A Chieftain's Wife

by Leigh Ann Edwards

  “Are you a spy for the English!”

  “No!” She insisted.

  “Then why is a woman, clearly with child, here in the middle of nowhere if not to spy on the clans?”

  “I am looking for my husband!”

  “And what clan does he belong to?”

  “What clan are you?” she answered with another question for Killian had spoken of some clans who were in alliance with the English.

  “We are the O’Neills!”

  “Thank the Lord!” she whispered, but the man heard.

  “Who is your husband?”

  “Killian O’Brien!”

  “Clan O’Brien is surely hours from here. We are to meet up with them at Gentle Valley on the morrow just before dawn.”

  “Don’t go there! Stay clear of that valley!” She warned with deep conviction.

  “What the hell are you talkin’ about woman?”

  She heard a loud commanding voice from behind her.

  “This man is the O’Neill, woman; you’d better explain yourself straightaway!”

  Alainn looked up into the face of a dark haired man, who wore a long and shaggy beard. She realized it was surely Collum O’Neill, the great Irish Chieftain.

  “You should not go near the dell you speak of for it will be a massacre!”

  The guard who held tight to her arm seemed to be gauging how the other man would react to the woman’s warning.

  “And how do you know of this?”

  “I am a seer. I possess the gift of prophecy, and I have seen well over a hundred men from many clans dead! And I must find my husband to warn him as well.”

  “He is in Clan O’Brien.” She heard the guard tell the chieftain.

  “Well, that is not entirely true!” Alainn explained.

  “You just told me that, woman!” The guard accused.

  “Aye, well, I did tell you he is an O’Brien, but he is chieftain for Clan O’Donnel. Surely you have heard of Killian O’Brien, for he sits on the council of the clans.”

  “Aye, I know him well, for I sit on the council as well!” the chieftain elaborated.

  “Clan O’Donnel is at the camp nearest ours. I can take you to him if you desire it. Sure he’ll want to see you for if my wife was out traipsin’ about in the middle of the night when she looks as though she’s about to birth my child, I’d be entertain’ thoughts of beatin’ her soundly, I’d wager!”

  “Please just take me to him, milord!” she whispered as she felt another pain wrack her midsection.

  “I’ve no other way of getting’ you to him other than on foot or by horse. It’ll only take a matter of minutes if we go by horse. So are you willin’ to go then?”

  “Aye, I need to get to him. And you must warn any of the clans you can get word to that it will be an impossible battle.”

  “I can take her if you like, milord!” The guard offered.

  “No, I’ll take her myself, for I’ll want to see O’Brien then and ask him what his opinion is on this pertinent information his wife seems to possess.”

  She nodded for him to lift her upon the horse when he looked at her as though he wasn’t even certain how to attempt to lift her without harming her in her condition, but he managed it and he mounted the horse and sat behind her. The ride was not smooth and by the time they came upon the lights of the campfires ahead, Alainn was soon experiencing another sharp pain.

  She heard the many guards come to find out who was approaching and they were all relieved and startled to see who it was. She recognized one man from Castle O’Donnel and he called out in disbelief.

  “Milady! How... What... I’ll get milord!” he finally managed.

  When she saw Killian striding toward her, alive and well, she burst into tears, and fell to sobbing again.

  “What the hell is going on here, Collum? Alainn how did you get...” He stopped speaking for as he held up his lantern he’d obviously seen the front of her gown and cloak. He carefully lifted her off the horse and took her into his arms trying to calm her before he attempted to ask any further questions.

  “Are you injured?” he finally asked when he thought she’d be capable of speaking.

  “No!” She managed in a sob.

  “Then whose blood is upon you in such great quantity?”

  “Yours, Killian. ’Tis your blood!” she whispered and began weeping again in earnest as she continued to wipe the fresh blood from her hands on her garment.

  “Alainn, you must settle yourself down so I can make sense of this and we can speak on this at length.”

  The other chieftain, Collum O’Neill, glanced at her with a harrowed expression on his face while Killian held his inconsolable wife in his arms.

  “She says she’s a seer! And she tells us we should not meet the other clans as we had planned. She speaks of great loss of life and destruction in the valley.”

  “Alainn, is it your vision, the one you’ve had for months now?”

  “Aye, ’tis where I’ve only just come from!”

  “What nonsense is this she speaks of?” O’Neill raised his voice as he spoke.

  “I have been there and I have seen it happen, witnessed it all in its gruesome entirety and seen you dead! And you as well!” she said as she looked up at the man and remembered stepping over his corpse earlier for she’d seen his dark beard, red with blood that had poured from his mouth. “And this is your blood, Killian, for I held you in my arms while you died, the second time!” she said between sobs.

  “Is she afflicted, man? Have you an entirely addle-minded wife, then?”

  “No, she’s as clear minded as anyone, Collum, and if she says she saw us dead then, aye, she did for she’s seen it in a vision. But how did you get covered in blood, then, Alainn. I don’t understand it and I’m much acquainted with your ways.”

