Lady Helen Fleming sat primly on a wooden bench and invited Magnus to sit across from her. I was to stand. Magnus had asked me to be quiet on it all. This kind of thing used to piss me off, but I had long ago accepted that what I knew about the customs of most times was basically zilch.
We were a team and Magnus could be trusted to know more about the past and he was usually good at judging a situation, but here he was centuries out of his time, too. And this was a very delicate situation. We had to be more than careful.
He sat, and held himself grandly. She looked nervous. But that was to be expected: we were prospective roommates after all.
While she spoke she clutched the side of her skirt, twisting and pulling at the fabric. “Are ye a godly man, Lord Campbell?”
Magnus said, “Aye, and m’wife is a godly woman, Lady Fleming.” Her eyes shifted to me and looked me up and down. I kept my eyes on the floor, my hands folded in front of me, I hoped piously enough.
"My husband, Laird Fleming, has departed nae three months ago.” She twisted the fabric. “I daena ken what ye hae been told.”
“I was told that he left ye with some need.”
“Aye.” She twisted the fabric back and forth. “He has left me with debts that I canna pay.”
“Tae whom are these debts owed? Would ye hae a record of them?”
She nodded. “I would sir, I have a list of them, and they have come askin’ for the full sum.”
Her hands shook as she lifted a parchment from the desk and brought it to him. She wrung her hands as he looked over it.
After a long pause Magnus said, “If I might take these debts under m’own authority, I would readily discharge them. You see, Lady Campbell and myself find ourselves in need of a household...” And so they spoke on the matter at length, arriving at an agreement, where Magnus and I would have a home, a chamberlain, servants, stables, and most importantly — food.
Somewhat less importantly in my mind, but important all the same, we would have a prestigious home with connections and that meant we could meet people.
My legs were tired by the end of the conversation. She was nervous, and I didn’t blame her. Inviting someone into your home was problematic in any century, but Magnus was fair and patient, but assertive, calmly explaining why she should take us up on the offer.
We would be helping her, but as the conversation went on, she grew more agitated. We knew it was only the circumstances in which she found herself, and no doubt she was embarrassed. She finally grew calm, quieting, and nodding at Magnus, her hands folded as if in prayer. At the end of their conversation she wiped her eyes, overcome to be out from under the debt, and we had an agreement. She would have her husband’s debts paid. We would have a household. She would remain living there, a prospect I wasn’t that excited about, but Magnus, and therefore, I, would have the run of the place.
She turned to me at the end, “Lady Campbell, ye hae nae bairn?”
It was the first time I had been addressed. “Oh, I...”
Magnus said, “She has lost one, we find ourselves separated from our others, a young boy and a young girl.”
She dabbed at her eyes with a cloth, “I hae lost all nine of m’bairn.” Then she was covering her face and weeping over her loss.
“I am so sorry for your loss, my condolences, Lady Fleming.”
She cried, her eyes cast down, nodding. Magnus and I looked at each other. He said, “Lady Fleming, with my wife I offer ye my true condolences. It is indeed a sad business. But, if I may, I know my wife is weary, could ye hae someone show her tae our rooms?”
Lady Fleming nodded, and called her chamberlain into the room, but then was too overcome to complete the request. Magnus intervened with his first request as the new man of the house, “Can someone show Lady Campbell tae our rooms?”
I was led upstairs to the third floor by one of the servants. Our bedroom was sparsely decorated, a four-poster bed with curtains. A fluffy feather mattress, good enough, and some thick blankets. A fireplace. A table for a desk. A stool.
A tapestry hung from the wall, and there was a small alcove window that looked out over the high road and in the near distance the castle walls. The proximity seemed good.
Magnus came to the room a while later, carrying most of our load. A servant carried the rest, and put our bags where Magnus directed. We dismissed the servant and Magnus dropped to the bed.
“We hae a home.”
“I can’t believe you did it. You got us a place to live. I’m proud of you.”
