A Highlander's Home (32 page)

“Ye sure are brave, m’lady,” he said with a sigh.  “I promise.”

She smiled and handed him a small cookie which he was quick to pop into his mouth and chew with one bite.  “Good,”
she answered, popping one into her mouth.

As the two stood there chewing their smuggled snacks, Nicky cocked his head slightly and looked past Raine’s shoulder to the stable entrance.  Raine was licking her fingers when she noticed how still he was. 

“What’s the matter?” she asked, following his gaze.  They were
alone;
the only sound the occasional stomping of a hoof from one of the stalls.

He had yet to blink, his gaze was so intent on the doorway.  “Do ye hear that, m’lady?”

She tilted her head and listened.  “No,” she replied with a shrug.  “That cookie has addled your brain, Nicky.”

She continued to brush the mare’s mane, while Nicky brushed her tail.  A few moments later, both stopped and looked towards the door.

Hoofbeats.  That meant horses.  Horses meant riders.  Could it be a messenger?

Throwing her brush to the ground, she raced Nicky out of the stables and towards the courtyard.  They both stopped and tried to catch their breath.  Nicky motioned for her to follow him up the steps to look over the wall, but she declined.

Her hand on her belly, she told him, still breathing hard, “You go up and tell me who it is.”

His skinny legs vaulted forward and nearly catapulted him to the top of the stairs.  When he didn’t say anything, she called up to him, “Well?  Who is it?”

The sentries on guard in the watch tower
yelled
“Open the gate!”

A great groan and
creaking
of wood resounded through the silence of the courtyard.  She moved to the side as a line of
riders made their way in.

They were a tired, sorry lot.  Men in battle gear, covered in dirt, snow, and what looked like the faded smudges of blood on them and their horses.  One rider removed his helmet and shook his tangled red hair free.

Robbie.

She made her way to him as fast as she could.  “Robbie!  Robbie!”

He slid from his horse and stood for a moment stretching his legs.  He tossed her the reins of his horse and said, “Feed him well, lad. He has earned every oat.”

She grabbed his arm and shoved the reins back into his hands.  “Robbie!  It’s me.  Raine.  Where is Leith?”

Robbie did a double take and took a step back.  “What on God’s green earth are ye wearin’ lass?  Bloody hell, haven’t ye learned anything yet?” 

His gaze went to her rounded stomach and he remarked, “Did ye swallow Cook?”

She flashed angry eyes at him, but he could hear the anxiety in her voice.  “Is Leith with you?” 

Her eyes scanned the men still dismounting but did not see him.   She swallowed nervously.  “Please tell me that he came back with you, Robbie.”

He peeled her fingers off of his wrist and patted her hand.  “He is fine, lass.  He is at the end of the line, escorting the dead and wounded.”

She breathed a sigh of relief and felt her knees give way slightly.  Robbie caught her as she leaned into him.  He grunted and murmured, “Ye might want to change ye’re clothes, lass.”

She never heard him.  She regained her legs and took off down the line of men looking
for
her husband.  At the end of the line of road weary men she found him.   He was walking beside the men, dead or alive she couldn’t tell yet, who were being carried on
pallets of some sort.

As they neared her, he glanced her way and gave her the reins of his horse saying tiredly, “Take him to the stables, lad, and brush him down.  Give him an extra helping of oats as well.”

He continued walking past her when she called, “Leith!”

He turned, frowning.  A lad, a fat lad at that, with very familiar feminine voice.

She waddled towards him as fast as she could and threw her arms around his neck.  The men around him stared, wondering who this strange lad was that took such familiar ground with their laird.

She pulled back and stared at him.  He reached up and pulled off her woolen cap, revealing her beautiful face to him.  His fingers traced her cheek.  His thumb outlined the shaped of her lips.

“Och, lass,” he whispered, “I’ve dreamed of seeing ye’re face again.”

She tiptoed and pushed her lips against his.  He could feel her cold tears making their way down her cheeks.  He tried to wrap his arms around her but couldn’t seem to find her waist.

“
Lass…y
e’re so round,”
he proclaimed in wonder
, looking at her belly.
  “And these clothes are so familiar.”

She tugged open the overcoat and revealed her large a
bdomen.  “I’m only as round as th
e
y are
big,” she retorted.

She watched the confusion turn to wonderment on his face which then turned to a relieved happiness tinged by slight sadness. 
“They?” he repeated.

Nodding, she leaned into him.

He fell to his weary knees and wrapped his arms around her thick midsection.  “Twins?”  She nodded, running her fingers through his tangled hair.

Leith swallowed the lump in his throat. 
“I’m sorry to have left
ye, Raine, and for so long
.  It seems that ye have done a fine job of taking care of the babe
s
.”  He tried to cup her stomach but even his large hands had trouble doing so.

Flashing the smile she had come to adore, he said smoothly, “When I get rested, ye shall have to show ye’re gratitude for making two of them at one time.”

She gave a relieved laugh, and kissed him. 
“I’m glad you’re home.”

“I’m glad to be home, lass.”

They kissed and held each other until Robbie interrupted.

“Do ye two lovebird mind if we bring in the wounded?”

Raine looked over at the bodies that were still making their way past them. 

“There are so many.”

