I was not surprised to be shown to the high table, with the family, but was surprised to be seated next to Liam. I looked around the hall until I saw D’arcy, who was sitting at a table with several of the men I recognized from our journey. He raised a cup to me in toast, and I smiled in return. We were safe for the moment. During a quiet moment in the evening, I leaned over to speak quietly into Liam’s ear, thanking him for aiding me today.
“Ye are most welcome, Lady Mary, think nothing of it”.
“You should probably call me Mary. Your mother does, Lady Mary sounds too formal, especially considering the week we have just spent together. I really cannot thank you enough for your discretion. You didn’t tell anyone did you?”
“Och, no. I told them that ye had eaten something that displeased ye, and that the motion of the horse was making ye worse. I said that after some rest ye would feel better, and look, here ye are to prove me right”.
He smiled at me, and I smiled in return, thinking that he really should smile more often.
Liam.
After a disturbed night of dreams, I knocked before entering my father’s solar. I should have been well rested, after about a week and a half on the road, and not being able to get a full night’s sleep since the capture of Mary and D’arcy, I thought that nothing could be as welcome as my own bed. That was what I thought until I saw Mary approaching the table at the banquet. My mother had outdone herself outfitting Mary, but it wasn’t just that she was clean and well dressed, but she had an air of contentment, of belonging, that I had not expected to see. When she had smiled at me, sitting so close to me, my heart had pounded in my chest like a wild beast in a cage. Although I had spent almost a week curled up close behind her, I could not see her face from that angle. When we were off the horse, she was always heading off somewhere, either for some privacy, or to sleep, or to help with the meals, and she had never stopped and just smiled at me in that way. Although I had often noticed her beauty, I had not had the opportunity to look into her eyes, not properly, not since that first day when I had grabbed her and had just seen fear.
At my father’s bidding, I entered the room, dismayed to see my mother there. This could not be good. I took a seat like a small child about to be chastised, and waited. My father spoke first, with my mother watching me like a cat watches a mouse.
“I have told yer mother about the ransom, or maybe about the fact that there will not be a ransom. I have also told her about the possible marriage of the Lady to this Lord Lescelles and of the opinion of the guard D’arcy. We have discussed some possible solutions and wanted yer opinion of them”.
I looked at my father, perplexed. It was not my place to make decisions, nor my mother’s, although I suspected she had more input than she should, but it was his. I nodded.
“What do you think of the plan to install the Lady as a healer? We have a healer, although she is getting old now and her eyesight is not as good as it could be. Do ye know whether the Lady is any good at her art?”
“I do not know, Father. D’arcy says that she is, but we had no need of her skills on our journey, so I cannot vouch for it. I do not know how this would work though. She has been born and brought up as the Lady of a house, would she be content with a small cottage, or would such a thing bring trouble to us all? “
My father nodded, but then it was my mother who continued, watching me closely still.
“Well, there is another solution. I have long felt the absence of a daughter in this house, and I think Mary would suit us well. Do ye think she would consent to marry one of ye? She is a very pretty lass, and I think she would do well for Donald”.
I stood up in shock.
“Not Donald!”
I sat down heavily as I saw the crafty look on my mother’s face, and the twinkle in her eye. She had tricked me into revealing myself. She leaned forward, shaking a finger at me.
“I wondered about ye. Particularly when Mary described ye as a gentleman. A gentleman of all things! I have never known ye to be concerned about someone other than yerself in all yer life. Mary told me about how ye doubled on yer horse all the time. Now, I could understand ye wanting to be sure she would not try to escape at first, but as time went on, I cannot understand why ye would continue to act so improperly, unless ye could not help yerself. Now, tell me why ye think Mary would be better suited to ye than Donald? Donald is a strapping young man and I do not think his affections are engaged elsewhere”.
