“Keep on doing just that,” Peter prompted. “Keep your ears open for information we don’t have.”
Evan laughed. “Our talk is in her mother’s constant presence. Even though I would wish to charm Colette, such ‘tis nay allowed.”
Sarah cleared her throat. “Jacqueline isn’t the problem here.” Three sets off wide eyes focused on her. “She’s as trapped as we are. Worse, with no home and an uncertain future for her and her daughter. Don’t rule her out as a potential ally. My enemy’s enemy is my friend. Or so we’re hoping with Tearlach.”
“Hey, I know that one,” Peter added. “Nice reference.”
“Thanks,” she muttered, always amazed at what he found noteworthy. Sarah shared her encounter from earlier in the day in the study. “We should find a way to work with her.” I can’t believe I said that either.
“My sweet Sarah, while I trust your judgment, we have naught to offer. Jacqueline waits for Robert to force the marriage, which will allow her to live in her former home. Without the union, she will live at his will and whim.”
While she knew that to be true, hearing it spoken drove a stab of fear into her heart.
Chapter 42
Bella barked as Megan threw the knotted-up rags, as the tennis ball hadn’t survived the winter. The dog chased the rags, and the girl chased the dog. The late morning sunshine drove away most of the chill, but not all. Sarah remained grateful for Lena’s smothering habits as she stood wrapped in the furs and plaid. All of her was warm and toasty, but her belly felt the cold sea breeze, while Sasha ran her hands over the babies.
The child followed every shift and twitch made by the twins. Bella had given up trying to capture the child’s attention. Sarah caught whispers too hushed for her ears to catch the words, but grinned as the child spoke, at least to her stomach. What I wouldn’t give to have her talk to me again, not just near me. Still, Sasha was speaking, even if only to Bella, her belly, to her baby brother and that one glorious time to Conall. Huge progress and very safe places for verbal consistency.
Megan ran to them and then bent over to catch her breath. “I think Bella is done.” Sarah caught sight of her dog lying down to chew her current favorite toy.
“Then it’s a job well done. Thank you for coming to help me,” Sarah praised.
Then Sarah caught a word whispered a fraction louder. “Sweets.”
With a laugh, she grinned at Megan. “I thought I heard something but must be mistaken.” Maybe a little push today.
But Megan stood too far away to hear it. “I heard naught.”
Sasha sighed in clear annoyance. Then lifted her head. “Sweets.”
Sarah’s mouth fell open at the clearly spoken word. “Did you say sweets?” But no reply came, only a shrug. “The kitchens may have something for you.” She knew that there was always a treat handy for her favorite helpers. “Why don’t you go and ask the women for some to take home?”
The small hands immediately left her belly as Sasha turned to grasp her sister’s hand. “Before you go, two things. First, put your mittens back on.” She handed the girls the knitted items and waited until both were covering their hands. “Second, thank you for telling me what you wanted. I know that wasn’t easy, but I am so very proud of you.”
To her utter amazement, Sasha’s arms looped around her belly and gave her a hug. Tears sprang to her eyes at the verbal and physical communication. Only after the child pulled back did Sarah cease holding on.
Megan took Sasha’s hand. “Wait until ma hears you spoke again. She will be so proud too.”
Both girls grinned and then ran toward the back door to the kitchen, with Megan promising to come back tomorrow. Bella rose at the activity, but didn’t follow, which struck Sarah as odd. Why isn’t she running for her treat? When Bella dropped the rags and ran back toward her, Sarah turned to find Robert only several feet from her back. Conall is so right, watch for the man at your back. Then Bella had her solid frame against her legs while growling at the Bruce.
“Down girl,” Sarah corrected. The dog quieted but remained as her barrier. It’s almost like she understands the need for protection without the command. Looks like Evan picked a lousy time to hit the garderobe.
“How fine to see you out of doors. I had come to fear you ill, given your lack of attending evening meals,” Robert purred, all polite and faux-concerned. Sarah forced her eyes not to roll at the falsehoods spewing at her.
