Chapter 17

Well, lass?" Rob said when Murie's hesitation outlasted his patience.

Reluctantly, she said, "What I said about our abilities is true. Mam says we do not possess strange powers but only strong instincts that women in our family have honed with each generation and passed on to their daughters."

"What does Andrew say?"

"That we do have reliable instincts but did not inherit them and won't pass them on. However, he trusts Dree and often looks to her to tell him if one of his men, or a visitor, is speaking the truth. He also trusted Mam when she told him she had ‘seen' Pharlain seize Arrochar and kill all of us. Although," she added, "he did not believe her until Pharlain had killed my three brothers. The oldest was just six."

Uncertain whether the shock he felt was due to the matter-of-fact way she spoke of Lady Aubrey's prophecy or hearing her say that Andrew had needed such a tragedy to make him believe her, Rob was silent. Had he not come to know her, he would have thought she was exaggerating those long-ago events. He knew now that, in general, she repeated exactly what she had heard.

She frowned a little and said, "I ken fine that my words upset you. Even so, you're giving me that look again. It feels as if two green swords are piercing into my head to reveal what I am thinking."

"That's nowt save your imagination running amok," he replied, knowing that "upset" was not the word to describe his emotions. Nevertheless… "Do you truly believe that your mother and Lina can see the future?"

"I believe they can sense when danger lies ahead, whatever form it may take, and that Lina can soothe angry people and persuade them even when they resist her. She insists that I could do that, too, if I tried. I did try to calm Dougal's ire whilst he held me captive, but I saw no indication that my efforts had any effect. Dree says Lina can do it because she is so placid herself that her serenity calms others. Lina denies that. She says she feels as if she is imposing calmness on an angry person. She is sure that she sometimes succeeded in calming Dougal. But when she tried it on Ian, he reacted badly. So did Mag when Dree showed him what she can do."

An image leaped instantly to Rob's mind of Ian's volatile temper erupting, as it so often did if someone irked him or crossed his will. Stifling an incipient bubble of laughter, he said, "I expect it sent Ian into a fury." Then, more thoughtfully, he added, "Mag doesn't erupt like Ian does, but I would not want him angry with me."

"Nor I," Murie said with feeling. "Mag is more like you that way, I think."

"Then you had better not try such a thing with me, lass."

"I won't," she said, suppressing a shudder. "You are as strong of mind, I think, as you are of body. I doubt that even Lina's ability would have much effect on you. You do not fly into the boughs the way Ian does. You just…"

She paused and looked up at him from under her lashes.

"Go on," he said softly. "What do I do?"

"In troth, I think you do more with that swordlike look of yours than most men can do by shouting, scolding, or employing more physical ways of retribution."

"If you hope to make me believe I can terrify you with a look—"

"Not terrify, exactly," she interjected. "You can make me feel much worse than my father does with his shouts and scolding, though."

"I expect that is only because you know that his scolding is usually all you need fear from him," he said.

She shook her head. "It is not that, Rob. I love Father, but I worry more about what you think of me. Perhaps it is because I know he loves me as fiercely as I love him and that he would never really hurt me. I don't mean to say that I fear you though, so you needn't give me that look, either, sir."

He was not aware of any look in particular that he had given her. Even so, he realized that her apparently unintended implication that he might "really hurt" her had shocked him more than her words about Andrew and her mother had.

Snuggling closer, she said, "Do you think I fear you? I promise you I do not. I'll admit that I try to avoid making you angry, because I don't like it when you are. Sithee, I have come to care about you and your feelings in a way quite different from the way I care about the other people in my life."

"You have, have you?"

She licked her lips and raised a fingertip to them. Her expression dared him to object, then softened. Her pupils had become enormous, hiding nearly all of the light blue color in them. She put her wet fingertip to his lips, then between them. His tongue touched a short, smooth nail. She had been taking better care of them.

