Eventually Mary interrupted. “All right, that’s enough! Stop it, the both of ye. I was feeling quite hungry and ready for a meal once we arrive back at the castle, but I think ye’ve spoiled me appetite.”
“Oh hush, Mary. There’s some remaining for ye as well.” Eoin dismounted, pulling Bri down from the horse with him. Once they were both on the ground, he moved to Mary’s side, reaching for her as he pulled her off the horse and into a tight embrace. He kissed her soundly on the cheek. She squealed and protested in his arms, but her red cheeks and wide smile showed her joy at reuniting with one of her boys.
“’Tis good to see ye as well, Blaire. I’m glad that ye have all arrived back safely, although ye should never have gone alone.” Eoin sat Mary on the ground and stepped away to regard all of us. “Ye left Adelle and me with quite a mess to trouble ourselves over. Not only our guests, but yer father arrived last night as well.”
“Me father?” Me voice croaked as I said the words, and I made to dismount me own horse as I was afraid that I might faint right off the top of it if I dinna. As far as I knew, me father believed that it was I married to Eoin. He had no idea that I had spent the last months in a different century. He would have to be told the truth. Whether or no he would be able to believe it, I knew not.
“Aye. His arrival was unexpected. He said he was eager to see his daughter. I’ve done what I could to distract him, but he is very disgruntled and losing patience. ’Tis best that we get all of ye back as quickly as possible so that the two of ye,” he pointed to Bri and meself, “can give him whatever explanation ye choose.”
“So ye told him nothing?” Part of me hoped Eoin would have explained everything to him, but it seemed that he’d left that unpleasant task undone. No that I could blame him.
“Nay. I told him that ye’d accompanied Mary into the village to gather some supplies for the castle, and he was no too pleased to hear it. He thought it unwise of me to allow ye to go alone. I canna imagine what he would think of me if he learned I’d allowed ye to travel as far off as ye did.”
Eoin ran his hand over his face, clearly exhausted after dealing with me father. I’d yet to see him, and fatigue was already overcoming me at the prospect.
He was a good man, and I loved him, but me independent spirit had made me a difficult child to manage. He’d been pleased when he’d finally been able to marry me off into the hands of another to oversee me behavior. He would no be pleased to know that his efforts had been unsuccessful. I was afraid he would feel it meant that he had ownership over me once more. If so, he would be disappointed. I would no be going back home with him, even if I had to work with Mary in the Conall’s kitchens. I re-mounted me horse and gestured to Eoin, Bri, and Mary to do the same.
“Let’s be on with it then. I doona wish to keep him waiting.”
* * *
“I canna believe it, truly. If ye dinna both stand before me now, I would never be able to believe such a story. I always knew Morna was a witch, but I never believed she would be capable of such a grand spell. Why, ye’ve given an old man the shock of his life.”
Me father laughed deeply as he squeezed me around me middle as I sat upon his lap. His reaction to our story was astonishing. Rather than doubt or anger, he’d accepted our explanation with pure curiosity.
“So ye are no angry with me? And ye will go along with what we told Edana, claiming us both as yer daughters?” I returned his squeeze, no longer nervous at his being here, but simply enjoying the feeling of safety that came with being wrapped in me father’s arms.
“Nay, I’m no angry. I doona see how either of ye had a choice in what happened. And aye, I shall be pleased to call Bri as me own. I’ve thought she was for some time now.” He smiled in Bri’s direction. “Ye did a remarkable job of fooling me. Ye are a magnificent trickster.”
Bri laughed and shook her head in disagreement. “With all due respect, I believe your bad ear went a long way to making my performance believable to you.”
“Ach, I’m sure ye are right, lass.” Father reached up and touched his left ear that lacked any ability to hear.
Bri stood from her seat in the spell room and moved to give us some privacy. We’d met him down there hoping that the presence of Morna’s spell books would help him to believe.