She and Conall had deliberately skipped the evening meals for the last three nights, never once eating with the man who attempted to mandate only a male child had value. Instead, they had eaten in peace and enjoyed the other’s company. You should be thanking me. Conall may have commented on his desire to throw his dagger at you while you choke on your dinner.
“Thank you for the concern, but we’re fine,” Sarah replied as she noted several warriors close at hand and Neil standing at the entrance to the stables. I am so not alone. “We simply chose to enjoy a quiet meal.”
Robert nodded and his eyes narrowed. “You do him no favor by keeping him from my side.”
“Conall makes his own decisions. In fact, it was his idea to eat alone.” Sarah answered the charge with honesty. After their conference with Peter and Evan days ago, he had declared he wouldn’t allow her to eat near the man who threatened their children.
His sharp gaze appraised her from booted toe to frazzled curls. “Conall has always been loyal to me.” His next phrase came out as a raw challenge. “Until he married you.” Robert chuckled and shook his head. “I offered him a place at my right with lands and titles most men would kill to have. Yet he defies me, for you.”
The disdain on his face had her standing taller rather than shrinking away. “All you’ve done is to attempt to force him to make choices he has no desire to make. Conall has been placed in a situation that eats at his conscience and pits the two great loves of his life against each other. He doesn’t want more titles or lands. He craves this place, this clan and me. I know that he would love your approval and would happily support you for the rest of his life if you’d let him.”
Robert laughed. “How little you ken of men. All seek more and crave more. Mayhap he keeps you content until you bear his child.”
You completely missed my message. “Conall isn’t most men. He never wanted a decade of violence and warfare, but he lived that life for you, for what you represented, a future without danger and death for his clan. His soul is gentle and what he did for you has destroyed a piece of him.”
“I made a man, a great warrior to be feared. Dinna try to soften the beast or tame his true nature.” Robert cast his gaze down at Bella. “Mayhap you prefer wounded creatures, but Conall is nay one. Mayhap you seek to see them wounded if only to care for them.”
The insult had her sneering. “For your information, this dog was placed in my care after nearly dying. I would never do anything to inflict harm on any living creature.” Sarah ran a hand over Bella’s head. “Conall came to me wounded too. His heart in conflict with what his mind and strength had been ordered to do. You broke him. I helped him find a way to move past those hurts.”
“Your word games mean naught. Conall is made for the sword.” He scanned the open ground before the cliffs and his gaze stayed on the waves in the distance. “You should be thanking me for offering him a chance at the life he thinks he craves. I have never bent in my will for another.”
She knew there would be nothing she could do or say to sway him. Some individuals had no use for therapy or for the option of seeing the other side of the proverbial coin. “Why would I thank you for gambling with our future?”
When he ignored her question, she asked the one she would never ask Conall. “Let’s suppose I have a girl.” He’d made no reference to the twins, so she spoke in singular. “What happens to us?”
Cold, hard eyes settled on hers and she struggled not to flinch. “You will be removed from these lands.”
“To where?” she baited, wanting him
to admit the worst. I wanted to like and admire you. You are history come to life.
“Likely a convent, one far south and out of his reach.” He spoke without reassurance.
“Likely?” When silence met her, she continued. “And how long will you allow post-childbed?” If I’m going to allow them to poison your men, I need you to prove that you are the ruthless son of a bitch they make you out to be. After all, I swore to protect life, not destroy it.
“You will depart upon my command.” The answer spoke volumes.
“Gosh, given the cold weather and delicate constitution of newborns, how will you guarantee our safety to Conall? You do realize he won’t just let us go.” Her sarcastic voice mocked his dictates.
Robert smiled but his eyes remained harsh. “The Draig will have no choice, such is my promise to you. Warn him that the less his fight, the better your odds.”
Sarah nodded and held the murderous stare that would have preferred her sobbing and begging. But then he caught her off guard with a grin.
