Highland Dove: (New Year's)

by Elizabeth Rose

  “Hush,” said Tillie, trying to hold him still to shave him. “I told ye, I’ll make ye all the food ye want after this is all over.” She scraped the edge of the knife against his upper lip.

  “Duncan was here yesterday,” said Mari with a yawn.

  “He was?” Angus’ head jerked around to see her. When he moved, the knife cut him between his upper lip and his nose. “Och, lass, that hurts!” His hand went to the cut. He was bleeding slightly.

  “Well, if ye dinna stop movin’, ye’re goin’ to get yer throat slit next,” retorted Tillie. “I told ye to keep still.” Tillie reached out and turned Angus’ face back toward her.

  “What did he say?” asked Angus, once again turning his head to look at Mari.

  “I give up!” Tillie put the knife on the table and wiped her hands on her gown. “If ye want a shave, do it yerself.”

  “Duncan said he would try to find a way to send a message to us when they’re ready to attack. But we need to find where Eideard is hidin’ Emmaline first.”

  “Hopefully, it’ll all be soon,” said Angus, looking at the blood on his fingers and poking at his cut. “I canna go on like this much longer.”

  “Ye need to find out from Eideard where he’s taken yer mathair,” Mari told him, getting out of bed and itching her arm. She still felt miserable and the blisters only seemed to multiply overnight.

  “Och, I’ll just strangle the answer out of him with my bare hands around his throat.” Angus held out his hands and pretended to be squeezing.

  The door to the room burst opened and Malmuira slipped inside. “It’s time,” she announced.

  “Time to break the fast?” asked Angus. “Guid, because I’m famished.”

  “Nay, ye fool, it is time for ye to read Eideard’s palm. He is in the great hall askin’ for ye. Now hurry.”

  “What?” Panic showed on Angus’ face. He swallowed deeply. “Nay, I canna do it.” He shook his head hard. “I ken nothin’ about readin’ palms. He’s goin’ to see right through me.”

  “Ye have to do it,” said Mari, slipping into her shoes. “Too many lives are at stake and we are all countin’ on ye.”

  “Then let me do it as myself. I’ll confront Eideard man to man, no’ dressed like a wench.” Angus pulled off the wig and threw it down. “Where the hell is my sword?” He made a full circle and patted down his gown looking for it.

  “Angus MacLean, ye are bein’ selfish!” spat Tillie, picking up the wig and slapping it back on his head. “Now get yer arse out there and play yer part in findin’ yer mathair. And help to save the castle and my sister as well. We are all countin’ on ye so dinna let us down.”

  “Blethers, why’d ye’d have to put it that way?” asked Angus with a sigh. He straightened his wig and fixed his wimple. Then he hoisted the breasts back into place. “All right, let’s get this over with.” He headed to the door.

  “Just be sure to talk about his four major lines. There’s the heart, head, life, and fate lines,” the old gypsy told him.

  “The lines?” Angus asked, looking very confused.

  “Come on, I’ll explain as we walk.” Malmuira took him by the arm and dragged him out of the room with the others following.

  “Our chieftain seems better today, and he is askin’ for ye,” Forba told Duncan, holding open the door to the hut.

  “Guid,” said Duncan with a sigh of relief, walking inside to find Mari and Tillie’s father, Daniel, propped up on pillows, sipping some liquid in a cup.

  “Duncan MacLean. Ye’re a sight for sore eyes,” said the man, handing the cup to Forba. “I thought ye were dead.”

  “I could say the same for ye,” said Duncan. “I’m glad to see ye are goin’ to recover.”

  “No thanks to Eideard,” the man scoffed. “I should have kent he was up to no guid when he arrived here wantin’ to wed Mari.”

  “Did ye really sign the agreement?” asked Duncan, taking a seat on a chair next to him.

  “Sadly, I did,” the man admitted. “And I’m no’ proud of it. But he convinced me ye and yer faither and brathair were dead. He said this was a way we could keep the alliance with yer clan if he married Mari. He told me he was the new chieftain. I thought it was best. For Mari’s sake, too. I had no idea that as soon as I signed the paper his men would attack us and he’d try to kill me.”