“I’ll leave the two of you to visit alone for awhile. You know, I think it’s fitting that I should be known as your daughter. You bear a striking resemblance to my real father.”
She winked at both of us. Once she was gone, me father stood and grabbed me hand so that he could lead me out of the spell room.
“Let’s go for a walk down by the sea, shall we? I’m anxious to hear of me bonny lass’ adventures while she was away.”
I nodded, and together we left hand-in-hand. In that moment, I felt closer to me father than I’d ever felt before.
Chapter 24
The Castle Formerly Known as Kinnaird
“Ye have been drinking less as of late, have ye no?”
Her voice startled him. Arran turned away from the window he’d been staring out of, imagining where Blaire was, what she was doing, and if she was thinking of him as well. One week had passed since Blaire had returned to Conall Castle. Although she was days away, his world seemed brighter just knowing he could get to her, and she was no longer out of his reach in another century.
Every night since their departure, Edana had come to him, softly knocking on his door in the middle of the night. He’d ignored it, never giving explanation, hoping that within time she would give up and cease seeking his affection.
Tonight was the only night she’d entered his room uninvited. He faced her, doing his best to feign a smile. Over the past days, he’d come to learn more about his new wife, and what he’d seen from her had made it all the more easy for him to push aside any guilt he might have felt over his feelings for Blaire.
He’d watched as she screamed and ordered servants about as if they were criminals rather than the loyal and hard working members of their household that they were. ’Twas a habit she’d learned from her father no doubt, but a needless act of malevolence nonetheless.
Her moods shifted suddenly. It was impossible for him to tell when he was seeing glimpses of her true self. He hoped it was her moments of kindness, but something warned him that her moments of ill-tempered outbursts ran deep into her core.
With each day, he grew more certain that she was not a shy, helpless victim, not a beaten woman who needed his aide as he once believed. If only he’d not been so foolish, rushing into a commitment when he knew not to whom he was committing. He could be welcoming the woman he loved into his bed rather than denying his wife entry into it.
“Aye, ale is no so appealing to me as it once was. Why are ye awake so late in the evening, Edana?”
“I needed to speak to me husband. Have ye no heard me knocking on yer door these past nights? Have ye already seen what it is I’m here to tell ye, and ye no longer find me so pleasing?”
He didn’t know what she was talking about. He’d noticed nothing from her, hardly seeing her when he looked right at her, so occupied his mind was with thoughts of Blaire. “Aye, lass, I heard ye, but I have been tired. I have no been in the mood for company in bed. But nay, I have no noticed anything about ye. What do ye mean by that?”
“I’m with child, Arran.”
Shock coursed painfully through him, and he found that he was gripping the edge of the table so tightly that his knuckles shown white beneath his skin. “Nay, lass. We have no been married long enough for ye to be carrying a child. Even if ye were, it would be too soon for ye to know it.” He hoped that he was right, but he knew little of such things, and he knew that his words came more from wishful thinking than true knowledge.
“Aye, ’tis true that we have no been married long, but ’tis still verra possible for it to be so. I have no bled, and I have never no done so before. Me nurse has confirmed it as well.”
Arran pulled the stool out from the sma
ll desk and plopped himself down on it, his head suddenly heavy and throbbing.
Edana motioned to someone standing in the doorway. Shortly after, a woman who looked to be about Mary’s age approached him. She was short and slight. There were dark circles beneath her eyes. He thought she looked too unhealthy herself to be nurse to anyone but still rose to greet her. Before he could speak, Edana interrupted.
“Go on, tell him. Tell him what ye just told me, that I am carrying his bairn.”
Edana’s tone caused him to look attentively toward the nurse who stood before him. There seemed to be an underlying threat with Edana’s words, and the look of fear on the poor woman’s face was enough for him to be sure he was right.
“May I speak to yer nurse alone for a moment, Edana?” He expected her response and fumbled quickly for an answer that would placate her.
“Do ye no believe me? What reason would I have to lie?”