His cock stirred then. Smiling, he kissed her finger and moved his free hand to her nearest breast. "Ah, lassie," he murmured, stroking downward, then under the covers to test her heat. "You do bewitch me. Shall we find out how much?" His mouth covered hers, so he heard only a soft, sensuous moan in response.

Her increasing skills in what followed delighted him.

Sated, limp, and wholly pleased with her husband, herself, and her marriage, Murie would have liked to linger much longer in bed. However, having decided to get an early start, Rob was impatient to be away.

"I want to get underway right after we break our fast," he said.

"I need only to dress, comb my hair, and eat," she assured him. "Prithee send for Fiona, though. She does not like to disturb us when she knows you are here."

"Do you want her to go with you to Inverness?" he asked, the idea apparently having just occurred to him.

Never having had a maidservant all to herself, it had not occurred to Murie that she might take Fiona on such a journey. "I would not know what to do with her," she admitted with dismay. "I shared Tibby with my sisters and Mam, and Mam will take her with us to Inverness, because Annie hates to travel. Moreover, I'll need to sort the rest of my things into those I'll take with us and those I want ready for us to bring back here. It will be easier just to tell Tibby what I want and where than to explain everything to Fiona. Annie will help, too."

Rob agreed and sent for Fiona and his own man, Hamish. Dressing quickly, they left Hamish to look after Rob's baggage and Fiona to collect the few items that Murie would take with her from Ardincaple, and descended to the hall.

Lady Euphemia awaited them at the high table and chatted amiably through the hasty meal. Immediately afterward, Rob bade his mother farewell and stepped off the dais to speak to two lads who were waiting for him there.

As the three men talked, Lady Euphemia murmured for Murie's ears alone, "I will miss you both, my dear. I think you are going to make our Robert a good wife. I have not seen him as happy as he is now since he was a boy."

Surprised by the compliment, Murie thanked her with a smile. Then, seizing the opportunity to express a thought she had kept to herself, she said, "I doubt that any feardie such as Elizabeth Napier seems to have been would have suited him or you, my lady. Even so, at the time, I expect—"

"At the time, my dear, I cared only for making strong alliances," Lady Euphemia said. "That was a necessity for our own security, to which I thought my beloved husband paid too little heed. Faith, I even tried to ally Robert to Duchess Isabella's youngest daughter. But that…" She paused, glancing again at Rob.

Murie said quietly, "I know, that would have been a mistake, madam. The duchess may be a Lennox and thus part of what used to be the most powerful family hereabouts, but she is also second Duchess of Albany. The House of Albany now being wholly out of favor with his grace, allying with her would be—"

"Dreadful, I know," Lady Euphemia assured her. "Isabella did cozen Jamie into letting her live at home, though, so I thought she would win him over. In troth, I wanted so much to help Robert get on in life, to make him understand how much I care about his future, that I fear I've made an enemy of mine own son, instead."

"Blethers," Murie said with a smile. "I ken fine that I should not speak so to you, but it is blethers all the same. You love Rob as much as I do, my lady."

Hearing her own words echo in her mind, Murie nearly gasped.

Euphemia was nodding, though. "You do love him, don't you," she said. "I think I must have seen that from the start. I can also see how deeply he cares for you, my dear. In any event, I swear to you, I have wished for some time now that I had never sought the Napier betrothal."

"Perhaps I ought not to say this either, madam, but I did hear nearly that same tale long ago. It was not a Border tale then, though."

"I think you mentioned that you had heard it before, aye," Euphemia said. "Different seanachies do often tell the same tales, though."

"They do," Murie agreed, keeping an eye on Rob and the two younger men. "What I should tell you now is that the story I heard before was almost the same, word for word. Sithee, I remember things just as I've heard them. I nearly said as much to Rob—about the two tales. But he lacks faith yet in my abilities, likely because my memory is unusual. Also, I'm years younger—"

"We women always seem ‘years younger' to our menfolk or just much less wise than they think they are," Lady Euphemia said dryly.