I eyed my mother and looked to my father for help. My father was looking at my mother as well, refusing to make eye contact with me, refusing to give me a way out. I knew that once my mother had her mind set on something, it was near impossible to change her course. If she had decided to keep Mary in our house, then it would be Donald or myself that she would suggest for Mary. There was only one thing that might prevent that. I leaned forward.
“It should not be Donald. As ye would now know, as I know ye have talked to Mary and ye would not have missed an opportunity to pry into her personal affairs, she cannot have children. If Donald should marry, he should marry a woman who can have children. After Rose, I never want to put another woman through that, so Mary would be the perfect woman for me. However, what ye have not considered, is that Mary might not agree to any of this”.
My mother’s expression changed. Even though she scared me half to death, I knew she loved all her children, and she had known when Rose died that I felt responsible. She leaned forward and spoke quietly.
“But Liam, how do ye know that Mary cannot have children? It could have been her husband that could not sire a child you know. Are ye willing to take that risk?”
I looked to my father for help, this time he seemed inclined to speak to his wife.
“Patrice, dearest. What Liam does not want to tell ye is that he suspects that Lady Mary may have been, um, intimate with her guard, D’arcy. As there is still no child, it is likely that the problem lies with Lady Mary”.
My mother glared at my father, then at me.
“Is that so? Is that the handsome young man that came in with ye yesterday? Well, I think I will have to meet him. If there is something between them, then we should not interfere. But if ye are wrong, then we will continue with this conversation”.
At this my mother left the room, leaving us behind. My father and I looked at each other, and I saw a worried look in his eyes, that I was sure was reflected in mine. We briefly discussed more estate business, then I left to take my place in the lists. Several of my men had continued their practice as warriors when on breaks on our journey, but as I had been watching over Mary, I had not, and I could not afford to let my skills diminish.
As I approached where the men were practicing I felt a different energy and soon realised why. D’arcy had taken his place amongst the men. Like myself, he had not had much opportunity for swordplay during our journey, and he was obviously enjoying the chance to test his skills against a new opponent. Laughingly, I saw that D’arcy was facing up against Donald, and it was difficult to see who the better swordsman was. I was both pleased and concerned to see how good D’arcy was at his art, he would be a difficult opponent to best, and I hoped that we were never on opposite sides of a battle. Realising where my thoughts had taken me, I approached the group of men, several of whom were taking bets on who, in their minds, would be the victor in a true battle between the two men. While Donald was bigger and stronger, D’arcy was light on his feet and scarily quick. I watched D’arcy’s tactics, where he would put his feet, and how he would attack. I knew how Donald fought, having practiced against him for our whole lives, first as lads with wooden swords, then later with practice blades, which had been blunted so that any accidental injuries would not be severe. The nature of brothers meant that there were often ‘accidental’ injuries, and I still bore the scars from some of those. Finally, D’arcy seemed to be in a losing position, but quickly he feinted, making it clear that his apparent losing position was no more than a deception, and he was able to pl
ace his sword against Donald’s chest, making it clear that had this been a real fight, he would have won. I applauded, and clapped Donald on the shoulder, commiserating with him for his loss.
“That was a fine fight, D’arcy. I would fight ye myself, after ye have a chance to rest of course, to be fair to ye”.
D’arcy nodded, breathing heavily, and standing aside as two fresh men took their place in the centre of the group. He walked to a water butt to rinse off, and took off his outermost tunic, I assume to splash water over his head in order to cool himself. As he pulled the tunic up over his head, his undershirt rose up with it, and I could see old scars criss crossing his back. It was clear that he had been beaten as a young man, possibly even as a child. Donald and I looked at each other in wonder, and then looked back at D’arcy who was now flicking the water from his dark hair, and on turning, he stared at us challengingly. He probably realised that we had seen, but made it clear that there would be no explanations from him. All I could think of was that the families that Mary and D’arcy had temporarily escaped must have been brutal ones, both to marry off a child so young, and to treat another child in such a way. No child of our house would ever have been treated in such a way, of that I was sure. I turned my attention to the fight in progress, knowing that D’arcy was a proud man, and he would not welcome any enquiries from me. None of the scars I had seen were fresh, so the injuries had been to the boy, not the man, which indicated that the man was capable of fending for himself, and would not care to be reminded of how powerless he must have been as a boy.
