***
She had been with him for over a month. Her appetite was growing peakish, and he noticed it immediately. "My seed has taken root in yer womb, sweeting," he said, well pleased. "Ye have not had any show of blood since I took ye. Do ye not realize yer with bairn?"
"I was not certain," she told him, "since I've never been with child."
Nelly gasped, her face white with shock, and Fiona went to her. "Mistress?" was all the girl could say.
"Leave us," Fiona ordered her husband. "I must calm poor Nelly, for she has obviously sustained a shock by this news."
When Nairn had departed and Fiona had made certain he was gone from their apartment, she led Nelly into the tiny inside chamber where the girl slept. Her voice was low as she spoke. " 'Tis not his bairn, Nelly! Do ye understand me? Had I been certain, I would have refused the king, but I was not certain. I dared not spurn a royal request only to learn I was not with bairn. What if he had revenged himself on my Black Angus? I could not take the chance. Do ye understand?"
"What if the lord Nairn finds out?" Nelly asked, her voice quavering.
"How?" Fiona said scornfully. "If the bairn is born with dark hair, he will think the lass or laddie favors me, that is all. Nairn thinks because Black Angus had two years with me and did not put a bairn in my belly that his seed is feeble. Ye must keep the secret, Nelly."
Nelly was recovering. "I know," she said. "But what of the other bairns he will get on ye, my lady?"
"Hopefully by the time I have this bairn, we will be free to escape Nairn and return to our own home. The king said a year," Fiona murmured, almost to herself. "Are ye all right now?"
"Aye," Nelly said, "but ye gave me quite a turn, my lady. Why did ye not tell me before now?"
"Because I wanted that great oaf of Nairn to come to the conclusion before I said anything," Fiona answered. "Ye see how pleased he was. Undoubtedly he has gone off to his brother to crow over his prowess."
"They're all like that, these MacDonald men. Roderick Dhu is forever telling me what a fine upstanding cock he has, and 'tis meant just for me if I would but say the word." She giggled, and her carrot-colored braids bobbed up and down with her mirth. "I've told the great gawk I'm a good lass, and will not give my cherry to any man but the man who weds me. That sends him off, I can tell ye. Oh, they like a good time with the lasses, my lady, but mention marriage and they flee. All but yer lord. He said from the first he would wed ye, and he did."
" 'Tis only handfast, Nelly. In a year it will be over," Fiona said. "If I canna have my Black Angus, I want no husband."
***
They departed Islay on a gray morning, crossing over to Jura on a choppy sea. Alexander MacDonald accompanied them, for he intended to hunt deer upon Jura. He bid his new sister-in-law a fond farewell.
"I am glad," Fiona told him, "that ye will keep the peace, my lord brother. It comforts me now that I know I am to bear my lord an heir. War, I think, is as hard on the women and bairns as it is on the men who fight the battles." She kissed his cheek.
"I have said I will but bide my time, my bonnie," the Lord of the Isles reminded her. "We will see what the spring brings."
"I have heard the king say he would call the northern clans to Inverness next year," she reminded him. "Can ye not bide yer time until then, my lord brother? If James Stewart does not challenge ye, why would ye challenge him?" Men, she thought! They were such children even in their maturity. This unspoken warring between the king and The MacDonald of the Isles reminded her of nothing so much as two lads attempting to see who could piss the farthest. It was ridiculous.
"If yer king will keep the peace until we meet in Inverness, then I will try to keep my peace; but remember, my bonnie, one of the clans could swear fealty to James Stewart before Inverness and then make war on me. If that happens, I canna stand by merely because that clan is yer king's ally. I will strike with all the power at my command."
"As well ye should," Fiona said. "Such craven behavior would merit the severest penalty, my lord brother."
"Take good care of yer bride, Nairn. She is a clever lass, and ye would not be foolish to seek her counsel in times of trouble, and on other matters." Then he bid farewell to Father Ninian, who would travel with Colin MacDonald part of the way north before turning south. "Godspeed, good Father, until we meet again," the Lord of the Isles said.
"May God's love shine favorably upon ye and yers, my lord," the priest responded. "God willing, I shall see ye in the spring."