  “That’s what I need to talk to ye about,” said Duncan. “The MacKeefes have joined forces with me and some of yer men as well. I’m goin’ to take back MacLean Castle and also Mari.”

  “But she is betrothed to Eideard,” said Daniel.

  “Nay, she is already married to him.”

  “How is that so?”

  “Eideard tricked her into it, threatenin’ to kill my mathair. But they’ve yet to consummate the marriage, so it should be easy to get it annulled.”

  “I’ll do anythin’ I can to help. I want to stop Eideard and get him away from my daughters. Duncan, I want ye to marry Mari. I always did.”

  “And I will,” Duncan assured him. “Just as soon as Angus finds out where Eideard has taken Mathair, we are goin’ to attack.”

  “But how is Angus goin’ to find out?” asked Daniel. “I’m sure Eideard will never tell him.”

  “He will, but he willna ken he’s doin’ it.”

  “What do ye mean?”

  “What I mean is that right now, my brathair is my secret weapon. I’m countin’ on him and I hope he willna let me down.”

  Mari, Tillie and Malmuira watched in the shadows as Angus nervously sat down at the trestle table across from Eideard.

  “What took ye so long?” complained Eideard.

  “I – had things to do,” said Angus in a high voice, rubbing the cut above his lip.

  “What’s wrong with yer lip? Are ye bleedin’?”

  Angus’ eyes shot back over to the girls. Malmuira pointed to her palm.

  “Give me yer palm,” said Angus, reaching out for the man’s hand.

  “My, ye have big hands for a wench,” said Eideard, staring down at them.

  “Dinna speak,” snapped Angus, tracing a line on Eideard’s hand. “Uh huh . . . och . . . oh . . . mmmmm.”

  “What? What do ye see? Can ye tell me my future? Is it guid?” Eideard shot questions at him one after another.

  “I see ye have a big head.”

  “What?”

  “Headline,” whispered Malmuira, smacking her own head.

  “The line,” said Angus, clearing his throat. “It means somethin’.”

  “What? Which line? What does it mean?”

  “And this one, too.” Angus traced another line on the man’s palm. “It tells about yer heart.”

  “What about my heart?”

  “Yer life, I mean. I think. And there’s yer fate here somewhere, too.”

  “Are ye sure ye ken what ye’re doin’?” Eideard used his other hand to scratch his head and then his neck.

  “Blethers, of course I do. It means ye’re goin’ to lose yer head and then yer life.”

  “What?”

  “Oh, no,” said Tillie. “He’s goin’ to ruin everythin’. No one wants to hear they’re goin’ to die.”

  “I should have read his palm instead,” grumbled Malmuira. “He’s never goin’ to find out where his mathair is by tellin’ Eideard things he doesna want to hear.”

  “I’ve got to try to help him,” said Mari, shooting forward, joining them at the table.

  “Guid mornin’,” she said, standing next to Angus. “I see ye are havin’ yer palm read.”

  Eideard jerked backward, his hand still in Angus’. “What are ye doin’ here? I told ye to stay away from me.”

  She looked down to his palm and gasped.

  “What? What is it?” asked Eideard, staring at his hand.

  “I’m sure Annabel is about to tell ye about yer long life and success in battle.”

  “I am?” asked Angus, his voice too low. She scowled at him and he cleared his throat. “I am,�
�� he said in his wench’s voice. “Ye will have great success in battle and have a long life.”

  “What about riches?” asked the man. “Will I be rich?”

  Mari nodded toward him slightly.

  “Aye? Aye,” said Angus with a nod. “Ye’ll be so rich that even the king willna be able to compare with ye. Ye’ll be richer than all the kings of every country put together.”

  “Annabel,” said Mari, her brows dipping, trying to make him stop. “Did ye tell him about this line?” She reached out and touched Eideard’s hand.

  “Dinna touch me,” warned Eideard.

  “I’m sorry.” Mari smiled, liking the way he squirmed. “That’s the secrets line. Tell him, Annabel. It’s the line that will destroy ye because of any secret ye may be harborin’. But Annabel told me that one’s destiny can be changed if one were to reveal their secret to another. Oh, well, I need to go put more ointment on my blisters, if ye’ll excuse me.”