As the fight ended, D’arcy nodded to me and I moved towards the open area. D’arcy had still not replaced his tunic, and I realised that without the restriction of that garment, he had an advantage over me, so I removed mine as well. We would fight in undershirts and hose. It would not be the first time I had done so, and would not be the last.
D’arcy stepped up to me with an experimental clash of blades and then the fight began in earnest. I marvelled at his speed, it had been apparent as I watched him, but it was difficult to deal with when he was right in front of me. I had the advantage over Donald in that I had studied D’arcy’s movements, but soon realised that advantage was fast fading, as D’arcy had yet more moves that he had not demonstrated in his first fight. I had to concentrate and watch him carefully, or the fight would be over too soon.
Mary.
Patrice had come looking for me, and had found me exploring the keep in the company of a small child who seemed to belong to one of the servants. Having nothing to do with my time, I had thought to ask someone where I could find the herbs that had been in my saddlebags when I was captured. I did not think that after all this time in a closed bag they would be in very good condition, but I wanted to check them, in order to see if any of them could be saved. The child had been playing in the main hall, and on enquiry had volunteered to show me to the stables so that I could locate my horses. Patrice had swept in to the room, in a flurry of skirts, and had sent the child to the kitchens in search of some food. She had then put her arm through mine and spoken to me cheerily.
“I have not yet met this guard of yers. I saw him last night at the banquet, but would like to make his acquaintance. My sons tell me that he is a loyal friend to ye, and I would like to speak with him”.
“I’m sorry Patrice, but I don’t know where I would find him. I was going to go to the stables to check on my herbs, and once outside I thought I might be able to find him. I think he has lodgings in the single men’s quarters, and I thought maybe someone could fetch him for me. I would like to speak with him myself, we have not spoken since yesterday morn”.
“Ah well, at this time of the day, I suspect all the men will be at practice, and as a man of fighting age, he would be there as well. Perhaps we should head that way, and when they are finished, ye can introduce me?”
I followed Patrice’s lead, not knowing the layout of the grounds, and after leaving the main house, we soon heard the sounds of ringing blades. As we approached, I saw two men finish their fight and blend into the crowd. Looking around for D’arcy, I saw him standing by a water butt, only half dressed. I frowned in surprise, but then he turned and I saw that the back of his shirt was soaking wet, he must have fought already and was hot, I surmised. I wondered how long it would be until he dressed, as I could not introduce him to Patrice in his current state of undress. Surprised, I then saw him move to the centre of a group of men and then I saw another man move towards him. I sucked in a breath of disbelief. Surely there could be no other man of that size, with that flaming red hair. It had to be Liam, and he was in a similar state of undress. Although both of the men were covered by shirts and hose, without the cover of a tunic, the hose would not provide enough cover for modesty. I averted my eyes from the bulge I could see in D’arcy’s hose, but kept glancing over at Liam. His hose were clinging to his buttocks and legs, and I was reminded of seeing him at the Lake, when I had seen the back of his legs when he was only wearing his Braies. I knew that looking at a man like this was not proper, but I could not help myself. As the men circled each other, dodging and feinting, I held my breath as my view of Liam slowly changed. Now I could see him side on, and my eyes widened as they travelled down his strong body to settle on the area at the front of his hose. I was shocked to see that he seemed to be completely in proportion to his size – just as he was a very tall, very large man, the bulge in his hose appeared to be substantial as well. I was sure my face was flaming, and I summoned the strength to look away, making the mistake of turning my face to Patrice. Patrice was watching me, with a little smile on her lips. I was mortified. Not only was I looking lewdly at her son, but she had caught me in the act. Patrice laughed, and shrugged her shoulder at me, twisting me to face the men again. Just as I did this, Liam turned and I could now see the front of him fully. His undershirt was gaping open at the neck, exposing a vast expanse of chest, which even from where I was standing, appeared very strong and very well muscled. My eyes travelled down from his chest to below his waist again, and my hand flew to my mouth to smother a gasp at the way he filled out his hose.
