to his desire?”

A contraction seized her and she arched her
neck back before Viviane could smile or agree. Majella’s teeth
gritted in agony. Niall took her hand, and began to mutter a prayer
beneath his breath. Viviane came to his side and joined his
entreaties, feeling helpless as she witnessed Majella’s state.

“
I see the head!” Monty
cried and Majella visibly summoned her resolve. He shook a finger
at her. “Give me a minute here.” Viviane did not know what he did
but an instant later, he looked up. Majella was watching him
avidly, her eyes glittering. “Next time,
push
! Push as hard
as you can!”

Majella had only the time to nod agreement
before she cried out again in pain. She gripped Niall’s hand so
tightly that Viviane saw her nails cut into his skin. Majella’s
toes curled, her back arched and her eyes were squeezed tightly
shut.

“
Come on, babe, come on!”
Monty urged. “You can do it.”

Viviane gasped as the baby’s head appeared
between Majella’s thighs. She heard the children stirring behind
her but couldn’t look away from this marvel. Monty turned the child
with gentle fingers and coaxed it out into the world. Majella
screamed fit to bring down the walls, the children awakened and
clung to each other.

And the babe suddenly slipped free of its
mother. Its expression was anguished, its skin was an angry red, it
was the most beautiful thing Viviane had ever seen.

And it
was
a boy.

Monty cooed to the child, stroking the mucus
away from his nose, then cast a grin at Majella as he scooped the
baby into his own purple polar fleece. “You were right, Majella
babe. It’s a boy and he’s looks just perfect.”

“
Oh!” Majella clasped her
child gratefully to her breast and fell back against the pallet,
tears of relief streaming down her cheeks. “He lives!”

“
Hey, I’m not like some
amateur, you know.” Monty fastened the teeth of his chemise so it
wrapped around the child.

Niall leaned forward and kissed Majella’s
brow. “Truly you weep whether the news is good or bad,” he teased,
a tear making its way down his own cheek.

Majella opened her eyes and smiled at him,
the affection between them unmistakable. “A child does not care
where he enters the world, Niall. Indeed, the son of God himself
came in far worse circumstance than this. We are warm, we are fed
after a fashion, and we are together.” She sighed, the strain
leaving her features. “’Tis enough.”

“
Aye, Majella,” he
whispered. “I was worried more for mother than child.”

And Viviane blinked back her tears.

“
You fret overmuch, brother
of mine,” Majella teased.

Niall kissed his sister’s knuckles and might
have straightened, but she seized his hand.

“
His name is Niall,” she
insisted quietly, her tears gleaming on her cheeks as she squeezed
Niall’s fingers. “In honor of your return to us.”

At that, Niall turned abruptly away. He
paced to the door again, hung his head for a moment, then took a
deep breath. “’Tis precious little my return has brought this
child, Majella.” His voice was soft. “Indeed, you all are
compromised by my deeds.”

“
Hey, like don’t get all
serious in such a happy moment,” Monty insisted. His cocky grin was
back in place and he was flushed with his success. “Everything will
come out right in the end. Darkest before the dawn and all that.”
He grinned at Majella. “Cavalry, right? You’ve got those do-good
kind of guys here, don’t you? Robin Hood? The Masked
Avenger?”

Majella laughed. “Monty, you speak in the
most odd way at times. Indeed, I cannot fathom your meaning.”

“
Well, hey, this medieval
re-enactment stuff is seriously freaky. I have no idea how it
works, but this jazz puts movie theaters to shame. No wonder you
guys get so hooked on it.” He looked pertly between Niall and
Viviane. “So, like what happens next? Who’s got the
script?”

“
Monty, this is no jest,”
Niall said solemnly. “We are all sentenced to die.”

“
Yeah, yeah, but
everything’s going to be okay, right?” Monty demanded. He gestured
to Niall. “Like you have
friends
, right?
Three
Musketeers
stuff? All for one and one for all, take that you
dastardly villain. This is
some
kind of game. Advanced 3-D
Dungeons and Dragons, right? We’re not all like gonna die, are
we?”

Niall studied each of them in turn, his gaze
lingering on Viviane. He looked oddly grey, very tired and less
than happy.

“
Nay,” he said softly. “We
are not going to die.”

Viviane heard the conviction in his tone,
and knew with sudden clarity that he was prepared to risk his own
hide for the sake of theirs. It was so characteristic of the kind
of man she knew him to be that she couldn’t believe she hadn’t
guessed it sooner. Viviane stepped forward just as Niall bent and
snuffed the candle with one smooth move.

The cell was filled with a blackness so
complete that Viviane could not even see her hand before her face.
She heard Majella gasp but knew she had to reach Niall’s side.

“
Guard!” he cried. “We are
without a light and a new babe is arrived. For the love of God,
grant us a light at least!”

The baby, as though sensing his cue, began
to wail.

And then, just as Viviane feared, things
happened very fast.

*

Niall moved quickly to the door despite the
darkness, having memorized both the distance and all within his
path in the last moment before snuffing the light. He caught his
breath at the sound of footsteps, flattened himself against the
wall and prepared to strike.

The door flew open, a sentry cursed as a
thin ray of light fell into the chamber. Niall ascertained that the
man was alone, then locked his fists together and clubbed the guard
over the head.

“
Niall!” Majella cried, but
Niall was not interested in reassuring his sister in this
moment.