He chuckled, relaxed on the bed, an arm cocked behind his head. “Tell me of it in a week when ye are beside her prayin’ tae God every morn and bein’ asked tae organize the staff for evenin’ meals, while she is in her chamber overwrought by her duties. I can leave and go tae town, or tae hunt if it gets too close with Lady Fleming, but I fear ye are goin’ tae have the the whole of her mood weighin’ down on ye. She is fearful and anxious and dreadfully misses her husband. I would judge him well because of it, but he has left her in debt which he should hae planned better about. And so she will try on ye, mo reul-iuil, with excessive drudgery, but ye will need tae be acceptin’ of her faults. She does come with a verra grand house.”
“I think I can make do. It never dawned on me that I could have a grand house in the sixteenth century. If I ever get irritated I’ll pitch the tent in the yard to remind myself how bleak that was. Now we can get down to normal life.”
“And what is normal tae do here?”
“Sex, for one, in our own bed.”
“Aye, and what else.”
“Else, hmmmm.... Yoga classes in the morning.”
“Och, in yer shift?”
“Yep, I’ll lay out a blanket for each of us and we’ll do sun salutations every morning.”
“What else?”
“For breakfast, strawberries on waffles with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. McDonald’s drive-thru, Spotify. I haven’t heard music in so long, I really miss Harry Styles. Speaking of,” I joked, “what is the WiFi password, did they tell you? I need to check instagram.”
He chuckled. “I daena ken what ye are speakin’ on but I miss it as well.”
I looked at him suspiciously. “You’ll agree with me without knowing what I’m saying?”
“Aye, I daena ken the details, but ye are talkin’ on all the things that make Florida our home, I miss them. I miss yer wee panties.”
“I’m literally naked under my skirts.”
“I ken ye are, but I verra much like disrobin’ ye, and then there is the lace at the last. Tis a welcome sight tae see more I hae tae remove.”
I smiled. “First thing we have to do is get new clothes, and by the looks of Lady Fleming’s dress, I’ll have plenty of layers for you to take off.”
We spent a whole day being measured and fitted for new clothes and I was right about the layers, I would be wearing at least four on even the most casual days. I was sick and tired of wearing the same skirts though, so I was able to get excited about the idea. At least I would look pretty again.
I purchased an assortment of fine linen smocks, luxurious, my favorite had black stitch embroidery at the wrists and the neckline. Then, over that, I would wear a petticoat in scarlet red. And over that a kirtle, a bodice dress. It was designed to be seen underneath the gown so it was made of luxurious damask. Mine was in a deep blue. It didn’t cinch my waist, but instead gave me an overall tightness, a firm foundation. I had a couple of panels for the front of my skirts, one with gold thread, the other in a pale silver.
Then my top layer was a really beautiful gown in pale grey-blue velvet. The neckline was square. Magnus bought me pearls to wear at my throat. And Lady Fleming told me I would want to wear a French hood, to match Mary of Guise, so that was the style of head covering I chose.
When I had it all on it was heavy and gave me the right form for the time — I joked with Magnus, “I look like a large wide pyramid.”
He joked back, “Tis better th
an a square.” He was indeed looking squarely-shaped and in almost as many layers. He was the owner now of four linen shirts, with embroidery on the edges that mimicked mine. He had long hose that covered his legs. A black doublet with the front covered in embroidered flowers. During the fitting we figured out that the tailor’s goal was to make Magnus look thick and to give him the illusion of a large belly. We put a stop to that.
And then he had trunk hose, or what I liked to call ‘puffy fancy pants’ in black with stripes of silver peaking out. The tailor tried to persuade him to wear small, high-heeled fancy shoes with this ensemble, but that was not happening. Magnus bought thigh-high, leather boots instead. But he had no choice about the ruffled collar, he had to wear it. His cloak was a deep black velvet.
I sat primly on a chair, because in all these layers prim was the only way to sit, and admired him. “I’ve never seen you quite so...”
