by Sherry Ewing
“Wherever I can find a place to lay my head,” he jested with a hearty laugh. “I thought I would head up to Edinburgh next to see what has become of the place since the last time I was there.”
“Ian?” Katherine said softly and pulled on Riorden’s sleeve until he leaned down so she could whisper in his ear. “Is this Lynet’s, Ian?”
“Aye,” he replied quietly. “As you can tell by his chin, he and I had speech together.”
Ian rubbed his bruised face. “Speech?” he said aghast, “is that what you call it these days?”
“’Tis lucky you are not sporting a broken limb or two,” Dristan said, butting into the conversation. “Riorden’s gone soft since he left my hall, but I am sure he will be back up to my standards in no time.”
Katherine smothered her laughter and once more looked at Ian to assess the man before her. She could see why Lynet was fascinated with him. She tilted her head, trying her best to determine what color she should call his hair. Red, definitely, but intermingled with brown and golden highlights. Eyes...well, his eyes were an incredible shade of hazel that she was sure had many a lady swooning just to have him look upon her. He appeared to be perhaps several years older than herself, which surprised her a little, thinking Lynet would be in love with someone closer to her own age. But he was as handsome as the rest of the men, towering over her own small height. She smiled as her eyes drifted to them all, who seemed to be amused at her staring so openly at their features. Yes, they were all cut from the same mold, the handsome rogues!
Katherine turned her attention back to the man who unknowingly held Lynet’s heart. “Well, Sir Ian, I have heard much about you.”
He looked startled, considering they had just met. “You have?”
“Yes...aye, I have,” she stumbled, remembering she should beware of how she spoke to those who didn’t know of her origin. “May we have a word, you and I?”
Riorden began to chuckle. “This should prove interesting,” he mumbled.
“Shush, Riorden,” Katherine said. “Gentlemen, if you would excuse us momentarily.”
She bobbed a curtsey as they in turn gave a small bow. Disengaging her arm from Riorden’s, she came up to Ian, raising her eyes to his. “Shall we?” she asked, giving him no other opportunity than to offer his arm to her.
They didn’t go far. The chamber was large, but it wasn’t as if it was crowded and they would have a difficult time locating a place where they could have a private conversation. He led her over to one of the walls where two comfortable looking chairs were drawn up near a window. He helped her so she could lower herself awkwardly into one of them, and she was thankful for the opportunity, since standing for long periods of time hurt her feet. She felt a twinge radiate across her belly and tried to get comfortable. Ian stood there in indecision until she motioned to the chair opposite her. “Please, don’t feel the need to stand, Sir Ian. Besides, I’ll have a crook in my neck, trying to talk to you if you don’t take a chair.”
“As you wish, my lady,” was his reply as he sat. He was clearly unsure where the conversation was going to lead him.
“So tell me, where do you come from besides being captain of Amiria’s guard?” she inquired. “I have already heard you spent many years at Berwyck.” Katherine folded her hands on the top of her protruding stomach. Her action clearly made him uncomfortable, since his gaze immediately went to her belly. She supposed it was strange for him to see a woman so obviously pregnant and not hidden away from prying eyes until she gave birth. He cleared his throat and ran his hand through his hair. Katherine tried not to grin.
“I grew up at Urquhart Castle in the Highlands of Scotland, Lady Katherine, but have not been back for many a year,” he replied politely.
“And why is that? If I may ask such a personal question,” she blurted out and then remembered herself. “Forgive me for being so blunt, but I feel as if I know you already.”
He shrugged. “Dristan mentioned you were...different,” he began and then looked shocked that he may have offended her, “Not in a bad way, of course.”
“Of course,” she replied with a nod of her head for him to continue.
“My sire died several years ago. My older brother, naturally, inherited Urquhart and became head of the clan. Being a younger son, I could not bear to watch him squander what my sire had worked so hard to acquire over the years. I voiced my disapproval of his running the estate into the ground. For this, I was banished from my home, so I left without a backwards glance to make a better life for myself. I found myself at Berwyck, and the rest, I will assume, you may already know.”
