Highland Dove: (New Year's)

by Elizabeth Rose

  “Then get them and bring them to me.”

  “Aye,” said Tomas. “But may I ask what ye are goin’ to do?”

  “We need to prepare.”

  “To defend ourselves from another attack by Eideard?” asked Tomas.

  “Nay. We need to prepare because we are goin’ to attack him this time, and take back what is ours once and for all.”

  Chapter 8

  By the time they got back to the castle, Mari’s skin was already blistering and she was itching like crazy. Eideard helped her off the horse, and when he bent over to kiss her, he jerked back.

  “What’s that?” His eyes opened wide and he pointed to her face.

  “What do ye mean?” she touched her cheek and felt a blister.

  “It looks like ye’re havin’ a reaction to somethin’.”

  Malmuira hurried over to them. “Let me see.” She pulled back the shoulder of Mari’s gown and when she did, Eideard gasped.

  Mari looked down to see all the blisters. It hurt and itched and was downright ugly. But inside, it made her smile. “I think I must have touched a poisonous plant when we stopped to use a bush.”

  “It’s winter,” growled Eideard. “Nothin’s growin’.”

  “Oh, that’s no’ true,” said Malmuira. “The giant hogweed plant might go dormant, but it is still alive. It is very poisonous. Just from touchin’ the woody vines, it could have caused this.” Malmuira pretended to inspect it.

  “Well, give her somethin’ to get rid of it quickly,” ordered Eideard. “It is our weddin’ night and I’ll no’ have her lookin’ like that when we couple.”

  “Nay, ye canna couple with her when she has this!” said the old gypsy. “It is very contagious. Ye’ll just have to wait until it goes away. However, there is nothin’ I ken of that can cure it.”

  “Wait until it goes away?” gasped Eideard. “Nay, I want to consummate the marriage.”

  “At the cost of gettin’ it as well?” asked the gypsy.

  “It does look bad, Eideard,” said Baldair. “Mayhap ye should keep yer distance.”

  “But she rode on the horse with me,” he said.

  “And ye insisted on touchin’ me and kissin’ me,” added Mari.

  “Ye dinna seem to have it,” said Baldair, inspecting Eideard. “Mayhap it will no’ bother ye.”

  “Aye, I’m strong. I willna get it. But God’s eyes, stay away from me, Wife,” said Eideard. “Dinna come near me until it goes away. Ye willna sit at the dais with me nor will ye sleep in my bed or stay in the same room. Gypsy, take her to the servants’ quarters and tend to her there.”

  “Of course,” said Malmuira, as Eideard hurried away complaining to Baldair.

  “Did it work?” asked Angus, walking over, trying not to trip on the long gown. He reached up and straightened the wig and wimple.

  “Aye, it did!” Mari felt so happy that she could sing. “Duncan had a wonderful idea. Now, hopefully, I willna get over it before we can find Emmaline and make things right again.”

  “Sister, Sister, ye’ve finally returned.” Tillie ran over to them, holding up her skirts as she crossed over the bailey. When she approached Mari, she held out her arms as if to hug her, but Mari stopped her.

  “Nay, dinna touch me,” she warned her. “I am infected by giant hogweed and dinna want ye to get it.”

  “Oh, Mari, that’s awful.” Tillie’s smile turned into a frown and her hand went to cover her mouth.

  “Nay, it’s a guid thing because now Eideard doesna want to couple with me.”

  “Hello, Tillie,” said Angus in his female forced voice.

  Tillie’s eyes shot up and she answered cautiously. “Who are ye and how do ye ken my name?”

  “I was told ye were goin’ to feed me,” he said in his regular voice, causing Tillie to jump in surprise.

  “Angus? Is that ye? Ye’re alive?”

  “Shhhh,” Mari whispered. “It’s him but he’s in disguise.”

  “I’ll say. He’s the ugliest woman I’ve ever seen, no’ to mention the biggest.” She started to laugh.

  “Keep yer voices down so Eideard and his men dinna hear ye,” warned Malmuira.

  “I’ll fill ye in on everythin’,” said Mari, scratching her back and making a face. “But first, can we all get somethin’ to eat?”

  “Of course!” said Tillie. “Actually, the meal is ready and I helped to make the Christmas feast. Is Duncan goin’ to be comin’ to join us?”

