Never Love a Highlander (McCabe Trilogy #3)(64)

“Now I’ll ask again. Who is with me?”

There was a long silence before one stepped forward.

“I am, Laird.”

Another moved from the crowd.

“And me, Laird.”

“Aye, I’m with you.”

Suddenly the entire crowd rumbled with agreement. The cries of “Aye!” echoed across the courtyard until the sound nearly deafened him.

Gannon came to stand beside Caelen, his grin wide as he clapped Caelen on the shoulder. But Caelen turned, looking for his wife in the madness.

She stood to the side, her smile as bright as the sun. She held up a fist and then pointed directly at Caelen. He motioned her over, suddenly eager to have her near.

She came at once, her skirts swinging as she made her way through the crowd. The men were solicitous of her, stepping out of her way. Some even offered their hand as she picked her way across the snow. Still others called for her to have caution now that she carried a babe.

She stopped in front of Caelen, her smile still wide and beautiful. Then she lifted her finger to wipe the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

“You bleed, husband.”

He pulled her to him, slid his hand behind her neck, and pressed his bloody mouth to hers. Around them, a roar went up and finally, finally, the McDonalds decided they had something to celebrate.

CHAPTER 27

“The men improve,” Sarah said as she and Rionna watched from the balcony above the courtyard.

“Aye, they do. They have dedication now. ’Tis good, for the time to fight draws near.”

She rubbed the slight swell of her belly as she spoke. Battle was inevitable, but it troubled her still. She worried for Caelen, for her clan, for Caelen’s family. She worried for the future of her babe.

“You’re frowning, lass. Are you feeling poorly? Perhaps you should lie down a spell and rest.”

Rionna shook her head. Caelen worried endlessly and fussed over her night and day. He’d undertaken the task of ensuring that she rested and never lifted a finger so as not to overexert herself. Unfortunately, his obsession had bled over to Sarah as well.

“Tell me, Sarah, did you rest endlessly when you were pregnant with your bairns?”

Sarah frowned. “There was work to be done, lass. Of course I didn’t lay around.”

Then as if realizing what she’d said, she scowled and leveled a stare at Rionna.

“I was not pregnant with the next laird nor was I a slight lass like yourself. Your husband worries. You should accommodate his request that you be at ease during your confinement.”

“Confinement is right,” Rionna muttered. “ ’Tis most ridiculous. You are right about one thing. There is work to be done and we need all the hands we can manage and yet I’m pushed aside and told to rest. It makes no sense. I am healthy. I haven’t even been ill, not one day. The tiredness left me after my third month.”

“The laird is a determined man. It won’t be me who goes against his decree. The whole clan knows of his wishes for you, lass, so it’s not just me who’ll be reminding you of your duty.”

“If I don’t have something to do soon, I’ll go daft. I cannot stay inside the keep day after day moving from one chair to the next. I’ll grow fat and lazy and then what will happen? Caelen will set me aside for a prettier, fitter wife.”

Sarah laughed. “Come now, lass, you won’t be pregnant forever.”

Caelen paused in his training and looked up as if knowing he’d find Rionna there watching. A slight smile lifted his lips and he nodded his acknowledgment to her. It gave her a ridiculous thrill every time he looked her way. Even though she despaired of the fact that he was oversolicitous, at the same time, she took great joy in the fact that he was so mindful of her well-being.

He may not admit that he had any soft feelings for her, but ’twas obvious he hadn’t hardened his heart to her.

“Soon you’ll give me the words I want, husband,” she whispered fiercely.

“What’s that you say, lass?” Sarah asked.

“ ’Tis nothing. I was but talking to myself.”

“Come away. ’Tis starting to snow.”

Rionna allowed Sarah to pull her back inside the keep and the two women walked down to the great hall so Rionna could warm herself by the fire.

Despite Rionna’s earlier misgivings about learning the managing of the keep, after Caelen’s insistence that she remain inside, she had decided she needed something to occupy her time, so many a day had been spent by the fire as Sarah went over Rionna’s duties as mistress.

As Rionna stood by the fire, her mind wandered, as it often did when she was left alone with her thoughts. One of her duties as mistress was to ensure the comfort of her husband and to see to his care as surely as he did to hers.

Of late, he’d fussed endlessly over her. He pampered her and coddled her until she was positive she was going to be thoroughly spoiled by the process of bearing a child. Perhaps ’twas his aim in order to gain her agreement to have more in the future.

She smiled at the thought. He wouldn’t have to do much convincing.

Still, it only seemed fair that she reciprocate.

Deciding that an evening of pampering was in order for her husband, she had one of the large tubs delivered to her chamber and directed the women to be on standby with buckets of hot water when her husband retired to their chamber.