“I see. So you now find yourself wandering from place to place, earning coin at tourneys or hiring out your sword, I take it?” She watched him nod, but he didn’t offer any further information. It was a tad annoying that she would need to be so abrupt. “May I be frank with you, Ian?”
He raised his brow at her for using his given name. “Do I have a choice?”
She gave a laugh. “Oh, we all make choices, Ian. The question is, when it comes down to decision making, what will be yours?”
“Since I do not know the question, how can I answer?” he said with puzzlement.
“Fair enough.” Katherine paused to peruse the man before her. She could tell he was stubborn to a fault, just like someone else she knew. How much should she divulge? Perhaps not as much as she wanted to tell him. She suddenly had the feeling that Lynet would only want Ian to come for her because he wanted to, not because Katherine pushed him into it. It sounded too familiar.
Ian cleared his throat. “My lady?”
She shook her head and gave him a timid smile. “My apologies. Tell me, Ian, is there someone at Berwyck that still holds a special place in your heart?”
“So this is what has become the issue. Is Riorden asking you to find out if I am still in love with Amiria? If that is the case, you may inform him the answer is nay!” He folded his arms across his chest, obviously miffed she was treading on ground better left unturned.
“Actually, I wasn’t thinking about Lady Amiria, but another.” She continued to stare at him until it finally dawned on him who it was she was talking about.
“You mean...Lady Lynet?” He almost sounded more put out than when he mentioned Amiria’s name.
“You do not care for the young lady?”
He stood and began pacing. “I told her not to wait for me,” he muttered more to himself than for her ears. “I am much too old for the likes of her. She should be married by now with bairn’s a plenty at her feet!”
“Well, she’s not, if you would care to know, that is...” she left her words hanging in the air between them and wondered what he would make of them.
“She was but a young lassie of ten and four, the last I set eyes on her.” He suddenly seemed lost in thought as past memories flashed inside his mind.
“And of marriageable age, although I must admit I think that is far too young to be married. A girl is little more than a child at that age. Surely you must realize Lynet is almost twenty...umm...a score of years now,” Katherine said.
He stopped his pacing and returned to his chair. He opened his mouth several times until he let out a heavy sigh. “She must needs marry, but ’twill not be to me. I have no plans to settle down with a wife, as I have nothing to offer her, or any other bonny lass. She deserves more than I can give her.”
Katherine had held such hopes that Ian held some form of affection for Lynet, and she felt sorry for the young girl whose heart would be completely broken. “I see.” Katherine rose from her seat with Ian’s assistance, and they began crossing the floor toward the others. “May I ask a favor of you, Ian?”
“Aye, Lady Katherine.”
She halted her steps and turned to face him. “Please, send a missive to Lynet and at least let her know you have no plans to return for her. I should not admit this, but she has been waiting for word from you with the hopes that you might come to care for her. If this is not the c
ase, then please tell the lady that you won’t be returning to Berwyck.”
“I do not wish to hurt her feelings, my lady.”
Katherine looked sadly at the man before her. What a pity he couldn’t see the gem that awaited him at Berwyck if he would only allow love back into his heart. “Better to hurt her feelings now, than for her to waste any more years yearning for something that will never be.”
“I did ask her not to wait for me, Lady Katherine,” Ian protested.
“That may be true, but again, it’s all about choices. She made hers, just as you have made yours,” Katherine replied forlornly. “It was good to finally meet you, Ian. I wish you all the best that life has to offer.”
She patted his arm and returned to Riorden’s side. She could feel Ian’s gaze fall to her several times while the men conversed, and she could only pray that perhaps Ian might change his mind. Miracles could happen after all, and only time would tell if Lynet and Ian would find a way into each other’s arms.