"I believe you," Murie said with a grin. "Even so, I want to gather more facts to support what I am thinking before I mention it to Rob. Tell me this, though, if you will. Did you or Lord MacAulay attend Elizabeth Napier's burial?"

"We were not invited to do so. Sithee, due to the scandal—she was a suicide, after all—they buried the poor lassie straightaway. They said nowt to us until we were preparing to visit them again. Then, of course, Lady Napier sent word to us."

"Were there other witnesses to Elizabeth's death?"

"She wrote only of their steward's shock when he saw the poor thing lying on the cobbles under the open tower window. Sakes, do you think someone killed her? It would have to have been Napier himself, since he says he saw her fling herself out."

"I did not mean to imply any such thing," Murie said. "I simply distrust an event so similar to one that I know took place in the northern Highlands. I am hopeful of learning more now that Rob is taking me with him to Inverness. At least one person who will be with her grace, the Queen, will likely know that other tale I heard. Also, I've heard that the King will have a few Border lords with him."

"Faith, I hope you don't mean to stir gossip, Muriella."

"I promise I won't," Murie said. "Sithee, many people—kinsmen and folks from other clans—know that I collect stories. I may learn more about the Napier tale from a Douglas or a Scott. If I don't learn anything new, that will be that, but Rob does feel guilty about what happened. I'd like to lay his guilt to rest if I can."

"His guilt is my fault," Euphemia said. "Had I not—"

"Prithee, madam, forgive me," Murie interjected with relief when Rob gestured impatiently. "Rob is beckoning. Let me just see what I can learn."

"I'm glad you came to us, Muriella," Euphemia said, opening her arms.

Murie went right into them and gave her good-mother a warm hug.

Rob stared at the two women, stunned.

Murie turned then and hurried off the dais to his side. "Prithee, sir, do not be vexed with my dallying," she said with a smile. "Since you were talking with those two men, I decided to talk a bit longer with your mam."

"I saw that, lass. You seem to have bewitched her, too," he added, putting an arm around her to urge her toward the stairway. "I was talking to Alf and Eamon, the running gillies I'll send to warn Jamie of what we learned from Sean Crombie. It seemed more sensible to give the lads clear instructions here than to do it on the boat or after we reach Tùr Meiloach. I want them to understand the importance of warning his grace before he nears Inverness Castle."

"How ever will they find him?" she asked as they neared the stair landing.

"They don't need to find him, because I'm sending them to Jamie's cousin Alex Stewart, the Earl of Mar, at Lochindorb Castle," he said. "If my lads run to Rothiemurchus—that's Mackintosh territory, friendly to Jamie—they can get directions and hospitality from the Mackintosh. Lochindorb lies less than a day north from there, and Alex has been Lord of the North longer than he's been an earl, so he'll know where Jamie is from the minute the royal party enters his domain and will send men to warn him. But come," he said, moving past her to go down the stairs ahead of her as courtesy required. "MacKell will have our galley ready by now, and I don't want to keep them waiting. I was surprised, though, to see how warmly my mother bade you farewell," he added, glancing back at her.

Murie's eyes danced. "I told you, I like her," she said. "She thinks I will make you a fine wife, although she did not think so when first we met."

"Don't set too much store by what she says now or ever, lass," he murmured. "She may like you for the time being, but she can change her mind in a trice if you disappoint her. When she does change, she does so swiftly and without warning."

Murie shook her head. "You do not listen to me, sir," she said. "I also told you that I can tell if aught that I say vexes her. Good sakes, I don't want to disappoint her any more than I want to upset you. I just wish you could have more faith in my abilities, although I ken fine that I have not yet proven them to you."

He gave her a quick hug but did not contradict her. He had seen for himself that her judgment was not always wise. Moreover, the likelihood that she could read his mother as easily as she claimed she could was slight at best.

His men had the galley loaded, and MacKell waited only until all passengers were aboard—including Rob's man, Hamish, and Scáthach—before giving his oarsmen orders to get underway. Minutes later, they were heading northward.

