On A Highland Hill (Gunn Guardsmen) Page 7

  “Must you all make it sound like a death sentence? Aye, like you’re going to meet the executioner,” she said in a weak voice. “I won’t make us both miserable.”

  His heart thudded. They’d insulted her. Her pride was bruised and when a woman’s pride was involved there’d be hell to pay. Kenneth knew what that felt like because his pride had been bruised many a time, and he’d be damned if he’d be the cause of her affront.

  “I’m sorry, Elisa. We didn’t mean to make it sound that way. You don’t like Sean do you? If you would rather wed him …” Kenneth hoped not, because he’d be a fool for trying to rescue her from Sean.

  She clasped her hands in front of her and leaned against the boulder, looking distant. “Nay, I would rather not. He is … he is insufferable. But why would you sacrifice yourself for my safety? Are you all so honor-bound and willing to do whatever your laird bids you?”

  “Mayhap, we are. Aye, I vowed to protect him and the Gunn clan. And you’ll be safe on Gunn land after this day. I won’t let any harm to come to you.” Kenneth didn’t know what else to say.

  “And I’m supposed to want to wed you because you wish to protect me?”

  He nodded, and leaned against the rock next to her. He considered her question for a moment, tenseness coming over him. “There are worse reasons to wed. There’s something about you that I…” Kenneth leaned close. He didn’t realize he was going to kiss her until his lips found hers. His mouth hovered for a slight second before taking full possession of the sweetest lips he’d ever kissed.

  The softness of her lips moved against his. Kenneth didn’t mean to ravish her, but honest to God, that’s what he was about to do. The soft mewling sound she made deep in her throat hardened him and he wanted nothing more than to keep kissing her. He embraced her in his arms, feeling all of her curves cuddled next to his hardness. With his hands splayed on her lower back, he pulled her close. God, how she could kiss. He liked the way she tried to control him. His tongue melted with hers akin to a summer storm that wouldn’t let up. He wouldn’t allow her to shrink away when she pulled back.

  “Gracious, Kenneth, I … I don’t know what you think you were doing but …”

  Kenneth didn’t like that she flustered. He took a lock of her hair between his fingers, admiring the brightness and texture. He set the tress on her shoulder and let his hand rest upon it. The distraction seemed to settle her. Aye, she was a red-haired temptress.

  “Elisa, we need to get back. You will wed me, won’t you? I won’t have you harmed. And Grey won’t give up until you wed one of us. You must decide right now.” Kenneth hoped he’d gained her accord, but women weren’t so easy to read and he was uncertain.

  “If I have to wed one of you, then I am glad it will be you. But I make no promises to be a good wife, for I don’t know what is required.”

  He frowned. “Then that makes two of us, for I have no idea what is required of a husband. I will make no promises.”

  He took her hand and led her back to where Father Geoffrey waited impatiently. She ran to keep up with him, so Kenneth slowed his pace. He stopped short before the group and tugged her to stand by his side. No one said a word and watched eagerly as if something miraculous was happening.

  “Father, we’re ready. Let us finish it.” Kenneth took his tartan and wrapped their clasped hands together. He took a quick glance at his friends and not seeing any opposition, nodded.

  “We shall dispense with confession until I return. For I must hasten and don’t have time now. Kenneth, will you speak your vow?” Father Geoffrey made the sign of the cross and bowed his head. “Repeat after me.”

  “I, Kenneth McInnish of clan Gunn, take thee, Elisa, daughter of the clan MacQuarrie, to be my wedded wife. To have and hold from this day forward, for better or worse, in sickness and health, till death us do part, according to God’s holy ordinance, and thereto I plight thee my troth.”

  James, Sean, and Colm cheered until Grey gave them a stern look. Kenneth couldn’t bring himself to say the words love and cherish. He wouldn’t make a vow he couldn’t keep and the word love hadn’t ever crossed his lips. He’d be damned to declare it now.

  “Lass, your turn.” Father Geoffrey beamed happily, his eyes looking adoringly at her. “Repeat after me.”