Chapter 36
Riorden adjusted the blanket he had thrown across his wife’s lap, even as he felt her shiver in his arms. They had been riding all day, and between the snow and the wind their progress was slow. He wished to go faster but was afraid of hurting the babe. It had been a hard day’s ride, but soon he would at last set eyes on home, that is if he could keep the snow from clouding his vision to see where he was going.
Their company had parted ways at Bamburgh with Dristan and Fletcher providing escort, since Riorden had traveled alone. He had been given a sound thrashing from Dristan on the perils of traveling without a guard. Personally, Riorden had not given it a second thought when he had saddled Beast with all due haste. He had been on a mission of grave importance and currently she was snuggled within his arms. He was most thankful that he had gotten to Bamburgh in time.
Conversations had ceased hours ago when the weather had worsened. The only thing any of them could think of now, besides the cold penetrating down to their bones, was a blazing fire and thawing out in his hall with something hot to warm their innards. He was not prepared for the sudden gasp that came from his wife as she clutched her stomach.
“Riorden,” she managed to grind out between her clenched teeth. Since she had her eyes squinted closed, ’twas apparent his lady was not well.
“What is it, Katherine?” Afore she could even utter another sound, he knew for a certainty what she was about to tell him. It scared the hell out of him as his eyes quickly tried to scan their whereabouts so he could judge the distance to Warkworth.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but I’m in labor, and the contractions are starting to come closer together. I know you’ve been trying to be careful, getting us safely home, but unless you want your son born out here in the snow, you had best whip Beast into a frenzied gallop,” she answered.
He quickly assessed her features and saw they were strained. “Just how long has this been going on?”
She looked at him wearily. “Awhile now, I’m afraid.”
“And you did not think it of import to tell me?” he groaned helplessly.
“You can harp on me all you want later about my lack of judgment, but for heaven’s sake, let’s just get moving, and please hurry already!”
He would normally have given a retort to her comment, but felt that for now ’twas best not to rile his wife any further than she already was, given the circumstances. Dristan and Fletcher broke through the trees as they returned from scouting the area ahead. They took one look at the two of them and quickly reined their mounts back in the direction they had come.
“Aye, ’tis her time,” Riorden answered their unspoken question.
“Then we must away and quickly,” Fletcher uttered in concern for Katherine’s welfare. “The way is clear. No one in their right mind would be out traveling in weather such as this.”
’Twas all the words Riorden needed to hear, and he quickly flicked the reins, causing Beast to bolt forwards. He felt Katherine’s arm grip about his waist to tighten her hold, although he would in no way allow her to fall from the saddle. From the looks on her features, she was far too worried about her labor than the normal dizzying heights that usually terrified her.
The countryside flew by in a white blur, whether from the speed in which they traveled, or the snow that continued to blanket the frozen ground. It seemed as if a lifetime had passed afore Riorden beheld, in the distance, the welcoming torches lit at Warkworth. The heavy, muffled sound of their mounts’ thundering hooves marked their quick passage across the snow-filled fields. Once they reached the village, they were forced to slow their speed, and the sound changed eerily. ’Twas as if their horses’ hooves were now being sucked down into the muddy muck below them. The normally solid dirt road had changed dramatically, with the passage of winter, into a mire of mud. But Riorden had a more pressing concern than how to improve the path through the village. Katherine’s moans were a clear indication there was no longer any time to waste.
Dristan and Fletcher rode on ahead so by the time Riorden made it to the front gate, the drawbridge had been lowered, and an eager lad was near at hand to take Beast to the stable. Quickly dismounting, he reached out his hands, and Katherine eagerly placed her own palms on his shoulders. With no time to waste, he made his way steadily into the keep with his precious burden held close in his arms.