Fiona rode with the priest a ways, which her husband looked upon with approval, for it showed a deference to the churchman. "Ye heard?" she murmured low to him, and he nodded pleasantly.
"I shall see it is known to him," he responded softly. Then he said to her, "Has yer husband spoken of his mother, lady?"
Fiona shook her head. "No. Is she alive, then?"
"Sustained by her own venom," the priest said tartly. "She has both a wicked tongue and an evil mind. She will not welcome yer coming to Nairn. She considers it hers and has lived there all of her life. Ask yer man about her, my lady," the priest advised.
Fiona nodded, moving her gelding forward so she might ride with Colin MacDonald. He smiled when she reached his side. Fiona could not help but smile back at him, for despite it all, she liked him. "Ye have spoken of yer father to me, my lord, but what of yer mother?"
His handsome visage darkened a moment. "She is a hard woman, sweeting, with no kindness in her," he said candidly. "My father was taken by what he believed was her wild spirit. She was a challenge, to be tamed by him, but alas, he miscalculated."
Fiona raised a quizzical eyebrow at Nairn. "Like father, like son?" she teased him, and he laughed.
"Yer not like my mother," he hastened to assure her. "My mother was, so my grandfather said, always mean-spirited. She is one of those poor souls who is jealous of everyone else. No matter what she has, it is not enough. Envy eats at her. She was betrothed to a cousin, for with her brother dead, she became Nairn's heiress. Then my father passed through the district, stopping to accept my grandfather's hospitality. My mother, I am told, flirted with him until he felt he could not resist the obvious invitation. He remained there the summer and into the autumn to hunt grouse with my grandfather.
"The old man knew what was transpiring, but he could not control his daughter. My grandfather also knew that in the end The MacDonald would leave her to return to Islay, which is precisely what happened. By then my mother's belly was growing big. Her cousin repudiated his promise to wed her, but she sent him away laughing, for she thought my father so enamored of her that he would take her with him to Islay. Of course he did not take her. He would not shame his wife with such an open liaison. No woman of breeding objects to her husband's wee distractions provided that he does not bring them into her view or within her hearing.
"When I was born she would not look at me. I have her coloring, as ye may have guessed, but other than that I am all MacDonald. She would not give me suck, and my grandfather was forced to find a cottar's wife with extra milk so I would not die. He sent word to my father, and The MacDonald sent back a gift of six silver cups with his crest, and a dozen gold merks. There was also a parchment, witnessed by a priest and signed with my father's hand, acknowledging his paternity. As my mother would not name me, he did."
"She would not name ye?" Fiona was shocked.
"Each morning I was brought to her chamber by my nurse and presented to her. She would not look upon me or say a word to me. Finally one day when I was past two and walking, I was brought to her in the morning, and as usual she turned her face from me. I was desperate for her attention, and so I kicked her in the shin. Only then did she look upon me for the first time. She said, 'He is his father's son,' and nothing else, but after that when I was brought to her she would look at me. When I was four or five I asked her why she did not speak to me. 'Because,' she replied, T have nothing to say to Donald MacDonald's son,' and after that she was silent once more.
"My grandfather was a quiet, gentle man. It was he who raised me in the early years, along with my nurse. It was he who loved me. He taught me to ride, and the beginnings of swordplay," Nairn said with a smile of remembrance. "Occasionally my father came to see me when he was in the district. It was he who convinced my grandfather to pass over my mother and leave Nairns Craig to me. I loved it when my father came, for he was a big, bluff man with a barrel chest and a laugh that sounded like thunder to a small boy. When I became a man he did not seem so big.
"When I was six he asked me if I should be willing to leave Nairn for a time to live with him on Islay. I would have brothers and sisters to play with, he said. A grandmother who was a princess, who would love me verra much. I went with him gladly, but with one regret. I had to leave my grandfather behind, but each summer I would return from Islay to be with him for three months. We had grand times then! When he died seven years ago, Nairns Craig became mine."
"Yer mam never married?" Fiona asked, curious.
