Stealing the Highland Bride

by Kenna Kendrick

  “Quick, help me here.” Stewart pushed his brother aside and rushed to Rhona’s side, picking her up gently and carrying her to the rugs set before the hearth.

  * * *

  “Fetch the wise woman from the village,” Cairstine said, “we must have hot water. Do not just stand there idly watching!”

  * * *

  A flurry of activity now ensued, but Rhona felt too much pain to notice. Instinctively, she held on to Stewart’s hand, the young man blushing as he tried his best to help her. She knew the child was not far from birth but had not expected it so soon. This being her first, she had little knowledge of what to expect; how she wished that Iain had been alive to witness the birth of their child. The thought gave her strength, and she let herself be guided by Cairstine’s reassuring words.

  * * *

  Murdoch did not like the fact that this child was to be born. It represented all he had defeated. Perhaps the bairn would die in childbirth. That would be convenient, but the birth represented a threat too. It was all too common for women to die in childbirth, and if Rhona died, then Murdoch could not secure his claim upon the clan through marriage. Now he watched as the birth took place, women from the village arriving and trying to make Rhona as comfortable as possible. Cairstine took her hand as the first contractions began and Stewart stepped away, unsure if his presence was welcome.

  The labor was long, and Rhona experienced pain that she had not felt before.

  * * *

  Throughout her ordeal, she thought of Iain, and of his bravery upon the field of battle. This pain was nothing compared to his sacrifice, and she felt his presence throughout.

  * * *

  There, by the hearth in the Great Hall, Rhona gave birth to a boy, just as she had predicted. Just as the sun was setting that evening, the wise woman cradled the newborn child in her arms and announced that he was healthy. Rhona lay back upon the rugs, and Cairstine mopped her brow as the woman handed her the bairn.

  * * *

  “See how beautiful he is,” she said weakly. Stewart, who had not moved position throughout, stepped forward quickly and helped raise her up and rest her against a chair.

  * * *

  “Aye, he is a bonnie wee laddie and make naw mistake,” Stewart looked down at the baby and smiled.

  * * *

  Despite the tragedies of the past weeks, the arrival of the little baby brought hope. Stewart gently placed his hand on the baby’s head, already promising a crop of black hair.

  * * *

  “Ye have done well, lassie, and this wee bairn is a worthy successor tae your husband.”

  * * *

  Rhona felt exhausted and could not help but feel a tender towards the Mackintosh brother who had shown her nothing but kindness. Even Cairstine could not help but see the difference between the young man who knelt before them and his hideous brother sneering in the corner of the Great Hall.

  * * *

  “Do ye have a name for him?” Stewart asked her.

  * * *

  “His name is tae be Andrew Iain Cameron; our patron and his father.”

  * * *

  A murmur of agreement went up from the gathered Camerons as they formed a protective circle around the newborn child and its mother.

  * * *

  “Named after his father?” Murdoch Mackintosh broke through the circle to gaze upon the scene.

  * * *

  He had been standing silently to one side, watching the birth, ignored by the women and his brother. His presence was neither requested nor wanted, and as he stepped forward, Stewart rose and turned to him.

  * * *

  “A fine name for a fine bairn, named for our saint and his father, the Laird” Stewart stood nose to nose with his brother, but this was not the time for fighting.

  * * *

  “I am the Laird, brother, and do not forget it. This name is a reminder of defeat more like, why not name the child after the living rather than the dead?”

  * * *

  “This child is already born with greater goodness in him than ye shall ever enjoy, Murdoch,” Cairstine said, “and he enjoys the one thing ye never shall have: love. Love is stronger than death, and we pity ye that ye think ye can steal and plunder love. Rhona may be forced to marry ye, but ye can never force her tae love ye, and this child, as soon as it is old enough to know, shall hear of how ye killed his father and defiled his mother.”

  * * *

  “The child can make up its own mind; it shall be raised to respect its clan, the clan Mackintosh” Murdoch resisted the temptation to slap the girl.

  * * *

  “Listen tae yourself, brother, ye speak as one possessed of an evil heart, this wee bairn has only just come in tae the world, and already it hears of conflict between our clans.”

  * * *

  “Brother, I think ye, too, have forgotten where your loyalty lies, am I tae send ye away from here? I would gladly do so now. Remember where your loyalty lies.”

  * * *

  “I would gladly go away, but I stay for Rhona’s sake and now for this bairn’s, I shan’t let ye treat her with such disdain and disrespect.”

  * * *

  “A noble sentiment, and one I shall ignore once I am married to the lassie. Now, move out of the way and let me see the bairn I must raise as my own.” He took a step forward, and several of the Camerons moved to stop him, but Rhona now spoke.