Their journey was uneventful, the weather sunny and warm, and they reached Tùr Meiloach's wharf shortly after midday. Andrew was again at the wharf to welcome them, and they found the rest of the family in the great hall, having delayed the midday meal until their arrival.

Lizzie ran to greet them and began at once to tell them how clever Wee Molly had been and how much Lizzie was enjoying her visit. To Murie's surprise, Lady Margaret was also still a guest at Tùr Meiloach. Being notoriously fond of her privacy, her ladyship rarely visited anyone for longer than two or three days before returning to her beloved Bannachra Tower in Glen Fruin.

"Liz, let us greet them, too," Lina said. Giving Murie a hug when Lizzie obligingly stepped aside, Lina added, "Ian will be here before you return from Inverness. His father and Alex Buchanan, bless them, will look after Dumbarton in his absence. I can scarcely wait to see him, although it has been wonderful to visit with everyone here."

"Has Father found his charters yet?" Murie asked her.

"If he has, he said naught to the rest of us," Lina said, watching as Andrena settled Wee Molly in a well-padded basket near enough the hearth for warmth, yet far enough away to protect the baby from flying sparks.

When Andrena moved to greet Murie, Molly began to whimper.

Scáthach, following at Rob's heels, turned at the sound and stepped with her usual grace toward the basket. Rob looked as if he might call her to heel, but Dree turned to him, smiled, and held up a hand, silencing him.

Scáthach looked into the basket, then lay down and curled herself around it so that she could see the baby's face and Wee Molly could see hers.

When the baby's whimpers stopped, Murie moved closer and saw that Molly's blue-eyed gaze had fixed in fascination on the dog.

Rob, evidently sensing Murie's presence, turned to her and said quietly, "She won't harm the bairn. But I'm gey surprised that your sister did not object."

"I can hear you, Rob MacAulay," Dree said with a laugh. "I ken fine that this beautiful animal of yours won't harm our Molly. Scáthach wants only to protect her, and since dogs move in and out of this hall as easily as people do, I can now relax my own vigil and know that none will get close enough to frighten my bairn."

"Mayhap it would be wiser to set Molly's basket on a table," Rob suggested.

Andrena shook her head. "Father warned me that you don't believe in our gifts, sir, but lest you have failed to notice, Molly shows no fear of Scáthach."

Surprised, Murie said, "Do you think Molly has inherited your gifts, Dree?"

Andrena shrugged. "It is too soon to know what she may or may not have inherited, but I can sense her even better than I sense you or Lina. I believe she senses things about me, too. We'll know more in time, of course. You need not look so skeptical, Master… but nay; it is ‘my lord' now, is it not? Forgive me, sir."

"No need," he said, "for it must be ‘Rob' to you now, Lady Andrena."

"Since we are all family now, Rob, Andrena is sufficient or just Dree."

Mag joined them then, putting an arm around his wife and looking fondly at their child. "Is our Molly not as beautiful as her mam?" he demanded of Rob.

"Certes, she is fortunate to have inherited Andrena's looks rather than yours," Rob retorted with a smile. "Do you go with us to Inverness?"

"Nay, I'm to stay and watch over Tùr Meiloach. Ian will be along in a sennight or so, though, and we'll be glad to see him again. Our visit to Dumbarton was gey short, because we thought we'd stay longer with Lina and Ian on our return from Ayrshire. Then Dree sensed Murie's distress, and we found Lina in the same state. So we all came home straightaway."

Rob stared at Mag as if he had not seen him before.

When a muscle twitched in Rob's cheek, Murie swiftly suppressed a smile.

"You seem surprised, Rob," Andrena said with false innocence.

Impatiently, Andrew said, "Are the lot o' ye planning tae eat, or no? This meat will soon be as cold as it were afore they roasted it an ye dinna sit down."

Rob collected his wits and turned to obey, but Mag stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Let the women go first," he said. "You looked a bit surprised just then, my lad. Did I say aught to distress you?"

