Beloved Lies, Book 2 Page 13
The newly built Graham castle was more like a fortress than a place of lodging. It had high stone walls and four-story watch towers on four corners allowing the Graham guards to see well beyond the rolling hills. Wooden doors in a large archway appeared to be closed to strangers, but no guard stood outside to announce the MacGreagors. When Donnan looked up, the guard in the nearest tower had an arrow pointed directly at him. He dared not show his discomfort at the prospect of getting shot and simply waited.
Inch by inch, one of the doors began to open and a Graham guard came out. “Why does a MacGreagor come to the Grahams?” the guard shouted.
Donnan studied the situation. Perhaps shouting was a Graham custom or perhaps the guard was hard of hearing. Donnan could not decide which, but just in case it was a custom, he yelled back, “To make peace.” When the guard nodded and then opened the door for him, the MacGreagor laird dismounted.
“He will see but two of you,” said the guard. As Donnan neared, the man whispered. “You came on a good day. He is pleasant for a change.”
Donnan nodded for his men to stay behind and motioned for Berry to follow him. The narrow foyer was long and grew darker with each step, but at the end of it there was light. When they entered the Graham Great Hall, it was nearly as dark, and it took a moment for Donnan’s eyes to adjust. Soon, he realized they were in a large room and far from alone. The people sat in chairs and on the floor, and with not enough places to sit, men were forced to stand along the walls.
If the scowl on Laird Graham’s face implied he was having a pleasant day, Donnan hoped never to see an unpleasant one. Seated in a wide chair on a platform raised nearly a foot off the floor, Graham looked more like he fancied himself a king rather than a lowly laird. He was groomed well enough, and very colorfully so in reds, greens, and blues, although one of his red leggings had sprung a tear down the outside of his calf.
Every eye was on them and as soon as Donnan and Berry made their way down the center aisle to the platform, Donnan said, “I am...”
“I know who you are,” Graham bellowed.
Apparently, that pleased his audience, for several of them chuckled. Perplexed, Donnan glance behind him, but any inkling as to why they thought it funny was not forthcoming. “Why do they laugh at me?”
“They laugh because my guard shouted loud enough to give us warnin’.”
Donnan turned his attention back to Graham, “I thought him hard of hearin’.” Again the people laughed, and Donnan finally smiled with them.
“You may go,” Graham said. Soon, all the Graham followers started to file out of the room.
Save for three very fine swords mounted on the wall, the room lacked decorations, which Donnan found unusual, but then perhaps the keep was newer than he thought. There were several chairs and colorful pillows on the floor, which helped brighten the room some. Tables stored against the walls were likely brought forward at meal time, but there was no display of gold and silver on them. For a laird known for accepting bribes, Donnan found that unusual as well.
Laird Graham carefully looked Berry over and then turned his attention to Donnan. “Now, why have you come?”
“My brother asks forgiveness for...”
“Yes, yes, my daughter’s foot.”
“Is it broken?” Donnan asked.
“It is not, though it might have been.” He shifted his position a little, and then put the ankle of his right leg on the knee of his other, which made the split in his leggings even wider. “All shall be forgiven if you are willin’ to meet my demand.”
“Which is?” Donnan asked.
“What have you to offer?”
“Two colts newly weaned,” Donnan answered. He was not expecting it when someone slipped an arm around his. Alarmed, he jerked his arm away and nearly hit Graham’s daughter in the jaw with his elbow.
“My daughter, Moyra,” Graham announced.
“You are most handsome,” she whispered as she stroked Donnan’s arm.
“I am very married,” said he.
“A pity is that.” She left Donnan and headed straight for Berry. If she noticed his eyes growing larger, she did not let on.
Berry dare not move for fear of offending her father, but that did not keep him from watching every move she made through the corner of his eyes.