  Kenneth thought she’d fall to the ground before she’d speak a word. She fiddled with her sleeve with her free hand and bit her lower lip. He moved closer and squeezed her hand. At that moment he wished they were alone so he could kiss her again.

  “I, Elisa of clan MacQuarrie, take thee, Kenneth McInnish for my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, according to God’s holy ordinance, and thereto I plight thee my troth.” Her voice didn’t waver one single bit during her affirmation.

  “May the Lord in his goodness strengthen your consent and fill you both with many blessings. What God has joined, men must not divide. Amen.” Father Geoffrey took a deep breath and looked relieved that it was over. “Grey, I’ll enter it in the book when I return. Now I must be off. Fare thee well all.” He hastened to his palfrey.

  Kenneth hadn’t moved. He unclothed their hands and pulled her close for a congratulatory kiss and to seal the pledge they’d made to each other. Similar to their prior kiss, once he got started, he couldn’t stop. He kept his lips on hers, letting them gently caress hers. As his arms surrounded her, he pulled her closer and sensed her submission when she set her arms around his waist.

  A low groan came from him and he pulled back. He felt the stares of his friends and laird. No sooner had they separated, they slapped his shoulders and head.

  “Go on without us. We’ll walk the rest of the way,” Kenneth said to the men. Their smiles were enough to madden him and so he glared, knowing it would only make them laugh.

  Grey gave a quick shove to his shoulder, to which Kenneth took as congratulations. “I think mayhap it is good that you both walk home. Alexander will have someone watching for our return and if we return with Elisa, he’ll be sure to know we found her. Be discreet when you enter the gate.”

  “We’ll take our time, Laird,” Kenneth said.

  “Aye, Kenneth, enjoy your fair walk.” Colm whistled a tune and laughed when Sean pushed him aside.

  “Don’t be stopping along the way,” Sean said. “… and dally too much.”

  “Aye, wait until the eve to bed your wife as a proper husband should.” James snorted his quip and hurriedly walked away before Kenneth could pummel him.

  Elisa gasped and turned a bright shade of red. “They’re akin to children.”

  “Pay them no mind. They like to jest.” Kenneth couldn’t help smiling inside at their banter. It had been a long time since any of them jested so openly, at least not since Greer died.

  The men rode off and Kenneth waited until they were a good distance ahead of them before he’d set off. He took her by the hand and held his horse’s reins in the other, and began the long walk down the hill. “Remember, no promises.”

  “I think it is too late, for we both made many promises this day. Slow down, I’m not a horse.”

  “Don’t start in already, Elisa. Just agree with your husband.” Kenneth could have laughed at that, but kept a serious mien, for he didn’t want her to get the wrong impression. Better she know now that he was not one of an easy nature. Elisa smiled at him in a way he’d never seen a woman do before.

  “Very well, Kenneth. I will agree with you … for now.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Never had she seen such a fine homestead. Along the outer wall flowers and plants alike decorated the insets of the fortification. Many banners waved above the turrets. As far as the eye could see were small cottages, most with their doors opened and countless clans’ people milling around. The clan’s crest of a raised fist holding a sword within a circle was posted on each door. She read: In Peace And War. Most people smiled and conversed with each other.
Elisa’s small village was nowhere near as beautiful or as welcoming as this place.

  Kenneth, even with his great stride, took his time and they arrived an hour later. The laird and his guardsmen seemed to be waiting for them by the gate. They spoke to a stout man who was giving a report, his voice was gruff and he appeared formidable. Kenneth held her hand and kept her behind him. After they reached the courtyard, each of the guardsmen and Kenneth handed their mounts over to several young lads.

  She ambled beside him, watching in wonder at everything they passed. It didn’t even occur to her to ask where she would stay and if she would reside with Kenneth. Did he even have a home? She sensed the immediate change overcome him when they walked through the gates. He was stiff now and not so endearing. His sullen mood returned. His wounded soul needed attendance, but first she’d get settled.

  Kenneth led her to a massive edifice that rose high in the sky. The structure was an enormous home. Although its color was worn and grayed, she could tell it wasn’t that old. Most of the building constructed from wood, and there were small parts of it made of stone.

