Gavin sighed, not beating around the bush. “Sleepless nights.”
“Andie hasna been sleeping? Meghan often twists and turns but is nay lacking sleep.”
Gavin shook his head. “Nay Andie, but me. A dream haunts me, every night, without fail.”
“Really? Tell me about it.”
“Nay. Ye came here for a quick visit.”
“Och, Gavin, doona be ridiculous. Tell me.”
“I feel ridiculous.” Gavin sighed. “Every night, I dream about her wandering in the snow. Why and where, I doona know. But she becomes lost. By this time, she’s verra heavy with child. Verra heavy,” he stressed. “While trying to find her way wherever she’s going, she falls onto the snow, writhing in pain. The bairn is coming, she moans. I never remember anything after, except the end of the dream.” He paused, looking at Grabriel. “Her lips are tinged with blue and her eyes barely open. She’s dead.”
Gabriel stared at his brother, who was visibly affected by even mentioning the dream. “Gavin, I can appreciate the emotions the dream churns within ye but ‘tis only that- a dream.”
Gavin shook his head. “‘Tis nay only just a dream. It feels real, as if it will happen.”
Gabriel snorted, making light of the situation in an effort to force his brother to do the same. “Gavin, would ye listen to yerself? Ye sound like Althor, mon. ‘Tis just a dream. Ye would never allow Andie to wander around alone, much less without a guard, and most certainly ye wouldna allow her to do that heavy with child. Obviously, it isna real.”
Gavin studied Gabriel for a long moment. He gave a wan smile and exhaled, shaking his head. “Ye’re right, Gabriel. I wouldna allow her to wander alone, especially in her condition. ‘Tis just a dream…a dream that feels real, but ‘tis just a dream.”
Gabriel nodded his head, still looking at his brother who’d already looked away. Though his brother’s words were said with strong affirmation, he saw the doubt linger in Gavin’s silver eyes.
“Have ye received any word from Liam?”
Gavin shook his head, turning his attention back to his brother. “I already told ye. The damn Kerrs are unrelenting. We will have to wait, still, before we can help the McBrides.”
“How had Andie reacted to this?”
“Verra accepting. She doesna want me leaving. She’s torn between wanting to save her clan from Alistair-”
“And keeping ye safe and alive,” Gabriel finished. Gavin nodded. “Meghan becomes anxious even when I leave her to come here. ‘Tis more than understandable with Andie, with all that she’s lost.”
“It is.”
They sat there for a long moment.
“‘Tis difficult to wait. I want to know when this will culminate,” Gabriel said, his voice tight.
“I am eager also, Gabriel. Think ye that I enjoy seeing my precious wife smile when she looks at me and when the thought of her clan crosses her mind, I see the sadness within the depths of her eyes? I want to rid the land of this bastard.”
Shortly after, Gabriel left. Gavin went in search of his wife. He found her in their room, taking a nap. He smiled when he saw her. He knew that she grew tired easily. She was well over six months with child, closer to seven. The season was growing much cooler with winter approaching soon. At the slightest breeze, she shivered. She always smiled every time she shivered, claiming it was a new development due to her expectancy.
Giving in to his urge, he slipped into bed beside her. A good nap would do him well, too.
“Gavin, leave. Ye must,” she said, her lips bluish and her eyes lacking their usual vitality.
“I canna leave ye,” he whispered fiercely.
“Ye must. For them. I will be safe here.”
“Gavin?”
He looked to his left and there stood his precious Andie.
“Gavin?” the echoic voice said.
He looked to the snow and she was no longer there. He looked down in his arms and saw-
“Gavin?”
He bolted up quickly, his breath caught in his throat, and sweat glistening on his forehead. After two quick gasping breaths, he looked to his left. Andie was sitting up, alarmed, looking worriedly at him.
“I’m alright,” he said, his voice hollow. He reached out to cup her hand. “I’m alright.”
“It took a while for me to wake ye. Ye were in a fitful dream.” She studied his face. “What was it about?”
She saw him struggle to swallow and brought him water. He gulped it down and shook his head. “Nothing.”
“Gavin?” she asked, a little shocked. “Ye canna tell even me?”
