The Summer Star: One Legend, Three Enchanting Novellas (Legends of Scotland Book 2) Page 28

  “He has married,” she said softly, as if she did not want to hurt him with the news, “though he has not brought his wife here, so I can tell you naught of her. They live, as Da said, not far from here, but he has never said exactly where, and often arrives from different directions. He has asked us not to try to find him; that his wife is fearful of strangers; that he would not have her discomfited by any who tried to follow him home.”

  Kenneth knew his eyes were blinking fast, in time with the swirl of information that he was trying to make sense of. Married? Not far from this place? He was close to finding his brother. Close, but…married?

  “Do you believe this marriage is real? This woman exists?”

  “Aye, I do. He often arrives when the tinkers are passing through and has traded pelts for things a woman would wish to have — fabric, ribbon, a necklace of pitchstone.” She paused. “Of late he has been buying things that make me believe his wife is with child.”

  With child? Again he had to take a breath or two before he could speak.

  “He is to be a da? I am to be an uncle?”

  “I believe this to be so.”

  Drostan was creating a family, a home.

  The memory of what it had been like to have a family of his own, father, mother, and baby brother, two grannies who lived a few cottages away and were always part of his early life, slammed into him in a way he had not allowed in many years, opening a wound in his heart that he’d thought long healed. A deep longing to return to those happy days, those days of close family, nearly choked him.

  And now Drostan was building a family without him. The picture in his mind of Drostan as he’d taken his leave was at so at odds with the man Elspet described he could not decide, despite the evidence, if they really spoke of the boy he’d raised.

  “Kenneth?” Elspet barely touched her fingers to his arm, but it jolted him back to the present.

  “When is she to give birth?” he said, without looking at her. “Do you ken?”

  “Not exactly,” Elspet said, “but I do not think it should be long now. Perhaps she has had the bairn already. We have not seen him in some time.”

  Kenneth shook off the old feelings of loss, and the new one of bewilderment at the turn Drostan’s life had taken since they had last seen each other. The easier sensations of excitement and concern took their place, racing over Kenneth’s skin, prickling just as it did before battle. “Surely there is someone here who kens where he lives, where he goes when he leaves here. I must find him.”

  “Laddie,” the chief pulled Kenneth’s attention away from Elspet and the myriad questions that were beginning to swirl in his head. “Drostan was with us here for several months before he took his leave. The entire clan grew to like the young man, and he was quick to make friends here. When he decided to leave, he said he was not going far, but to please respect his privacy, and we have done exactly that. He pledged that he caused no harm to us with this request, that he would do his part to keep Dunlairig Castle and the MacAlpins safe in whatever way he could, from a small distance, and with that pledge, I saw no reason to pry into a man’s life. We have had no reason to go back on my pledge to him, even if I knew of his exact whereabouts. What I can and will do, is offer you the same hospitality of Clan MacAlpin and Dunlairig Castle we gave to your brother…if you wish to bide here until he returns.”

  Bide here? Wait, when Drostan was so close by?

  “I did not pledge to his privacy. I do not wish to wait when I am clearly very close to my goal.”

  The MacAlpin stood, standing almost exactly as tall as Kenneth, perhaps even a bit taller, his brows drawn low over eyes that snapped with irritation; a commanding figure that required obedience. Kenneth heard Rab move closer behind him, as if Kenneth had threatened the chief.

  “Nay, you did not,” the chief said, “but if you wish to bide here, then you must abide by the pledges of hospitality and bring no harm to those under my protection. Drostan, and his new family, are under my protection. You ken this to be right.”

  Kenneth gritted his teeth, making a small muscle in his jaw twitch with the pressure. He was so close that even entertaining the possibility of stopping short warred with everything that had driven him to this place.

  “Would it be so terrible to rest here until Drostan turns up?” Elspet asked.

  He rubbed at the angry muscle in his jaw as if he was simply thinking about her question. “Nay, mistress,” he said, dropping his hand to his side, “but I chafe at the need. Do you ken when he might return?”