He said, “Ridiculous?”
“No, you sir, are never ridiculous. You’ve taken those puffy fancy pants and made them downright sexy. I was going to say ‘dressed’. And now I totally get what you mean about watching me get dressed makes you want to take it all off.”
“Och, careful Kaitlyn, ye will get me started and twill take us two hours tae get undressed and re-dressed again. I am too hungry for the interruption.”
I stood. “I totally get you. That was a long time with not enough food, let’s go eat.”
Fifty-two - Kaitlyn
A couple of weeks later we spent the day riding in the countryside because we needed a freaking break. The night before we had been introduced to Lord Châtellerault. It had been a difficult meeting. He was in his mid-thirties, and wore a thin mustache under a long, thin nose which made him seem to be always sneering. He wore the fashion of the time — a thick cloak with a high collar over a tight coat with a stiff ruff at the neck, but Châtellerault’s clothes looked like he had said to the tailor, “More, please! Heavier! Make it really uncomfortable!” On his bottom half he wore trunk hose and fancy shoes that made his feet look diminutive in comparison to his weighty upper half. He topped his look off with a heavy necklace, and a sword at his hip. He was so overburdened by his clothes that he seemed to be constantly irritated.
He was next in line for the throne and bore the heavy weight of it by being as somber and pompous as possible. And because his grasp on power was tenuous, it made him dangerous. He was suspicious of everyone and came across as having a mean streak a mile wide. We would need to be very cautious around him.
The meeting had been exhausting. He was curious about us because he was in a battle for control against Mary of Guise and we had dined with her the week before. Lady Fleming had connections to everyone, being all the right sort of people, even if no one really wanted to spend time with her.
So after a nerve-wracking dinner party, we woke up with nice weather and decided to go for a ride. Magnus had been riding every day, but I didn’t get out much. It was imperative I get some air and a chance to breathe. And Mary of Guise had given Magnus permission to ride and hunt in the parks around Holyroodhouse.
Magnus gave me a tour of the woods, pointing out the trees and the banks of the lochs, and somehow, watching him, it came to me, this man was so beautifully competent. I joked, “Dang it, Magnus, you beautiful highlander. Can we go somewhere so I can have at you?”
“Here in the woods? Haena we had enough of ‘have at ye’ in the woods?”
I laughed. “True! It’s just something about horses that gets me all hot.”
He joked, “Tis half the reason tae ride them.”
The ride did clear my head, the fresh air, the scents of pine and that deep dirt of a forest floor. Woodsy and fragrant I filled my lungs. And knowing we needed to solve this shit, a plan unfolded. I rhetorically asked, “How are they going to find us?”
Magnus was arched back watching a falcon soar on the wind. “I daena ken, they will need tae... I daena ken.”
“They don’t even know our date, right? Not even the year, right?”
“Nae, they will hae tae search for us.”
“I was thinking about how we are in Edinburgh, hanging out with royals, or at least their regents — we’re at court. That is amazing, we have to be able to get a message to Lady Mairead somehow. We have to. So what about this... Put your signature down.”
“What... write m’name? Where?”
“I don’t know, deeds and contracts, registries, family records. What about a contract with Lady Fleming? You could witness important documents, the kinds that will last through time.”
He turned his horse towards mine. “Och, tis a good idea.”
“I know, I’m quite proud of it actually.”
He turned back into the lead. “The best part of it is I will get tae use m’pens.”
“You still have them?”
He chuckled. “I hae so many pens. I dinna realize I had collected so many.”
“That’s hilarious, but also awesome. So when in doubt, if there’s a paper on the desk, offer to sign it.”
Fifty-three - Kaitlyn
In my journal I wrote: Fucking March.
“I want to kill her.”
Magnus got the front panel on my heavy gown open and pulled it off my arms. The whole heavy gown hit the floor with a thud. “I ken, mo reul-iuil. Everyone is gravely irritated by her.”
I sighed. “You sent my maid away — you really want to undress me?”