  She walked back to the girls. “I think I helped. I hope Angus caught on to what I was tryin’ to do.”

  “We’ll see,” said Malmuira. “Here he comes now.”

  Angus hurried over to them, smiling.

  “Did he tell ye where he’s hidden yer mathair?” asked Mari.

  “Well, no’ in so many words, but he did agree he’s got a secret and by what he said, I figured out that Mathair is hidden –”

  “Stop him! He’s a fraud!” yelled Eideard before Angus could finish.

  “What?” Angus and the others looked up to see Eideard holding one of the pillows that made up the gypsy disguise. Angus looked down to his lopsided chest and groaned. “Bid the devil! I kent these diddies were goin’ to be the death of me yet.”

  Eideard and his men came running over with their swords drawn. As soon as they got close, Angus picked up a chair and swung it, taking out two of the guards. His wig fell off in the process.

  “I kent it! It’s MacLean,” shouted Eideard, pointing at him. “Seize him and throw him in the dungeon.”

  “Like hell ye will,” spat Angus, jumping atop Eideard and taking him to the ground. They rolled around the floor in a fistfight as Eideard’s men stood and watched.

  “Tillie, ye need to gather the girls and head back home, quickly. Malmuira, go with them,” said Mari. “Ye are no longer safe here now that Eideard kens we were tryin’ to deceive him.”

  “Come with us,” begged Tillie. “Ye are no’ safe either.”

  “Nay, I have to stay here and try to help Angus. Tell Duncan I will try to find a way to tell him where his mathair is hidden once I find out.”

  “I agree, ye need to come with us,” said Malmuira.

  “Nay. I am goin’ to try to distract Eideard and his men. Now go before they realize ye left. And hurry.”

  “Aye, Sister,” said Tillie, turning to leave with Malmuira.

  “And Tillie?” Mari called after her sister.

  Tillie turned around. “What is it, Sister?”

  “Tell Duncan, that no matter what happens, I will always love him.”

  Chapter 10

  “Eideard, let him go,” said Mari as Eideard’s men hauled Angus to the dungeon. She hurried after them, needing to talk to Angus to find out where Eideard was keeping his mother.

  “Men, find Tillie and that old gypsy and throw them in the dungeon, too,” commanded Eideard. “They are all conspirin’ against me.”

  “Nay,” she cried, grabbing Eideard by the arm. “They dinna do anythin’. Ye canna hurt them.”

  “I told ye no’ to touch me,” said Eideard, swinging his other arm and hitting her across the face. Mari fell to the ground, crying out in pain.

  “I’ll kill ye!” shouted Angus, fighting against the guards still dressed as a gypsy wench. If he’d had his sword hidden under his clothes, he might have had half a chance. But now he was no match for so many men being unarmed.

  “If ye werena my wife, and covered in blisters, I’d throw ye in the dungeon, too,” said Eideard. “Now go back to yer room and dinna come out until yer skin is healed.”

  Mari was so upset that she started to cry.

  As Angus passed her by, being held back by four men, he looked over and said something in a soft voice.

  “Dinna worry, Mari. Ye are a Highland dove, like Duncan says. Doves mate for life, and will always remain true and reveal the truth in any situation.”

  “Quit yer babblin’,” said Eideard. “Throw him in the dungeon until I can decide how to use him to my advantage. I never should have trusted gypsies to begin with.”

  As they all left, Mari got to her feet and ran to her room. She plopped down on her bed crying, rubbing her locket for strength. Everything was ruined, and there was no way Duncan’s plans could ever succeed now.

  It was nearly nightfall when Duncan heard the sound of wagon wheels on the road coming right for Clan Stewart. He’d been training with the men all day, and had just sat down to talk to Daniel. “Who could that be?”

  He jumped out of the chair, drawing his sword, making his way out the door. He was about to call for the rest of the men of the clan, hoping it wasn’t Eideard attacking. But then he recognized the wagon of the old gypsy.

  “Malmuira?” He peered into the darkness. The wagon stopped and someone emerged from the back. He half-expected to see Mari or Angus, but instead it was Tillie and her young daughters.

  “Tillie!” came Daniel’s cry from behind him. He held on to Forba for strength and hobbled over to the wagon.

