by Lynsay Sands
"That covers poisoning," Rory said quietly. "But it means ye'll have to watch fer attack."
"Aye," Niels nodded. "She'll need a guard with her at all times, at least two men. And she can no' go in the bailey unless she has shields around her and over her head to guard against arrows."
"I'll arrange her guards in shifts before I leave," Tormod said quietly. "I'm sure we'll have no shortage o' volunteers."
A murmur of agreement went around the crowd at that, and Niels nodded wearily, but then stood. "Thank ye. I'm to bed."
"I'll see ye and Edith up. I'm ready fer bed meself," Geordie said, rising as well.
"Aye," Alick got up. "'Tis been a long day."
Niels started to turn away and then paused and swung back. "Tormod, if ye're riding to the lodge, ye will no' be here to tend to Edith's drink. Mayhap ye should give me the key until ye return."
"Oh, aye." Tormod searched through a ring of keys for the right one. Removing it, he held it up but then said, "There are things I'll need to talk to ye and Lady Edith about when I get back. Things ye should ken now Brodie is dead."
Nodding, Niels took the key. "We'll talk when ye return," he assured him and then added a solemn, "Safe journey."
"Aye, and ye all stay safe here too, m'lord." Tormod said grimly. "It bears considering that now that ye've married our lady, ye may be a target as well."
Niels stiffened in surprise at the suggestion, but then nodded slowly and turned to walk over to collect Edith. Ronson glanced up sleepily as they approached. Seeing them coming, though, he prodded Laddie to wake him and then grabbed his collar to urge him up and off the furs and out of the way.
Edith murmured sleepily when Niels carefully picked her up, but didn't fully wake.
"I'll bring the furs up," Niels heard Alick whisper behind him as he turned to head for the stairs.
Niels wasn't surprised when all three of his brothers followed him above stairs and to Edith's room. He laid her in the bed, covered her with the bed linens and then helped Alick arrange the furs over that before moving to the door with them.
"Tormod is right," Rory said pausing at the door and turning back to face him worriedly. "Ye could be a target too now that ye married Edith."
Niels shrugged. "And as we learned from Moibeal and Effie, just being here could get a person poisoned or killed."
Geordie scowled. "We really need to come up with a better plan than just to try to keep Edith safe. We need to catch this bastard."
"I am open to suggestions," Niels said quietly. "But no' until after I've slept. I am too tired to think straight just now."
"Aye, get some rest," Rory said, turning to open the door. "We'll all talk once ye've had some sleep."
Niels grunted in agreement, held the door as his brothers left and then closed it quietly and moved back to the bed. He'd intended to remove Edith's gown after the men left so that she might sleep more comfortably, but in the end he didn't even bother to remove his own clothes. He simply lay down on top of the furs and was asleep the moment his head hit the bed.
Chapter 12
Edith opened the bedchamber door, and then paused and stared at the two men lying on mats on the hall floor. Geordie and Alick. They were lying head to head, directly in front of the door. Movement caught her attention then, and she glanced up to see two more men standing against the opposite wall. They were Drummond soldiers she'd known for years. Two of Tormod's most trusted men, Cameron and Fearghas. Even as she noted that, Cameron stepped forward and offered her a hand.
After a hesitation, Edith accepted and gripped it as she lifted her skirt high enough to clear the heads of the men on the floor and stepped over them.
"Thank ye," Edith said the words on a whisper of sound to avoid waking Geordie and Alick, but Cameron appeared to hear it. Nodding, he leaned past her to pull the door silently closed and then straightened and simply stood there, waiting.
Smiling uncertainly, Edith turned to head up the hall, and immediately heard a soft shuffle that suggested the men were following. She waited until she was halfway to the stairs before stopping to turn around though. Both men stopped at once, waiting.
Hoping that distance was far enough not to disturb the two men still sleeping, she raised an eyebrow and asked softly, "I am guessing ye're meant to guard me?"
"Aye, m'lady," Cameron answered.
"Tormod has arranged for two men to guard ye day and night," Fearghas added. "We're to stay with ye until the sup when we'll be replaced by two others."