  * * *

  “Let him see what love looks like, and the tender way I look upon this child as though his father himself were here. For it is a look that he shall never enjoy and shall never know, the look of love. I pity ye Murdoch that my bairn will not come tae love ye as a father, but tae despise ye as a cruel and merciless tyrant, the killer of his father.”

  * * *

  Murdoch looked contemptuously upon the child and the gathered assembly before turning quickly, leaving the Great Hall in disgust, muttering curses beneath his breath.

  * * *

  Rhona cradled the child close to her breast as the women fussed around her and made them both comfortable. The birth had been exhausting, but she had been lucky and come through it unscathed. Many women did not.

  * * *

  Helped to her chamber, she lay with the child upon the bed. A fire was kindled, and the room made warm, while outside darkness fell, and the sounds of the night began to emerge around the castle. The arrival of the child had brought hope amongst the sorrow, as children so often did. Rhona lay with the child on her breast as Cairstine pulled blankets over them both and made her mistress comfortable.

  * * *

  “Ye have done well my lady Rhona, the bairn is a bonnie laddie and as like his father as any could be.”

  * * *

  “Aye, he has his father’s looks, and I have no doubt his father’s heart tae.”

  * * *

  “And something of his mother tae, your eyes I think.”

  * * *

  Rhona smiled and looked down at the child, now sleeping peacefully, held close to her. It was as though Iain Cameron was there too, and such thoughts gave her a comfort she had not felt since her husband had left to go to war.

  * * *

  “We will not let him grow up as a Mackintosh, he shall always be a Cameron, and he shall know of his father and of the man he was.”

  * * *

  “Aye he shall,” Cairstine said, “all of us shall make sure of it.”

  * * *

  As Cairstine made her mistress comfortable, the door to the chamber gently opened, and Stewart Mackintosh peered tentatively into the room. He had shown great bravery in protecting Rhona from his brother, but in his heart, he was shy and reticent, nervous at disturbing Rhona after the ordeal of birth. But as the door opened Rhona looked up, instinctively clasping the child protectively close, she relaxed and smiled, beckoning Stewart into the room.

  * * *

  “Come see the wee bairn,” she said weakly, “but be very quiet, the laddie is sleeping.”

&n
bsp; * * *

  Stewart quietly crossed the room and knelt beside the bed, smiling at Rhona and laying his hand on hers.

  * * *

  “How are ye feeling? I trust ye have not been disturbed by Murdoch again?”

  * * *

  “Naw, he has stayed away, but he will not do so for long, there is naw escape from him. I just want tae rest now.”

  * * *

  “I will leave ye then,” Stewart was embarrassed to have disturbed her.

  * * *

  “No, there is no need for ye tae stay away.” Smiling, she took hold of his hand, “I would feel better if ye and Cairstine stayed while we slept.”

  * * *

  “Aye, gladly I will,” Stewart spoke softly as Rhona closed her eyes.

  * * *

  “Thank ye, Stewart, ye have proved yourself a friend tae me and tae this bairn today. We shall ne’er forget this.”

  * * *

  “I am going nowhere, Rhona, this bairn is the rightful heir of your husband, my brother had naw claim over this place, and I only wish he would leave ye in peace and not pursue his foul and treacherous plans.”

  * * *

  “Thank ye Stewart,” Rhona sighed sleepily, and not removing her hand from his she drifted into a peaceful sleep, Stewart and Cairstine staying dutifully by her side until morning.

  “I shall have cause tae speak with ye, brother.” It was the day after the birth and Murdoch glared at his brother as he made his way through the castle, leaving Rhona and the baby to be tended over by Cairstine.

  * * *

  “And what is it that ye wish tae speak tae me about?” Stewart asked, turning to his brother, who had a thunderous look on his face.

  * * *

  “Ye humiliated me in front of the men yesterday, and ye sided with the lassie and her cronies; ye dared tae answer me back.”

  * * *

  “The lassie was with bairn; she has given birth. Do ye have naw compassion or feeling in ye Murdoch? It is a cruel man who sees a lassie suffer, not least when that man believes that she will submit herself to marriage with him.”

  * * *

  “The bairn is of naw consequence tae me, brother. I would gladly see the wee thing perish for while that bairn lives, it is a threat tae ye and I.”

  * * *

  “Tae ye, brother, not tae me,” Stewart glowered back at his brother, for whom he only felt contempt.

  * * *

  “I am tae be Laird, Stewart. Ye are nothing without me and do not forget that. Ye will not take pity upon these people, do ye understand?”

  * * *

  “I understand, brother, that ye and I have very different thoughts as tae what makes for honor, and if ye do not like the thought of me showing a kind word or deed tae these people, then so be it.”