  “No’ yet,” said Mari. “But it willna be long. Right now, he’s gone to see Faither who has been hurt and left for dead by Eideard.”

  “Och, nay, tell me that isna true,” gasped Tillie.

  “The longer we talk, the more they are goin’ to think somethin’ is goin’ on,” warned Malmuira, her eyes scanning the guards on the battlements.

  “Let’s go and celebrate our guid fortune,” said Mari in a low voice. “Duncan and Angus are alive and I willna have to couple with Eideard tonight.”

  They turned and headed to the great hall to forget their troubles for the time being and enjoy the Christmas celebration.

  Itching like crazy, Mari stood in the corner of the great hall, drinking in the beauty of the decorations.

  “Look, Mari,” said Tillie, balancing her daughter, Ava, on her hip. She held her daughter Ilona’s hand. Both girls had bows in their hands attached to strings.

  “We’re goin’ to attach them to the Yulelog and make wishes,” said Ilona.

  Angus shuffled up just then to join them, still wearing his gypsy wench disguise.

  “It’s the old hag,” said little Ava, pointing at Angus.

  “What? Where?” Angus turned a full circle, stepping on his gown and almost falling.

  Tillie laughed. “Why, Annabel, she means that ye look just like the face of the old hag that was carved onto the Yule log that will take away all the bad luck when it is burned.”

  Mari chuckled. “I do see the resemblance,” she said, loving the way Angus’ chin jutted out.

  “I’m no’ that ugly,” he whispered in his own voice.

  “Mathair, Annabel sounds like a man,” said Ilona.

  “Girls, I think we need to go attach our bows to the Yule log and make our wishes now before they throw it into the fire.”

  “I dinna want mine to burn.” Ava held hers closer.

  “But it’s supposed to burn,” explained Mari. “That way, when the string and bow burns, yer wish will come true.”

  “Where is yer wish, Aunt Mari?” asked Ilona.

  “I’m afraid my wish wouldna come true right now anyway,” she said sadly, thinking about how much she wanted to be with Duncan. She hated being Eideard’s wife, and wanted an annulment so she could marry the man she truly loved. Hopefully, Duncan would find a way to make that happen.

  Looking around at the great hall, it never looked prettier. Her sister and the children had done a wonderful job. Evergreen boughs graced all of the trestle tables, decorated with holly and little bows made from strips of the clan’s plaid. And hanging overhead in the doorways to ward off evil were balls of string wrapped with mistletoe. Unfortunately, Mari noticed some of them had ivy woven into them and that made her nervous. Ivy indoors only meant death. And that only made her long to see her father.

  “Mmmm, somethin’ smells guid.” Angus lifted his chin and sniffed the air as the servers came from the kitchen with trays loaded down with food.

  Mari saw Eideard take his place at the dais. He glanced over at her but, thankfully, did naught to ask her to join him. The thought of possibly getting blisters like her on his skin must have really frightened him. Mari looked down at her arm, trying not to scratch. She was really miserable, but not as miserable as if she’d had to bed Eideard, so it was well worth it.

  “I look so ugly,” she said, feeling like she wanted to crawl out of her skin.

  “Ye think ye look ugly?” asked Angus in a whisper. “Take a look at me, lass.”

  Tillie settled h
er girls at the table and came back to join them. “It’s time to eat,” she told them. “The girls are excited by the stuffed peacock with the feathers reattached. It looks amazin’. Plus, I made yer favorite, Annabel,” she said, looking up shyly and smiling at Angus.

  “Really?” Angus perked up. “Is it haggis, roasted goose with herbal gravy, or boar’s head and brawn puddin’?”

  “All of the above,” she said, smiling more than Mari had ever seen her do.

  The old gypsy, Malmuira, walked up to join them just then. “We need to find out where Eideard is keepin’ Duncan’s mathair,” she said softly. “Has anyone talked to Eideard to find out yet?”

  They all shook their heads.

  “Well, then it’s a guid thing I told Eideard that ye’d read his palm first thing on the morrow,” she told Angus.

  Angus was busy looking at the food and smiling at Tillie. But when he heard that, his head snapped up and he almost looked frightened. “Och, nay. I’m no’ really goin’ to have to do that, am I?”

