44. Chapter 44 - Ash

CHAPTER 44 - ASH

BALLOCH CASTLE - OCTOBER 1683

W e arrived near sunset at Balloch castle. The tense guards met us at the gate. Lochie spoke to a man there, and then we were passed through to the middle of the courtyard. He helped me down from Finny and quickly loosened our bag from the saddle and passed our horse to the stableboy.

Then we were shown up to a room.

Lochie said, “I need tae leave ye here, Ash, while I go speak tae the Earl, explain why we are here, and... ye will be alright, we will get fed as soon as this part is done.”

“What are you going to tell him?”

He grinned. “I have nae idea — who am I? The young brother of Magnus, he is verra young at this time. I canna be the ward of Lady Mairead, she must be verra young as well…” He stopped, “Dost ye think m’father might be here?”

“Who is that?”

He blinked looking at a far off wall. “Donnan... I am not certain if he ever lived here… nae one speaks on him much.” He shook his head, then smoothed down his coat. “Dost I look good? I am not prepared tae meet him.”

“You look good. Yeah, you look good enough to meet him. Did you ever know your father?”

He shook his head. “I was raised at Dunscaith, the closest person I ever had tae a father was Auld Man Lister. He was an arse, he trained me tae be a warrior by takin’ away everything I cared about.” He scowled. “Then when I turned against him, he told me it dinna much matter, he told me I was useless, worthless. Dost ye ken, Ash, tis verra hard tae hear the man who raised ye call ye useless? Tis hard tae bear.”

I said, “That sounds awful. But... and I know I’m new around here, but I think you might say Magnus is a father figure for you.”

He nodded. “Aye, and Fraoch, tis why I am fiercely loyal. They haena once called me useless.” He chuckled. “Well, if they did, they dinna mean it. I am a young man, sometimes I need tae be told tae grow up.”

I smiled. “I think you do a good job of taking care of me. If you weren’t with me I would have already died twelve different times.”

He joked, “At least . Ye were in the military? What on earth did they teach ye? It dinna involve how tae get through the Ancient Scottish countryside. Seems they lacked foresight.”

I shrugged. “The United States isn’t planning on going to war with Ancient Scotland any time soon.”

He said, “Lack of foresight and imagination, speaking of, I must go speak tae the Earl.”

I adjusted his coat shoulders, and wiped a smudge off his cheek. “A little rumpled, like your last good rest was a while ago, but… I think you’ll do well. What’s your end goal?”

“Tae convince him I am a laird who he wants tae keep comfortable. Magnus told me tae hae yer way against the Earl ye must wave money at him.”

“We have enough money?”

“Aye.”

“Good,” I grinned. “Go convince him you’re a lord. I’ll get cleaned up to pretend I’m a lady.”

He left the room and I washed my hands and arms, ran a wet rag over myself, and smoothed down my hair. There were no mirrors in the room, so I had no idea how I looked.

I assumed it was not my usual level and my pits smelled gross. Luckily for me there was a general reek of everything — dust and must and smoke.

Thick.

I sat in the only chair and waited for my husband to return.

In the past few weeks I had passed so many hours of sitting quietly with nothing to do — like living in the dark ages, I chuckled to myself.

Then the door opened and Lochinvar strode in with a smile. A lady’s maid followed him, carrying a dress for me.

I said, “It must have gone well!”

“Aye, I was persuasive.” He bowed. “I will stand in the hall while ye are dressed.”

Somehow I had managed to get a little luxury from his one meeting. I was awfully proud of him. I put my arms out, oddly growing used to letting other people dress me.

I pretended to be a lady, but my stomach growled loudly.

The maid bit her lip to keep from laughing.

I would need to be fed soon.

Finally I was done: I was much cleaner. My bodice was tight, the fabric heavy, the stitch work was fine. My sleeves were full and puffy and my skirts were wide. My hair was pinned back with a tiny twist to hide that it was so short.

Even with the embroidery on the sleeve edges though, I could tell the dress was plain. Especially compared to some of the fancy dresses I had seen Lady Mairead, Lizbeth, and Kaitlyn wearing in the... when had that been? The eighteenth century?