He looked at her and the hurt in her eyes made his insides twist. He smiled at her to place her at ease. “I apologize, my love, I meant to say I doona remember. Blackness ‘tis all I see.”
Unconvinced, she looked at him a moment longer. Seeing no sign of untruth on his face, she nodded. “D’ye have these dreams frequently. I’ve noticed how tired ye look.”
Every night for the last month, he thought. He shook his head. “Nay, not frequently at all. I have had some difficulty resting at night, but ‘tis nothing important.”
“Of course it is important. Ye look so tired.”
“Doona worry, Andie. I am just restless with wanting to get my hands around Alistair’s neck.”
She brought her right hand up to his cheek and nodded. “I ache to do the same,” she said, smiling at his quirk of an eyebrow.
“I was leaving to eat. I’m quite famished.” Andie rubbed her belly and he laughed.
“Eating for two is verra difficult.”
He felt his own stomach rumble and they shared a laughed. “Let us go then, so that I may feed my belly and you, our bairn.”
Reaching the great room, Andie suddenly gripped the back of a chair.
“Are ye alright?” he asked worriedly.
“‘Tis just the body readying itself for the birth, Laird,” Greida came in saying when she saw Andie. “No worries.”
He looked skeptically at Greida and felt his stomach seize and tense. An awkward look passed over his face. “I must be verra hungry. Damn near hurts,” he said, grimacing.
Andie and Greida looked at him questioningly.
“Come, Andie, sit,” Greida said, guiding her.
Sitting slowly with her large belly, she looked at the table expectantly.
“I’m ravenous,” she said, reaching for bread.
Gavin sat alongside her and began eating. But still, the feeling of unease would not let up. Somehow he knew it wouldn’t until she gave birth.
Chapter Sixteen
One month later
“Gavin, leave. Ye must.”
She was lying on the snow, her pallor competing with the whiteness of the snow.
“I canna leave ye,” he whispered fiercely. “Tell me what to do! What do you want me to do! This canna happen!” He pleaded with her as she lay dying. “I canna leave until ye tell me!”
“Ye must. For them. I will be safe here.”
“Nay, Andie! Tell me! How do I help ye?”
Tears formed in her dull, once honeyed, eyes. Her face grew to a bluish pale tone that alarmed him.
“Ye must save them.”
“Save who?” he asked in frantic confusion. She pointed and he looked.
“What?” he breathed in shock.
He bolted up in bed. He tried to latch onto the dream as he had tried to do for over two months now. Nothing! The more he tried to remember the more the memory of the dream slipped away. Breathing greedily through his mouth, he looked over to Andie. She was sleeping soundly and he thanked God again for that small miracle. With as large as she had grown within the last month, she needed her sleep.
She was eight months with child now. His eyes caressed her plump face. He hadn’t thought she could be more beautiful than the day he married her, but he’d been wrong. With every passing day, as she carried his child, her beauty had grown to a breathtaking intensity. Her eyes were brighter. The honey depths fai
rly shimmered with emeralds. Her skin radiated light and he was convinced that she could illuminate the night. Her complexion was wholesome and her cheeks blushed like fresh summer berries. Her lips were dewy and rosy, and the contrast against her skin made it seem like a bowl of berries with cream. Her belly made him swell with pride, for it not only held his bairn, but marked her as his.
He slowly eased out of bed, and reached for water. He’d made it a point to have a large quantity in their chamber. Without fail, for the last two months, he’d had this recurring dream.
Dream?
Nay, it was more like a night-terror. That’s what it evoked in him- terror.
He put his plaid on and left their chamber, needing the open air and to be free from the walls of the castle. He quickly descended the stairs and exited through the doors. Breathing deeply of the fresh air, he exhaled and looked at the crescent moon above.
“I thought ye might come,” a familiar voice said.
Gavin groaned, not needing his company now.
“Come now, Laird. Ye know ye could use companionship now. After yer dream, of course, anyone would.”
Gavin grew tense and stared at Althor. “What do ye know about anything?”