“You carry twins,” he stated, his smirk shifting to calculation. “Such births are hard. Mayhap childbed will eliminate his need to choose.”
Did he just say that maybe I’ll be courteous enough to die to make the situation easier? What a sick bastard. Having had enough banter to ease her conscience with poisoning, Sarah turned and summoned what remained of her dignity as she began to waddle away.
Robert called to her back. “Tell me why Conall defies me for you. What ‘tis so grand about you?”
Her steps ceased as Conall’s whispers echoed in her thoughts. The phrase that had made her uncomfortable from the start resonated with brilliant clarity and filled her heart with love. Turning to face the enemy at her back, she made him wait for several seconds as she beamed at him. “I am more to him than you could ever comprehend. I am his legend.”
Even Robert’s scoffing couldn’t dampen the power in the declaration. “Each Highland clan claims legends and other frivolity better left to the old women. You are but a lass.” The attempted insult rolled off her shoulders. She hadn’t expected him to understand the depth of the love and passion she shared with Conall.
With a wide grin, Sarah shook her head. “You wish it were that simple. Some legends are real, like me.”
Chapter 43
“A bit to the left, no, my left,” Sarah practically snarled from her hands and knees as Conall attempted to ease the gnawing ache at the bottom of her back. Booted feet filled her vision while she stretched with no satisfaction, Peter and Evan pacing the chamber if only to drive her mad. Consciously ignoring the men, she turned her head to center her focus on Bella lying before the fire in the laird’s chamber. But then the dog rose and began circling her. Why does everyone insist on walking around me? It’s making me dizzy and more than a tad hostile.
“Enough.” She pushed back onto her haunches and held out her hands, assuming Conall would help her up, but Peter beat him to the task.
“Come on, upsie daisy.” His tease became a grunt as he hauled her to her feet. “You okay? You don’t look steady on your feet.”
The chamber spun for a second before Sarah’s equilibrium settled. “At least you can see my feet.” When she glanced down, only belly filled her sightline. Then the dog nuzzled her belly while whimpering with a tail wagging hard enough to shake her whole body.
Conall wrapped his arms around her from behind and for a second, she debated pushing him away. Every little touch is making my skin crawl. But then he kissed her head and she settled against him, hoping his presence would help her relax. “Nothing’s working.”
“Sweet Sarah, I would ease your pain if I could,” Conall offered with a whisper to her ear.
Her gaze fell to the chair before the fire and the item that had been placed upon it. Lena had delivered it when she had brought their breakfast. Conall read her mind as she focused on the physical taunt. “I shall throw it into the fire.”
She sighed as her body sagged against his. “That would be a waste of a perfectly good shirt.” Make that a perfectly sewn shirt. The craftsmanship was excellent. The white garment would likely be the finest shirt Conall ever owned.
“Colette made one for me as well.” Evan beamed. “Such a fine shirt I have never owned.”
Sarah sneered and the younger Draig had the decency to look away. “Nice to know everyone gets a wedding present.” Her voice mocked the gift. Even I know that wives are supposed to make the damn shirts.
“Never will it touch my skin,” Conall vowed at her back. His hands roamed her belly. “It means naught.”
With a snort, she corrected, “It means that the crowd is waiting for a reason for me to no longer be your wife.” She left out the implications: a daughter or her death. Not that she’d shared Robert’s threats.
“But you are my wife,” Conall told her after he kissed her temple. “Shirts change naught. Should you bear me two bonny lasses, I will be the proudest of fathers. You and I are bound together.”
Her hand covered his as her belly tightened and she whimpered with another flash of pain from her lower back. Her quip about shirts having meaning fell away and she squeezed Conall’s hand until the discomfort in her fingers took her mind off her cramps.
Her husband inhaled sharply behind her and Peter grinned. “Looks like we have impeccable timing.”
“What timing?” Sarah asked, feeling as if she missed a conversation that likely had happened around her. I’m so out of it today. It’s barely past breakfast and I feel like the day has gone on forever. Stupid fucking shirt.
