by Terry Spear
“Thank you, Gunnolf. I… will see my da now.” She swallowed a lump in her throat and headed for the small room. Her heart was thumping wildly. As quiet as everyone was, she assumed they all watched her as she approached the room. She paused before she entered, steeled her back, and walked inside.
Her da’s eyes were closed, furs tucked up under his chin. A large gash across his forehead had been stitched and black and blue bruising surrounded it, his skin sickly pale. Had he been wounded somewhere else on his body also? His hair as dark as hers sported a dusting of gray strands, and she thought there were more of them now than the last time she had seen him.
She drew close. He was not a man who cared for pity or comforting and so she feared if she spoke to him or touched him, he would growl at her, and she would be angry right back. But she couldn’t see him looking so poorly and not do something.
“You have a wolf pup. Not just a pup,” suddenly Cadel’s wife exclaimed to Gunnolf in the other room.
“Ja, Brina insisted we take him with us,” Gunnolf said.
“She raised one once,” Cadel said.
“I did not know that.” Gunnolf sounded both surprised and amused.
“Here is some water for him,” Mara said.
Brina steadied her breathing and took her da’s cold hand in hers. From being out in the snow, she felt hers were still colder. “Da, ‘tis me.”
His eyes fluttered open. For a moment, he just stared at her as if he didn’t know who she was and that worried her even more. “Da, ‘tis me, Brina.”
“Aye, I know very well who you are,” he said crossly.
She relaxed her hand on his and meant to pull away, but he held onto her hand, despite looking so feeble. She knew then he was angry with her. Not that she hadn’t expected it. She was certain Rory had told him all the news from the castle. Or Cadel had.
“You ran away,” he said, his voice just as hard.
“Aye.”
“In this weather.”
“I dinna wish to wed Seamus.” She knew her da would disapprove of her going against his wishes. But then if Seamus had left her da to die, maybe he’d had a change of heart concerning her marrying him.
“You left after the battle. Where have you been that Seamus was unable to locate you all this time?”
“A friend aided me. He is Gunnolf of the—”
“Clan MacNeill.” Her da’s eyes were again narrowed.
So Gunnolf had a reputation. Good or bad? He had been nothing but good to her, so she had every intention of defending him to her da.
She lifted her chin. “Aye. Rory said Seamus had not aided you in battle and a man nearly killed you. Seamus said you had died. I tried to find you, to see for myself.”
“To know the devil was dead, aye, daughter?”
She scowled at him. “Nay. If I had found you had been injured on the battlefield, I would have sought help for you. I would have cared for you.” She tried to yank her hand away from his, but he wouldn’t release her as if it had to be his idea, not hers. “Seamus wouldna let me go to you. When I managed to leave the castle, I didna run off to save myself. I first went looking for you. Putting my own safety at risk. I couldna find you. The snowstorm had covered the bodies of the fallen, and a couple of the men I managed to find were no’ you.”
“Cadel and Rory brought me here to take care of me. I had been led to believe Seamus was the right man to take over the clan when I died, but it seems he wants that to happen sooner than later.” Her da let out his breath in a heavy sigh. “No’ that I blame him. Had I been in his place, I might have done the same.”
She should have known her da would feel that way. “We must stop Seamus. He doesna deserve to lead the clan.” She realized her da still wasn’t letting go of her hand, and then she wondered if nearly dying had made him see things differently.
“If the clan votes him in, I have naught to say about it.”
“You are their chief.”
“I am wounded and unable to lead our clan into battle for now.” Then he frowned at Brina. “How long were you alone with the Finn-Gall?”
“He saved my life, da. He should be rewarded not punished.” She changed the subject abruptly before her da wanted Gunnolf killed for having been alone with her. “What are we to do? Seamus willna attempt to have you murdered if you return to the keep, will he? I canna see him giving you a warm welcome. Unless he runs things while you are recovering and proves that he is more capable than you and can sway the people to vote him in as chief.”
“I canna travel for a couple of more days. Send Gunnolf into the room so that I may speak with him.”
“How do you know him?”
“Everyone knows of the Viking lad who was severely injured by the Sassenach and found his way to the Highlands. He is the one you tried to save. Aye?”
“Aye.” And she had been whipped for it.
“He has proven his worth as far as the MacNeill clan is concerned.”
So her da didn’t disapprove of him. “He is a good fighter. He can take on six men at once.” She thought if Gunnolf was agreeable and had her da’s backing, maybe he could kill Seamus and things would change.
“Six men? And you witnessed this?” her da asked skeptically. “Or did he tell you this tale?”
She felt her cheeks flame. “He didna fight anyone while we were traveling. But he did keep me safe while we evaded Seamus and his men.”
“Send him in to speak with me. I will talk to him alone.”
Her da released her hand finally, but she hesitated to go.
“Go, daughter. Warm yourself by the fire. And get something to eat.”
She bowed her head a little, worried what he would say to Gunnolf. Then she did what she’d never done before and leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Get well, da.”
Her eyes blurred with tears, but she wasn’t surprised to see him stare at her in surprise and not acknowledge her gesture in any way. She couldn’t explain her sudden empathy for him, except that she was glad he was not dead and that perhaps what had happened to him had changed his mind about her marrying Seamus.