"Ah." Edith sighed. She should have expected as much, she supposed, and then frowned when she heard movement back down the hall. Leaning to the side, she saw Geordie shifting on his mat and decided she'd best get moving or they'd wake the pair. Smiling at the men crookedly, she nodded and then turned to hurry the rest of the way to the stairs, aware that they followed at once.
"What are ye doing up? Where's Niels?"
Jumping in surprise at those booming words as she reached the top of the stairs, Edith grabbed the rail to steady herself and turned to scowl at a sleepy-looking Geordie and Alick as they rushed toward her and her guards. She'd managed to slip out of bed and make it to the door without waking her husband, and would not now have his brothers do it with their bellowing.
"My husband is sleeping. Something he has done little enough of o' late, so keep yer voices down," Edith said in a quiet hiss.
"Aye," Geordie acknowledged more quietly. "I'd wager he's no' slept a handful o' hours since we got here last week."
Edith frowned at this news. She knew Niels hadn't slept much since her waking, but hadn't realized it had started before that. Sighing, she changed the subject and said, "I was just going below to break me fast. Ye're welcome to join me do ye wish, but as ye can see I already have men to guard me so ye may rather find yer beds and get some proper sleep."
"Nay. We'll go with ye," Geordie said firmly.
"Aye." Alick nodded.
Shrugging, Edith turned and started down the stairs. She'd given them an out had they wished to sleep. It seemed they wouldn't though, and while Tormod had ordered two men to guard her, she really had a guard of four.
Ignoring the thump of their feet behind her, Edith glanced around the great hall as she descended. The trestle tables were set up, but most of the castle inhabitants had apparently already broken their fast and gone about their business. There were only a couple of people at the table, and they appeared to be finishing and preparing to leave. Bessie was seated by the fire as usual, mending in hand, but her fond gaze was on her grandson, Ronson, as he slept curled up next to Laddie between her and the fire.
That was unusual--the boy would normally be up and about by this hour, running about the keep and bailey. Edith supposed their late return last night had disturbed everyone's sleep, although she'd apparently slept through it. She wasn't terribly surprised. She'd spent most of the ride back from the hunting lodge curled up under the plaid Niels had wrapped around them, trying not to weep and then giving in to sobs as her mind ran around in circles replaying the past several weeks over in her head. Her father and brothers dying, Cawley dying and now the fact that Brodie was dead too. It had been a relief to finally fall asleep and escape her misery. She wasn't at all surprised that her wounded mind had clung to sleep once they'd returned home.
In fact, Edith had almost simply rolled over and gone back to sleep when she'd woken this morning. But she knew she couldn't escape what had happened through sleep, and indulging in the dark feelings trying to claim her could be dangerous. It could be hard to climb out of a hole once your mind dug its way in.
What she needed was some semblance of normalcy, Edith thought. To her that meant returning to her usual routine of tending to Drummond and its people. With that thought in mind, Edith crossed the great hall to the door to the kitchens, eyeing with curiosity the two men standing guard there. Both nodded solemnly in greeting and one opened the door for her while the other stepped forward and put a hand out to bar the path of the m
en.
"Lady Edith may enter, but no one else," the man said almost apologetically, and Edith glanced around in surprise to see annoyance flash across the faces of all four men.
"But we're to guard her. We were ordered to no' let her out o' our sight," Cameron pointed out.
"And we were ordered no' to let anyone pass but Lady Edith's husband," the guard said firmly.
"Ye're letting her pass," Geordie pointed out.
"Well, aye," the man said as if the reason for that should be obvious. In case it wasn't, he added, "She's our lady. We can hardly bar her from going wherever she wants in her own castle, can we?"
Fearghas glowered at the man. "She's our lady too and we are meant to keep her safe, so get out o' the way, ye warty canker, ere I--"
"Perhaps ye should let at least one o' me guards accompany me into the kitchen," Edith interrupted, afraid they were going to start a brawl. "That way he can keep me safe and help me carry drinks fer everyone."
There was silence for a moment as the men glared at each other, and then the kitchen guard relented and stepped to the side. "All right, but just one o' ye, and I'll accompany ye too, to be sure all is well. The rest o' ye will wait out here with Arnie."
