by J W Murison
Over the break in the coral a longboat struggled to maintain position while a leads man took the depths. The ship was unnaturally quiet and just after midnight he shouted to Bob it was deep enough. He didn't bother waiting to pick them up but ordered the foresails to be raised. His orders carried clearly to the other two ships. As they passed the longboat a sailor tossed them a line and he towed them into deep water before he stopped and retrieved them. He could feel the motion under his keel and smiled.
‘Full sail,’ he ordered and they got underway.
Gareth approached, ‘is full sail wise Bob?’
Bob shook his head, ‘don’t you feel it?’
‘Feel what!’
‘I can tell by the roll of the ship that we don’t have a lead long enough to reach the bottom of this sea. There's miles of deep water below us, this isn’t a sea it’s an ocean and by the look of that chart you gave me it’s going to take months to cross. I estimate by the time we reach the other side most of our stores are going to be gone; if we anchor every night we may not reach it at all. You have to trust my judgement on this Gareth.’
Gareth took a deep breath and felt the swells roll beneath his feet and nodded, ‘ok, out here you’re the man and I have every confidence in you.’ He went below to find Amber leaning over the rail puking her guts out.
He had to admit the sight of her bent over was lovely to behold but the heaving of her body soon cooled his ardour. He took a drink of water and moved a stool to the rail.
‘Here sit and drink. Trust me; it doesn’t hurt half as much if you have something to puke up.’
She took the drink and moments later was puking again. Gareth found himself rubbing her back. ‘It passes in a few days.’
‘I hope so.’ She gasped, ‘this is awful.’
‘I was exactly the same.’
‘Were you really?’
‘I was.’
‘Were you this scared also?’
He found himself smiling and his heart reached out, ‘truthfully, yes I was.’
‘Really, a warrior as formidable as you?’
‘Only a fool doesn't get frightened of the unknown, and sailing on a vast sea like this with only a few planks of wood between us and god knows what isn’t a comforting thought.’
She leaned against the rail and put her head on her arm still watching him, ‘you’re not making me feel any better.’ She smiled and suddenly they found themselves laughing.
CHAPTER 36
Flakes of snow melted against Williams hot cheeks. It was nearing nightfall as he climbed the last pass. As he reached the top a harsh voice called out, ‘stand where you are Ogilvie and give your reason for being here.’
William froze on the spot and raised his arms and opened his hands to show they were empty, ‘I am William Ogilvie son of David Ogilvie, betrothed to Wilma Graun, eldest daughter of Graun Grant and I have come to claim my bride.’
There was a sudden hoot of laughter and an old man stepped out from behind a rock with a spear in his hand. ‘I know who you are lad I'm just shitting with ye. They have been expecting you, that lass has been up here twice a day every day for a month looking for ye, a bit impatient that one to be abed I'm thinking.’ His eyes twinkled with mischief and William fought to control his temper, he suddenly smiled.
‘I bloody hope so, it’s been a long walk.’
The old man roared with laughter and stepped forward offering his hand, ‘Duncan Grant, we will be related shortly, a cousin to the man who will become your grandfather in law.’
They shook hands, ‘my brother will be here shortly to relieve me, if you would stay but a short while I will guide you down myself, I wouldn’t want you to get lost in the dark or fall and break a leg .’
Despite his impatience William took a deep breath and agreed, he knew he still had a good two miles to go, it wouldn’t do him no good stumbling around in the dark and breaking a leg.
‘Aye I doubt you’ll have to wait long for that one lad she’s ripe for the plucking she is. The young lads around here have been driving her mad lately, all of them wanting to beat an Ogilvie to the finishing line if you know what I mean.’
William knew exactly what he meant and wondered if he would end up killing the old bastard before his relief arrived. He went on relentlessly, ‘she wouldn’t give it up though, not that Wilma, boasts about the grand house you are going to build her with an iron stove in every room. You fair made an impression on her the last time you were here for your uncles wedding.’
William tried to change the subject, ‘how’s my uncle Stan getting on?’
‘Now he has to be the most popular man in the glen, he’s doing really well lad, but for every axe or sword he makes then he makes a dozen stoves, has it down to a fine art he has now what with his fancy water wheel and all.’
‘Uncle Stan has a water wheel; I saw a bit of that when I was at the Eagle city.’
‘Oh aye,’ the old man fixed him with a knowing gaze, ‘not as innocent as you look then, I've heard stories about that place I bet they just loved a handsome young buck like yourself.’
William flushed deeply, it was true he was no longer an innocent young boy and had explored the wonders of the Eagle city while he was there, but he had never forgotten the young girl he had fallen in love with so many years before. He might have lost his virginity to the servant girls that lived in the royal palace but he never lost his heart.
‘I was a guest in the royal palace sir and as such was very restricted to where I went and what I was allowed to do.’
‘Save the bullshit for your intended lad, you’ll need it if she finds out you've lived in the Eagle city.’
‘Really why?’
‘Where are you living lad, you must know about Graun, we hear he has another two wives and bairns to boot, it hasn’t gone down well here I can tell you, not among the women anyway,’ he winked, ‘I won’t say anything if you are smart enough to keep your mouth shut.’
