The Kissing Stone

by Amanda Scott

  He shook his head. “How can that be, Katy-love?”

  “’Tis what Brother Julian called ‘marriage by declaration.’”

  Will grinned. “That sounds even dafter than my yearnings.”

  “Aye, well, I believe Brother Julian. I am certain that it is a legal form of marriage, so I hereby declare us married, Will Comyn. Will you deny it?”

  Still amused, he said, “Nae, sweetheart, I’ll not deny it, but neither will I agree to consummate such a union on the mere possibility of its being real.”

  “Consummate our union?”

  “Aye, you do know how bairns are made, do you not?”

  She had been gazing at his chest, but she looked up then, her eyes widening as she said, “Aye,” making it difficult for him to restrain his increasing amusement.

  “Never mind that now, lassie mine,” he said. “We—”

  “Will?” Her tone was wary, even concerned, and her eyes had widened more than ever.

  “What is it, Katy-love? You know I will do naught to harm you.”

  “I do know that, but it is getting colder, Will, though the sun still shines. The birds have quieted, too, and so have the bees.” She scrambled to her feet. “Mercy, Will, but I no longer see any bees or hear any forest creatures. The light seems dimmer, too, although there are no clouds and ’tis only midafternoon.”

  Realizing she was right, he stood, too, and picked up his plaid. In mere minutes, the temperature had dropped and shadows were paler, as if thin clouds obscured the sun.

  “Faith, sir, look up through the leaves! The sun is vanishing! I can see but a narrow curved edge of it left, as if all the rest had darkened!”

  Following her gaze as well as he could through the canopy, he saw that she was right. The orange edge of the sun had narrowed under a dark, round shadow. As he tried to make sense of it, he noted that the once hushing breeze through the trees had grown stronger, as if it were striving to become a strong wind. Leaves kept obscuring his view. The woods had darkened, too, as if night were fast coming on.

  Distant screams sounded then from east and west, echoing eerily.

  Whispering as if she feared being overheard, and clinging tightly to him, Katy said, “It is the end of the world, Will. Marry, but Janet Fortune did predict it. Just pray tell me it is not my fault for being so undutiful to my parents in my feelings for you or my declaration of marriage in defiance of our usual custom.”

  Although the disappearance of the sun behind what was now clearly a round black shadow was an unusual and worrisome event, possibly even an omen of disaster, Will had heard Thomas talk of similar events and managed to force calm into his voice as he said, “Even if the world does end, Katy, it would not be your fault or mine. Only God has such power.”

  It occurred to him, though, that in view of all the violence of late, the event could well be an omen direct from God. Perhaps the Almighty was annoyed with the behavior of his mortals on Earth and had decided to give them strong warning.

  He thought of the forthcoming meetings with other Comyns and wondered if de Raite had more than mere talk and strengthening comradeship in mind.

  A halo of wispy white, like a smoky crown, surrounded the blackness above. The wind increased. The forest creatures remained silent.

  “Don’t leave me,” Katy muttered.

  “Nae, I won’t,” he said. “In troth, I do not believe that the world is ending, for I once saw a similar shadow, myself, covering the moon. My uncle called it an ‘eclipse.’ ’Tis an awesome, fearsome sight, though. Doubtless many are terrified.”

  “What if it is a sign that God objects to our marriage?”

  “Then our marriage will not come to pass, Katy-love.”

  “But it has,” she insisted. “Brother Julian said such a marriage is legal.”

  “Nevertheless, we are still standing and alive, Katy. If we were to blame for aught of this nature, do you not suppose God has power enough to destroy the two of us without terrifying everyone else?”

  He felt her relax a little, but she still held him close.

  The once clear and sunny day had darkened to night, which continued for long minutes. Even so, he could see no stars through the branches above them. It was a strange event, indeed, but the earth around them was still.

  Surely, the end of the world would be more tumultuous.

  Then, at last, to Katy’s cry of delight and Will’s profound relief, a thin, dark-orange edge of the sun began to emerge on the other side of the shadow. The odd semi-darkness and chill persisted for a minute or two more before enough of the sun emerged to make it unbearable to watch it, even through the leaves.