Knowing his large friend well enough to be blunt, Rob said, "Do you truly believe that Andrena and her sisters can each sense when another is in danger?"

Grinning, Mag slid an arm around Rob's shoulder and said, "I have experienced their ability more than once, so you may be sure that I believe in it. I won't try to explain how they do it or what they sense, but when one of them tells me she kens a thing, I listen. So should you. But my aunt Margaret is smiling now and beckoning to us. As I recall, she has a fondness for you, so be sure to talk with her before you vanish again. By staying just overnight last time, and barely saying a word to her, you made me fear you might have unseated yourself from her high esteem—a place, I would remind you, that gey few can claim."

"We must hope her ladyship recalls that that occasion was also my wedding night," Rob replied mildly. "I will take care not to offend her further, though."

The two took their places at the table, where Rob stood next to Andrew, who was impatiently waiting to say the grace before meat. Conversation afterward proceeded desultorily.

Rob told Andrew all he had learned from Sean Crombie and explained his plan to send two MacAulay running gillies ahead to warn the King.

"A good notion," Andrew said. "Since ye're sending them to Lochindorb, I'll send one of me own lads to show them the safest route. They should set off in the morning, I think. We'll travel much the same route ourselves, so your lads can ride on to Inverness with Mar or all three lads can await us at Rothiemurchus."

Agreeing, Rob considered asking if Andrew had found his charters but decided to wait. Something in the older man's demeanor—perhaps no more than a lingering impatience—warned him that the answer would be no.

Murie, too, was keeping an eye on her father. Lady Margaret had insisted that "Lady MacAulay" take her "rightful place" between her mother and Margaret, thus putting Murie much closer to Andrew. She asked him no questions, though. If he had found his charters, she was sure that Lina and Dree would know it.

Instead, she devoted her attention to the ladies on either side of her. Her mother had given her a searching look as Murie approached the dais but was now smiling as they chatted. Lady Margaret, having satisfied herself that Murie had met Lady Euphemia and come away unscathed, gave her attention to her food and an occasional brief but polite exchange with Andrena, at her left.

When Lady Aubrey suggested that the ladies adjourn to the solar, Murie stood at once with her sisters and Lizzie.

Lady Margaret, however, said that she would join them anon, adding bluntly, "I want a word with your husband, Muriella. Nay, do not stiffen so. To my great surprise and satisfaction, you chose exceedingly well. I like that young man."

Mouth agape at such an unexpected compliment, Murie recalled that Rob had met her ladyship the year before when he and Ian escorted Lina, their mother, Lizzie, Margaret, and herself to Tùr Meiloach from Inch Galbraith. Rob had even walked beside Lady Margaret's horse on the dangerously steep downhill side of their pass, when Lady Margaret had refused to dismount. Perhaps, Murie thought, that good deed had been enough to win him his high place in her ladyship's esteem.

Rob's approach just then diverted her attention to him, only to see him look past her when Lady Margaret said, "I heard the dreadful news of your father's death, my lord. I would extend my condolences to your lady mother. Pray, sit down with me here for a time and tell me how she goes on."

"I would be honored, my lady," he said. Then to Murie, he added, "Tell your mam I'll be along soon, lass, and don't wander off in the meantime."

With an impish look, Murie said demurely, "As you wish, my lord."

"We'll see about that later," he replied, briefly holding her gaze.

Before she could make herself believe that he had said such a thing right in front of Lady Margaret, he took a seat on the stool that Dree had vacated and assured Lady Margaret that his mother would be grateful to hear from her.

Following her mother and sisters, Murie saw Andrew watching her, while Mag poured wine into his own goblet from a jug on the table. Mag looked toward the fireplace just then, where Andrena was picking up Wee Molly in her basket.

Scáthach stood beside them, wagging her tail.

Andrew, Murie noted when she looked at him again, was still eyeing her speculatively. "Did you want to speak to me, sir?" she asked.