“Nay, lass, I believe ye. If ye say ye are with child, I believe that ye are. ’Tis only I have a private matter of a personal nature I would like to have seen.” He smiled politely at the nurse.
Edana rolled her eyes as she slowly made her way toward the door. “Fine. Suit yerself, but ye know that she is no a real doctor. She deals only with birthing and such matters. If something troubles ye, ye should see the man in the village.”
“’Tis only a small matter. I suppose any woman with knowledge of herbs could help me with this. Go on. I shall come to ye shortly, and we shall talk.”
With Edana gone, Arran motioned for the nurse to sit on the stool in front of his desk. “What is yer name, miss?”
The woman’s voice was quiet and shaky. It pained Arran to know that she must have been mistreated by the people of this castle for some time to be so frightened in his presence before she even knew him.
“My name is Gara, and I’m afraid that she is right, sir. I doona know much of healing and only a little of herbs. Perhaps ye should seek help elsewhere. I wouldna want to mislead ye.”
Arran crouched down in front of Gara, smiling to ease the woman’s nerves. “Doona worry, lass. All is well with me. I only wanted to speak to ye without Edana being present. Now I wish that ye tell me the truth. Do ye know Edana to be with child?”
“Aye, sir.”
“Ye doona have to worry, lass. If she’s threatened ye, all ye need to do is tell me so. I’ll believe ye, and I will ensure yer protection. Has she done so?”
Surprise flickered in the woman’s eyes, and Arran allowed himself to hope that perhaps Edana’s words had been a lie.
“Nay, sir. She is carrying yer child as ye shall see soon enough. Now, may I be excused from ye, sir?”
Arran stood so that the woman could move from her seat and extended his arm out beside him. “Aye, lass. Ye are no being held against yer will. Thank ye for speaking to me and for yer honesty.”
“’Tis my pleasure to be of service to ye, sir.”
Gara stood and nodded before turning away from him, but Arran called out to her once more before she could leave the room.
“I know that things have no always been good for the people of this castle and while I claim no responsibility for yer suffering, I am sorry for it. I vow that I will do all that I can to change things from now on. Doona ever be afraid in me presence.”
“Thank ye, sir.”
She slipped out quickly leaving Arran alone to think about the unborn child that was seemingly on its way to him.
* * *
Gara hurried down the hallway, breathing in deeply and swiftly wiping at her face to hide the tears.
Arran Conall was a fine man. He would be a good laird to her and to her people. It did not sit well with her to lie to him, but she needed the payment for her family. The death of her husband had placed a burden on her that she’d been unable to adequately meet for some time. This lie would guarantee her family a roof over their heads for a long while. She was willing to put aside her morals for the sake of her children at home.
Still, it was not right, and she’d live with the guilt over such an injustice for all of her years to come. With each passing day, she would search for a way to make amends.
Chapter 25
“Did she do it, Tormod?”
He walked through the doorway of his home, not surprised to find his sister there waiting. She did her best to make him feel as if each new plan was his own, but he was no fool. He knew his puppet master well, and he needed her. Without Fia to guide him, he had no chance of destroying Arran Conall so that he could take over as laird and put a Kinnaird back in power over their territory.
She was talented at deceit and quick to think of each new step in their plan. He hoped today her ideas would be at their best. He had to find a way to rid himself of Edana for good.
“Aye, she told him last night, but his reaction was no what we had hoped. He was no so pleased to hear about his coming child.”
Fia waved her hand dismissively in front of him. “’Tis no matter to us. Such news is difficult for any man when the woman carrying his child is no the one he loves. The newness will wear away. Soon he will fall in love with the child, real or no. Why do ye look so upset, brother? The wretch did as ye bid, did she no?”
“’Tis no enough to destroy Arran. I canna be with Edana. ’Tis time that we rid ourselves of her as well and find another way to ruin Arran.” Tormod paced around the room, frustrated and tired of his act with Edana. Each time he saw her, she clung closer to him, and his patience was growing thin.