“There was no man who ever suited her, and no man who was willing to have such an unpleasant woman in his house. She could cause chaos among the angels. When I returned for good, she thought to take up our relationship as it had been in my childhood, but I quickly disabused her of the notion. I told her that as master of Nairn, I would brook no foolishness. She would come to my board each day, and we would speak together. To my surprise, she agreed."
"Ye don't fill me with confidence regarding yer mam," Fiona said, sounding concerned. "Will she welcome ye with a wife, my lord?"
"She doesn't have any choice," he answered her. "Ye are now mistress of Nairns Craig Castle. My mother must accept ye, or I will turn her out. Ye carry my bairn, Fiona mine. My heir. I will not have her distressing ye, and should she attempt it, she will find herself placed in a convent to live out her days in prayer, sustained by salted fish and brown bread. Be warned. She will be jealous of ye, for ye are young and beautiful, and I wed ye."
When they stopped for the night, Fiona told Nelly what The MacDonald of Nairn had said about his mother. "I will have to behave as mistress of the castle for as long as we are there, Nelly. We canna allow this woman to frighten us or to discover our true purpose."
"It would seem, my lady, that for now yer only purpose is to have yer bairn in comfort and safety. It is unlikely that any information of importance will pass into yer hands or hearing once the winter sets in here in the highlands. The bairn will come in the spring, and after that perhaps we will be free to go home," Nelly said hopefully.
"What do ye two whisper on?" Nairn said, coming upon them.
Fiona laughed. "Roderick Dhu would court my Nelly, and the lass seeks my advice, my lord."
"And what advice do ye give her, sweeting?"
"She says I am to box his ears and tell him to mind his manners," Nelly told her master pertly.
Colin MacDonald chuckled. "Ye will have him before a priest before the poor man knows what has happened to him," he teased her. "Now run along and give the poor laddie a kind word while I tuck my sweet wifie into our bed." Tugging one of her braids playfully, he turned the pretty maidservant about and sent her off giggling.
"Ye’ll have her eating out of the palm of yer hand soon, my lord," Fiona told him, a small smile touching her lips.
He had made her a bed of pine boughs and put a large fur throw over it. When she lay down in her chemise and cloak, he gently laid another fur over her. "I don't want ye catching cold, sweeting, not in yer condition. And no swims in the lochs, for they're too cold now. Ye’ll not die if ye don't have a bath until we get to Nairn."
"Yes, my lord," she answered him meekly as he lay by her side atop the fur robe, wrapped in his own cloak. "Are ye not to join me?"
"Not while we're traveling, Fiona mine. I would not injure ye. When we have a bed to cushion us, then we will dally for a bit until yer belly is too big for comfort's sake." Turning his back to her, he soon fell into an easy sleep.
She was astounded, and not just a bit guilty. He truly wanted a child. Pray God the bairn was not his father's spit, but she wondered, would Colin MacDonald even see it if it were? It was comforting to know that her child would be safe with this man. Nelly was right. It was unlikely that she would obtain any further information of use to the king in the next few months. Best she settle into her new home and have her child. If The MacDonald would make peace with James Stewart, then all would be well. She would face that future when it came. Until the autumn of the next year she did not have to worry. Only when the handfast was past would she face trouble on the horizon.
It took them a bit over two weeks, traveling overland from Islay, to reach Nairns Craig Castle, which was in the vicinity of Inverness. It sat atop a steep, high cliff, and had two rectangular towers and a Great Hall, connected by high, dark stone walls. Its only access was a slender track of roadway up the face of the cliff. A narrow strip of land on the far side of the castle offered a view of high walls with absolutely no outlooks at all, and the forest below.
"It has never been taken," Colin MacDonald said proudly.
"I can certainly see why, my lord," Fiona replied dryly.
He pulled his stallion to a stop for a moment. "Ye are about to enter my home, yer home," he said to her. "Ye are my wife, Fiona mine. Do ye not think ye can call me by my name? It is but a small boon, lady."
"Aye, Colly, I will call ye by yer name in the privacy of our home, but in public I would not dishonor ye by addressing ye as anything but 'my lord.' Will that suit ye, Colly?"
He took her hand in his and kissed it. "Aye," was all he said, but his smile went all the way to his eyes.