The movement must have caught his eye, as he looked up, and momentarily stilled as he saw me. D’arcy saw his opportunity and lunged forward to push his sword gently into Liam’s chest. Liam had to look at D’arcy to concede that he had lost the fight, and then he looked back at me. D’arcy must have seen that Liam was looking over his shoulder, as he turned to see me standing there, and his eyes narrowed as he passed off the sword to the next combatant. Patrice spoke at my side.
“So that is the young man that Liam spoke of. Well, I think I have seen everything I need to right now. Maybe we will talk later. Now, ye wanted to go to the stables, did ye?”
Patrice then led me around the grounds as if I was in a daze, which I probably was. It seemed that my herbs had been thrown away as they had gone bad in the saddle bags, and I also think that Patrice mentioned arranging for me to gather more to replace them, but I couldn’t gather my thoughts enough to listen. Eventually Patrice gave up, and chuckling softly, took me back to my room, suggesting that maybe I was still tired from my journey and should take a short rest before the noon meal. I agreed with her, and laid on my bed in a daze.
I turned my head to check that the fire was out, as I felt very hot, and on seeing that it was, could not work out what was wrong with me. I lay there, staring at the ceiling, refusing to admit that I did know what my problem was, but I thought if I kept denying it enough, then maybe I would believe it. I was aroused by Liam and was having all manner of lewd thoughts about what he might look like out of his hose. What would happen when his male organ was fully erect? What would he look like? Would he be a good lover, or a selfish one? I shook my head, trying to dispel the thoughts, as I did not expect to ever find out. I would be returned to the Le Bruin household, or if God was unkind, to Lord Lescelles. I sat up at that thought and realised that I had been handed a perfect opportunity to take some control over my own
life for a change. As a child, I had not dared to defy my father, and as the property of Lord Le Bruin, I could not defy him either, or he could have me dragged back and forced to the altar. But here, I was a long way from either of those hateful men, and these people seemed so kind. D’arcy had suggested a solution to me, and I decided to pursue it. I was used to the life of a Lady, but what did that matter if I did not have any freedom? I would seek out the healer and see if I could apprentice to her. I had learned many skills from the serving women at the Le Bruin keep, but knew that I had much more to learn.
A very tiny voice at the back of my mind also suggested to me that if I could but stay here, I would be able to see Liam again, whereas if I left to go back to England, I would never again get to even see him, and I was loathe to admit it, but I had gotten used to the feel of his hard body against mine as we rode his horse together.
Liam.
I sat at the table at the evening meal, glowering at the room in general. My mother had chosen to change the seating arrangements this evening, sitting next to me herself, and seating Mary next to Father. I looked at the room, and saw D’arcy laughing and joking with my men, feeling uncomfortably aware that I might have something to do with their merriment. D’arcy had gone up a lot in their estimation after besting me, even though several of them had teased me about losing my concentration because I was gawping at a woman. Women often stopped to watch the men practice, and normally it was of no consequence, I did not heed whoever watched us, but today had been different, and it had cost me a little pride. A little pride and a not insubstantial bruise, I thought, rubbing my chest. Even though the blade was blunted, D’arcy had poked me in the chest with enough force to bruise the flesh. I would have to be on my guard next time I fought him. It would probably also be a good idea to make sure that Mary was nowhere around as well, just to make sure that I was not distracted. I glanced over at her, catching her looking at me, she turned away quickly upon being caught. As I returned to my meal I suppressed a small smile at the thought that Mary had been watching me in my undershirt and hose. I hoped she had liked what she must have seen.
Taken by a Highland Raider Page 5