Moyra Graham was tall, but certainly not frail looking, although the tip of her nose was round instead of pointed. She had a rather becoming smile, but something in her eyes made many a man wary of her charms. On close examination, he could see a thin black ring around the outside of the blue in her eyes. It was mesmerizing as well as so unusual as to be a little frightening.
“Moyra is in want of a husband,” said Graham. “Are you married?”
Barry wanted desperately to lie, but he gulped instead and shook his head so slightly it was almost unnoticeable. She ran her hand down his arm, lifted his wrist, and then carefully examined his fingers. Next, she touched the scar on his face. When that happened it was all he could do to keep from pushing her away. “I am not in want of a wife,” he finally managed to mutter.
“And therefore, what?” Graham asked. “I see not the problem. You need not fret, she shall not harm you.” He thoughtfully stroked his whiskers the same way his daughter was now stroking the back of Berry’s hair. “Come to think on it, I might like a MacGreagor wife myself.”
“Do you not already have a wife?” Donnan asked.
“Three,” Graham said, “all passed, and now I am inclined to take a fourth. Perhaps the one who stepped on Moyra’s foot?” When he got no speedy answer, he put both feet on the floor as if he were about to stand up. “Shall you give her to me for wife or not?”
“I cannae. I offer two very fine Scottish colts instead and that is all.”
Graham frowned. “You would rather fight?”
“She is betrothed to my brother. If I do not fight you, I shall have to fight him.”
Graham slowly began to smile. “You fear your brother?”
“I should, I taught him how to fight.”
Graham laughed. “Indeed you should. Have the colts good teeth?”
“They do. They await your approval outside the castle wall.”
“I need not see them. I shall know soon enough if you have tricked me and if you have, then we shall fight.”
“Agreed,” said Donnan. Berry looked like he was about to pass out after having let Graham’s daughter paw him. Donnan thought that would be an end to his discussion with Graham, so for Berry’s sake, he turned to leave.
“My daughter wishes a MacGreagor husband,” Graham said again. “She has said as much often.” Graham nodded toward Berry who had yet to move. “Is he all you have to offer?”
Donnan stopped and turned back around. “I offer no lad, but has she not met several at the market?”
“She prefers to see them all at once and then choose,” Graham answered.
“All at once,” Donnan muttered more to himself than to the others. “Is it not odd for a lass to choose a husband in this manner?”
Graham shrugged. “Odd perhaps, but what can I do? She wants what she wants.”
“Tell me, if she chooses a MacGreagor husband and if the lad agrees, shall they live with the MacGreagors or the Grahams?”
“With the Grahams,” Moyra said. She stopped pawing Berry finally, and instead took hold of the sides of her skirt and started to twist her body from side to side.
“Twill not do. MacGreagor children grow up in the MacGreagor village.” Donnan slightly bowed. “We leave you now, for it shall be dark soon.” Once more, he turned and started back out of the room.
Graham was not going to give up that easy and stood up. “My daughter wishes to see your lads. You may expect us tomorrow.”
Donnan turned to face him one last time. “And if I do as you wish do you promise never to threaten to attack the MacGreagors again?”
It did not appear to be a very easy decision for Graham to make. He tipped his head to o
ne side as his eyes darted this way and that, and then tipped his head to the other side. “Two colts, a MacGreagor husband for my daughter and finally, a pleasin’ lass for me.”
“Your wives were not pleasin’?”
“They all suffered the same boldness,” Graham admitted.
“Which is?”
“They hated me.”
Donnan did not know if he should laugh or not, and Graham was not smiling. Even so, he could not help cracking a smile. “How fast can your daughter run?”
“What?” Graham asked.
“‘Tis important for a lass to outrun her husband.”
“Outrun him? Do you mean MacGreagors chase their wives?”
Donnan looked perplexed. “Grahams dinna?”
“Well...” Graham had no fast answer to that. At length, he said, “Occasionally, I suppose, when they are unruly.”
“Precisely. A MacGreagor wife must agree to do everythin’ her husband requires of her.”