Conall’s hand ran over the twins, who pushed against her skin. “The deed has been done.” The statement had only one possibility: the poisoned food had been delivered to Robert’s not-so-secret forces.
“What?” Sarah turned as fast as her body would allow to face Conall. “You were supposed to wait until I was in labor. The food poisoning symptoms will only last for a day, maybe two.”
“Sarah,” Conall whispered as his hand cupped her face. “The bairns come.”
“No. Don’t you think I would know if I were in labor? I mean, seriously, I would know. Not sleeping last night hardly qualifies as labor.” Her defiance stalled as another wave of pain raced across her back. “Shit,” she mumbled, her face shifting into a grimace.
“Honey, it’s started.” Peter chuckled from behind her. “When Brenda was here two days ago she told you that you were in the early stages.”
“Gee, thank you, Dr. Peter. But for your information, the early stages of labor can last for weeks.” Her fingers shifted to count. “I still have several weeks before I’m due.”
“You carry twins. Brenda said such births come sooner.” Conall’s hand ran over her back. “We shall welcome our wee ones this day.”
“No, no, no and no,” she insisted. “I am not going to have these babies with all of this shit going on around me. This is not a healthy environment to bring children into. There are two women praying for me to live but to fail at the same time. Our lovely friend, Robert, has requested that I die in the process. Why in the hell would I want to give birth now?” Knowing her voice had risen to practically scream the last sentence, Sarah didn’t care with her heart racing and an all-consuming panic muddling her thoughts.
“Sarah,” Conall crooned. “You are mine and I am yours, such may not be changed. All is prepared for you and our bairns. Robert may threaten but holds no power. The others matter naught.”
Sarah’s forehead fell against Conall’s chest. “But we don’t know if the poison will work. What if the men don’t eat enough? What if it wasn’t strong enough?” Their fate had become tied to ale and stew, not reassuring in her frazzled thoughts.
“Ask Donald,” Evan added to the conversation. “The Bruce’s men made him sample the delivered goods but an hour or so ago, a regular occurrence that Tearlach failed to mention. Poor Donald had only a sip and a bite of the meat. Yet he retches and empties his belly. The poison works.”
�
�We poisoned Donald?” Sarah couldn’t believe the calm reiteration of facts that should have caused alarm. “Who’s taking care of him?”
“Brenda has sent herbs to ease his suffering and he should be back on his feet by midday.” Conall’s reassurance did little to ease her mind. “But the men in our fields will suffer for days.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that I’m not in labor. What if those men recover?” Sarah asked and then groaned at another wave of pain across her back. Pulling away from Conall, she turned to the door. “I need the garderobe, again.”
A soft cry left her lips as warm liquid released from between her legs and splat on the floor. Bella barked as Evan groaned and Conall lifted her away from the puddle forming at her feet. Peter’s voice filled her ears even as she pointlessly tried to avoid the facts. “Do you believe me now? You are in labor.”
Oh, avoidance. It looks like you have abandoned me.
Staring down at the unmistakable sign that her waters had broken, she nodded while she stood in mute silence. The back cramps and pains have been intensifying since yesterday. Back labor isn’t that uncommon. But why do they call it water? That is definitely not water.
Evan made a sound of utter disgust. “What happened?”
“Fetch Brenda and Lena,” Conall demanded as his hand stroked up and down her back. “Sarah, I am here and will remain at your side as our bairns enter life. You will be by my side for the rest of my days.”
Sinking against him, she inhaled his scent as she gripped his shirt. “I know,” she whispered even as doubt crept in. Too many what ifs danced in her head.
Sarah’s sweat-drenched body fell back against his chest. His legs cradled her hips much as they had in the bath, yet no pleasure filled the day. His heart ached for the suffering she endured. “Aye, sweet Sarah, I am here.” His hand pushed the damp curls from her brow and kissed the exposed skin.
“Breathe, Sarah,” Brenda instructed from the edge of the bed.
The Draig's Choice Page 49
