And this was where her husband had been trained, had spent ten years of his life changing from a boy into a man, she thought as she watched Lucas look around him with an obvious affection. It explained that somewhat savage side of him that she had seen so little of in the Murrays she had met so far. This harsh, rough, yet beautiful land had shaped him, had seeped into his blood, and had honed his battle skills. In some ways, this was where the Lucas she knew had been born.
“It hasnae changed,” Lucas said, his pleasure over that fact clear to hear in his voice.
“I think a place such as this changes verra little,” Katerina said. “This land willnae let it.”
“Aye, true enough. It can be harsh round here, although Angus has some verra good land.”
“Good enough to stir up a wee bit of envy, aye?”
“Aye, though it has been a while since any blood was spilt o’er it. Artan says it has been verra peaceful of late.”
The tone in Lucas’s voice told Katerina that that did not necessarily please Artan and Lucas agreed with his brother’s feelings. “I suspicion Lady Cecily is content that ’tis so,” she murmured.
“Artan is, too, more than not. He wouldnae want his Sile or his lads in any danger.”
From the way Artan often spoke of his wife and children, Katerina knew that to be true, but her own waking children drew her full attention before she could reply. With Annie’s help she managed to get the children’s soiled cloths changed just before they cleared the gates of Glascreag. Holding fast to little Morainn while Annie kept a firm grip on Lachann, Katerina watched as a group of people hurried down the steps of the keep to greet them.
The only person she recognized was Artan. In each strong arm he held a squirming, laughing little boy with thick black curls. One step behind him was a slender red-haired woman that could only be Lady Cecily, or, as Artan called her, my Sile. A tall, older man, his black hair well threaded with silver, held with one hand the arm of a plump, graying woman. That pair descended the steps very carefully for his other hand clasped that of a tiny, fair-haired girl child. Two very handsome young men slipped around the others on the steps to hurry over to greet Lucas.
The men indulged in the usual manly round of very brief embraces followed by backslapping that caused each of them to stagger slightly. A few moments later, Katerina found herself being embraced and kissed upon the cheek as she was introduced to everyone. She did not really need to hear the names, for all of Lucas’s tales and Cecily’s letters made it very easy for her to know just who was who. It surprised her a little that Angus MacReith was only a distant cousin to Lucas and Artan for the man could easily pass for the father of the twins. Lucas’s cousins Bennet and Uilliam earned themselves a hard glare from Lucas, who obviously felt they welcomed Katerina a little too warmly. The moment Katerina greeted Cecily and Meg she knew the women would be her dearest friends, that Cecily was just as warm and light-hearted as her letters, and that Meg was exactly as Cecily had described her: loving and sharp-tongued.
“So where is this wee lassie of yours?” asked Angus.
The conversation Katerina was having with Cecily and Meg came to an abrupt halt. “Why, Morainn is right here!” she said, the last two words fading to a whisper as she looked around but did not see Morainn.
“Birdie!” bellowed an all too familiar childish voice.
Katerina looked in the direction of that voice to see her little daughter racing toward some chickens. “Lucas!”
Laughing along with his cousins, Lucas hurried after his daughter. Artan was so busy taunting Lucas about not being able to control his children that he had failed to keep a close watch on his own. Eric and Aiden quickly ran after their little cousin, loudly informing Morainn that the animals now fleeing in a raucous panic were not birdies, but chickens. Lachann and Angus’s little girl Meghan set up a loud protest when they were prevented from running after the other children. Katerina sighed and tried to quiet Lachann. It would undoubtedly be a long time before she could have that much anticipated woman-to-woman talk with Artan’s Sile.
“At last all is quiet,” said Cecily as she sat on a cushioned bench next to Meg.
Already seated comfortably before the fire on the bench facing the other two women, Katerina smiled. “Quiet for us, but I suspicion the nursemaids will be busy for a while yet.”
Cecily laughed along with Meg. “Aye, verra true.”
Katerina glanced toward the men seated at the head table, drinking ale and arguing. “I wonder what they are arguing about.”
“Anything and everything.”
Meg nodded. “Angus loves a good argument.”
“Lucas often said so, but I fear I thought he was jesting.” Katerina glanced at the men again, shook her head, and laughed. “Tis verra clear he was telling the simple truth.” She looked around the great hall once before returning her gaze to Cecily and Meg. “I have long wanted to see this place. Lucas has told me so many tales about his years here, his training, and Angus. I kenned it figured largely in making him the mon he is.”
“Aye,” agreed Cecily. “I think he and Artan were born to this life. The Murrays are Highlanders, but they live in a quieter, softer land, much nearer the borders of the places Angus so loves to curse. Artan and Lucas are the sons he ne’er had. Tis why he has all the bairns call him Pere.” Cecily smiled at Katerina. “Ye have gained a verra large family by marrying Lucas.”
“I began to realize that when the Murrays began to visit in twos, threes, and more. I do have a dozen cousins that I am aware of. May have more, just havenae found them yet. My late uncle was verra fond of the lasses,” she said when both women looked at her curiously. “I thought that was a lot until I began to hear about and meet Lucas’s family. “Tis good. My bairns will always have someone to turn to if they are in need.”
“Aye, and ones we can be certain will protect them and that is theirs. ’Tis a great comfort.”
Looking at her husband again, Katerina said quietly, “There are times when I look at that mon and wonder how he has come to be mine.”
“And how can ye hold fast to him?” Cecily smiled in complete understanding.