This was the seventeenth century. That might explain the plainness, or more likely I was given the basic model.

I had perfume spritzed on me and I was ready.

Lochie entered and stopped still. “Och, ye are beautiful, Ashy, m’wife.”

I grinned. “Did you just call me Ashy?”

He ran a hand through his hair. “Aye, tis short for Ash of the Tree of life.”

I said, “Good. I like that. Now, you must dress, fast, because I’m starving.”

I turned my back on him, taking furtive glances, while he washed and dressed. A fine form, total hotness.

By the time he had dressed for dinner I was excited, hot, fanning myself.

He ran his hands through his hair again and put out an elbow. I placed my hand on his sleeve, and he led me down to the Great Hall.

We were seated at the main table, pretty far down from the Earl of Breadalbane, but it was nerve-racking anyway. The Earl was opulent, wearing a really high wig, and had rouge on his cheeks. His clothes were colored in gold and cream, he wore a high collar with lace. Everyone was exquisite looking, all the men were rouged, wearing long curly wigs, except Lochinvar who was fresh-faced, wearing his natural red hair tied back with a piece of lace. Lochie and I definitely looked like the poor relations, except he was very handsome. The most handsome man in the room, by far.

Lochie held out the chair for me. I sat. He whispered, “Ye are the most beautiful woman in the Great Hall.”

I blushed.

Then I recognized Lady Mairead seated near the Earl. She was much younger, early twenties, but it was unmistakable, she was beautiful and had the same haughty lift to her chin. Her eyes swept the table and landed on Lochinvar and me. Her eyes narrowed, then she quickly looked away.

Lochinvar whispered, “We must be careful, she canna ken anythin’.”

We were served our meal and I glanced around to make sure I mimicked the manners of the high-born people at the table. I did my best, enjoying the wine and the delicious food.

We mostly listened, as casual conversation was made at the high end of the table. Then I overheard the Earl say, “...ye ought tae consider him, Mairead, Young Magnus needs the name...”

Lochinvar sprayed his ale, then coughed to try to cover it up.

He wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin and said to everyone staring, “M’apologies, I drank up instead of down.”

Lady Mairead narrowed her eyes again. Then addressed the Earl. “Ye ken, I am not interested in marrying again. That is the end of it. Magnus has a name. His father is Donnan. I winna hear another word.”

The Earl tossed down his napkin, irritated.

Lady Mairead raised her chin.

Then she turned to our end of the table and looked directly at Lochinvar. “I am Lady Mairead, ye look familiar. How do I know ye?”

“Nae, I daena believe we hae met.”

“Ye hae a verra familiar look about yer eyes, ye remind me of someone, dost ye ken a man named Donnan?”

He shook his head. “Nae, Lady Mairead.” He shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

She sipped from her wine. “Ye are a Campbell?”

“Aye, Lady Mairead.”

Then she set her sights on me. “And yer lands are...?”

I stammered. “Um…Florida…?”

“The New World? Are ye a Spaniard?”

“No, um...” I said, “My last name is MacNeil.”

From the corner of my eye I saw Lochinvar bite his lip.

The Earl said, “Dost ye ken Neil Og MacNeil? I met him in Edinburgh last summer.”

“Neil… no, I don’t know... not certain.” Everyone was staring, I should have been more careful, but I decided that the best way to get the attention off was to dig the hole deeper. “My father’s name is Tom MacNeil, maybe you met him at... um... he likes to golf...?”

“Golf! Och aye, I love tae golf. I play whenever I am at Stirling.”

Lady Mairead leaned forward. “Ye hae a verra interesting accent, does everyone speak like that from the New World?”

I nodded, but was uncertain what to say so I mumbled, “Yes.”

“And how much land does yer family hae and what is their primary source of income?”

I said, “A great deal of... um... land, they now spend most of their time in a place called, um, North Carolina...”