  Elspet shook her head. “He does not keep to any regular schedule, and yet he always seems to ken when the tinkers and other traders arrive and shows up quickly, sometimes even a day ahead.” She tilted her head as if taking his true measure as a warrior, and a brother. “If you bide here long enough, I feel certain you will see your brother again.”

  “I thank you for your offer of hospitality…” His mind raced over the possibility of finding his brother on his own. He’d followed him this far. But Kenneth had trained Drostan in the ways of Highlanders and warriors. He didn’t like it, but he knew that if Drostan had drawn such a promise from The MacAlpin, then he had good reason—even if Kenneth could not see it. It nettled him to think of simply sitting and waiting for his brother to return, neither of which were strengths of Kenneth’s, but it seemed the best thing to do. “…and I accept it, with a condition of my own.”

  The chief shifted a little on his feet, as if impatient with this audience. “What condition would you place upon my hospitality?”

  “I mean no disrespect. I ask only that you allow me to be of use while I am imposing upon you. I do not stand idle easily and have done too much of that at Kilstrae. I have a strong back if there is hauling that needs doing, or I can work with your guard…though that is also much idle time in my experience. I have served as captain of the guard for many years now, though I understand you have your own. I can train your guards if you have need for that, or I can mind the kine or the sheep. I can hunt, or fish. ’Tis not my preference, but I am willing to muck out the privies if that is a need. I ask only to be of service in whatever way I may, while I am here.” It was that or go mad waiting!

  Hugh chuckled, a deep rumbling sound that made Kenneth relax. “There are plenty of young lads in need of a fitting penance for their misdeeds so mucking the privies is not a job that goes often undone. Besides, I dinna think my lady will allow me to have a guest take on that task.”

  “Nor would his daughter!” Elspet added with a short laugh that made her father grin, and created an unfamiliar soft warmth within Kenneth that surprised him.

  “’Tis sure I am that we can find plenty to keep you suitably of service while you bide here,” Lady Mariota said.“Elspet show him where he can leave his belongings. Rab,” she turned a little to speak to the champion, “find him work. I am sure you can put a battle-trained warrior to good use.”

  “And guard duty is not good use,” Elspet said with a wink at Kenneth that surprised and delighted him.

  Chapter 3

  Kenneth and Elspet followed Rab out of the tower, stopping abruptly when Rab wheeled to face them, not two steps into the bailey.

  “I will take him, Elspet.” Irritation bristled off the man.

  “Da asked me to see to his comfort, Rab,” she said. “I will do that, then bring him to you.”

  “’Tis not necessary.” Rab’s tight glare clearly instructed Kenneth to back away from Elspet. “Follow me.”

  Elspet’s hand shot out to stop Kenneth, but the snap of lightening in her eyes was fully turned on Rab.

  “I will do as our chief asked,” she said, as if there was nothing amiss between her and the champion, “and I will return him to your care soon.” Her back was straight and her grip on his arm was firm. Clearly she had no fear of the older Rab, nor was she willing to allow him to tell her what to do. Kenneth’s curiosity about her grew. “’Twill give you time to decide,” she continued, “where he can be of b
est use while is here in Dunlairig.”

  Rab took a deep breath, crossed his arms over his chest, and shook his head, as if the lass confounded him.

  “Very well,” he said when it was clear she was not backing down. “Send him to the hall when you are done with him.” He spun and strode across the bailey, irritation falling off him like waves crashing ashore in a storm.

  “Why is he vexed with you?” Kenneth asked.

  “’Tis a difference of opinion about my future. I will not do as he thinks I should. He is vexed with my father for not pushing me harder, as well.” She shook her head, echoing Rab’s own gesture. “He is often vexed, and not just with me.” She cocked her head a little and looked at him out of the side of her eyes. “I think he enjoys it.” She wrinkled her nose, conveying her feelings about the man clearly. “Come with me.”