  “Come inside.” Kenneth drew her behind him.

  Elisa stepped into the darkened entryway and followed him through a small hallway which led to a large hall. There she saw several maids setting dishes on the immense table in the center of the room. The smells within caused her stomach to grumble. At that moment, Elisa realized she was ravenous.

  “Come all. Nell, fetch us trenchers we’re hungry.” Grey shouted to a woman who stood at a smaller table by a wall, where foodstuffs were placed. “Where is my lady?”

  Elisa followed meekly behind Kenneth and only sat when he found a place where the two of them could sit together. She couldn’t raise her eyes and felt like an outsider. Verily she did not belong here. She imagined this was what the king’s residence looked like, so grand it appeared. The large candelabra over the center of the table boasted its presence and held at least twenty fat candles. She was awed by such wealth and more surprised because Laird Gunn didn’t present himself as being so prosperous.

  “Bree! I told ye, you are not to bring in dishes from the kitchens. Someone take that platter from her. Come, we have company and I want you to meet Elisa.” Grey took hold of his wife’s hand. “Elisa, this is my wife, Bree.”

  Elisa looked up from her lap to see a beautiful woman with hair as shining as the sun. The kindest eyes looked back at her. She noticed the scar that trailed from her chin to her temple. On most people it would have been hideous, but on this lady it blended with the rosiness of her cheeks. Elisa envisioned what such a wound had looked like and despaired at how she’d received it. The lady appeared as if she was ready to burst as large as her belly was.

  Elisa smiled and nodded a greeting. She rose and inclined her head. “It is very nice to meet you, Lady Gunn.”

  Bree motioned for her to sit. “Pray, don’t get up on my account. And please do call me Bree. Elisa, I am glad you are here. Welcome to our home. You must be tired from the journey and starved.”

  “Aye, I am a wee bit hungry. I haven’t eaten in days.”

  That remark caused a glare from Bree to Grey. “You didn’t feed her? I’m sorry, Elisa, they sometimes forget we women need to be fed.”

  Grey flinched. “I’d forgotten you hadn’t eaten at the farmstead, Elisa. We stopped at Gurtey’s on the way. Pile a good amount on her trencher, Kenneth.”

  Once the food was set in front her of, Elisa lost all sense of reality. She was sent to heaven with the delectable foodstuffs entering her mouth. As each piece of food entered, she moaned for it was delicious, unlike anything she’d ever tasted. The dish set in front of her was a pottage made from beans, oats, turnips and parsnips, and had been flavored with unknown spices. Her stomach rumbled a few times and yet she wasn’t sated for a good ten minutes. When she looked up at the table, all the men watched her including her lout of a husband.

  “I told you I was hungry. I hadn’t eaten since that night at the village and then I’d been too … preoccupied with wanting to eat,” she tried to explain. “Thus I must beg your forgiveness for it wasn’t ladylike of me to stuff my mouth in such a disrespectable manner.”

  “Grey, she’s just lovely and my, so mannerly. Elisa, we do understand. No need to apologize. I am glad you enjoyed the food. Now I must be off to give orders for tomorrow’s noon meal and I’ll have a room readied for Elisa and a bath sent. You must want to rest after such a journey.” Bree rose to exit, her movements slow and unsteady.

  Grey jumped from his seat and stopped her with a shout. “Halt! Turn and look at me. Aye, you need to listen, Bree. You’re in no condition to be running about the keep. Let Nell and the other ladies see to the chores. Give them a reason to be needed. Remember we discussed this.”

  “Aye, milady, you’re carrying two of ‘em by the look of you,” Colm said, which drew a disapproving look from the laird’s lady.

  “I’m surprised ye can stand, Bree, with the size of that bairn.” Sean laughed when Bree threw a hunk of bread at him.

  “Now look at what you made me do. Elisa will deem us unfit company. I’m sorry, Elisa. Don’t mind the guardsmen. They like to tease.” Bree stood by her husband’s chair and leaned on his shoulder.