“Aye, and yet that seems as if I question the vows he has made and I then feel guilty for that.”
“I ken the feeling all too weel.”
“’Tis just a passing thing and of no great consequence,” Meg said. “’Tis naught but a natural fear of losing something precious. Only God can take those two laddies away from ye, their wives. They love deep and hard and believe a vow should be kept nay matter who ye give it to, be they mon, woman, or bairn. Ye are two verra lucky lassies and I am a verra lucky old woman.”
Katerina was about to dispute the word old when an all too familiar childish voice bellowed, “Da!”
She looked toward the doors of the great hall to see her daughter standing there in her sleep shirt Morainn looked around the room, saw her father, and started running toward him. A moment later a breathless young maid appeared in the doorway. Katerina hurried over to the young woman.
“How did she get out of the nursery?” Katerina asked even as Cecily hurried to stand at her side.
“Och, m’ladies, I just dinnae ken,” the woman replied. “We thought all the bairns were asleep. Annie went to take her bairn to visit with her mon and I was talking with—”
“Da! Kiss!”
Glancing over her shoulder to see that her daughter had reached her far too amused father and his kin, Katerina said, “Ne’ermind. No harm has come of it this time, but ye must ne’er take your eyes off her again. Morainn needs to be in a verra secure bed. If ye dinnae have such a one then a nursemaid must sleep right next to her. And, ’tis best if she has leashed the child to her in some way so that she can be roused the moment Morainn tries to escape.”
“Annie said I must do that, but I thought the bairn asleep. I was about to secure the doors to the nursery as we always do when I saw that the wee lass was gone from her bed.”
“
Securing the door works weel, too.” Katerina grinned at Cecily, who looked as if she was trying very hard not to laugh like the men were. “Morainn is a wee bit wild.”
“Och, aye, just a wee bit.” Cecily laughed along with Katerina and then looked toward the head table. “Best get her ere she kisses every mon in the hall.”
Katerina watched the young nursemaid hurry after Morainn. “Aye, for those laughing fools willnae restrain the lass at all.” When the nursemaid started to hurry past her a moment later with a scowling Morainn in her arms, Katerina halted her and kissed her daughter on the cheek even as she scolded, “Naughty lassie. Ye ken verra weel that ye are nay to go up or down the stairs alone.”
Morainn gave her mother a wet kiss on her cheek and then leaned over to give her Aunt Cecily one too. “Kiss.” She stuck her thumb in her mouth, rested her head against the nursemaid’s shoulder, and closed her eyes. “Mo’ sleep now.”
It was difficult to restrain the urge to laugh until the doors closed behind her daughter, but Katerina managed. She then laughed along with Cecily. “I think that child is going to leave me with white hair ere she grows and leaves to begin her own family.”
Cecily lightly touched her flat stomach. “I wish to have a daughter and I pray she is just as full of life and spirit as wee Morainn.” She put her finger to her lips when Katerina made to offer her congratulations. “Hush. ’Tis still a secret. One more week and I shall tell my husband and he will quickly tell everyone else.”
“No one shall hear it from me,” Katerina swore as she and Cecily went back to sit with Meg.
“Did ye ken that Cecily is with bairn again?” asked Lucas as he slid into bed beside Katerina.
“How did ye ken that?” Katerina asked in shock even as Lucas yanked off her night shift and tossed it aside. “Cecily isnae planning to say anything for a week.”
Lucas grinned and kissed her on the nose. “A lass may be able to keep such a thing a secret from a Murray lad once, but ne’er twice. Artan is just waiting for her to tell him. The way he is boasting, howbeit, I dinnae think there will be a soul left at Glascreag that doesnae ken it already by the time she says something.”
“She wants a lass like Morainn.”
“That would be just punishment for my boastful brother.”
Katerina laughed. “Nay, the two of ye will just spend many an hour commiserating with each other whene’er ye are together.”
“Aye, we can watch to see whose hair turns white first”
“And are ye thinking ye best get about breeding another bairn so that Artan isnae too far ahead of ye?”
Lucas stopped kissing his wife’s soft neck and looked at her. “Are ye saying ye are ready to try for another?”
“I think I am. The twins are nearly weaned and when Cecily told me her news I felt both verra happy for her and a wee twinge of longing. ’Twould seem that my heart and body are ready for another try.”
Moving to sprawl on top of her, Lucas gave her a slow, hungry kiss. “Another wee lass?”
Running her hands up and down his spine and enjoying the way his body hardened with need when she touched him, Katerina smiled. “A lass or a lad. I am nay particular. Just healthy is all I ask. Healthy, bright-eyed, and a wee savage just like our bellowing Morainn.”
“Are ye calling my wee bonnie daughter, the fruit of my loins, a savage?”
“Just like her da.”
“Beware, lass, or I will be showing ye just how savage I can be.”
“Oh, aye, please.”
Lucas laughed and then kissed her. “I love ye, my impertinent wife.”
“And I love ye. Now—where is my savage?”
“Ne’er let it be said that Lucas Murray didnae give his wife all she required.”
“And needed.”
“Aye.”
“And wanted with every breath she takes.”
“Oh, aye.”
“So, shall ye cease talking and get about it?”
He did.
About the Author
Hannah Howell is an award-winning author who lives with her family in Massachusetts. She is the author of twenty-three Zebra historical romances, and is currently working on a new Highland historical romance, Highland Wolf, to be released in December 2007! Hannah loves hearing from readers, and you may visit her Web site: www.hannahhowell.com.
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