  * * *

  “Are ye a Mackintosh or not?” Murdoch slammed his fist down on the table next to him, a wild rage in his eyes.

  * * *

  “I am a Mackintosh, aye, but I am not such as would treat these people as ye have done. Now let me about my business Murdoch.”

  * * *

  Stewart left his brother behind as he went to his work in the farrier’s shop. Murdoch was incensed by his brother’s behavior and strode through the castle, almost knocking Cairstine over, the young lassie having heard every word of their exchange on her way to tend to her mistress.

  * * *

  “Get out of the way,” he cried at her, but Cairstine had heard all she needed to hear.

  Rhona cradled the baby in her arms, stroking his head and singing gently to him as he slept. He was a bonnie bairn, indeed, and she could see his father’s face in him. As she cradled him, her thoughts turned naturally to Iain, how she wished he were here to see the bairn and the son who now bore his name.

  * * *

  “Ye are a bonnie wee laddie, indeed, and ye will grow up to be strong and true like your father.”

  * * *

  The door opened with a gentle knock, and Cairstine came to sit with her mistress, placing her finger into the baby’s hand and smiling down at him.

  * * *

  “Ye did so well, my lady Rhona, so very well.”

  * * *

  “And I am grateful to ye for not leaving my side. Ye and Stewart, who would have thought a Mackintosh would present at the birth of a Cameron?”

  * * *

  “Ye know I have just overheard Murdoch and Stewart talking. That horrible man flew into a rage with his brother.”

  * * *

  “A rage: whatever for?” Rhona looked surprised.

  * * *

  “Because Stewart helped ye, and he went on tae say how he believed Stewart tae be tae kind to us, tae sympathetic.”

  * * *

  “Stewart is nothing like his brother that is for certain. His kindness yesterday proves that he does not believe Murdoch’s schemes tae be right.”

  * * *

  “Maybe we have an ally there?”

  * * *

  “Perhaps we do, and we need all the friends we can.”

  Chapter Five

  A Heavy Duty

  The arrival of a healthy new bairn should be a time of rejoicing for all, particularly when the bairn is heir to the Laird. But a heavy sorrow lay upon the Cameron castle; the bairn’s arrival gave little consolation to anyone.

  * * *

  “He seems a very healthy wee thing,” Cairstine said some days later, as she picked up the child from his cot and sat close to the fire. The infant wriggled in her arms as she held him up and fussed over him.

  * * *

  “He certainly has his father’s strength,” Rhona replied, ‘and his hunger is insatiable.’

  * * *

  “Aye, well he will need it tae grow strong,” Cairstine handed wee Iain to his mother who held him close to her.

  * * *

  Rhona had lain in her bed since the birth. It had exhausted her, and she had not recovered as readily as might be expected. It was not the birth itself, which caused her weakness, but the constant calls of Murdoch Mackintosh upon her. As the days grew closer to the wedding, her mind became pre-occupied by an act she was powerless to refuse. Even the presence of the bairn did little to console her, and if it had not been for Stewart Mackintosh and Cairstine, Rhona would have felt despair beyond anything that should be endured.

  * * *

  Rhona surprised herself in her feelings towards Stewart Mackintosh. He was nothing like his brother, and though assigned to watch over her, he soon became a friend. His tender care in the way he had shielded her from his brother’s advances led Rhona to believe him as different from Murdoch as it was possible to be. With Duncan banished, she had no-one else to rely upon, and as the days and weeks went by, his devotion only increased.

  * * *

  “I would like tae walk in the gardens today.” Rhona laid the bairn in his cradle and looked from the windows.

  * * *

  The sun was bright that morning, and the castle gardens blossomed in the summer air. The roses were blooming, and the lavender scented the air. Rhona felt stronger now, recovered from the effects of the birth and she longed for the sense of freedom that walking in the gardens gave her, the castle walls making her feel a prisoner in her own home.

  * * *

  “May I escort you?” Stewart stepped into the room, as ever Rhona’s guard and chaperone.

  * * *

  “Aye, I should like that,” Rhona smiled, entrusting the care of the bairn to Cairstine who was only too happy to oblige.

  * * *

  “Come here bonnie laddie, let your mother go and walk amongst the roses and ye and I shall sing a lullaby.” Cairstine cradled the bairn in her arms and began to sing as Rhona and Stewart left the chamber.

  * * *

  “The heat of the sun is strong today” Rhona felt the warmth flush her face as they walked beneath the rose boughs that hung across the paths.

  * * *

  “Truly it is,” Stewa
rt said, “like the days the adventurers tell of who have crossed the sea tae Europe and come back telling of the heat and sun.”