“Och aye, I will do it tonight. I hae been thinkin’ on it.” He began the work of untying the back of my kirtle.
I smiled, but then remembered I was irritated at Lady Fleming. “The moping, the complaining, the not quite silent sobbing, the martyrdom. Would it kill her to smile once?”
Magnus chuckled. “Apparently she believes it might. Ye do hae tae spend a great deal of time with her.” My kirtle dropped to the floor and I stepped from the middle of it.
“I don’t mind it in the morning. We meet for prayers and we sit together in quiet contemplation. It gives me time to think about the children, to mourn. I need it, but the rest of the day she’s so sad, sighing and carrying on, and judging me.” I pulled my petticoat off, able to do that on my own.
Magnus raised my smock up and off my arms and tossed it to the side.
I was fully naked, but in such a rant I barely noticed. “She thinks God will smite her for smiling. She confuses bemoaning with piety, and is sucking all the oxygen from the room.”
“What does this mean?” Magnus’s hand was a hair’s breadth from touching my breast.
I waved my hands. “It’s a metaphor. Oxygen is what we breathe, she’s taking all of it with her over dramatic sadness, and the rest of us have to help her. I would like to take all the oxygen for once, but also — what are we talking about? Your hands are so close you’re making me dizzy.”
He grasped my breast, his eyes intent. “Ye take m’breath away all the time.”
“Thank you, that’s really nice.”
“I signed a decree, as a witness, twas tae turn a park tae the game of golf. Dost ye ken the game? Tis the same as golf in yer time?”
“Yes,” I moaned. “I think, but you signed it? Good.”
“I did, Lord Châtellerault likes tae hae m’signature on things. He said I hae a sure hand.”
“God yes,” I said as his hand stroked my breast. “I completely agree.”
He put his mouth on my neck and kissed down to my shoulder. “I was listening tae Châtellerault and the other men talk of King Edward and the French King, Francis, and the young queen Mary caught in the politics between them. The turmoil of the three crowns vyin’ for power. The court is so verra complicated, all the strict rules and shiftin’ allegiances, and maneuverin’.”
“That sounds rough.”
“Twas, and that was why I was thinkin’ I wanted tae simply hae ye.” His hand roamed down my skin. “Because ye are uncomplicated.” He nibbled and kissed on my neck.
“I will take that as a compli
ment and I agree, I was hearing about the Queen and the Dauphin and all the politics too. And it’s so much to pay attention to, to know, like our lives depend on it, and I simply want — but now I’m undressed and you’re still in your clothes.”
“Aye, because I’m of a mind tae take ye standin’. I was thinkin’ on it tae night, Châtellerault was discussin’ the current situation, the war with England is over but,” he squeezed one of my nipples.
I squeaked, and he chuckled and pressed his mouth to mine while he spoke. “...there is simmerin’ trouble and he is bowin’ tae pressures on all sides.” He roughly pulled my hips to his front.
I dropped my head back so he could kiss my throat some more. “It sounds so boring, I’m glad I get to sit with the women. Mary of Guise looks at him as if he is standing between her and the throne. She won’t take any of his shit.”
“Tis what the ladies were speaking of?”
His hands were all over me in a way that was causing me to lose my concentration. “What? Oh um, a little, but mostly we were talking about France and the fashion there, and the sun and...”
He lifted me around my waist and walked me toward the bed.
I said, “What were you talking about with the men?”
“Battles and coffers and whether the women were tae be trusted. Ye will forgive me for agreein’ that the answer was nae. I agreed that ye were nae trustworthy, because ye are a temptress and ye make me weak.”
He dropped my feet to the cold floor by our bed.
“Oh I do, do I?”
He grasped me hard and turned me away. “Aye.” His hand rubbed down my body, firm and grasping, “I am goin’ tae teach ye a lesson on it. Hold ontae the bed.”
Son and Throne (Kaitlyn and the Highlander Book 11) Page 20