  The wind in the trees dropped back to a light breeze. The creatures kept silent, but Will saw a nightjar, like a small hawk, flit through the branches above them with the churring sound it usually made only at night.

  Slowly, the sky grew sunnier, a squirrel chattered, the air began to warm again, and the world seemed to be returning to normal.

  “’Tis safe now, Katy, and you must go home at once,” Will said firmly. “Your people will soon be missing you if they have not done so already.”

  “You must go home, too, sir,” Katy said, “because Aly will be as frightened as I was. Sakes, though, I wish I had brought the dogs with me.”

  “Aye, but I will keep near until you reach the path to the knoll,” Will said.

  “You must not do that,” she countered urgently. “The guards will be more alert than ever. What if they catch you?”

  “Nae one will see me, but ’tis true that you should have brought your dogs.”

  “Aye, she should have, but I be here with her,” Rory said quietly behind them, adding hastily, “I’ll keep her safe, sir, and she’ll help me keep safe, too. I’m gey glad the sun came back, but how did Auld Clootie snatch it away as he did?”

  The two of them stared at him in stupefaction, but Will found his voice before Katy did. “It could come and go by itself, because it did,” he said grimly. “I do not know the how of it, but I doubt the devil had aught to do with it. I do know that if you continue to follow her ladyship without her knowledge as you have, you will answer to me, my lad. I can promise you a good skelping if it happens again.”

  “Aye, sure, and that be why I didna say nowt afore now. But when I saw that Lady Katy had no taken Argus and Eos with her after Sir Fin said she must take some’un or both o’ the dogs, I followed so I could tell him she had me if he should learn that she’d forgot. I did stay back, mostly, but … Be ye truly married, then?”

  Will gave him a stern look. “Never mind that, but I want your sworn word now,” he added. “Is that tale you just told me the truth?”

  “As true as that I still be a-standing here after Auld Clootie stole the sun out o’ the sky. God Hisself must ha’ put it back, ’cause nae one else could do it.”

  “So you concealed yourself behind the Stone again, did you?”

  Eyeing him more warily than ever, Rory swallowed, squared his shoulders, and said, “Aye, then, I did. I didna ken how else tae keep sight o’ her.”

  “Then hear me well, my lad. Henceforth, if you follow her ladyship for any reason whatsoever, you will announce your presence to her and to anyone she might meet. If you do not, and I catch you at it—”

  “Aye, aye, I ken fine what ye’ll do. Nae need tae keep a-pratin’ on it.”

  “Get along with you then, both of you,” Will said.

  When Katy hesitated, clearly yearning for another kiss, he said, “You should have brought the dogs, lass. Do not forget them again.”

  She made a face at him, and he smiled, then shooed them off and followed them, turning back toward Raitt when they left the woods for the knoll path.

  He reached home in good time to seek Aly out before supper, but as he crossed the hall, Hew shouted, “Ye’re back early for once, so
unless the sun’s brief disappearance scared ye witless, get your gear together. We mean tae be away at dawn toward Inverness. Take your weapons and aught else ye might need should we meet wi’ trouble on the way.”

  “What trouble might we meet talking with kinsmen?”

  “Devil snatch ye, Will! Just do as I bid ye for once in a way. Da wants ye on this trip, with your weapons. Ye may even get your chance tae show him that ye’re worth summat after all.”

  An icy trickle slid up Will’s spine, giving him pause to wonder at Hew’s choice of words, and to recall his own thoughts about omens as the sun disappeared.

  Ignoring his feelings and the memory, he went to find Aly.

  Katy entered the hall to see her father on the dais talking to Clydia. Fin saw her, too, and said in an even tone that carried nonetheless chillingly to her ears at the other end of the hall, “Where have you been?”

  “In the woods, sir,” Katy said, fighting to keep her voice calm. “Below the castle knoll and I think a bit northeast of here.”

  “You did not take the dogs.”