She turned and hurried out of the room, praying her da would recover so that the elders would not decide he could no longer lead and allow Seamus to rule in his place. Though if he did, she was hatching another plan. She and her da would go to the MacNeill holdings and ask to be taken in. She didn’t think her da would be agreeable, but she would ask Gunnolf to force the issue, if it meant saving her da’s life. She was afraid that if her da did return to power and told Seamus he couldn’t marry her, Seamus would force him to recant due to her da’s weakened condition.
She sniffled and hastily wiped away the tears on her cheeks, then returned to the main room. “He wishes to see you,” she said to Gunnolf, then took the wolf pup from his arms.
“Are you all right, lass?” Gunnolf asked, frowning.
She appreciated just how much he worried about her. “Aye.”
He nodded, then strode into the other room.
She worried her da would be angry with Gunnolf for having been alone with her for so long. She was rethinking staying here all together.
5
“Chief,” Gunnolf said in greeting, observing the older man, his dark hair streaked with gray strands, his face pale, and his expression pained.
The older man looked him up and down, sizing him up, not like a man who was on his deathbed, but his expression calculating, like he had a plan in mind and was deciding if Gunnolf could assist in accomplishing his goal. “You told my daughter that you could fight six men at once and come out the victor?”
Gunnolf did not think the chief would truly believe he could manage those odds and come out victorious. “Nay, I told her I had fought six men at once. I didna mention the outcome.”
The chief smiled just a hint. “I am Robard.” Then he narrowed his eyes, his expression turning hard. “You were with my daughter for all of the night and most of the day alone?”
“Ja.�
� Gunnolf wasn’t worried that the chief would want him to marry his daughter. Not if he wished her to wed the man who would be chief of the clan. And being that Gunnolf was not even from the Highlands, he really didn’t see that as an issue. “She is still a maid, if you are worried about that. I only saw to her safety. Naught more than that.”
Gunnolf didn’t offer any further in explanation, assuming that no matter what he said, if Brina’s father had been concerned that Gunnolf had taken advantage of the lass, Gunnolf wouldn’t be able to change his mind. He also suspected if word got out that he’d been with her all that time, alone, others might speak ill of her. Which he didn’t wish. So he hoped the chief planned to make up some story to explain her absence and that in no way had she been compromised.
“You dinna desire her as a man wants a woman?”
Gunnolf didn’t know what to say in response to that. Of course he desired her. He didn’t believe he could lie about it either and convince the chief that he didn’t. “She is a bonny lass.” Gunnolf didn’t want to admit to anything more than that.
The chief observed him for what seemed like forever, judging him. “I didna ask that. I asked if you desired her.”
Gunnolf straightened. “Lady Brina is desirable. I would be lying if I said she was not. But I am not seeking a wife.”
Robard nodded as if finally satisfied with Gunnolf’s reply. “Many have spoken of the Finn-Gall who rides with the MacNeills. How he survived a clash with Cian Murray’s men when he was wounded and greatly outnumbered. How he helped to rescue a French countess, who is now married to Niall MacNeill.”
“Ja. ‘Tis all true.”
“I have heard of some of your other exploits. And even something of your miraculous survival when you fought against the Sassenach when you were but a lad.”
“I would not say it was miraculous. More that I was pig-headed enough to fight to survive.”
Another small smile from the chief and then a deeper frown. “Tell me, did you bring any of them down? As young as you were?”
“I did. Five men, if you must know, before I was wounded.”
Again Robard nodded. “Despite not wishing a wife, you seem to have garnered my daughter’s affections.”
Gunnolf opened his mouth to speak, to tell him in no way had the lass shown any affection toward him in the least.
The chief motioned for him to say nothing. “She doesna give her affections to anyone lightly.”
“I am not sure what you mean by affections. I did not kiss the lass or do anything other than give her a ride upon my horse, offer my food, and protect her.” And warm her.
“I mean that she spoke kindly of you. I have never heard her speak thus about a man before.”
Had the lass misinterpreted Gunnolf’s intentions toward her? He wished only to ensure she stayed warm. Yes, he desired her, would have loved nothing more than to bed the sweet lass, as any man who was half a man would desire. If he had wished a wife and she had been so inclined to marry him, Brina might have been the one for him. But he wasn’t ready to settle down. Maybe never.
He said nothing, afraid that he could have misread the situation. Gunnolf truly wasn’t interested in marrying her. Or any lass for that matter. Nor was he interested in being a guardsman in her father’s employ—if that’s what he had in mind—just because he survived his wounds as a lad when most men would have succumbed. Or because he’d fought so many men and had come out of the fighting victorious. He was at home with the MacNeills, and someday maybe he would find a lass to wed. But certainly not one who didn’t like his heritage or who required him to fight a mountain of men to have her. He was perfectly content with taking Brina to Craigly Castle and letting her get to know what was left of her family there.
He wasn’t certain where the chief was going with this discussion. How did fighting men figure into the business with showing a kindness to Brina?
“Explain to me how you came upon my daughter and everything that happened until you arrived here.”
