Page 22 of Laird of Sighs (His Highland Heart #5)
CHAPTER 22
“ H ow do ye do that?” Ailsa watched Mariota fire arrow after arrow in quick succession and hit the center of each of several targets set up in a row against Dunrobin’s outer wall.
“Practice,” Mariota told her and grinned. “Even with this wee bairn in the way,” she said and patted her protruding belly, “I can usually hit my target. But ’twill be easier once I deliver this one. He or she tends to kick at the most inopportune times and spoils my aim. Best we no’ have any invaders below the walls before this bairn arrives, aye little one?” She patted her belly again.
“I want to learn,” Ailsa told her. “And how ye handle Valkyrie, as well. Nan said ye raised her from an egg. Ye must tell me the whole story.”
“We’ve plenty of time for stories,” Mariota said with a smile. “And training. Of course I’ll teach ye. Nan and Brighde can help, too. They’ve learned so much since I got here that they help me train the lasses, and even some of the lads. The more we lasses are prepared to defend the walls with our arrows, the more our men can use their strength elsewhere.”
Anders and Stellan came around the corner and hailed them. “What have ye learned?” Anders asked after he pulled Ailsa into a hug and gave her a kiss.
“That I have much to learn. But ye ken how I enjoy that.”
“Ye will have the best of teachers in Mariota, Brighde, and Nan.”
“Did I hear my name?” Brighde came around the corner carrying her bow and a sheaf of arrows.
“Anders just said ye were one of the best teachers I could have,” Ailsa told her.
“What? He paid me a complement? Anders, did ye forget all about me while ye were at Sinclair?”
Anders rolled his eyes. “If only I still could.”
Ailsa elbowed him, and he made a show of doubling over.
“Enough,” Stellan said, laughing at their antics. “’I’m glad to see everyone in such fine spirits after our little adventure to Sinclair, but ’tis time for the midday meal and I, for one, am ready to eat.”
“Still haven’t caught up on the meals ye missed?” Brighde asked.
“Dinna let him fool ye,” Anders told her. “He didna miss any. Ailsa saw to the care of the Sutherlands while we were there.”
“And we owe ye much,” Stellan told her.
“Nay, ye dinna. Ye gave me yer twin. He’s the best gift a lass could ever receive.”
“I might have a different opinion on that,” Mariota chimed in, laughing.
“Aye, ye might,” Anders said, “but ye’d be wrong.”
Anders stood with his father and brother at Dunrobin’s gate while Ailsa and Mariota waited at the door to the keep. Though it had been only a fortnight since they returned to Dunrobin, Sutherland had received a missive from Sinclair two days ago, warning of an impending visit. From the walls, two birlinns had been spotted approaching earlier in the day. They were beached now, and the men on board were climbing the bluff to Dunrobin’s seaside gate.
“That’s Sinclair,” Anders said. “I dinna believe my eyes. He has already brought back our birlinn . I wasna certain when we left it behind that we would ever see it again. The other one is large enough for him and all his men to return home together.”
“Well, this is a good sign,” was the Sutherland’s comment.
Anders’ father expected Sinclair’s visit was intended to firm up ties between the clans.
Anders harbored a kernel of fear that at best he’d come to make sure his daughter was being treated well. Or would he try to steal Ailsa back?
At worst, both Stellan and Anders were suspicious of his motives. Stellan had put the Sutherland guard on high alert, determined to keep the peace while their father wined and dined their new ally. Their father had not seen the Sinclair heir in action. Had Ailsa’s mother been able to temper Boden’s influence on her husband? Or was this visit a way to get into Dunrobin with enough men to attack the laird or take over the keep?
When the visitors approached the gate, they paused several paces outside and the Sinclair strode forward. “Sutherland, I hope this visit isna unwelcome. As ye can see, I’m returning yer birlinn .”
“’Tis most welcome any time an ally visits, even without the return of our property, though I appreciate it, and the work yer craftsmen did to make it seaworthy,” Sutherland answered. “Be welcome in Dunrobin, Sinclair. Come visit with yer daughter.” Sutherland stepped to one side of the gate while Stellan and Anders stepped to the other, opening the way for the Sinclair laird.
His men followed as he approached, but he signaled for them to stop outside the gate. “My men will camp outside yer walls,” Sinclair offered.
He’d come with fewer than Anders expected. Raghnall stood at the head of a dozen men, all well-armed. Tasgall was in the group behind him. Anders was relieved to see he was still alive. He’d feared once the wedding was over and the Sutherlands and their allies left, Sinclair would find out who’d aided the Sutherlands’ escape and punish Tasgall.
“Thank ye,” Sutherland told him, but added, “Yer chief guard is welcome.”
“As is Ailsa’s friend Tasgall,” Anders added.
His father glanced his way and nodded, then turned back to the Sinclair. “Yer men will be welcome inside for meals so long as their weapons remain in their camp.”
Anders glanced around to see Mariota nod and step through the door into the keep. She’d likely gone to find a chamber for the two guards. One had already been prepared for the Sinclair.
Sinclair nodded his agreement. No doubt he’d expected those conditions.
Ailsa approached and greeted her father. “’Tis good to see ye, Da. Is Mother well?”
“Aye, lass,” he told her, giving her a hug, “and unhappy that she couldna make this trip, but I insisted a birlinn was nay place for her. And she can keep yer brother out of trouble while I’m gone.”
Ailsa nodded, doubting that anyone, even their indomitable mother, could accomplish that miracle. She walked with him, arm-in-arm, into the Sutherland keep.