Althor sighed. “Ye know, Laird, I admit that at times, I find it humorous to know things others doona. It tickles me, this old mon. But I’m afraid there are times when it doesna. This is one of those times. I wish ye didna harbor such animosity towards me. Ever since ye were a young lad, ye scoffed at my premonitions. Since then, the animosity has grown greatly. Why?”
Gavin shrugged and grinned a little. “I found it difficult to accept your pessimistic prophecies and I was a cocky lad.”
“Was?” Althor responded, smiling in return. Gavin laughed. “Laird, I’ve some information ye need to know. And ye will find it difficult to accept it as well.”
“What?” Gavin asked, sensing from the seer an unusual tension and sadness?
“Yer powers have grown, hmm? Ye’ve become sensitive to emotions around ye.” Althor said, and knowing Gavin didn’t want to pursue that subject, continued. “I’ve been seeing something for a verra long time, Laird.”
Gavin stood there in the dark, barely illuminated by the slivered moon. Don’t say it, he thought.
“I must,” Althor responded. “I must reveal what I’ve seen. It came to me all at once and I must tell ye.”
Gavin sighed loudly. “If ye must, then, Althor.” His heart picked up pace and he felt his sweat glands open. He would just ignore what the seer would say.
It was Althor’s time to sigh. He closed his eyes, and his voice was deep, resonating with the usual rhythmical tenor he used to deliver the prophesies he so spectacularly spewed. “I will say what I saw, in the manner in which I saw it.
“The moment of wait has come,
Cold as ever in day,
Without help, save for one,
On the snow she lay;
The laird holds his son in his embrace,
The bairn’s mouth opens wide in cries,
Anguish and wonder on the laird’s face,
When the crying bairn looks into his father’s eyes.
Stillness and quiet deafen the air,
Two pairs of eyes meet each other’s, aglow,
Mother pale, in more pain to bear,
Writhing, dying in the snow.”
“Ye heard the conversation between Gabriel and I,” Gavin said, dismayed. “Unbelievable how ye would craft this farce prophecy from that!” Gavin’s eyes glowed and he looked menacingly at Althor. “Ye’re cruel.”
Althor shook his head. “I wouldna do that to ye, Laird.” He paused. “Ye are a stubborn one. Nay, I didna hear yer conversation with yer brother. ‘Tis what I saw, and I canna control it. And for once, I canna foresee anymore.”
“What more is there to foresee, Althor?” he said dryly.
“Laird, ‘tis serious. ‘Tis unusual that I canna see the end. I must strongly warn ye.”
“Warn me?”
“‘Tis my position here. I wouldna be doing ye a service, as my sires have done to yer sires, if I doona warn ye.”
“Althor, I’ve nay need to hear from yer lips what I dream of each night,” he said in a harsh whisper. “I’m returning to my sleeping wife. My wife, who is carrying my bairn. If it is a boy, he’ll not have my glowing eyes. I’ve nay connection with her, and God-willing, never will.” He paused, inhaling a calming breath. He turned away from Althor and stopped before he entered the castle.
“My wife willna perish during the birth of our bairn. My wife willna die in the snow.” With that, Gavin entered and closed the door behind him.
“I hope ye’re right, Laird. I’ve nay wish to be the right one here. I hope to be wrong for the first time in my life,” he said into the night.
“What is all the commotion for, Gavin?”
Two weeks had passed. She hurriedly wobbled over to him. Her hands were splayed over her belly as she waited for his answer.
His heart flipped as it always did when he saw her. He took a moment to let his eyes caress her face. “The messenger has returned. Still, there’s nay end. I am preparing to leave.”
She looked at him surprised. “But ye’ve nay told me anything.”
“The messenger arrived this morn. I didna wish to wake ye,” he said, gingery touching the dark spots beneath her eyes.
She had grown tired all of a sudden. Her earlier zeal, vibrancy, and energy were slowly fading, causing Gavin to worry. In just a little over a month, they would be welcoming their baby- in the very middle of winter. That was the reason he was leaving posthaste. He wanted this issue resolved quickly so that they could welcome their bairn without the cloud of evil hanging over them. It was his intent within the next two weeks to end the fued between the McArylls and Kerrs, and at last, ‘dethrone’ Alistair. Even if he had to forgo sleeping for the next fortnight, he would do no less. He hated sleeping as it was. The dreams still haunted him every night.
