Page 4 of Queen of the Hollow Hills (Eagles and Crows #3)

CHAPTER 3

I t was very late in the night after all the chieftains had gone to rest, and Cormag drifted off to sleep, when I woke. I lay in my bedchamber, watching as the thin beams of moonlight moved across the room…and dreaming of chicken with apple butter, honey, cheese, and garum.

Finally rising, I slipped from the room only to surprise the guards stationed outside.

“My queen?” Brynaich, one of the guards, asked in alarm. “Is there?—”

“Hungry?” I asked them.

The men looked at one another.

“I am always hungry, my queen,” the redheaded guard, Mael Coluim, replied.

Chuckling, Brynaich shook his head. “I’ll stay with the king consort.”

With that, Mael Coluim and I quietly slipped down the back stairwells of the fort, arriving in the kitchens to find the attendant asleep beside the fireplace. However, to my surprise, I found Verbia and Nettle. The cat was sitting on the table beside the old woman, enjoying roasted chicken.

I pointed to the pots. “Take what you like,” I told Mael Coluim, then went and joined my ancient great-grandmother. “Where is your guard?” I asked her.

Verbia pointed to Nettle, who merely mewed at me.

Shaking my head, I patted the cat and sat beside Verbia. I then set about preparing the bread with the spreads and added the cheese and chicken thereon, pausing to give Nettle a few bites of the meat.

With a delighted sigh, I took a bite. And then another, and another, only stopping when I was done. When I sat back to clean my fingers, Verbia gave me a toothy grin.

I stared at her. “What?”

Verbia shook her head, then gestured that she wanted me to make her a bread like I’d made for myself, only stopping my hand when I reached for the garum.

“I would not expect it to taste good either, but it does.”

Chuckling, Verbia merely shook her head once more.

Making another for myself and one for Verbia, I sat back and enjoyed again. The old woman ate quietly but with a light smile as she ruminated. I was hunting the table for the pickled eggs and onions when Verbia rose. She went to the stores, digging for something, then returned a moment later. She clicked to Nettle that it was time to go, set her hand on my shoulder, then kissed me on my forehead.

“Lady Verbia, may I escort you back?” Mael Coluim offered, but she waved him away.

Before she left, however, Verbia set a raw egg in front of me.

Giving me a wink, she and her cat departed.

I stared at the egg.

Why an egg?

Lifting my honey, cheese, apple butter, garum, and chicken bread, I took another bite and considered. And then another. And another. Until…

“By Brigantia,” I said finally, realization washing over me. “Am I so blind?”

“My queen?” Mael Coluim asked.

I rose quickly but then paused to finish off the last bite of pickled egg and onion—only to realize I’d finished nearly the whole crock—then set off back upstairs once more.

“My queen?” Mael Coluim called, a chicken leg in one hand as he hurriedly followed behind me as I wove through the hallways, returning to my bedchamber. Brynaich came to attention when I reached the door.

“The king consort is still within,” he told me, opening the door.

“Thank you,” I told him, then hurried inside.

I rushed to the bed and then shook Cormag’s shoulder. “Cormag. Cormag, wake up.”

“Carti? What is it? Is something wrong?” he asked sleepily.

I shook my head. “No. Not wrong. I just… Cormag, I’m… I think… I do not know for certain, but I think I’m?—”

“With child?” he replied, sitting up. Smiling at me, he pushed my raven-black tresses over my shoulder.

“Wait, how did you know?”

“Cartimandua, you have eaten all of your and most of my dinner for the last week, and you did not even realize. We are early in our marriage, so I am as surprised as you, but we have not been shy in our…practice.”

I crawled on top of him and cupped his face in my hands. “I… Thank you.”

He laughed. “You’re welcome.”

Chuckling, I shook my head. “Oh, Cormag. Everything has been in upheaval. Aside from our marriage, none of it was good. But this,” I said, setting my hand on my stomach. “I didn’t dream it could be possible, but I am happy. Truly happy. I…I love you.”

Cormag pulled us down onto the bed and kissed me. “I love you too, even if you smell like pickled eggs and onion.”

I laughed. “I’m sorry,” I told him, burying my face in his shoulder, soaking in his woodsy scent.

“You are my queen. I would do anything for you. And now, you will be the mother of my child. You are mine, and I am yours, Cartimandua. I will protect you and my child until there is no breath in me and beyond,” he said, kissing the side of my head.

“May Brigantia and the Cailleach be thanked,” I whispered, but I felt Cormag’s body stiffen. “What is it?”

“Nothing…”

“Cormag.”

“It is the Cailleach’s season.”

“Yes, but Brigantia sleeps in the winter to prepare to give new life in the spring. You are a child of the Cailleach, and now you are King Consort of the Brigantes. We will trust that the dark lady looks after her own.”

Cormag paused. I could sense he wanted to say something more but merely said, “I am sure you are right.”

“Let’s say nothing to the chieftains. I will send for Onnen after they have gone to ensure all is well with the child. And I will moderate my eating so as not to be too obvious,” I said with a laugh.

Cormag chuckled, then set his hand on my belly. “Boy or girl?”

“It makes no difference to me.”

“Nor I,” Cormag replied then kissed me again. “I also taste honey…and garum.”

I laughed. “I was in the kitchens.”

Cormag laughed.

“Verbia was there. She set an egg before me. How is it you both knew before me?”

He kissed the side of my head and pulled me toward him. “Verbia is wise. I am merely watchful of every curve of your body.

“Are you?”

“Aside from learning the ways of the Brigantes, it is my primary area of study.”

“Well, then. I will have a demonstration of what you have learned.”

Cormag kissed me once more. “Are you…are you feeling well enough?”

“Only a little full. Otherwise, perfectly ready to observe your skills.”

At that, Cormag kissed me once more, then began by gently stroking my leg. “Then let us begin.”