  “That wasn’t very kind of them. I do believe you’re right for they do like to jest.” Elisa never heard people discussing pregnancy openly, especially in front of men. But these people seemed close and she wouldn’t judge them. “Milady, if you don’t mind. How far along are you?”

  Bree set her hands beneath her large belly and sat beside her husband. “I am not sure. I have faith he’ll be arriving any day now. Verily it is my hope. I’m certainly big enough.”

  “Are you seeing a matron or someone who knows about birthing? Have you a midwife or wet-nurse here?” Elisa tried to assess the stage of her pregnancy by her size, but she was larger than any expectant woman she’d ever encountered. Even those in their latter months were a mite smaller than this lady.

  “We do have a few healers here, but nay. Most people rely on my medicinal remedies so I haven’t talked with anyone about the birth. Do you know something about it?”

  Elisa nodded. “Aye, I do. I’ve been present at many births. If you deem you’re soon to deliver, you really should be taking as much rest as you can. Save your strength for the birthing. I do not need any special treatment. Besides, is it not for a husband to see to his wife’s needs?”

  With that, all the men nodded and looked at Kenneth. She thought she heard a few grunts. Arrogant lot they were, but she was trying to make a point by letting the lady know she didn’t need to ready any room for her.

  “Husband? Grey, who is she married to?”

  Elisa blushed when the lady looked around and her gaze finally landed on Kenneth. She drew a shocked gasp, but let out a small laugh before smiling.

  “Ah, really, Kenneth, for certain? I believe I will take that rest now. I’m surely hallucinating with some fever or some such malady. Elisa, pray accompany me to my chamber. I need to hear details.” Bree waited for Elisa to join her at the end of the table.

  “Elisa, my thanks,” Grey called out.

  Elisa linked arms with the lady and smiled. “I knew I could get you to agree to go to bed.”

  “I cannot believe you married Kenneth.”

  “I’m sure your husband will tell you the tale. I am a Gunn now and am under the clan’s protection. That’s all that matters.” Elisa helped the lady take the stairs to the upper chambers.

  “I see. And Kenneth had no say in the matter? I’d give up my kitchens for a week if I could have been there. I can’t image any one of them wanting to marry. They’ve all sworn never to … A fine matchmaker I’ve turned out to be.” Bree stopped outside her chamber and waited for her to say something.

  “I was supposed to wed Sean, but thankfully, Kenneth stepped forward.”

  Why Bree found that so humorous, Elisa wasn’t certain, but the lady held her stomach and la
ughed and laughed until she finally forced her into her chamber.

  “Now come and I shall get you settled in your bed.” Elisa led her to the bedding and removed her slippers. “Do you need assistance?”

  “Nay, I’ll just remove my overdress.”

  Elisa helped her remove it and then assisted her to settle upon the numerous pillows piled at the top of the bed. The chamber was quite nice and luxurious and even so it was homey and comfortable.

  “Do you have any chamomile? I can make you a drink to soothe your stomach and help you rest, my lady.” Elisa took her clothing and folded it neatly, before setting it on a trunk by the door.

  “Please, call me Bree. I should be caring for you. After all, you are our guest.” She tucked the covers around her. “How did you deduce that?”

  “I can always tell when someone is ailing. It’s a gift.”

  Bree sighed. “I didn’t want to cause Grey concern. He’s only just returned. I have been tired of late and my stomach is causing a bit of discomfort.”

  “Have you any pains yet? Have you leaked fluids?”

  Bree blushed. “I shouldn’t be embarrassed, should I? Nay, no pains and no fluid.”

  “Where can I find the chamomile? Or have you any other herbs I can use?” Elisa knew better than to argue with a pregnant woman, and so she smiled and decided not to reprimand her for not taking more rest.

  “Aye, go to the kitchens and speak to Gell. You’ll hear him long before you see him. He’ll give you whatever you need.”

  “Very well. Rest and I shall return shortly.” Elisa turned to leave when Bree called her back.

  “I do want to hear how you came to marry Kenneth. I’m very fond of him and think of him as a brother. You are very fortunate to have wed him.”