“Doona be frightened, my love,” he said, his eyes gliding over her as she yawned. “Tired, still?”
She gave him a small smile. “Aye. I canna seem to recapture my energy. The bairn is energetic enough for the both of us, though. Kicks all the time,” she said, laughing.
He touched her belly and the bairn came alive again, kicking at his hand as if it knew he was the father. Gavin felt an odd warmth under his hand. He swallowed, trying to keep his emotions at bay. I just need to make it through the birthing, and she’ll be safe, he thought. She willna die in the snow. She willna die birthing the Dark Wolf.
“Well, the bairn was still until ye placed yer hand on me,” she said, laughing.
“Aye. She’s very active in there. I canna imagine how she’ll be when she walks,” he said, grinning.
She looked up at him with an inquisitive smirk on her face. “She? What makes ye think the bairn’s a she?”
He swallowed, his heart thumping. Wishful thinking, he said to himself. “Why nay? What do ye think our bairn is?”
She pursed her lips thoughtfully. “I doona know, truthfully. Everyday I believe something different. Just yesterday, I believed ‘twas a girl, yet today, I feel as though ‘tis a boy.” She laughed, rubbing her belly. “Boy or girl, it’s a verra lively, active bairn.”
He smiled, bringing her close for a hug. He rested his head on hers and closed his eyes. He hoped that God heard his prayers. Please keep her safe.
“Nay, doona move. I enjoy ye in my arms,” he murmured when she tried to move. He tightened his hold and explained, “I’ll be leaving shortly. I want this to be over soon. I will return in a fortnight, Andie. By then, the Kerrs and McArylls will be at peace, and Alilstair will be dethroned.”
“‘Tis quite a lot ye hope to accomplish in such a short time,” she said, rubbing her nose on his chest.
His laugh rumbled in his chest. “Quite the skeptic, I hear in yer voice.” She laughed, too. “D’ye doubt me?”
She raised her head and s
tared intensely at him. “Never.” He kissed her forehead. “I just doona want ye to miss the birth,” her whisper was tremulous.
“Nay one would, or could, ever keep me away,” he promised, capturing her lips. After a loving, sensuous kiss, he pulled back and stared into her eyes. “I willna miss the birth, Andie. I do this for us. I want to welcome the bairn without having these other problems cloud us. Once the bairn is born, I willna leave yer side. I must leave now, for us to have that.”
She sighed, nodding her head. “Please be careful, Gavin,” she said, tears forming in her eyes. Her cheeks were rosey, her lips glossy, but her eyes were tired. Her forehead crinkled in worry.
He passed his hand down her hair. “I love ye.”
“I love ye, Gavin.”
“Promise me that ye willna leave the protection of the castle. Promise me that ye’ll stay here. I doona care what anyone says, do ye hear me Andie? Ye are to only trust my word, Bryce’s, and Gabriel’s. No others, alright? Only those trusted to me.”
His eyes became a light silver and glowed from light to dark. His body was tense, hard. His face was serious, concerned.
“What is the matter?” she asked, overwhelmed by his grimness.
He smiled, masking his own fear. “Nothing, Andie. But I will not have ye in danger. No one can protect ye as good as I can. I doona trust anyone else, but if I’m nay here, I have nay other choice.”
She gave a clumsy laugh of uncertainty. “Verra well, then. Ye are so arrogant.” She couldn’t help but smile at his nod.
“That I am, sweeting. Now I’ll carry ye up to bed. I doona want ye climbing those stairs. If ye need something, ye are to tell Riley. If ye feel the need for immediate fresh air, ye are to call someone to carry ye down. Nay, doona argue with me. Ye carry much more weight than ye normally do. That bairn is large, and I cannot have ye falling,” he said, clearing his throat.
She laughed, ignoring her own choke of emotions. “Ye’ve nothing to worry over. I can barely walk. Truly, one exertion a day ‘tis all I can muster. Without ye next to me and Riley, I would have been bored the last month.”
To Have and to Trust (Heart of a Highlander Collection Book 1) Page 27