“Everythin’?” Moyra asked. “Never have I heard of such a thing.”
“Never have you seen an unruly MacGreagor wife either.”
Graham stroked his beard again. “Perhaps a MacGreagor husband is not as pleasin’ as she thinks.”
“Agreed.” Donnan nodded, turned to leave, and held his breath hoping to hear no more unreasonable demands. At last, he and Berry escaped Graham’s Great Hall.
“I am in need of a bath,” Berry muttered as they walked down the dark foyer. “Pray say nothin’ of this to anyone.”
“You dinna wish the clan to know how she petted you?”
Berry harshly glared at his best friend. “I can still throw you, dinna forget.”
“Aye, and it would hurt far more now, than when we were younger.”
Once outside, he handed the rope to the two colts over to the guard and then mounted his horse. Just as peacefully, the MacGreagors walked their horses out of the Graham village, turned down the road, and headed home.
SAVE FOR A SLIGHT DEVIATION, the Kennedy village was on the way home, so Donnan stopped by to invite them to the feast. He had not been there since the fire, and burned out ruins were hard to look at. Over the generations, many were the times a Scottish village burned, be it a battle or lightning, and in time, the clan rebuilt. At least now, tools were stronger and the building was easier. Already, some of the charred remains had been removed from three of the cottages and new stone walls were being set in place. As soon as they rode into the courtyard, they stopped.
Busy sawing wood, the elder Laird Kennedy nodded to the man on the other end of the two-man saw, put his end down, wiped the sweat off his brow with a cloth, and tucked the cloth in his belt. “Come to beg a meal, have you?” he asked.
Donnan dismounted and handed his reins to Berry. “Nay, I come to invite you to one.”
“I accept. When?” Kennedy asked.
“Sunday noon.”
“Sunday? I shall starve to death by then.”
Donnan suddenly got serious. “Are you in need of food?”
“Well, we lost some of our crops, but we think to make it through winter well enough.”
Relieved, Donnan sighed. “Good. If you are in need...”
“I know who to come to. Tell me about this meal?”
“‘Tis our harvest feast. We mean to feed you, entertain you, and see if we can beat your lads at archery.”
Kennedy chuckled, “You have the futeball plague?”
“Aye. Do you not have it?”
“I wish I could say I do not, but I best not lie. The king forbids it, you know.”
“So I have heard. Will you come?” Donnan asked.
“There is nothin’ we need more than a day of rest.”
“Good.” Donnan intentionally turned his back to his men and whispered, “Can you not leave your best archers at home?”
Kennedy laughed out loud. “What bribe do you give for that?”
“You have heard?”
“Aye, Tavis came back from the market sayin’ Graham was up to his same trickery. I paid him twice last year.”
“Then it is just as I suspected.” Donnan put a hand on Kennedy’s back and walked him away even farther, so the other MacGreagors could not hear. “Did his daughter threaten to take a Kennedy husband?”
Laird Kennedy was genuinely surprised. “That is a new one. What did you tell him?”
“First I said she would have to live with us, and when that did not dissuade her, I asked how fast she could run.”
“Run?”
“Aye, for if she did not obey her MacGreagor husband, she best be able to outrun him.”
Laird Kennedy could not contain himself and laughed for fully half a minute.
ON HER WAY HOME, ANNELLA pondered the question Tavis put to her - why had she and Cullen not married yet and why was she so willing to wait? Cullen had his excuses, but why had she not pressed him? Furthermore, their conversations involved little more than trees and gossip. Did he think her too daft to understand the affairs of men?
There were plenty of places to build a cottage now that many were moving to town, and she knew just where she wanted hers to be – she had her heart set on the edge of the village so that the early morning sun could shine through her window. She wanted a stone hearth like her mother’s, with a ledge above it upon which to sprinkle spices so her home had a welcoming smell. She wanted two rooms and...and why had she and Cullen not spoken of this before?
