Page 55 of Bride Takes a Laird

Undecided, Kendra raised her face to look at Winston. “Give me a little time and I shall let you know when I am ready.”

“I cannot return without ye and will await until ye are ready.” Winston inclined his head and stepped away.

Kendra didn’t wait for the sky to darken before she sought her bed. She left the hall and trudged up the steps as if her feet weighed as much as boulders. Lord, she was tired. Now that she had seen to the duty of burying her father she could finally get some rest.

She opened the door of her bedchamber, and sighed because she had never thought of seeing her room again. Nevertheless, she was home in the bedchamber she’d used since she was a young lass. Being there filled her with both sadness and joy.

She went about readying for bed almost mindlessly and pulled back the covers. Kendra crawled upon the bed and pulled the covers to her chin. Weary, she closed her eyes and fell asleep without a thought.

*

As dawn brokeon the horizon and filled her bedchamber with light, Kendra stretched and threw her legs over the side of the bed. She took a moment to settle a dizziness that came over her. She closed her eyes for a moment to keep the room from spinning but then she hastened to the chamber pot. Kendra fell to her knees and held the pot with shaky hands. With all that had happened, her body rebelled against her. She gagged and drew in deep breaths but nothing helped. Taking slow breaths through her nose finally eased her and she rose.

At the basin, she used her hands to scoop handfuls of water and pressed them on her face. After she washed and dressed, she was ready to plunge forth into a thorough search of the manor. She didn’t care ifit took her a fortnight. The coins had to be there somewhere and she meant to find them.

In the hall, she found herself alone. She sat in a chair and scooted forward. There was a trencher of sweetbreads and a fresh pitcher of mead placed in the center. She helped herself to a small piece of bread and half a cup of mead. It was as much as her stomach would allow.

“Milady, good morn.” Winston came into the hall and approached.

“Good day, Winston. Before you speak, I should tell you that I plan to stay here for a while. If you would be so kind as to take a message to Magnus when you return to Cameron lands, I would appreciate that.”

“But Milady, I thought ye were going to return with me.”

“I do not think I can for I have a malady…” Kendra shuffled her chair back and stood. “I am ailing, Winston. Until I feel better, I will remain here. But I do want you to take a missive to deliver to Magnus.”

Winston’s face reflected his disappointment with a slight scowl on his dark brows. “I live to serve ye, Milady, so if that is what ye wish…but I cannot leave. I’ll have another soldier deliver the message to our laird.”

“Good. Come and see me later. I should have the missive written by then. The messenger can leave on the morrow.” Kendra turned away and left the soldier standing by the table. Her heart ached to tell him such but it was the truth. She wasn’t feeling well, though she probably could travel. Her footsteps took her to her father’s bedchamber.

Gently, she closed the door, leaned against it, and took in the sight of her father’s domain. It still smelled like him: a woodsy and leathery scent that permeated the air. She drew a deep breath and smiled because his scent would stay with her and she vowed never to forget it.

Kendra did a thorough search for the missing coins. The chamberwas completely disheveled by the time she finished. Chests remained open, blankets tossed here and there, chairs askew, and trunks toppled. She’d searched every single spot and found no coins. But she found a small wooden box that contained her mother’s cherished items that her father had kept.

Inside the box, there was an ivory comb etched with flowers that had likely cost a small fortune, a scrap of parchment that had the lines of her mother’s favorite sonnet, a length of ribbon, and last but most prized, a ring her father had given to her mother when they married. Had he saved it for her? Her father had never mentioned it.

She set the items back inside the box and held it against her chest. When she was able to shake away her sentiment, she placed the box on a table and went about setting the room to rights. As she tidied up the chamber, she found a few items of her fathers that she added to the box: a small gold cross, a braided ring of horsehair that could fit upon a wrist, and a kerchief that her mother had made for him with his insignia embroidered at the corner. The box now contained a treasure that she wouldn’t part with for the world.

Kendra left her father’s chamber and put the box in her room. Whatever ailed her came upon her again and she lay upon her bed. The room seemed to float before her eyes. A knock sounded on her door and she called out to enter.

Linet crossed the room and reached the bedside. “Kendra, you’re still abed? Winston mentioned that you are ailing. Are you ill?”

She nodded. “I have been for a few days now, even before we left Cameron land. I cannot seem to hold anything down and my vision is making everything move.”

Linet retrieved a damp cloth from the basin and set it on her forehead. “That should make you feel better. I shall have my mother come to see you. Tell me about your ailment.”

Kendra told her how she’d felt and the effects of her dizziness and such. Linet listened patiently and then left the chamber.

She groaned as her stomach rumbled. That morning, she had eaten very little. Perhaps it was only that she needed to eat. She didn’t want to worry Linet or Mistress Gilda.

A little while later, Linet opened the door and called to her. “’Tis just me and Mama. She’s brought the midwife with her too.”

Kendra tried to sit up but instantly her stomach convulged. She lay back. “I do not think that I need a midwife, Linet. It’s just a stomach ailment.”

“At least let her check you over. Mama says that it sounds as though you might be with child.” Linet smiled widely and sat in the chair closest to her.

Gilda took a seat on the other side of the bed and bobbed her head. “Worry not, lass, we shall see you right. This is Agnes, a friend of mine from the village. I’ve known her since we were young girls.”

The woman, a midwife, was aged with a full head of long, gray hair. She had kind blue eyes though, and so Kendra allowed her to tend to her.