One young warrior who didn’t look like he was old enough to shave hobbled past them, eyeing Raine’s bulging stomach.  “Congratulations, m’lady.”

Raine smiled and took his arm to help him into the keep. 
She wondered that even when wounded and tired from battle, these people could take the time to wish her well. 
Leith followed her, helping another wounded man.

Once inside the keep, Raine had to refrain from gasping.
  The great hall looked like something out a civil war movie scene.  Warriors of all ages and sizes were strewn about wherever they could fit.  Bloody rags were scattered around the floor, having fallen off various body parts as they moved into the room.

To Leith’s pleasure, Raine took charge and began issuing orders to the servants for hot water, clean rags, blankets, food, and water.  He couldn’t help but smile.  She had become the mistress of his castle.  Even if she didn’t know it.

Many hours later when the men were cared for and put to bed for the night, Raine plopped down in the large, overstuffed chair in front of the fire.  She pulled
the hem of her oversized trews
up to her knees and clunked her feet up on the stool with a grunt.

Leith came up behind her and rubbed her shoulders.

“Ye did too much this eve, lass.”

“There was much to be done.”

“The men appreciate your care. 
They are glad to be home.”

Her gaze was heavy on him.  The lines around his eyes making him look tired and older than his years.  The lines around his mouth making him look
hardened
.  He hadn’t shaved in a few days, but she couldn’t tell what
were
whiskers
and what was dirt and blood.

“Did you lose many?” 

The men who could
have
taken their leave and headed to their homes and families.  The dead were taken to the outskirts of the village for burial when the ground thawed in early spring. 

He sighed and leaned back in his chair.  “Too many.  Much too many.”

“What of your uncle?”

His tired gaze watching the flames leap became like steel.  “My uncle.  My uncle was not expecting to see the
Queen
’s men assisting his nephew in destroying him.  She did not send many, a few hundred only, but they flew her colors high.  He was a clever man, my uncle, and knew that the
Queen
was against him.”

“Was?”

“I did not kill him, if that is what ye are wondering
.  At the end, when the men were storming the gate and finally breaking through, he fled to the dungeon and locked himself in.  I was the one who found him there, squatting in the corner like a
cowering
beast.”

He shook his head at the memory.
He rubbed his forehead with his hand, trying to wipe away the scene that had burned itself behind his eyes. 

“
He
told me he would rather die than to be shamed by his own family.  He said I had betrayed him and that he was innocent of all charges against him.  He would not give me the key to the cell.  He killed himself with a knife from his pocket.”

Raine inhaled
sharply
.  “Oh, Leith.  I’m so sorry.”

His gaze never wavered from the orange flames.  “He is gone now.  It is over.”

He stood up and took both of her hands, pulling her upwards awkwardly.  They made their way quietly up the stairs towards the master bedroom.

She took his hand.  “I’m sorry for your uncle.  But I’m glad
that I don’t have to walk this Keep
by myself any longer.”

A bath was waiting for him by the fire in the large room when they entered.  Lady MacGregor ushered the servants out of the room when the last bucket of hot water had been poured in the large wooden tub.

“I thought that the great laird of Hell’s Gate might want a bath after the battle that has been fought.”

“Mother, ye do too much for me.  Thank ye
.  Now off to bed with you.”

He kissed her cheek.  She met his gaze. 

“He was not a good man.  You did what you had to for your people.”

“I know, Mother.  Battle is difficult enough without it being against one’s o
wn
blood.”

“What is important is that you
won the war, and with the
Queen
’s help no less, and now you are home with your family, where you should be. 
Now you can help raise your children
.”  She
smiled knowingly,
patted his cheek
lightly
and left the room.

             
Raine helped remove Leith’s armor, taking care of his stiff muscles, bruises and other small wounds.

             
When she ran her fingers lightly over a large red welt on his arm, he smiled at her and said cockily, “Sword.”

             
She touched a smaller red marked that ran down the length of his arm.  “Knife,” he told her.

             
When she helped remove his trousers, her hand rested on the small of his back at a nasty purple
monstrosity
.  Over his shoulder he answered her before she asked, “Horse.”

             
She shook her head, helped remove the remnants of his bloody and dirty clothing, and stood still as he balanced himself against her as he gingerly stepped into the wooden tub. 

             
He sank back and closed his eyes.  “I’m too old for this bloody business.”

             
“Yes, you are.”

             
“Thank ye for agreeing that I’m an old mon, lass.  It does measures for my confidence.”

             
“Maybe next time you’ll send the men and stay home with me.”

             
“I hope to God there is no next time.”

             
She wrapped her arms around his neck as she nestled be
hind him.  “Me, too.”

             
After a few moments of enjoyable silence, the two of them enjoying the physical nearness of the other, he said in a pained voice, “Ye understand that I had to go, don’t ye lass?  That I had to do what I did?”

             
She kissed his neck.  “Yes.”

             
“Do ye think less of me for it?  For the killing that I had to do?”

             
He felt her shake her head, “No.”

             
She rested her chin on his shoulder.  “I’ve never been involved in a war.  I’ve only read about them in our history books.  I don’t know if I’ll ever truly get used to the way things are here.  But I love you.  And I love this castle, and the people in it.  And
I love
your children
.  And I don’t want to leave.”