He smiled. "I just like looking at ye, lassie," he said. "Ye look fine and happy. Despite your trials, I'd say the marriage ye got yourself into agrees with ye."

"It does, aye," she said. "Rob is a good husband, sir. He even let me watch his laird's court. It was gey interesting."

"Sit down then and tell me about it," he said, patting Lady Aubrey's stool.

Murie complied and soon realized that Mag was listening to her with as much interest as Andrew did. Both of them laughed to hear how Rob had dealt with Donnie's Fergus and his "murder" of Gib Cowen by falling off a cliff on him. She nearly told them that she had suggested the penalty Rob had ordered but decided that that part of the story should be his to tell, if anyone did.

When she had told them all she could, she said quietly to Andrew, "I'm thinking you have not yet found your charters, sir. It did occur to me, though, that they might turn up in the bolt hole."

Andrew's eyes widened. Then he frowned. "What bolt hole would that be?"

"Why, you always told us that any man of sense would have one, sir, so one must assume that you provided one for us here." When he did not deny it, she added, "Annie did say that you will find them when you need them."

"I won't need them for three more days," he said.

"Does anyone else know where the bolt hole is?" she asked.

"Ye'd still be supposing there were such a thing, to ask that question."

Murie's gaze shifted to meet Mag's. His curiosity remained evident. Looking again at Andrew, aware of Rob's and Lady Margaret's low voices behind her, she murmured, "Prithee, sir, if you have not told anyone and aught should happen to you, what good would that route do us? No man as wise as I know you are would risk letting someone trap us here with no way out. Someone else must know. Moreover, if you did not move the charters and Mam did not…"

She stopped there to let his imagination fill in the rest.

Andrew looked at Mag, but Mag gazed back solemnly, and silently.

Andrew grimaced and said ruefully, "I should have shown ye long ago, lad. Ian, too, come to that. Sithee, I meant to. I thought of it when Pharlain attacked, then again last summer at Bannachra. In troth, though, trusting others comes gey hard to me. I once trusted me cousin, Parlan Farlan, as I would trust m'self, until he stole my lands, murdered my sons, and threatened to kill my lady and m'self. Then he declared himself Pharlain after our ancestor and claimed my chiefdom, as well."

Mag murmured, "Does anyone else know where it is, sir?"

"Aye," Andrew said. "But summat could happen to that person, too, so I'll no tell ye who it be. What I'll do instead is show ye the way." He looked at Murie. "Ye're a wise lass, daughter, but a gey curious one who tends to spill too much of what she kens to others. Yon tale about Dougal last year were a dangerous thing."

"I know it was, sir," Murie said. "I would promise never to tell such a tale again, but I do want to become a seanachie. And sometimes a seanachie must tell the truth, no matter how dangerous it may be. Even so," she added when he and Mag both frowned, "one is never bound to reveal family secrets or those that involve other people's safety. By my troth, sir, I would never tell. I will understand if you do not trust me to keep my word, but what I would ask is that you show Rob now, too. He has the same right as Ian and Mag, I think, and he is completely trustworthy. I think Mag will agree with me about that."

"I do, sir," Mag said. "Also, since Murie has given her word, I'd accept it."

Andrew nodded. "I agree. In the old days, she would have gone a-searching without mentioning the matter to me. Her curiosity being what it is, I'd rather trust her no to tell anyone than trust her no to search more on her own."

Solemnly, Muriella said, "I'll swear not to do that, either, sir, if you like."

In response, Andrew stood and said, "Rob, lad, when your conversation with her ladyship comes to its natural end, I'd have a word with ye in me chamber."

"Aye, sir," Rob said, glancing at him.

"Come along now, lass," Andrew said, extending a hand to Murie.

Surprised but delighted and hopeful that he meant to share his secret with her as well as with the men, she could not help but wonder if he might escort her as far as his chamber only to send her on upstairs to the other women in the solar.