She smiled back, cursing James Stewart in her heart as she did so. Did he realize the havoc his passion to rule Scotland was causing? And what of Angus Gordon? What had he thought when told of her disappearance? Did he miss her? Did he truly care, or had that English girl already captured his heart? She breathed deeply, resolutely shaking off her questions and her sadness.
The castle gates were open to receive its lord. Fiona noted the two doors were bound in iron and, looking up, she saw the iron yett ready to be drawn down in the event of danger. Within the court they stopped, and Nairn lifted her from her gelding, gently setting her upon her feet for a moment, then softly kissing her mouth.
"Welcome to Nairns Craig," he said. Sweeping her up in his arms, he turned to carry her up the steps into the building.
Before he had progressed more than a few steps, however, a woman appeared at the top of the stairs. She was petite, but her look was commanding. "So, Colin MacDonald, ye are back," she said in cold tones, "and ye have brought yer latest whore with ye, I see. She'll not enter into my house. Why do ye not house the wench in the stables with the rest of the animals?" Her arms were crossed over her spare bosom.
Fiona saw a small muscle near Nairn's eye twitch several times, but for a moment he said nothing. Instead he carried her up the steps, pushing past his antagonist and setting Fiona upon her feet once more within the entrance hall of the castle. When the petite woman whirled about, her mouth opening to protest, Nairn roared, "Don't say another word, madam! This is my wife. When did I ever bring my whores into this place or shame ye with lewd public behavior?"
"Yer wife?" The lady, obviously his mother, Moire Rose, was astounded. "Who is this wench? Where did ye meet her? Where were ye wed? I demand that ye tell me this instant, Colin MacDonald!"
"My wife is Fiona Hay, chieftain of the Hays of the Ben," he began. “We met at court. We were wed on Islay in my brother's hall. As my wife, Fiona is now the lady of Nairn, madam. Ye will render her the respect due her as such."
"I suppose she is with bairn," his mother said scathingly.
"Aye," Nairn said proudly. "Did ye doubt I would not get a bairn on her immediately, madam?"
"No, I didn't doubt it," she said bitterly. "But for yer coloring ye are all MacDonald, yer father's son, from yer great height to yer randy and fertile cock." She turned her gaze to Fiona, saying caust
ically, "Ye know yer not the first wench to give him a bairn."
"But I am the first one to give him a legitimate heir," Fiona said quietly. She felt a sudden desire to protect her temporary husband from this vicious harridan and her poisonous tongue. She stared directly at the older woman, her gaze icy and unwavering.
Moire Rose opened her mouth but no words came out.
"God's bones," Nairn said, "I can't believe my eyes! Not in all my lifetime have I seen anyone render ye speechless, madam." He held out his hand. "Now give me the keys to the household, for they are Fiona's from this time onward."
Yanking them from her girdle, Moire Rose flung the keys at his feet and stormed from the entranceway. Colin MacDonald picked up the keys and handed them to Fiona. "I'll have the servants assembled so they may meet their new mistress," he said. He took her arm and led her into the small family hall, where a cheerful fire burned.
"The priest was right," Fiona said slowly. "Father Ninian observed that yer mam is sustained by her own venom and has a wicked tongue and evil mind. 'Twas harsh, I thought, but now that I have met her, I can see he spoke the absolute truth. I am sorry he left us to go farther south. I would value his counsel right now."
"Don't ever let that woman suspect any weakness in ye, sweeting," he warned her. "Remember yer husband is the Lord of Nairns Craig, and yer its mistress. 'Tis yer word and not hers that will rule this household." Then he asked, "Ye do know how to manage a household, do ye not, Fiona mine?"
Fiona laughed as she settled herself in a chair by the fire. "Ye've waited until late, my lord, to inquire, have ye not? Aye, put yer mind at rest. I know well how to manage a household. Don't forget 'twas I who raised my sisters. Although Brae had a housekeeper, I always observed Mistress Una for the day when the responsibility would be mine."
"I am relieved to know that Angus Gordon's household will not be discommoded by yer absence."
"Don't taunt me, Colly," she said low. "Angus Gordon loved me, and I loved him. One day he may come knocking at yer gates seeking my return. I could go with him."
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