"Fine," Edith said quickly before anyone could protest. Glancing at Geordie's and Alick's scowling faces, she smiled reassuringly. "I'll only be a moment and I'll bring us all something to break our fast."
Turning away then, she hurried into the kitchen, intent on preventing further protest or problems. Edith didn't bother looking around to see whether Cameron or Fearghas was the guard to accompany her, but simply headed toward Jaimie as soon as she spotted him chopping up a large side of beef.
"Oh! M'lady," he greeted, dropping the large cleaver and quickly wiping his hands when he saw her approaching. "Good morn. How are ye feeling? Are ye ready to break yer fast?"
"Aye, Jaimie." She smiled at him gratefully. "Geordie and Alick are up too and ready to break their fast as well, and . . ." She glanced back to see that Cameron was the one who had followed her inside with the guard from the door. When she raised her eyebrow in question, he shook his head.
"Fearghas and I already broke our fast, thank ye, m'lady," he murmured.
Turning back to Jaimie, she said, "Then mayhap just a pitcher o' ale fer the men. That way Cameron and Fearghas can have some if they like. But I'll have cider this morning, I think." After the incident with the mead on her wedding night, she was now as loathe to drink that as she was wine. Hopefully, her new distaste of the two beverages wouldn't last long, for if this kept up, there'd be nothing she'd want to drink, Edith thought, and then noticed that Jaimie had gone quiet and was looking toward her guards with alarm. Raising her eyebrows, she asked, "Is there something amiss? Are we out of cider?"
"N-nay," Jaimie stammered, and then shook his head and explained, "But I can no' fetch ye aught to drink, m'lady. Tormod locked up the buttery to ensure no one could poison ye again."
"Oh," Edith said nonplussed, and then smiled wryly. "I suppose I shall have to find Tormod then so I can have a drink."
"Ah . . ." Cameron said behind her and when Edith turned to him in question, he explained apologetically, "Tormod took a wagon and some men to ride out to the lodge at first light. He gave the key to yer husband ere leaving though."
"But he's sleeping," Edith said with a sigh.
"I could send Fearghas to go wake him and ask fer the key," Cameron suggested, but she shook her head.
"Nay. He's had very little sleep o' late and needs it." Forcing a smile, she turned back to the cook and said, "I suppose I'll just have an apple or something for now, Jaimie, and then eat something more filling when me husband wakes and I can have a drink with it."
Nodding, he turned and rushed to the pantry, barking at the women cutting vegetables to get food and drink together for the men.
Sighing, Edith walked idly around the kitchens as she waited and smiled wryly to herself. She'd never seen it so empty. Usually there were loads of people rushing around and she wondered if having his staff so restricted would make things harder on Jaimie.
"Here ye are, m'lady. I got ye two. The finest o' the bunch," Jaimie said as he rushed back to her.
"Thank ye," Edith murmured, accepting the apples he offered.
He nodded and smiled crookedly, but there was worry in his eyes and Edith raised her eyebrows in question and asked, "Is something wrong, Jaimie?"
"Oh, nay, nay," he assured her, and then frowned and added, "Well, aye, I was wondering . . ."
"What?" Edith asked encouragingly.
Sighing, Jaimie shook his head and said apologetically, "'Tis market day in the village, m'lady."
"Is it?" Edith asked with surprise. They had market day in the village on every Saturday. The priest had wanted it to be on Sundays to encourage parishioners to attend mass ere visiting the merchants who lined up with their wares, but their neighbors, the Lindsays, had theirs on Sundays and some of the sellers were traveling merchants who traded at both places, so Saturday it was.
Edith supposed it was a sign of the stress she'd been under that she'd managed to lose track of what day it was and nearly forgot all about market day. She always went to buy cheese, eggs, capons and spices or whatever else Jaimie might need. It saved him the trouble, and gave her a chance to get out of the castle. Besides, she liked looking at everything on display. Sometimes she found some nice cloth, or some quality soap imported from Spain or the hotter countries. It depended on what merchants managed to make it to market day.