  “It was not seen in a vision, not this time, Killian. I saw it before my very eyes as surely as I now stand with you. I used my powers to try to save you, but I saw you dead upon the ground, and so I went back in time, but I was still too late for that time I witnessed you being shot and then held you while you breathed your last breath. So, yet again, I went back to an earlier time and now I am here with you. And I implore you; you must not go near that valley! I will not see you dead again!”

  With that she collapsed in a faint in his arms, he fearfully picked her up and carried her to a location near the fire.

  “Do you believe what she just told you?” Collum O’Neill asked for he’d followed Killian and as he tried to grasp the absurdity of what the woman spoke of.

  “Aye, I believe her, Collum!” And look at her gown, sure there’s so much blood upon her, it would have been a mortal wound.

  “I think she’ll be birthin’ the child before another day is done. I sense she is in pain beyond her melancholia!”

  “By God’s bones, no, ’tis too soon; and I doubt there’s another woman anywhere near here to aid her, much less a midwife.”

  “Well, I tell you my wife has given birth eight times; our firstborn took the better part of a day and a half to arrive, so clearly we’ve no choice but to address the battle first. What do you intend to do? Will you march in to meet the other clans as planned? If not, we must alert them, as well. And how many English were there? Did she say she saw you shot? By an arrow, is that what she was indicatin’?”

  Alainn began to regain consciousness although her head was spinning again. She heard the man’s voice barking questions at Killian. She replied to his inquirires.

  “There were three times as many English as with all clans combined, half were on horse. Another quarter on foot also had swords, but several possessed a harquebus.”

  “By Christ!” She heard Killian say.

  “Are you certain?” the other chieftain asked.

  “Aye, entirely certain, for the air reeked of the smoke that poured from them.”

  “I’ll send out guards to alert the other clans positioned in the area, but some will not be reachable by the t
ime we were to meet.” Killian spoke to the other man.

  Alainn heard other men approaching and she looked up into the disbelieving face of her cousin Riley.

  “Alainn, what’s goin’ on? What are you doin here? How did you get here?”

  Killian swiftly enlisted several of his men to forewarn the neighboring clans, and then told Riley what he knew.

  “But we can’t just leave Clan O’Brien to be slaughtered by the cursed English. They’ll be expectin’ us to meet up with them to make it a fair battle, and ’tis doubtful we can reach them in time to make them aware it is a trap or that they’ll have no assistance from the rest of us!”

  “But it won’t be fair at any rate, Riley!” Alainn declared. “The English are so many and their fire weapons capable of striking from an unbelievable distance.”

  “Well, I’ll not sit by and do nothin’ while my father, my brother, and the rest of my kin of Clan O’Brien meet with certain death. I’m goin’ to warn them.”

  “I believed your father was ailing and unable to make the journey?” Killian questioned.

  “Aye, well, I wish he’d remained so, for I’ve had recent word he’s journeyin’ with them as well. I have to try to get to them, sure if I ride all night I’ll make it in time.”

  “It is not a certainty, Riley!” Killian voiced his dubiousness.

  “What other choice have I?” Riley asked his voice filled with despair.

  “What if the rest of the clans march on even now and surround the English. They’ll not be expectin’ us and we’ll have them at a disadvantage. And if we’re not trapped in the valley the fight will be more evenly slated.” Killian suggested.

  “Aye, it could work!” Collum agreed.

  “No, there are still far too many, Killian! Aye, you wouldn’t be trapped, and surrounded, but what of the fire weapons?”

  “We’ll have to do what we can, Alainn, for as Riley has said we can’t just allow all the men of Clan O’Brien to be slaughtered!”

  She had gotten up from her place upon the ground and she recognized the determination in his eyes and the stubborn set to his jaw.

  “If we leave now and all of us surround them as they had thought to do to us, it will make the fight nearly fair. If they are taken by surprise they won’t have time to place their weapons upon the stands. I’m told the weapons are remarkably heavy and it would take at least three or four men to lift each one. It would keep many men occupied, and if they don’t get them to a place where they can be propped, having to use so many men to lift one weapon won’t seem such a great advantage, and possibly cause many injuries to the men. Sure we’d get there before Clan O’Brien arrives and then maybe your vision will not come to pass.”

  Alainn knew there was no sense arguing, yet she thought the day would surely have no different end than in her vision. As another pain ripped across her belly, she tried to keep that from Killian, but she felt the cold sweat on her face and forehead. She looked up to see Killian staring at her with great concern on his face.

  “Are you near your time as Collum has said?”

  “Please don’t go, Killian?” She ignored his query. “I ask you this as your wife, remain with me. Don’t leave me this day!”

  “But what kind of a man would I be, Alainn, if I didn’t do what I can for the good of kin and clan, and all of Ireland? For sure they’ll not stop here; sure they’re intent on invadin’ each castle and killin’ every man in every clan, perhaps every woman and child as well!”

  She looked up to see nearly all the men had gotten their horses and Pierce was leading Storm to Killian.

  “Don’t go!” She repeated with tears in her voice as well as her eyes.

  He took her in his arms and held her tightly and kissed the top of her head.

  “You know I must, Lainna. I would not be the man you fell in love with nor the man you’d care to be married to if I act without honor and behave as a deplorable coward!”