  Kenneth followed her, enjoying the sway of her skirts and the swing of her long braid of flaxen hair. Despite her dispute with Rab, she moved with ease through the bailey, smiling here, leaving a kind word in passing there, swinging a toddler up and around before setting him, squealing with delight, back on his feet to toddle after a black puppy. She erased the tension of Rab’s passing quickly and simply by bringing a smile to everyone. Clearly she was well loved by her clan. A whisper of melancholy rose within him again, that he and Drostan had lost that sense of belonging and family so young. With long habit he pushed it aside.

  Elspet stopped at the well that sat in the center of the bailey and helped a young lass pull up the bucket. She let the girl reach out to pull the bucket to the well wall, coaching her on the easiest way to manage the heavy thing. As he stood there, a sense of peace like he had never experienced filled him, expanding so rapidly he was momentarily concerned that his chest might break open with the force of it. And then it was gone, leaving behind a bemusing calm that was just as unfamiliar, almost as if a blessing had been bestowed upon him.

  “What makes you smile?” Elspet asked as she led him towards a stair that led from the bailey up to the main floor of the hall house.

  “Am I smiling? I suppose it is due to my great good fortune,” he replied, not wanting to embarrass himself with his whimsical thoughts of peace and blessings. “I am close to finding my brother and while I await his return, I am here.” He watched the bustling activity all around them, and the contented faces he saw here and there. “There is something about this place that creates an immediate sense of… I cannot say exactly what, only that…”

  Elspet stopped on the top stair and turned, her brow crinkled. “Have you not experienced the hospitality of a proper Highland clan before?”

  “I have.” He wanted to reach up and smooth the creases from her beautiful face, but he did not dare touch her. And not just because Rab had set very clear boundaries, but because he wanted to do it so badly he did not trust himself to be satisfied with just one fleeting touch. “But there is something very different about Dunlairig Castle.” He turned and pretended to study the bailey as if he might find the answer there, but really he just needed a moment to collect himself and start breathing once more.

  When he heard the door open, he turned back and found her watching him. Her eyes were on him but he had a sense she was not looking at him, but more through him. “Aye, there is something different, though most do not notice it as quickly as you.”

  “Will you not tell me what is so special about this place?”

  “’Tis not for me to tell,” she said, as her focus shifted back to him. She quickly made her way into the building and immediately turned left, taking a narrow turnstile stair to the upper floor. Once there, she opened a door to a large chamber that clearly served as sleeping quarters for many.

  “This is where you can sleep and store your things while you are here with us.”

  From what he could see of the various piles of belongings stacked against the walls, it housed both travelers and those of the castle. He set his pack between others, then followed Elspet back down the stair, past the door, and into the great hall.

  As they entered, Kenneth’s attention was drawn to the far end where several men stood about a table. They seemed to be discussing something of great import, given the serious expressions upon their faces. Rab was there, his feet planted and his arms again crossed over his broad chest. Kenneth wondered if he was still vexed with Elspet, or was now displeased with the two younger men.

  “I am delivering our guest into your care, Rab.” Elspet slowed as she neared the table.

  The older man gave an exaggerated sigh and nodded without looking at the woman. “We shall continue this later,” he said to the two younger men. “Uilliam, stay.”

  The taller of the two younger men said nothing but turned toward Elspet and Kenneth. His shaggy black hair seemed to go in every direction around his head and was a strange counterpoint to his close cropped beard. He nodded a greeting at both of them, but said nothing.

  Rab stepped around to the front of the table and stopped. “Uilliam will see to this one.” He spoke to Elspet dismissively as he indicated the black-haired man with a jab of his thumb.

  The disdain in the man’s voice raised the hairs on the back of Kenneth’s neck. Disrespect for the chief’s daughter and the chief’s guest did not fit with the impression he had formed of the MacAlpin.