  “We have to do it. We promised Duncan,” said Mari in a soft voice.

  “I want to find my mathair just as much as anyone,” said Angus. “But I refuse to read Eideard’s palm. It’s bad enough I have to dress like this and act like a wench!”

  “Ye’ll do it,” said Tillie, not taking no for an answer. “If my sister was willin’ to purposely be infected with hogweed, it’s the least ye can do. Now stop complainin’.”

  “Well I –” he started, but stopped in midsentence when Tillie crossed her arms over her chest and gave him the evil eye. “Oh, all right, but I’m no’ goin’ to like it. Let’s go eat.”

  As they started away with Malmuira, Tillie turned around. “Mari, why dinna ye come and join us?”

  “Nay, I dinna want the young ones or any of ye to catch this.” She scratched the back of her neck and wiggled uncomfortably. “I think I’ll just grab some food from the kitchen and go to the servants’ room and stay there for the night.”

  “We’ll miss ye,” said Tillie. “But I understand.”

  Mari almost felt jealous as Tillie walked away with Angus, dressed like a woman, because Mari wished she was spending Christmas with Duncan and not by herself. But with the way she looked and felt right now, she decided she didn’t want him to see her this way anyway. She walked through the kitchen, grabbing a loaf of brown bread, feeling like a leper the way everyone made a wide circle around her, not wanting to get too close.

  Once in the small room off the kitchen, she put down the food and lit a candle and closed the door. Laying her head against it, she cried.

  “Dinna cry, lass,” came a voice from inside the room, causing her to jump. She spun around, terrified, yet happy at the same time to see Duncan lounging back on the pallet with his arms behind his head. “I was startin’ to think ye were never goin’ to get here.”

  “Duncan? Why are ye here?”

  “I’m here to spend Christmas with the lass I love.” He sat up and smiled at her.

  “Nay,” she said, turning away from him. “I dinna want ye to see me lookin’ like this. I’m ugly.”

  “Ye are bonnie to me, Mari,” he said, walking up behind her. He reached out for her but she stopped him.

  “Nay, Duncan. Dinna touch me. I dinna want ye to get what I have.”

  “Then at least sit down and eat with me. I’ve already brought wine, sweetmeats and some roasted goose in a savory gravy.”

  “Ye – ye really want to eat a Christmas meal with me?” she asked.

  “I no’ only want to do that, but I want to marry ye and spend the rest of my life with ye as well. Ye ken that.”

  “Oh, Duncan,” she said, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I want that, too, more than anythin’.”

  “Have ye found out yet where Eideard is keepin’ my mathair?”

  “Nay. No’ yet. But on the morrow, Angus is goin’ to read his palm and find out what he can.”

  Duncan chuckled, pouring a goblet of wine and holding it up to her. “Now that is somethin’ I would love to see.”

  She giggled. “He does look funny. And he’s no’ enjoyin’ bein’ a woman at all.”

  “But I’m sure he’s enjoyin’ Tillie’s cookin’.”

  “He would do anythin’ for food.”

  They both laughed at that.

  “Aye, he would,” said Duncan. “Now eat with me, Mari.”

  They sat down and shared a meal, conversation, and some wine.

  “How is my faither farin’?” she asked, almost scared to know.

  “I gave the old gypsy’s healing potions to Forba to use on him, so I hope they help. I’m hopin’ that he will be able to talk to me on the morrow.”

  “That’s guid.” Mari noticed Duncan rubbing his shoulder. “How is yer shoulder, Duncan? How bad did Eideard hurt ye?”

  “I’ll live,” he told her. “Forba sewed me up. How are ye farin’ with yer blisters?”

  “I feel so ugly and I am very uncomfortable. But it worked in keepin’ Eideard away from me. I just hope this lasts until ye find a way to get yer mathair and reclaim the castle.”

  “The MacKeefes will be helpin’ me and there are men from yer clan who will help attack as well.”

  “When will that be?” she asked him, raising the goblet to her mouth.

  “I’m no’ sure,” he told her. “But the faster ye can find where Eideard’s keepin’ Mathair, the faster this will be over.”

  There came a knock at the door and Mari’s eyes flashed over to Duncan.