"Aye, 'tis," Jaimie said now, twisting his apron between his hands anxiously. "And ere yer return I planned to attend meself to get the things we need, but with the new restrictions reducing me staff, I fear I've no' the time and--"
"Nay, of course not," Edith interrupted, patting his hand. "I'll go. Just tell me what ye need and I'll fetch it back fer ye."
"Oh, thank ye, m'lady," Jaimie said with relief.
"There's no need to thank me, Jaimie," she assured him solemnly. "I am just sorry ye had to remind me o' me duty. I fear I did no' even realize 'twas market day until ye mentioned it."
"Aye, well, 'tis no small wonder that," the cook said sadly, sympathy on his face, and then bit his lip and offered, "And if 'tis too much trouble this time, I'm sure I can make do with what we have and--"
"Nay," Edith assured him and then smiled wryly and admitted, "In truth, 'twould be nice to go to market and forget what's been happening around here fer a bit."
Jaimie brightened at once. "Oh, well, that's fine then," he said and began to rattle off a list that made her realize just how painful his offer to do without had been. With her being sick for weeks, and Jaimie's having a limit on how much coin Tormod would give him to take to market, they'd run out of a great deal of things in the castle. It made her wonder how he'd managed to produce the delicious meals he'd come up with. But now that she was thinking on it, most of the meals she'd eaten since waking had been stews and soups. If that's all they'd had to eat recently, then she imagined everyone would be heartily sick of them.
As his list continued, Edith began to be grateful for having her guards. In fact, she started to hope that Geordie and Alick insisted on accompanying her too, because she would need the help bringing everything back. Mayhap she would take Ronson and Laddie with her as well . . . and a cart. Nay, a wagon.
"M'lady, do ye no' think we should head back to the wagon now?"
Edith turned to respond to Cameron's pleading words, and blinked in surprise when she bumped her nose on the shield Ronson was struggling to hold up behind her as he followed her around.
"Sorry, m'lady," Ronson said earnestly, stepping back a pace.
"That's fine, lad," she said with a smile, and then glanced to Cameron, opened her mouth and then closed it again with a frown as she saw that while his hands were free, one of them was on his sword. In the meantime, Fearghas, Geordie and Alick were all juggling overflowing armloads of the items she'd been passing back as she bought
them. She hadn't realized she'd bought so much. And she was only halfway through the list.
Biting her lip, she said, "Mayhap we should take everything back to the wagon. Then one o' ye can wait with our goods while the rest o' us continue shopping."
"M'lady," Cameron said wearily. "Ye really should no' be here."
"Aye," Geordie agreed. "Niels did no' even want ye out o' the keep, let alone down in the village."
"That's as may be, but as lady at Drummond there are certain things that need doing, and if ye all want to fill yer bellies on something other than stew fer the next week, then we need to finish getting the items on Jaimie's list," Edith said firmly. This was the argument that had convinced them to reluctantly relent and let her leave the castle to begin with. Which was just utter nonsense to her. She was the Lady of Drummond and simply could have ordered her guards to make Geordie and Alick get out of the way and accompany her to the market and they would have had to do it. But she didn't think that was likely to win her any points with her new in-laws, so she'd reasoned, wheedled and begged until the men had caved in.
Although, in truth, Edith suspected that in the end it was the threat of stew all week again that had won her argument. It certainly had turned the tide for Cameron and Fearghas, which had helped with the reluctant Geordie and Alick. It seemed stew had pretty much been the meal of choice the past three weeks and her people were heartily sick of it.
"How much more is there to get?" Geordie asked finally after the men all exchanged glances.
"Several spices, capons and cheese," Edith responded at once, and then frowned and added, "And we are nearly out o' soap too."
Geordie shook his head, but said, "Carry on then. But one o' us'll soon have to start taking items back to the wagon. We can no' carry much more."
"Two o' ye will have to carry items back and then one will have to watch the goods in the carriage while the other returns to carry more."
Edith whipped around at that dry voice and smiled brightly at Niels as he pushed his way between Geordie and Alick to reach her. "Husband! Ye're up."