  “Aye, but she did take me, Sir Fin,” Rory said, stepping past Katy.

  “I see,” Fin said. “Did the vanishing sun frighten you, laddie?”

  Rory shrugged. “I dinna ken where it went, so it did seem strange, but I didna think the world were ending, like some folks did. Who were a-setting up such screeches everywhere then?”

  “Many people were frightened,” Fin said. “Doubtless, because of the rumors arising from that Border woman’s witless prediction.”

  “Aye, that’s what I thought about it, m’self,” Rory said, nodding.

  Katy doubted that he was telling the truth, but she was not about to say so.

  “You have chores yet to do, laddie,” Fin said. “I thank you for keeping an eye on our Katy, though,” he added when Rory looked about to speak again.

  The boy nodded and turned away, and Fin gestured for Katy to step nearer.

  With a sigh, wondering how much trouble she was in, she obeyed and cast a glance at Clydia as she approached the dais.

  Her twin gave no hint of what lay ahead, but Fin had folded his arms across his chest, which was never encouraging. Suddenly, despite her assurances to Will, she did not feel at all like a married lady.

  Her father waited until she stood right in front of him before he said, “Did you truly believe that that twelve-year-old laddie was the sort of escort I meant for you to take walking with you?”

  Since she could not admit that she had not known Rory had followed her, she was glad for once when Fin gave her no chance to reply before adding grimly, “Because if you did think that, you were much in error. From now until I tell you otherwise, you will confine your activities inside this castle’s walls.”

  Katy stared at him in dismay, managed to curb her urge to shriek, and said with what she thought was admirable calm, “I am not to go outside the wall at all, sir? Not even to take bread to Granny Rosel or visit others in the woods?”

  “I am not punishing you as severely as I might, Katy, though you surely deserve something more for defying my orders. The truth is that I have heard from several people that de Raite has been quietly meeting other Comyn factions since he lost control of Nairn Castle. I sent word of his activities to Malcolm this morning, so we’ll know more anon, but since I cannot trust you to look after yourself properly, until we have a better understanding of de Raite’s plans you will stay inside our walls unless your mother or Clydia is with you.”

  Recalling Will’s warning that he might have to be away for a few days, Katy wondered with a shiver if he was involved in whatever de Raite was plotting. Even so, she breathed more easily after Fin’s last few words until a second glance at Clydia gave her pause. Her twin looked nearly as stern as Fin did.

  “There you are, my dearling,” Catriona said from behind Katy, having apparently just entered the hall. “Were you as stunned by the sun’s disappearance as the rest of us were? I vow, I have never seen anything like it, and chaos erupted in the woods. Nearly everyone fell down to his or her knees, praying for deliverance. I’ll admit that I sent up a few prayers, too.”

  Fin said lightly, “Young Rory just informed us that he was unimpressed. Did he speak truthfully, Katy-lass?”

  “I don’t know,” Katy replied, trying not to recall how calm Will had been, lest she somehow reveal his existence or her feelings for him. Hastily, she added, “Rory did not shout or scream, as some did—for I heard them, too—but I was too stunned myself to heed his reaction. What caused that, Da?”

  “Although I have never witnessed one before, I believe it was a phenomenon known as a solar eclipse,” Fin replied. “Bishop Traill explained that, as the Earth goes around the sun, sometimes the moon gets between them so that its shadow darkens the land below. The Earth can move between the sun and the moon, too. When it does, it causes a lunar eclipse. I have seen some of those, one that totally eclipsed the moon and others that partially did so. Lunar eclipses are more common to see.”

  So Will did know what he was talking about, Katy thought fondly.

  “I can recall your telling me about such things,” Catriona said. “Mayhap that is why I did not fear that the world would end. I do think we must have a cèilidh to celebrate the end of our shearing, though, and that the world did not end today. I have been out amongst the cottars, shepherds, and crofters, calming those who were terrified and inviting everyone to join us here tomorrow with food, drink, and entertainment to share. If you will send word at once to Cawdor, sir,” she added, smiling at her husband, “I am sure they will be delighted to participate.”