  As she wrapped her arms around him, she searched for the knife he kept hidden within his tunic.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  She pulled the knife from its sheath and was prepared to use it on him when he quickly grabbed it from her hand and thwarted her feeble attempt.

  “You forget, my sweet Lainna, t’was me who taught you that strategy!”

  “Your wife attempts to murder you?” Collum O’Neill suggested in a voice laced with deep disbelief.

  “She would not kill me but, aye, she would wound me to save my life, I’d wager!”

  The tears fell from her eyes so profusely she could no longer see. Killian sheathed the knife once more and then gently wiped the tears from her cheeks.

  He whispered in her ear. “It may not turn out as you’ve seen. Perhaps you’ve changed events enough to alter the outcome!”

  She felt his warm, strong arms tighten around her and she squeezed him desperately in return. She heard the piper’s calling the men to be assembled. She’d always loved the Irish pipes, but now they echoed eerily and their mournful wails chilled her soul. She would never again think of them with complete fondness for now they called her man away from her, lured him to his end. She heard Killian’s voice now as if in a distant fog.

  “I’ve had two of my men go in search of a woman who can assist you. Stay here safely hidden, be still and attempt to remain calm and maybe the child won’t make an appearance this day, Alainn! Pray it will be so, and if he does come early, sure he’ll be strong and able to survive. And you must call him Cian!” he called to her as he mounted his steed.

  “Aye, you’ve already informed me of that, this day!” she whispered as she watched him ride off with the men of many clans.

  She waited there for some time. For what seemed like a dreadfully long time, she had quietly, obediently waited at the eerily silent location. She intended to remain there and do exactly what Killian had instructed her to do, but she remembered how the weapons had sounded, how the air had smelled of smoke and blood, and she also clearly recalled how the weapon had exploded when she’d set it to fire. With her supernatural abilities, she could assist in this battle, and then, and perhaps only then, would it truly be a fair fight. She envisioned the battle not as she’d seen it, but how it would be fought in the near future. She closed her eyes and wished herself there.

  It was different this time. The Irish were not surrounded and the English not so much at an advantage. There had already been fighting, but she saw few bodies upon the ground. She looked out across the men and she spotted Killian. He was atop a distant hill and in conversation with Collum O’Neill. She had already used magic so many times this day she thought another couldn’t hurt. She soon found herself standing between the two horses. Both men were startled to see her appear and Collum’s horse reared at the unusual occurrence.

  “Alainn, I told you to stay put, and I meant it!”

  “Listen to me now for time is short. Tell your men to only be concerned with the soldiers on the ground, and only the men with swords. I will control the others.”

  With that she disappeared and reappeared beside a tree where she was once more nearly out of sight. She first called the attention of the horses of the English. Each one reared and snorted and threw their riders to the ground in so rough a manner many were injured and not a few dead. Killian led his men toward the foot soldiers and did exactly as Alainn had instructed.

  She concentrated on looking at each harquebus and she envisioned each one of them catching fire and bursting into flames. Surely twenty-five explosions happened simultaneously and soon the smell of burning flesh filled the air. The acrid and repulsive scent burned Alainn’s nostrils and she was stricken when another fierce pain crossed her belly. She felt her skirts and was sickened to know they were soaked, for the fluid from within her womb had obviously begun to leak and flow heavily. She lowered herself to the ground beside the tree and clutched her knees to her chest.

  The sound of surely hundreds of swords clashing and clanging rang out in the air and
joined with the crackling of flames and the screaming of wounded and dying men. She thought of Killian fighting for his life on the battlefield and she glanced out and saw that Clan O’Brien had joined the fight. She saw even now Rory was battling an English soldier. Now the vision could be proven true after all, some of the details might have simply been altered, but the outcome not changed. She grew ever fainter and undeniably weak. Each pain seemed to go on and on now with little break in between. Their son would be born on a battlefield, was the last clear thought she formed before her world went dark.

  When Alainn became conscious of her surroundings again, she was once more consumed with agony. She felt a blanket covering her and Killian was by her side. She sensed Rory had survived as well. She said a prayer of thanks that they had lived through the battle, and as she glanced out upon the moor, she realized many had not. But clearly the majority of the men killed appeared to be English.

  A pain so vicious gripped her body she tightly grasped Killian’s hand.

  “We spotted a cottage not far from here; Rory and Pierce have gone to see if there is a woman there who might assist you.”

  The forced smile on his face could not conceal the fretfulness in his tone or the deep concern in his enchanting green eyes.

  Her heart nearly broke as she spoke, but she knew what needed to be done.

  “Tis not a woman or a midwife required, Killian, for our child will come without assistance. You must send someone to a church or an abbey, for you must fetch a priest straightaway!”

  “Alainn, what is it you know?” Killian’s voice trembled as he spoke.

  “Please do as I ask, Killian!”

  She noticed Riley stood close enough that she might call to him.

  “You must locate a priest, and make haste!” she ordered and she saw her cousin’s eyes flash with fear, but he did as she said and wasted no time mounting his horse and riding off.

  “He is surely strong, Alainn, and you are the bravest, strongest woman I’ve ever met. Since you were a child you have possessed the fortitude and valiancy comparable to any warrior!”