That afternoon, while Sutherland and Sinclair conferred, with Stellan and Raghnall in attendance, Anders and Ailsa had a chance to talk to Tasgall.
“I canna believe he hasna insisted on finding out who released the Sutherlands,” Ailsa said after Tasgall gave them a brief update of what had happened after the wedding.
“My guess is he thinks ye did it by yerself or with Anders’ help,” Tasgall told her. “He isna happy about it, but I think he also respects the initiative it took to carry it off.”
Ailsa smiled at that. “So long as it doesna come back on ye or any of the other men, I’m satisfied,” she told him. “Does Raghnall suspect?”
“Ach, aye, he kens. He willna say anything, though. He was glad to have ye lot off his hands,” he added, grinning at Anders. “He was no happier about Boden’s notion of killing ye than ye were.”
“What is Da doing about Boden?” Ailsa asked with a frown.
“There have been some conversations in the laird’s solar,” Tasgall said soberly. “Or shouting matches. Call them what ye will. Boden is angry, but we hope he’ll grow out of his desire for a fight. Probably after he’s been through one or two.”
Anders nodded. “If he survives them. There’s nay better lesson that bloodshed is no’ usually the best answer than to watch yer men being injured and killed. Or yerself.”
“If he doesna grow up,” Tasgall added, “ye have cousins, one or two of whom I could easily support.”
“So, why this visit now?” Anders wondered about the timing, so soon after the wedding.
“I think ’tis Da’s way of apologizing to Sutherland for holding his men,” Ailsa interjected before Tasgall could say anything. “I told my parents the story of why ye were on Sinclair land. It may have changed his perception of ye, though not in time to prevent the escape. And before the wedding, Mother shamed Da for not taking better care of ye, and for threatening ye. He’s had time to cool off and think through everything that happened—and could have happened.”
“Better allies than enemies,” Anders said. “Thanks to ye, my lovely wife. Had ye and Maighread no’ cared for me, had ye no’ insisted the men in the dungeon receive good care, we could be in a very different place today.”
“I ken it. And I’m glad I had friends willing to help,” she said and smiled at Tasgall. “We can be proud of what we did, even if we went against what the laird thought he wanted at the time.”
That evening, Sutherland provided a feast to welcome Sinclair and his men. Later, Anders and Stellan remained behind in the laird’s solar after meeting with their father and Sinclair, who shared a whisky, then went to his chamber. Anders repeated the conversation with Tasgall and Ailsa for Stellan and their father.
“I dinna recommend letting down our guard,” Stellan advised, “but we can make it less obvious.”
“Aye,” Sutherland agreed. “If Sinclair is truly here to extend an olive branch, and to ensure Ailsa is happy, we reciprocate. Keep the guards on duty, but only half as many on the walls, the others posted around the bailey and its lesser buildings. The smithy, the stable, hell, even the weaver’s shed, out of sight or with weapons hidden so they are not obviously on duty but helping the craftspeople or just spending time in conversation. As long as they keep their eyes and ears open, that should suffice during the day when his men come in for meals. Sinclair has only two men inside with him at night, quartered across the hall from him. Easier to control, if need be.”
“How long does he intend to stay?” Stellan asked.
“No more than a sennight, I’d wager,” Anders said. “That’s what Ailsa thinks. Likely even less if he thinks he’s accomplished his mission. Part of which may be to become as familiar with Dunrobin as I was able to at Sinclair.”
“’Twillna do him any good,” Stellan remarked.
“At least he didna bring Boden,” Anders said. “Had he done so, I wouldha expected trouble.”
“The heir made an impression on ye, did he?” their father quipped.
“Aye,” Anders and Stellan agreed in unison.
“Ye could say that,” Stellan answered grimly. “Unless he learns sense before he becomes laird, or the clan elders get behind someone else, he’ll be trouble in the future.”
“Were ye sad to see yer da leave today?” Anders asked Ailsa three days later. Alone in their chamber after supper, he could finally ask the question that had been on his mind since they watched Sinclair and his men board their large birlinn and sail north.
“Aye, a little. But he and Mother are no’ so far away. A day’s sail up the coast could be quite pleasant.”
Anders shuddered. “I’ll no’ be doing that for a while, ye ken,” he said, making her laugh.
She clasped his hand between hers. “I would no’ expect to have to swim to shore as ye did.”
“Aye, I learned my lesson. Next time, I’ll listen to Tomas when he says ’tis time to put in and wait out a storm. Still, I have to be glad for what did happen. Sutherland and Sinclair are now allies, which also means better relations for Sutherland with the Norse king. We have proven to all that we can count on our other allies in case of trouble, and best of all, I found ye.”
“Aye, ye did, though barely. I feared I’d killed ye when ye passed out at our door. I hated myself for days, fearing ye would still die, even after Maighread and I began caring for ye.”
“I’m tougher than ye kenned, Love.”
“Ach, I ken that now. But then? Ye scared me. Ye looked so sad, so defeated, when I told ye to go away. I’ll never forget yer face in that moment, and I’ll regret putting that despair in yer eyes to my dying day.”
“Forget it, lass. It all worked out well in the end. I have ye to love. I canna imagine anything better.”
“Thank ye, my love. But I willna get over it any faster than ye get over yer aversion to sailing. Perhaps helping each other, we will get beyond both our fears.”
“I ken just how to begin,” Anders said and pulled her to him. He kissed her softly at first, but as she responded, he firmed his kiss and deepened it when her lips parted on a sigh. “I want ye, my love. I always will. But right now, I want ye in my bed, making love with me.”
“There’s naught I’d rather do,” she answered with a smile, her gaze shining with love as she met his. “Now and for the rest of our lives.”