“Juliana,” he bellowed, causing a frantic pause of alarm from the woman who was already in the process of bellowing orders to his staff to ensure the readiness of their lord’s bedchamber for the birth of his child. Dristan and Fletcher were just now taking a seat near the hearth to warm themselves. He gave them no further heed, as all his attention was diverted to Katherine and the babe. “’Tis my lady’s time,” he called out for any who would hear his words and continued heading for their chamber.
Juliana continued shouting her orders as she followed quickly up the stairs. “Mabel, bring boiling water to your lord’s chamber. Mary, please be a dear and bring me as many towels...um drying cloths as you can carry, or even clean bedding. Emily, I need your help, for I don’t think Brie will be of much use if she ends up passing out in a dead faint!”
“Hey, I wanna help,” Brianna shouted with hands on hips.
Juliana halted momentarily on the stairs and wagged her finger at the younger girl. “You faint or throw up and you go back to the hall, do you understand me?”
Riorden continued up the stairwell and had almost reached his chamber when a screech, like none he had ever heard afore, echoed through the passageway. Marguerite stood near her own chamber door with her hand clenched to her chest. The other rested near her temple and was shaking uncontrollably.
“She was supposed to be dead!” she mumbled, turning her head as if talking to another. “Do not tell me again how I am doomed. I paid good monies to ensure she would never again grace these halls. Why is she here, and not drowned at the bottom of the river? Stop harping at me and laughing in my head! If I could not have the man I truly loved, the very least you could have done, Everard, is left a clue as to where your coins were hid so I could leave this place a rich widow, you old goat. What should I do? Perchance, he will need a drink. That should do the trick so he will be mine yet again. Nay, do not tell me what to do,” she began to cackle as she continued to have her seemingly one-sided conversation ’til she retreated into her chamber, slamming the door.
Riorden and Katherine could only stare at the closed door. “How long has she been doing that?” Riorden asked as Brianna opened the door to his chamber.
“Since you left,” Juliana replied as she swept into the chamber. She began pulling down the coverlets on the bed afore heading towards the hearth to lay down straw upon the floor.
“She gives me the creeps,” Emily said and gave her head a shake.
Riorden at last set Katherine upon her feet, and her friends promptly gathered around them.
“I hardly think we need to be worrying about the likes of her right now. We
need to get Katie comfortable,” Brianna interjected as she wrapped her arms around Katherine’s neck with a sob. “You gave me such a scare that we had lost you. Don’t ever do that to me again, or I swear I’ll clobber you!”
Katherine let a snort escape her. “I won’t. I promise.”
Brianna looked her up and down afore a big smile lit her face as she returned to her old self. “Hi, sissy! How ya feeling?” she asked, as if she hadn’t been ranting at her friend but moments afore.
Katherine gave a muffled laugh. “I’ve been better, but I must admit, I’m so glad to see everyone. I have missed you all more than any of you could even begin to imagine.
Riorden watched the four women envelope themselves into a sisterly embrace as they all began to talk at once. He hated to interrupt them, but he wished to take his leave and let the women attend his wife. “If you will excuse me ladies, I shall take care of the nasty business with Marguerite and then will await word from you down in the hall.” He began to make a hasty exit when his wife shouted out his name, stopping him in his tracks. He turned back to her in alarm.
“No way are you getting out of here that easily, buster,” she ordered, moving faster to his side than he thought possible. He tried not to laugh, thinking that she appeared much like a waddling mother duck, chasing after her chicks.
Riorden looked at her in confusion. “I only mean to be down in the hall with the men, as is proper during this time.”
“Sorry...not happening. Your place is in here with me.”
“But, Katherine─” he began in alarm ’til she grabbed a hold of his tunic.
“Remember, I’m a modern woman with modern ideas, dear. You were there during the conception, and so you’ll be here during the birth,” she demanded with clenched teeth as another contraction consumed her.
He looked on his tiny wife in alarm and then looked askance to her friends, who only nodded in agreement. “Is this the way of things in your world?” he wondered.
“’Fraid so,” Emily replied with a smile.