  “I do not think Mistress Elspet deserves that tone.” He wanted to pitch his voice low, with just enough sharpness to make sure the man knew he meant to back up his words with actions if his rebuke was not heeded. But he was a guest here, so instead he kept his voice even and without the command he used as captain of the guard at Kilstrae. “You may blame me for the interruption, if you must blame someone.” Kenneth knew it wasn’t his place to reprimand the chief’s champion, but it wasn’t in his nature to let such a moment pass without correction.

  Rab’s face grew ruddy as he puffed up like a ptarmigan ruffling its feathers in the cold.

  “I shall take care of our guest,” Uilliam said at the same moment, stepping from behind the table now and striding past Rab before he could speak again. “Welcome to Dunlairig,” he said to Kenneth, slapping his shoulder hard enough to have pushed him off balance if he hadn’t braced himself against it. “You might want to think twice before putting my da in his place like that again,” he whispered, even as he grinned, and his eyes glittered with mirth.

  “I thank you.” Kenneth looked past Uilliam to Rab behind him. “Most here seem very welcoming.”

  “Aye,” Elspet said, joining them as they moved toward the door, “most are, but I warned you that Rab is easily vexed.”

  Uilliam actually snorted as he pushed the other two through the door ahead of him.

  “In case Rab did not convey the request from my father,” Elspet said to Uilliam, “our guest, Kenneth of Glasarnan, desires to be put to work while he bides here awaiting the return of his brother.”

  Uilliam nodded. “Such interesting news travels fast in a castle. The elusive Drostan is your kin.”

  Kenneth waited for a question but none were forthcoming. ’Twas fine with him not to have to defend his quest again.

  “Mum has asked that he not be assigned to guard duty nor to cleaning the privies,” Elspet said.

  Kenneth felt it necessary to offer the man some idea of what he could do, just as he had with the MacAlpin. “I have tended to weaponry. I can hunt. I can trap. I can fish. I am good with horses, and have minded cows and sheep in my youth. About the only thing I feel useless at is farming. I am not good with plants,” Kenneth said.

  “Fortunately for us,” Uilliam said, settling a thick arm around Elspet’s shoulders, and giving her a quick hug, as if he did so regularly, “Elspet has a knack with plants, so we will not need you in that capacity.” Uilliam was grinning at Elspet and for just a moment Kenneth was surprised by a quick slash of envy at the easy way between them.

  “My da said you deemed yourself too good to stand guard duty,” Uilliam continued, now opening the outer door and allowin
g Elspet to pass through to the landing.

  “Nay, I am not,” Kenneth said, stopping to stand face-to-face with Uilliam, so close their chests almost touched. “’Tis only that I find it exceedingly boring and I would rather be of better use to my hosts.”

  He waited to see how Uilliam would react, and when the man broke out into a grin again he slapped Kenneth on the shoulder, almost knocking him down the stairs.

  “Och, finally someone who shares my distaste of standing on a wall, bored for hours and hours!”

  Kenneth couldn’t help but laugh. “Exactly. My men at Kilstrae thought guard duty was easy. I find it excruciating.”

  “Well, then, we are of one mind. Come with me, Kenneth of Glasarnan. I have need of help with several things this day. I think they shall provide a service to the clan and meet the directions of the chief and his lady.”

  Without a look back, Uilliam passed him, rumbling down the bailey stair like a boulder let loose on a mountainside. “Are you coming?” he threw over his shoulder to Kenneth and Elspet.

  Elspet stopped at the bottom of the stair, allowing the two men to go about their business. She often found a sense of peace and belonging in this bailey. Today, she watched as the braw Kenneth moved through the bailey matching strides with Uilliam, as if they were used to walking together…friends already. There was no surprise there. Uilliam was genuinely liked by one and all in the clan. She had never had a more staunch friend.

  “Which one are you watching?” An unfamiliar voice pulled her from her reverie. The beautiful auburn-and-gold hair flowing to the woman’s waist was at odds with her travel worn dark green gown. Elspet was suddenly reminded that they had another guest.

  “Both. Neither.” Elspet laughed, discomfited as much by being caught watching them as by her stumbling answer. Changing the subject seemed best. “You are Brighde, aye?”