His relief arrived and after a brief hello William was guided back to the small village. The old man didn't hang about; he guided him straight to Graun’s house.
He stopped outside and roared, ‘Wilma Grant there's a man out here to see you.’
William’s heart began to beat faster, he had imagined this moment thousands of times in the past, in the last year her face had began to fade, he even had a fancy speech made up, but in the end he just stood and stared at the young woman who came to the door. Somewhere deep within that face he saw the young girl.
‘Hello Wilma, remember me,’ his voice was scratchy.
For a moment her eyes had been cold ready to ward off another suitor but this was no man of the Clan. His muscles burgeoned out of an old Sark; the breadth of his shoulders belonged to a man thirty years older, yet the face was young, the jaw square but it was the eyes she recognised. It was always his eyes she saw bearing down on her in her dreams.
The rhythm of her breathing changed, ‘William,’ she managed.
‘Aye.’
‘You came, you actually came.’
William was trying hard not to let the blood pounding round his body reach his dick, ‘not yet,’ he thought, ‘but soon, oh god please soon.’ He stepped forward and saw a tear come to her eyes he raised his hand and hesitantly she reached out and took it. She shivered as her soft skin slid over the calluses.
‘I once made a promise an oath to return here when I had completed my apprenticeship and seek your hand in marriage. I am here, I have kept my oath Wilma Grant. We were young then, if the person you see before you is not the man in your dreams or you heart please say so now and I shall turn away and go seek a life of adventure.’
The air rushed out of her lungs, ‘don’t you dare William Ogilvie,’ she launched herself into his arms, but they never got the chance to kiss before a strong pair of hands dragged her off.
‘That will be enough of that,’ he mother snapped leaving both youngsters blushing furiously. She looked him up and down, ‘well well, y
ou finally turned up did you. You had better go to your uncles and board with him; I have no room for the likes of you with a houseful of young women. Have you eaten?’
‘Not since midday Mrs Grant.’
‘Well we are about to sit down for supper and there's enough to feed you to, you can eat first.’
So he went in and sat with the women, a teenage lad arrived and the mother served up a thick vegetable broth that William found delicious. He studied the young man recognising the scars on his hand, he smiled, ‘are you apprenticing with Stan?’
He grinned, ‘I am, aye, he say’s I the worst he has ever seen.’
William laughed, ‘my grandfather used to say that to me when I first started, I wouldn’t let it get you down.’
‘I won’t.’
Mary cleared her throat, ‘so any word on what that husband of mine is doing?’ The table went quiet.
William knew what was happening and the fact that Graun had two more wives, he flushed scarlet, ‘I believe that he is on a voyage of discovery with my uncle Gareth.’
‘What are they trying to discover?’
‘Ah the world I believe, or something like that.’
Mary half smiled, ‘the world?’
‘They are trying to map it.’
‘How are his other wives and children getting on?’ William suddenly noticed the deathly silence and how no one was actually eating anymore. His face went from red to scarlet. ‘Come now don’t be shy, we all know, everyone knows that he has a bastard son training with your grandfather.’ Her smile was cold and her eyes ice fire.
William’s thoughts were in full panic but the Ogilvie strain took hold, ‘they are all fine. Brandi had a hard time adapting to the mountains, they all did but Brandi almost died. Teal was really sick as well and took longer to adapt than Brandi, but Gareth and Graun wouldn’t let them return home.’
Mary’s eyes softened just a little and her brows wrinkled with concern, ‘they almost died?’
‘Aye the poor wee mites, it isn’t like both their parents were from the Highlands.’
She opened her mouth then closed it but her maternal instincts took over, ‘and what exactly were Gareth's and Graun’s words on the boys?’
‘Adapt or die.’
Mary was shocked and her hand half flew to her mouth, ‘oh please tell me you jest.’
William shook his head, ‘no they were to live or die.’
‘What did your grandfather have to say about that?’
‘He wasn’t very happy, he and Gareth had a long, long talk about it, but when they came out grandfather agreed with what it was Gareth said.’
‘Do you know his words?’
William gathered his thoughts, ‘Gareth said when they returned home it would be as men not pampered children brought up with a golden spoon in their mouths. He said that they would be able to stand in a battle line alongside their fathers and gain the respect of the men surrounding them. If not they would be better off dead, because one day they may well have to lead in his stead, and if they weren’t men then he could hold out no hope for them. He would not pass on what he had fought for and so many had died for to pampered children. The men of the Highlands are stronger than any others we have ever came across, he believes it is because of the hardships we endure as children and he would have his sons stand toe to toe with the biggest and strongest of them and show no fear.’
Marys head dropped, ‘the poor wee mites, how are they coping now?’
‘Of them all Alex is the one who adapted the quickest; he is Gareth's son from the Clover Princess, Alex loves it there. Teal is his son from the Eagle Princess Melina; he hated it and Gareth for a long time. Gareth put a gold ring on his leg to stop him transforming into an Eagle and flying away.’ The collective group made strange noises at the news; despite themselves they were hanging on his every word.