She said, “I hae just heard of the naming of Carolina, fascinating — I heard twas a wilderness though, and ye seem tae hae fine manners, how does such a fine lady hail from Carolina?”

“I... um....”

“Yer father must hae a great deal of wealth tae live in the New World with his young daughter.”

The Earl asked, “Why would ye think so, Mairead?”

“Because ye must hae wealth tae hae safety.” She all but rolled her eyes. “Ye hold yer wealth, brother, and are safe because of the strength of yer walls, and the men who are loyal tae ye. Everyone kens it.”

She turned to me, blinking, waiting for an answer.

I said, “He was... I mean, is a doctor.”

She blinked some more, then her mouth drew down. “A physician? A physician who went tae the New World — whatever on earth for?”

I smiled. “The beaches?”

She continued blinking.

Lochie said, “I hae seen the beaches of the New World, they are verra beautiful, Lady Mairead. Ye can stand on the sand and look across the ocean and ye ken there is Scotland on the other end of the water. Tis thrilling. The sky is always blue, and there are riches beyond yer imagination.”

She said, “Really? Och, it does sound lovely, is the sea voyage verra grueling?”

Lochinvar nodded. “The vessels are harrowing, the voyage is terrible, but tis worth it for the food.”

She leaned back in her chair. “Dost they hae… I believe tis called ‘chocolate’?”

I nodded. “They have wonderful chocolate where I come from, my favorite is a chocolate bar with salted caramel.”

“Someday I would like tae try that.”

Her attention was drawn down to the Earl’s end of the table, and I spoke to Lochie in whispers, “Phew, I had no idea what to say.”

He said, “Aye, twas difficult.”

“It was.”

We finished our meal and I began eating my dessert. He whispered, “My wife, ye ought tae eat quickly, we need tae return tae our room.”

I said, “Aye, m’laird, that sounds perfect.”

He raised his brow. “What sounds perfect? I dinna even mention what we would do in the room.”

I smiled and batted my eyes. “Oh I know what we will do in the room.”

He said, “Och, yer smile is the undoin’ of me, I canna look or I winna make it tae the room. Even though we are stuck, I am verra glad we were married first, or we would be discussin’ right now where I would be sleepin’. I daena think I could bear it.”

“I am very hot for you, I would be trying to talk you into sleeping on me or under me…”

“Lady Ash would be drawin’ me intae a sin?”

I sighed. “Yes, I would, because I would totally regret putting you off — I did totally regret it, though I’m glad we are married now. And relieved I didn’t need to steal a time machine and go back to that moment in Balloch when I told you that the thumb oath didn’t count.”

“What would ye say tae yerself?”

“I would tell myself to hush up.”

“I told ye, I told ye ye were causing trouble where it dinna need tae happen.”

“Well, I was sure I was right, it’s very hard to turn me from an opinion once I believe it is rightly made. One of my drawbacks, I’m glad you married me before you got to know so many of my drawbacks.”

“Och, ye are opinionated… ye are certain of yerself, these are not drawbacks. I tell ye, Ashy, the men of m’clan are always tellin’ me, ‘Lochie, ye canna be such a braggart, tis causin’ trouble.’ But I tell them ‘It is better tae be certain than uncertain.’ I hae confidence, so do ye, I winna hold it against ye.”

“You say that but I haven’t argued with you about anything yet.”

“Ye argued with me about gettin’ married! Ye won the argument! I had tae live with the consequences of it! I had tae shift time tae marry ye in a medieval church in front of a king, och nae, I think we hae argued plenty.”

“True. And I suppose you still like me.”

“Aye, I do, verra much. I am verra glad I winna hae tae sleep on the floor.”

“That must have been really uncomfortable.”

He chuckled. “Twas torturous. Hae ye seen yer face when ye sleep, Ashy? Ye are the most beautiful thing I hae ever seen, tae hae ye within reach, but telling me I couldna touch ye, drove me senseless…”

I said, “Then we better get to it.”

He grinned, asked permission of the Earl that we leave, then, once granted, he stood, pulled out my chair so I could stand, and said his goodbye to the Earl and his guests. We left for our room.