In the glen, Annella slid down off her horse, removed the bridle, and sent the horse off to pasture for the night. Cullen was playing futeball, as usual, and probably would not notice she was home. Yet he did notice, and once more his smile forced all her worries away. Cullen did love her; of that much she was certain. He just needed more time to get his life in order.
IT WAS NEARLY DARK when Donnan and his men returned to the glen. He was not surprised to hear the whistles announcing him, but he was surprised when he approached the castle and found several of the clansmen waiting for him in the middle of the outer courtyard. None of them looked happy to see him, and the only woman among them was his wife.
“What has happened?” he asked.
“There came a red fox into the glen,” said Craig.
Donnan frowned. “‘Tis odd for a fox to...”
“We killed it,” Gordan interrupted.
“Why?”
“It walked a ways, fell, got up, walked, and fell again. We think ‘twas fallin’ rabid.”
“I know ‘twas,” said Eimhir. “It had the look of the devil in its eyes.”
Donnan dismounted and handed off his reins. “Was anyone bitten?”
Eimhir answered, “Nay, not that we know of.”
Laird MacGreagor went to stand beside his wife. “Have you checked all the children?”
“The lads are doin’ that now,” Craig answered. “We buried the fox.”
“Good. See that no lasses or children step outside a cottage in the night without a lad to protect them. I shall send men to search the woods in the mornin’.”
“Aye,” several of the men said at the same time.
For a time, no one spoke. Donnan was about to go inside when Cullen asked, “What of the Grahams?”
“Laird Graham took the bribe,” was all he said on that subject. Donnan motioned for Berry to come with him, took his worried wife’s hand, and walked with her into the castle.
“The lasses are beside themselves with fear. They fear lettin’ the children near the dogs or even the cats.”
“As well they should.”
Once inside the foyer, she turned to her husband. “I am frightened too. Will you not talk to Jamie? You know how...”
“Aye, I shall see that he dinna disobey,” Donnan answered. “The Kennedys have agreed to come to the feast.” That brought a smile to her face finally. He kissed her forehead, and followed Berry into the Great Hall, but before he closed the door, he heard Isabell say, “Jamie threw Kayleigh’s doll in a bucket of water.
The MacGreagor Great Hall seemed even darker than usual and although it was not that cold out, both men went to stand near the hearth to warm their hands.
“We’ve not seen rabies in months,” Berry muttered.
“True. In the mornin’, send ten lads into the woods to hunt for the den.”
“Aye.”
“Tell the rest to look for bites on the animals.” Donnan said nothing more for a time as he stared into the embers of the fire. “A rabid animal knows no fear save fire. Tell the lads to build small fires around the village and keep them burnin’ all night.”
Berry went to the table, poured both of them a goblet of ale and handed one to his laird. “Each time the clans suffer rabies the people die a hateful death.”
“Perhaps ‘tis not rabies.”
“What else could make a fox fall down?”
Donnan shook his head. “How is it we dinna see rabies for months and then suddenly ‘tis back? I have become as muddled as Kayleigh, constantly asking questions that have no answers.” Donnan went to his seat at the head of the table and buried his head in his hands. “We must warn the other clans.” He lifted his head and rubbed his tired eyes. “Tomorrow, send Cullen to the Swintons and the Kennedys. Surely, they shall spread the word to the other clans.”
“At least now we need not fight the Grahams.” Berry finally decided to sit down too. “You did well to dissuade Laird Graham. I dare not think what his daughter might have...”
“I thought you very brave, lettin’ her pet you that way.”
“Let her? How could I have done otherwise? I feared a battle the same as you.” Worry abruptly appeared in his expression. “You dinna mean to tell anyone, do you?”
“Nay, your secret is safe with me.” Donnan smiled at his friend’s relief. “‘Tis possible one of our lads shall think her bonnie. Odder things have happened before.”
“You mean like Flannagan and Lillian? How he managed to marry the most handsome lass of them all is beyond me.”