Page 72 of Bride Takes a Laird
Kendra leaned up and kissed his face. “You are kind to offer but Linet says she will await the new owner and if she must leave, she will come. Mistress Gilda won’t ever leave the land. It’s where she was born and where she will depart this world. Do not laugh for that is what she told Linet. Hopefully, the new lord will appreciate her.”
Magnus envisioned the elder woman and envied the new owner of the Graham manor. Gilda worked tirelessly for those in the Graham clan. Although, his maidservant Ellen was just as capable.
Before he’d left the keep earlier that day, he’d helped his father move some heavy trunks to his parent’s new cottage, Old Angus’s abode next to his grandda’s where Kendra’s father had lived for a time. “My parents have settled in their new home. Ma says keeping a cottage will be easier than the fief.” Magnus was gladdened they left the keep because truly they needed the room for the bairns.
“I am saddened they have gone, but at least they don’t live too far away. And I’m certain that your ma will come by daily to visit the children.”
Magnus chuckled at that. “Nothing will keep her from her grandchildren. My ma mentioned that she wants to have a welcome home feast for us. Will that please ye?”
Kendra’s brows rose. “A feast? For us? I wouldn’t be displeased by it. Why though? We have been home nearly a fortnight and the Bealtuinn Festival is on the morrow.”
Magnus laughed lightly. “She wants to boast about her grandchildren. I will tell her to go forth with her plans and include ourhomecoming in the celebration. We should introduce our bairns to the clan and there’s no better time. They are growing akin to thistle weeds. Hugh is much heavier than Catherine.” He grunted when he lifted the bundle of his son in his arms as if he weighed as much as a stone.
She chortled at his jest. “Soon they shall be running us in circles. If we are going to have a feast, we should also honor the spring planting as well, not just our homecoming. I would like us to gather and have merriment more often. I never got to celebrate such festivals when I lived by the border. And I vow I cannot await the Bealtuinn because the last, was one I shall never forget.” Kendra shifted Catherine to her breast and quieted while their daughter suckled.
The last May Day celebration they had attended was one he’d never forget either. When he and Kendra had joined in the forest, he was sure the Great Mother, Goddess Flora, had blessed them. Magnus leaned toward her and set his mouth on hers. He kissed her with passion and all the desire that swarmed within him. It had been too long since he’d enjoyed his wife’s body. “Bealtuinn reminds me… How much longer do we need to wait?”
Kendra seemed to know what he was thinking. “All I can say about that is that tomorrow is Bealtuinn. Perhaps we can venture to the woods when night falls and be alone for a time.”
“We certainly will not be alone. The woodland shall be filled with my soldiers and their maidens. Good, it has been too long since we have been together and I cannot wait to—” Magnus ceased his thought when a soldier shouted his name and he turned to see who called. Hayden approached but he held up his hand and signaled to his soldier that he wanted no interruption. Hayden bowed, turned, and retreated just as quickly.
“Shouldn’t you find out what he wanted?”
Magnus grunted. “Nay, whatever it is can wait. I’m enjoying a moment with my wife and children which also reminds me… My thanks for suggesting that Winston serve as the new steward. Ye were right, he has a way with figures and sums. I trust him implicitly to do the job.”
Kendra giggled and leaned against him. “Your face was somewhat comical when you viewed the manuscripts in our chamber. I knew that you detested the chore and Winston showed interest when I asked him to help me. His wife is pleased that you have given him an important duty for the clan. Gloria hasn’t ceased singing your praises.”
Magnus had lingered by the training field long enough. He held out his hand to help Kendra to rise. “At least now Sigge stays with me and is not so traitorous. Although, my hound went missing when Winston went to the fields yestereve.”
When he spoke of his pet, Sigge thumped his tail and got to his feet, stretched, and butted his head against his thigh.
Kendra took his hand and stood close to him. “Sigge is devoted to you, and well you know it. Have I told you that you please me very much, and I understand there are times when you must do your duty? I took you as my husband, Magnus, a laird with great responsibility.”
“Aye, my sweet bride took a laird, but foremost I am a man with wee needs: only his wife who pleases him beyond sense and his sweet bairns. When I first beheld our bairns, I thought my heart would burst for love for them…and you. I thank ye for giving them to me. I am most content.” Magnus’s words thickened with emotion.
Kendra wrapped her free arm around him, leaned upward on her toes, and pressed a kiss on his lips. She whispered when she drew back, “I love you and always shall. As am I, Magnus, most content.”
The End.
The End