“Nay, ye are too filled with haste. As long as Arran believes that Edana is carrying his child, she is of use to us. If we were to end her life now, Arran would no have the attachment to the thought of a child as he will in a few months. When it comes time for her pregnancy to show, we shall release ye from her so that Arran does no find out that she wasna truly carrying his child.”
Tormod could see the sense in her words, but it did nothing to ease his impatience. Still, he would have to spend the months until Edana’s death imagining it, savoring each image of her slowly taking her last breath. “How will we kill her when the time comes?”
His sister turned to him slowly, a smile spreading across her thin face that sent chills down even his spine.
“I know a woman, a witch really. She has given me a poison that will kill her. When it comes time that Arran could see that she is no carrying his child, ye will give it to her and tell her that it is an herb that will make it appear as if she lost the child by starting a bleed. She will no know when she takes it that it shall kill her. When it is discovered that she is dead, it will look as if she died from an early labor with the child.”
It would be perfect, far better than any plan Tormod could have devised on his own. Not only would the lass die in a way that would appear natural, but she would realize before she died that she’d been betrayed, that Tormod did not love her.
He could tolerate Edana a few months more, and then her perfectly tragic death would be the reward for his patience.
Chapter 26
After his conversation with Gara, Arran sat absorbed in his own thoughts of regret and self-pity inside his bedchamber. He knew it was wrong for him not to go to Edana, not to express to her how pleased he was that she was carrying his child, but he couldn’t bring himself to lie to the lass once more.
Their marriage was a lie, the reasons for which Arran had married her invalid. For Edana was not the woman she’d made herself out to be while staying at Conall Castle. Not only that, but each time he’d taken her to his bed, he’d been dreaming of another, a lass so special to him that the only children he’d ever imagined himself having were hers.
He was a man torn, sworn by law and his marriage oath that he would stay by Edana’s side, but promised by soul and heart to a lass who was waiting for him at his brother’s home.
He’d yet to seek out Blaire, afraid that each moment spent together would only make the moments apart more difficult. And now with the news of his unborn child, he
was afraid it would be impossible for him to go to Blaire without being crushed by the weight of his guilt.
If it were only Edana, his love for Blaire might have been enough to push away his feelings of guilt. But now with a child on the way, he knew he could not.
Arran would not allow himself to be the sort of man to teach his children that such behavior was acceptable. It was bad enough the way he’d treated women before, using them for his enjoyment and then discarding them before the heat from them had left his bed.
Blaire had changed him. He now could see the value of owning a woman’s heart, the strength, responsibility, and the pure happy misery that came with possessing such a gift. He would teach his sons to view women the same way, but he would be unable to do so if he continued to dishonor their mother through his relationship with Blaire.
It didn’t matter that he did not love his wife. His conscience didn’t care. It would be the hardest thing he would ever have to do, to give up his heart so quickly after having it returned to him. But his child would need a parent who lived a life of honor, more so than most if the child’s mother was to be Edana Kinnaird.
He would tell Blaire face-to-face. ’Twas the least he could do. His heart demanded that he see her one last time, to hold her and give her whatever explanation and apology he could offer. He knew nothing would be enough to heal the hurt he would cause her with his farewell. It had been she, after all, who’d tried to speak reason, saying that they could not meet again after their last night together.
He’d been a heedless fool. Unable to see the cards that fate would deal him, he’d promised Blaire he would come to her to claim her as his own as often as he could. Now he would have to break her heart all over again.
His heart heavy and his spirit broken, he sat down at his desk to pen a letter to her. He would tell her nothing of why he needed to see her, only that she meet him at the small cottage not far from Conall Castle in one week’s time. She would come, her smile illuminating the four walls in which he would meet her. That smile he would soon snuff out, the smile he was afraid once gone would send him plummeting into the darkness he’d once known so well.
Morna's Legacy: Box Set #1 Page 33
