Page 21 of Farlan (Immortal Highlander Clan McKeran #3)

Chapter Eight

F arlan led the clansmen he’d drafted to aid him in shoring up the damaged walls to the worst in need of repair, just down the passage from the laird’s chamber.

“I’ll measure the length of the damaged stones,” he told them, and then regarded Olivia. “The mason who trained me taught me to use rock as backfill, anchor stones to brace the bases, and wood struts to support the higher sections. What of your methods?”

“You have a lot of damage intersecting the joints,” she said, examining the wall and then pointing to a diagonal crack that had split through two blocks.

“Those spots need filling, and not with dirt. I’d use a mixture of gravel and mortar.

We’ll need some spacing to allow for expansion and contraction. ”

He’d never known a woman to be as knowledgeable as Olivia was about such matters, which was almost as good as having Arran there to aid him. “Creating the mortar shall be your task, then, my lady. I’ll figure on how much rock and wood we’ll need. We may cobble the struts from splits.”

“Aye, and a carpenter, Seneschal,” one of the big guards said. At his frown he added, “You cannae touch wood for long, even with your gloves.”

“Aye, right.” He’d given no thought to his mortal weakness.

“Fetch one, then, and bid him meet me by the woodshed after the evening meal. Kerr, you and Niven aid Lady Olivia. The rest of you, gather all the rocks from Eachann’s pile at the back of the bailey, and bring them in barrows to the yard beyond the lists.

We’ll set up tables there and go to work in the morning, after the ceremony. ”

After they dispersed, Farlan took the necessary measurements, and then headed for the kitchens to speak with Doon about preparations for the binding ceremony, which he had been neglecting since the collapse.

On the way there, Elspeth, the clan’s head chambermaid, came to his side.

She looked upset, and her hands twisted together as if she had been fretting for some time.

She also glanced behind her before she caught his gaze.

“Seneschal, might I ask your counsel on a personal trouble?” she said, her voice tight with strain.

Her request surprised him—of all the maids, Elspeth had never once asked his help with her private life—but she had recently lost her lover, a clansman who had died during the second event of the time cycle.

He nodded and stepped into one of the grain storage rooms, lighting a lamp before he closed the heavy door.

“You can trust me to keep whatever ’tis to myself,” he assured her.

“I wish to take Healer Ben as my lover,” the chambermaid said, dropping her gaze to her toes.

“Also Hunter Ulf. Both wish to be with me. Kelso’s gone now, and I shallnae choose him again when he returns in the next cycle.

I’m planning to take Ben and Ulf as my lovers at the ceremony and, if the laird permits, name them my husbands. ”

No female had ever wed two men during the ceremony, and for a moment Farlan grew troubled. That the chambermaid desired the attention and affection from both Ben and Ulf might not last once she bedded them—unless she intended to divide her time between them.

“You mean to take them both at once in your bed?” he asked, to be sure. “The two of them loving you between them. ”

“I reckon they’ll love each other as well. I’ve never attempted to share pleasure with two lovers, but I wish to.” She met his gaze now, her own defiant. “Whatever we do, ’tis our choice. The laird said thus long ago. As long as all agree, what harm should such do?”

“’Tis your right, lass.” He suspected her unconventional relationship might rile some of the more conservative members of their household. Others might view it as promising for themselves, especially with their perpetual shortage of females. “Shall I inform the laird?”

“No, Seneschal, for that ’tisnae the trouble I mentioned.

” She told him instead of the kitchen maid who had threatened her, and what Una had demanded in return for her silence.

“I dinnae wish to give in to her bullying, and everyone respects you for your fairness. I ken you cannae force the other vassals to accept me and my lovers, but if you’d stand as my ally when I speak, I reckon that should silence Una before she mutters one ugly word. ”

“Ask me to join you and your men when ’tis time,” Farlan said. “I’m happy to stand up with you three as your friend.”

Elspeth’s eyes shimmered with tears. “You’re truly the best of men, Seneschal.”

Before he could reply the sound of the horn from the watch tower blasted.

That indicated someone was approaching the outer gate, an event in the time cycle which should not have occurred for another two moons.

The sound would send all of their female vassals fleeing to their hiding place in the dungeons, where Lady Ava and the war master’s wife would look after them.