Gunnolf explained everything, including how one of Seamus’s men had shot her.
The chief’s face reddened in anger. “She didna tell me this. I will kill the man who shot her myself.”
“Ja. I would do it for you.”
The chief nodded, looking pleased that Gunnolf would say so. “Do… do you know about her mother?”
“Ja. She worked for the laird of Craigly Castle. Though he died before I arrived there, and she left before James took over.”
“My daughter must never know of this.”
“She is the one who told me. But I remember hearing about Davina.”
The chief’s eyes widened. “I see. Brina was never to know. Why were you here on my lands?”
“A taibhsear said I had to help a woman.” What else could Gunnolf say? Some didn’t believe in them and would think him daft. But he had no other way to explain why he had been on their lands in a snowstorm unless he had lost his way. Which, he had, but he wasn’t about to explain that to the chief. After sounding so brave and heroic, if he’d let on he had been terribly lost, how would that look to Robard? “I wasna sure I believed her, but she had revealed things that have come to pass before. So I took the chance that she was correct. Brina needed my protection, so I assume then that what Wynne had told me was accurate.”
Robard said nothing for a time, and Gunnolf wondered if during the prolonged silenced, the chief was just tired from being wounded, or pondering what Gunnolf had said.
“A vision.” The chief nodded. “Anything else?”
“Naught that made any sense. Could you use my help before I leave?”
“Aye. I want you to take my daughter to the Clan MacNeill holdings. You were right in wanting to escort her there to see her mother’s people.”
Gunnolf was glad her father felt that way. “What about you?”
“When I can travel, I will return to my keep. Seamus willna attempt to kill me as I will let on that I know naught of his treachery. He will run the day-to-day affairs while I am recovering. But I will continue to lead. I am certain he will try to keep the power he will have in the interim after I am well. I havena lived and ruled for this long without having dealt with men like him before.”
Gunnolf respected the chief for his beliefs, though he knew how things could change in a heartbeat if another battle broke out between his people and another clan’s and Robard couldn’t lead his men. “How are you injured?”
“A slice across my belly. But I havena taken a fever. ‘Tis a good sign.”
“Ja. What if the lass wishes to stay with you?”
“She has no say in this. If she stays, Seamus will attempt to marry her, and I canna let on that I dinna wish it now, can I? No’ when I am trying to show I still trust the man. After what Rory and Cadel told me about his action in battle, though I was too busy fighting to see it, I dinna want my daughter wed to the man. A man must be strong, but he must also be loyal to the chief. I can see where he is tired of waiting to be in charge of the clan and to have my daughter for his wife. I know she doesna wish this. You will take her with you.”
“Ja.” Gunnolf had to bring up the situation with traveling alone with the lass though. Before, he was trying to protect her from Seamus and his men. He would still be doing that, but they hadn’t had a choice as far as having someone chaperone the lass. “Will others cause problems for the lass if they know we have traveled together alone further?”
“You tell me that you have only honorable intentions with regard to my daughter.”
“Ja. But what will others believe?”
“They will think what I tell them to think,” Robard growled. “Cadel said you must have been turned around in the snowstorm. Do you believe you can find your way now?”
“Ja, if someone points me in the right direction. Do you have anyone who could ride with us?”
The chief smiled at him a wee bit. “You dinna worry you will become saddled with a wife, do you, Gunnolf? ‘Tis said no lassie ha
s managed to capture your interest for very long.”
“Nay, ‘tis only that if we come across Seamus and his men—“
The chief motioned with his hand in a wave of dismissal. “You fought six men. There are six of them, including Seamus, so Cadel has informed me.”
“I ended up in a dungeon the last time I fought those odds,” Gunnolf explained, not wanting the chief to believe he could handle that many men at once—successfully.
The chief shook his head. “I canna send Cadel or Rory with you. They are seeing to my needs, ensuring I know what is going on at the castle and if anyone has learned of Seamus’s whereabouts. They may have backtracked to Jamie’s shieling and learned from his wife that Brina is traveling with you and you were taking her back to the castle.”
“Then when he discovers she isna there, he will look for her at the shielings in the area and discover you.” Gunnolf worried about the chief, thinking he might need to move him to the castle first.
“Cadel will let the elders know I am alive and well. Seamus willna want to kill me after the Viking’s attempt failed and Seamus didna ensure I was no’ dead or return me to the keep to have my injuries taken care of. Otherwise, he will have to face the consequences of his actions. In the meantime, you must take Brina to her mother’s family. We will prepare something for you to eat and give you more blankets and food for the journey. And when you see the taibhsear, tell her I thank her for sending you to save my daughter’s life. Eat and then you must leave. Tell my daughter I must speak with her one last time.”
“Ja.” Gunnolf was glad that Brina’s father wanted him to take Brina away from here as he was certain she would be better off for now with the MacNeills. But he worried about her father’s plan and his notion that Seamus would not attempt to end his life once he learned Robard lived. Gunnolf was also troubled about riding alone with Brina and getting caught by Seamus and his men. He could kill a few of them, but not that many all at once. He would be a dead man, and Brina would be forced to marry the rogue.