‘The strangest thing happened though once he was strong enough to hold a hammer. I don’t know how to explain it; he took to it like a duck to water and grandfather says he is much better than I was at his age. He seems to have settled in now and doesn’t complain anymore. He is always the first up in the morning lighting the forge, quite a change.’ He took a deep breath, ‘as for Brandi, Grauns uh, son, well as you know his sickness almost killed him but he has bounced back. He is smaller than all the other boys in the glen and they push him around a bit, or they did until he bit through one of their noses, being a Grant didn't help any I suppose but they don’t bother him now.’
‘Didn't Gareth's sons help him,’ her voice was like stone.
‘They consider him their brother and aye they stood the line with him but the rest of the boys were all bigger and stronger than them. They took a lot of beatings at first but now they hold their own. It was a day when they caught Brandi on his own that the nose biting incident happened, they can’t get the better of them when they are all together you see.’
‘Hasn’t your grandfather interfered?’
‘What for?’ He asked blankly, ‘the more they fight as children then the better prepared they will be as men.’ He laughed, ‘you want to see the way they walk through the village with their heads held high, walking into every fight they can stir up.’
‘You mean they provoke the bigger boys?’
‘Oh aye, a trio of little shits they are, bold as brass when the three of them are together, even if it means they get a beating they won’t back down. The Fraser boys from the next village over take a walk over once a month just to have the pleasure of fighting them, they are funny with it too.’ William smiled, ‘they are good boys. Smaller than all the others but they are getting stronger all the time; god help the Frasers shortly.’
Despite herself she smiled wishing she could see the boy she never had, but the moment was fleeting, ‘so what is their preoccupation with marrying all these women, I hope you aren’t going to take after your uncle.’
‘Getting married twice wasn’t Gareth's idea, it was his wife Melina and the princess Catherine. He fought them tooth and nail but in the end they got the better of him, out witted him.’
‘Two women out witted the mighty Gareth Ogilvie,’ she made a disgusted sound, ‘I don’t believe it.’
William looked her straight in the eye, ‘I don’t lie mistress Grant. It is the truth, they used drugs and magic to trick him.’
Despite her misgivings she was drawn to the gossip like a fly to shit, ‘Highlanders are not affected by their magic.’
‘Are if you’re married to an Eagle but it wasn’t the type of magic you've heard about this was different stuff, Eagle magic very powerful.’
She shook her head, ‘what happened?’
The two women got together one day. Queen Melina was pregnant; Gareth wants his children to fly so she had to remain in Eagle form for a year. It would mean they couldn’t, well you know. Melina was frightened that Gareth would stray, start sleeping around with the maids and servants. Gareth was adamant it didn't matter to him, pointed out that before he married Melina he often had to go that long without a woman because of the shame attached to his name up here. She wasn’t happy with that at all.
The princess Catherine was visiting with her father, he wanted Gareth to bind their two nations together and Catherine was prepared to be his second wife but Gareth didn't want anything to do with her. She was desperate because if Gareth didn't marry her, her father was going to wed her off to the King of Moray, he is a drunken old bastard that has murdered two wives now or so I'm told, either that or they committed suicide both falling from the battlements of his castle.
Now what happened was the two women got together and had a wee parley, they never used to get on, different story. They both wanted the same thing in a roundabout way. Melina wanted Gareth to marry someone at least her equal to keep his hands off the maids. Catherine was ideal, they made some kind of pact, Catherine’s children would never rule their or lay any claim to the throne only Melina’s children would. As for Melina’s children they would never
try to lay claim to the Clover crown if it ever came their way. Catherine isn’t allowed to visit the land of the Eagles and Melina is never to show face in Clover ever again.’
William smiled they were all hooked, ‘they plotted Gareth's downfall into shame. Melina spiked his drink with a special potion that induced a very deep sleep then with her magical powers she slipped into Gareth's mind and took control of his body.’ He suddenly found himself grinning, this was his favourite bit, ‘Melina then took Gareth's body outside sneaked round the back of the palace and into Catherine’s room where she then proceeded to deflower the Clover princess.’
A great scandalous gasp went round the table and William almost burst out laughing, ‘after they were ah, finished, Melina took her mind back into her own body and let Gareth sleep where he was. Of course it was the Clover King who woke up Gareth in the morning, standing over the bed demanding an explanation. The thing was as Gareth was waking she put some memories into his head so he would believe he had actually got drunk and done it himself. He was shamed into marrying the princess.’
The table was silent for a long moment as they tried to absorb it all, Mary recovered first, ‘that's just terrible, poor Gareth, anyway it’s not the kind of thing we should be discussing at the dinner table in front of young ears. I suppose this means if you know then Gareth also knows.’
‘It’s what this journey is all about, he has taken himself away from them.’
‘Still he didn't have no bother taking the both of them,’ they young lad blurted out.
Mary eyed the grinning teen, ‘Billy Grant, I think you should finish your supper and take yourself home with that pot that has to be mended.’