“Go below with the other lasses,” Farlan told the chambermaid, who nodded and hurried off. What stopped him in his tracks was something no one else had likely recalled.

Grace doesnae ken what means the horn blast.

He ran toward the bed chamber they reserved for newcomers, where he encountered Darro and the laird coming from the opposite direction with Ava and his lady.

“My lady, my lord, chieftain.” He saw Grace’s impassive expression and took a step toward her before he could stop himself. “I shall escort the women to the dungeons.”

“’Tis no need for hiding them,” Tasgall said. “Our visitor, ’tis the MacBren’s wife alone on horseback.”

“No, such cannae happen now. ’Twill take another two moons to reach that day in the time cycle.” He couldn’t think, not with his beauty just out of reach. “’Tis some manner of trick. Permit me take our ladies to safety. ”

“It’s all right, Seneschal,” Ava told him. “I’d like to observe Lady MacBren, and see how this plays out. I’ll keep Grace with me.”

He almost told her what he thought of her foolishness before he remembered she was Tasgall’s wife, and outranked him. With a tight jaw he nodded and escorted them down to the great hall. In the process he managed to drop back and walk beside his lover, who seemed to be ignoring him entirely.

“Did I anger you again, my lady?” he murmured.

“I’m not angry.” She sounded bored. “Are you?”

“No.” He sensed her tension, and noted how she’d curled her hands into fists. “Where went you with the laird’s wife after you left me?”

Now she looked at him, her gaze unfathomable. “Do I report to you now, like one of the maids?”

“To keep me from fretting like some old crone, aye, so you should.” She didn’t smile at his jest. “I wish speak with you in earnest before the binding ceremony.”

“Let me guess.” Grace stopped and turned toward him. “You don’t want me to choose a husband from the men who are looking for a wife. You want me to be exclusive with you, and to make that clear to everyone during this ritual thing.”

“Do you wish such?” he countered. “I can give you all you desire, and more. ”

“Even though it’s running out, I need some time. Will you wait for my answer until tonight?” When he nodded she finally smiled at him. “Good man.”

They caught up with the others just outside the great hall, where Darro left them to speak with Alec and the guards assembled at the end of the passage.

Tasgall and Ava accompanied him and Grace to the dais platform, where the guards had arranged four chairs in a crescent and another squarely before them.

A table to one side had been set with platters of fruit and sweet cakes, and jugs of drink and brew stood ready beside the clan’s best silver cups.

“The lady coming here is married to the clan’s worst enemy,” Ava told Grace. “She wants Tasgall to marry her daughter, but unlike her husband she doesn’t want to kill anyone to force the marriage. I’m going to try to get some information out of her.”

As the two women sat down and spoke in low voices, Farlan went to stand behind his lover.

She seemed as calm as ever, but he detected a change in her.

A dark, intense tang now blended with the wintry fire of her scent, as if she burned from within with some deep emotion.

Was she afraid? Or had he made her that angry by asking her not to choose a husband?

He reached out to put his hand on her shoulder, and then thought better of it.

She would come to him. He had but to wait patiently for her to decide that was what she wanted.

If it doesnae make me lose my mind first.

“Come and sit beside me,” the laird said to him. “’Twill put Lady MacBren more at ease.”

Farlan perched on the edge of the chair beside Tasgall, and a few moments later Lady MacBren swept into the great hall.

Middle-aged and yet filled with the elegant dignity of her station, the wife of the king’s second commanded attention.

She had dressed in fine black silk with her husband’s clan symbol embroidered in gold all over her bodice and skirts, which glittered in the sunlight from the windows.

The lion’s head of the MacBren seemed to be silently roaring from the fine fabric as she approached the laird.

“My lord. Seneschal.” Far more polite than her husband, the lady halted and curtseyed deeply to them.

When she rose she gave Ava a gracious nod, and then stared at Grace for a long moment before she quickly blinked a few times.

“My lord, I convinced my husband to permit me visit you one last time. I come here today no’ demanding nor threatening as he’s done.

I but beseech you with all my heart to wed our daughter.

If you do not, I fear our clans shall go to war. ”

“I appreciate your kindness, my lady, but such, ’tis wasted here. As I’ve told Lord MacBren many, many times ’tis impossible for me to take Torra as my lady wife. I shallnae change my mind.” Tasgall rose and bowed to her. “Forgive me, but naught you say now shall sway me.”