  “Wife, open the door,” bellowed Eideard from the other side.

  “What should I do?” she whispered to Duncan.

  “Get rid of him,” he whispered back, running over to hide behind the door.

  The pounding continued. Slowly, Mari opened the door a crack.

  “What do ye want?” she asked, poking her head out to see him.

  Eideard looked over her head to the food on the table along with the two goblets. “Is there someone in there with ye? I see two goblets.”

  She knew if he thought she was trying to keep him out, he’d only want to come inside even more. So she took a chance and hoped her plan would work.

  “I was hopin’ ye were goin’ to join me, so I brought enough food and wine for two.”

  She saw Duncan from the corners of her eyes. His hand went to the hilt of his sword.

  “Really?” he asked, sounding suspicious.

  “Come inside,” she told him, opening the door a little wider. “Mayhap we can dance.” She reached over and picked up a sprig of mistletoe that had decorated the top of the bread. Holding it over her head she smiled and puckered her lips. “Care to kiss me under the mistletoe?” She smiled as his mouth turned down into a scowl while she waited. She reached out for him but he jerked his hand away.

  “Nay, I have no desire to kiss ye when ye look like a leper. Now stay away from me and dinna try to touch me again until those blisters are gone.” He spun on his heel and hightailed it away from her.

  Chuckling softly, she closed the door and looked over to Duncan. “All my discomfort is worth it when I see Eideard runnin’ from me instead of tryin’ to bed me,” she told him.

  “Aye, but that willna last forever,” Duncan told her. “And soon, it’ll be me kissin’ ye under the mistletoe, no’ him.”

  “I’m lookin’ forward to it,” she said shyly.

  He reached out and picked up the heart locket with the two turtle doves engraved upon it, bringing it to his mouth and kissing it. “I may no’ be able to kiss ye now, Mari, but my kiss will stay here with ye if ye should ever need it. Please, wait for me. I will clear this all up and ye and I will somehow still be married. I promise ye, I will find a way to do it.”

  “I long for that day,” she told him as he gently placed the locket back down against her chest.

  “I need to go now, before I’m spotted,” he told her, opening the door and peeking out the crack.

  “When will ye return, Du
ncan?”

  “I’m no’ sure if I’ll even be able to,” he said over his shoulder. “It was a risk just sneakin’ in here. If Eideard catches and imprisons me, I’ll no’ be able to carry out the plan.”

  “Then stay away . . . for now,” she said, fingering her locket, feeling her heart about to break to say this to him. “But please, talk to my faither and figure out a way to take back the castle and enable us to be married. I canna keep away from Eideard much longer.”

  “I will. I promise ye.” He reached back to her and tucked a strand of her long, red hair behind her ear. “I will find a way to do it, or die tryin’.”

  “Nay, ye’ll no’ die,” she told him, the thought of the ivy being brought into the great hall lodged in her mind and worrying her even further.

  “I’ll try to find a way to get a message to ye to let ye ken when we’ll attack. Guidbye, Mari,” he said, flashing a sad smile. “Please be careful, and take care of yerself.”

  “Guidbye, Duncan, and ye do the same.” She blew him a kiss as he slipped out the door and disappeared. “Have a guid Christmas,” she whispered, her lip trembling as she picked up the locket and kissed the turtle doves right where Duncan had kissed them. No matter what happened, he would hold a spot in her heart for as long as she lived.

  Chapter 9

  Mari awoke the next morning to hear people talking in her small room. Pushing up in the bed, she rubbed her eye with the back of her hand and blinked twice. “What’s goin’ on?” she asked, seeing her sister helping Angus into his disguise. He was having trouble keeping the pillows in place that made up his fake breasts.

  “I dinna want to dress like a wench anymore,” Angus complained in his regular low voice.

  “Ye’re doin’ it for a guid purpose,” Tillie told him. “Now stay still so I can try to scrape off the rest of yer whiskers. Eideard isna goin’ to believe ye’re a wench if ye have a mustache.” She raised the edge of the sharp knife to his face. Angus grimaced and turned his head.

  “I’m hungry,” he complained. “Did ye bring me some of that guid cabbage stew ye make?” he asked. “Or how about some black bun? I could go for that and a big tankard of Mountain Magic about now.”