  “Da!” Tillie put her children down and they all ran over to hug her father. Duncan headed over to help the old gypsy from the wagon as well.

  “Why are ye here?” asked Duncan. “Has somethin’ happened?”

  “Yer brathair was dressed as a gypsy wench readin’ Eideard’s palm, tryin’ to find yer mathair when he was caught.” The old gypsy relayed the information.

  “So my brathair was really readin’ palms?” Duncan would have chuckled if she hadn’t said he was caught. “Please tell me he is all right.”

  “They took him to the dungeon,” Tillie told them.

  “What about Mari?” asked Duncan, his heart speeding up. “Did he hurt her?”

  “We dinna ken,” admitted the gypsy. “Mari stayed behind to distract Eideard so we could escape.”

  “That sounds like my daughter,” said Daniel, hugging his family.

  “How did he get caught?” asked Duncan, shaking his head.

  “He lost a pillow.” The old gypsy patted her breasts to explain. “But right before he was discovered, he told us that Eideard had given him a clue where to find yer mathair.”

  “Where is she?” asked Duncan anxiously. “Tell me everythin’.”

  “We dinna ken,” said Tillie. “They took him away before he could tell us.”

  “Then I’m goin’ there to spring my wee brathair and find out where our mathair is.”

  “But what about the attack?” asked Daniel.

  “Ye’ll have to contact the MacKeefes and handle it for me,” said Duncan. “I’ll work from the inside.”

  “Our chieftain almost died and can barely stand,” snorted Forba. “Ye canna expect him to fight or lead the attack.”

  “Duncan was imprisoned and almost died, too,” said Malmuira. “Yet he is doin’ it.”

  “Nay, she’s right,” said Duncan with a raised hand. “If I go there before the army is ready, I might only make things worse. Hopefully, Mari will figure it out and somehow get word to us.”

  “But that could take a while,” said Tillie.

  “That’s true,” said Malmuira. “And her blisters will be gone in a few days. After that, ye ken Eideard will be after her again.”

  Duncan didn’t like that thought at all. “Then a few more days is all we’ll give it. We will have to attack no matter if we find my mathair or no’.”

  “Are ye sure, Duncan?” asked Daniel. “After all, she is yer mathair.”

  “I will find a way,” said Duncan, not feeling so c
onfidant anymore. “I will find a way to save Mathair, Mari and Angus, and also take back the castle.” He walked away, running a weary hand through his hair, heading for the mews for the night to sleep on this and hopefully figure out a way to keep his promise.

  Chapter 11

  Mari jerked awake from a sound sleep, suddenly realizing that yesterday Angus had been trying to give her a clue as to where to find his mother. He’d oddly mentioned Duncan calling her a Highland dove. He’d also said that the doves would reveal the truth. It had to be a clue as to where Eideard was hiding his mother.

  She hurriedly dressed and threw open the door, only to find that Eideard had posted a guard to watch over her.

  “Get out of my way,” she told him.

  “Eideard said ye are to stay here.” It was his right-hand man, Baldair.

  “I’m lady of the castle and refuse to be confined to my room.”

  “He said ye willna leave until yer blisters are gone and then he is goin’ to bed ye to consummate the marriage.”

  “Well, I can’t do that because I am contagious.”

  The guard stretched his neck to look at her. “I dinna see those blisters anymore.”

  “They’re here. All over my body. See.” She pulled up her sleeve to show him her arm and gasped. Somehow, her skin no longer showed blisters. They’d disappeared overnight and now only a remnant of light scars existed.

  “Eideard will want to ken about this. Come with me,” he said, grabbing her by the arm and hauling her through the kitchen and down the hall to Eideard’s solar. He stopped and knocked on the door.

  “Who is it?” came the grumpy voice of Eideard from the other side.

  “It’s Baldair,” said the man through the door. “I have yer wife and she seems to be healed. I thought ye’d want her right away so ye can consummate the marriage.”

  There was a moment’s silence and then the door slowly opened. Mari looked up and gasped. Eideard’s body was covered with big, oozing blisters that looked to be twice as bad as hers ever were. She chuckled under her breath. If anyone deserved it, it was him.