  “If we are all still here,” Katy said with a grin. “After all, Mam, the day is not over yet.”

  Chapter 12

  “Och, Will, I was so frightened!” Aly exclaimed when he entered the solar. Leaping from her window seat, she cast herself into his arms. “Do you ken why the sun disappeared and the night came and went?” she demanded. “Meggie said it were the end o’ the world, but then it were nae such thing. We are all still here.”

  “Aye, we are, Aly, and you are safe.”

  “I am when you are here,” she said.

  He could tell that she was still nervous, though. She had evidently heard more news than he had, too.

  “Meggie said all the shops in Nairn were closed today,” Alyssa said. “Everywhere one went, she said, people were on their knees a-praying.”

  “Then God heard their prayers,” Will said gently.

  “Aye, perhaps,” Aly said doubtfully.

  “Do you not think he hears our prayers?”

  “Mayhap he does, but so many at one time? How does he sort them out?”

  With a chuckle, Will said, “Granduncle Thomas told me that God is all-powerful and can work miracles, so one does not ask how he does it. If you are hungry and ready to go down to supper now, I will go with you.”

  De Raite had not yet stepped onto the dais, but most of the men were at their trestles, and Liam and Colley had joined Hew at the high table, so Will escorted Aly to her place. Meggie hurried in moments later and stood at her place beside Aly.

  De Raite emerged from his tower chamber scant seconds later, and Will heard Meggie breathe a sigh of relief.

  De Raite paid the women no heed.

  When he reached his place, he looked out on the lower hall and said grimly, “As ye all ken fine, I meant for us tae leave at dawn tae meet wi’ clansmen from Badenoch and then tae talk wi’ others in Inverness and the Great Glen.

  “However,” he went on, “after this afternoon’s startling event, I’ll be putting that business off for a day. We’ll give them who feared the world’s end had come, due tae a brief darkening o’ yon sun, time tae recover their senses. Certes, every man here had better do so, unless he wants me tae make him an example for the rest. We leave at dawn on Friday
.”

  A rumble of conversation ensued until de Raite pounded the table with a fist. When silence fell again, he looked at Will. “I expect that our Hew told ye that ye’re tae come with us now that Jarvis be dead. We’ll be talking wi’ clansmen about how the Malcolmtosh be too fond o’ having his way in affairs of import tae us. Donald o’ Cawdor, likewise. I’ll no stand for any o’ yer nonsense in these talks, though. If ye canna speak sensibly, ye’ll keep your mouth shut, or we’ll fall out, me laddie.”

  Beside Will, Aly drew a breath as if to speak but caught it and kept silent.

  “Did ye ha’ aught tae say about this, lass?” de Raite asked in a too-silky tone. “I canna think what it might be, so dinna keep us all in wonder. Speak yer mind if there be a thought in it worth sharing.”

  Paling, she said cautiously, “With respect, sir, I just wonder if mayhap some in the Clan Chattan Confederation, even the Mackintosh, might be friendly enough tae join you in seeking peace. Surely, they canna all be evil.”

  “And what would ye ken o’ them villainous snakes?” de Raite demanded in a near snarl. “Ye ha’ nae business meeting wi’ any o’ them on the sly. Forbye, if ye ha’ done such a thing, I’ll soon sort them out, and ye, too, Alyssa.”

  “Nae, sir!” Aly exclaimed. “You asked me what I thought, and that thought had come tae me. I just obeyed your command tae tell you what it was.”

  “She does make sense, sir,” Will said mildly. “It might serve us well to seek a mutually peaceab—”

  “Shut yer gob!” de Raite snapped. “I dinna want tae hear that trittle-trattle from ye now or when we meet wi’ clansmen. The Malcolmtosh and others in that damnable confederation o’ his ha’ been enemies of our clan for more than a century. Such soft talk be nobbut treachery tae your own.”

  Having succeeded in drawing de Raite’s attention from Aly to himself, Will nodded to the gillie who had waited to set a platter of sliced beef and pork on the table before him to go ahead and do so.