Chapter 6

© Copyright 2005 by Sara Keprensk



Aaron was now sure that Megan had not been acting when she struggled against him as he took her and her mother through the castle to the courtyard. She had been steadfastly refusing to do anything that he asked and wouldn’t accept any help from anyone. There were definitely shades of Annabeth in her.

“Lady Morris, can you do something?” he asked helplessly, grabbing hold of Megan’s reins as she, once again, tried to take her horse off in the opposite direction to the rest of them.

The older lady shook her head. “I’m afraid that I have very little influence over her, Annabeth was the only one who was really able to get Megan to do things she didn’t want to do or to change her mind about something or somebody. She has taken a disliking to the two of you and there’s absolutely nothing that I can do about it.” The tilt of her head and her straight back indicated that she didn’t like them either but that she was cooperating to ensure her own safety. “I can’t say that I ever troubled much with her myself. My husband and I only wanted children because they give you a certain dignity. But Megan was never the kind of child that one would wish to take into public so she stayed with her nursemaid while Annabeth came out with us. Annabeth didn’t seem to think that fair so devoted the rest of her time to Megan so Megan now trusts her completely.”

“Well something has to be done or we’ll never get to my Laird and your daughter.” Aaron pulled sharply on both sets of reins in his hands. “Okay, Lady Megan, if you’re not going to cooperate you’re going to have to ride with me.”

“I don’t want to ride with you. Leave me alone.” Megan pouted and then stuck her tongue out.

Aaron scowled at her. “I don’t want to ride with you either, as it happens, but I don’t have any choice and nor do you. I can assure you that the last thing I want to do is ride on the same horse as a spoiled child who kicks and screams more than half the time.”

“I am not a child.” Megan protested, hitting out at him as he lifted her effortlessly to sit in front of him.

“Then stop acting like one.” Aaron said calmly, nodding at Patrick and Lady Morris to start riding again. “If you’re going to act like a child, I will treat you like one. It’s about time that somebody did. It’s time you learned that not everything in life is going to go the way that you want it to. Deal with it.”

Megan stared up at him in open-mouthed shock. Aaron guessed that nobody had ever been so blunt and forceful with her before. He wasn’t sorry for his harsh tone as she was submissive for the first time since he had laid eyes on her but he was a bit sorry for the fear that had crept into her eyes.

He allowed his face to soften slightly into a small smile and then returned to his naturally stern expression, looking away from her to scan the landscape they were travelling over. Due to travelling with women they were now riding more slowly than he and Patrick had on the inward journey. He sighed. There was now no hope of them being back in Scotland by the evening.

* * * * * * * * * *

Robert shifted slightly in his saddle and sighed in relief as he saw his holding looming on the horizon. He had persuaded the baron to let him and his men ride on ahead to warn his people to prepare for a large group of guests and he was trying to gain as many minutes as he could. Of course, with Annabeth sleeping soundly in his arms he couldn’t go as fast as he would like.

He beckoned Alex and Graham. “Ride on ahead and ask Father McKenzie to wait for me in my chambers. Make sure that he doesn’t appear anywhere else before I have had a chance to speak to him. Oh, and you’d better ask Lily to prepare an extra bed in Aurelia’s room.”

The two men nodded and headed off at break-neck speed, pushing their mounts as hard as they could. Robert watched them as they became dots in the distance and then turned to see how much space was between him and the English men. He could barely see them. Obviously the baron was not in so much of a hurry now that he knew where his missing lady was.

Robert looked down at the beautiful face tilting up towards him. If it were possible, Annabeth looked even lovelier when she was asleep then when she was awake. Perhaps it was due to the fact that she didn’t scowl at him in her sleep.

For that reason he didn’t want to wake her up but he had promised. “Beth,” he said softly, brushing her hair away from her face and shaking her gently. “I think that you’ve slept long enough for the moment. We’re getting close to our destination.”

Annabeth blinked sleepily and stretched like a young cat. She frowned up at Robert, as if she couldn’t quite remember who he was. Then she groaned and sat up properly. “I’d forgotten all this palaver, I thought that I was still at home. Where are we and why did you wake me up? I thought that you said that I needed to sleep. I don’t like being woken up.”

“You said that you wanted me to wake you up before we arrived.” Robert was vastly amused by her just-woken-up demeanour. “We’ll be arriving shortly, I’ve sent the men on ahead to warn of your coming.” He left her to assume that he had sent Liam with Alex and Graham. As it happened, Liam was with the English men, acting as their guide to the holding. Owen was the only one of Robert’s warriors that had stayed with him. There was no way that Robert was about to admit to Annabeth that he had already met the baron and that the baron knew exactly where she was.

“Cheer up.” Annabeth smiled at him, prompting a smile from him in return. “I would have thought that you would be glad to be getting home. After all, once I get to your holding I can merge in with the crowds and the baron will never know that I was with you will he?”

* * * * * * * * * *

“Lady Megan, will you please let go of my horse’s mane.” Aaron tried not to shout but his patience was wearing thin. “You are going to come down here and you are not bringing half the poor animal’s hair with you.”

“I don’t want to go down there.” Megan said petulantly. “I want to stay here.”

“Maybe she likes your horse.” Patrick said in answer to Aaron’s pleading look.

“I like my horse but that doesn’t mean that I want to eat my dinner sitting on his back.” Aaron was almost exploding with the effort of remaining calm. Women could be infuriating for sure.

“I don’t want any dinner.” Megan said in the same tone as she had previously used.

Aaron threw his hands up in the air. “Mercy me, lass, is there anything about you that’s normal? You’ve just been starved for goodness’ sake. Of course you want some dinner.”

“You can’t tell me what I want.”

“I can and I will. Now are you going to cooperate and let me lift you down gently or do I have to pull you off my horse? It’s your choice, Megan.”

“I choose to stay up here.” Megan thrust her chin in the air and crossed her arms across her chest, releasing the horse’s mane and giving Aaron the opportunity he needed to haul her off from her perch. She tumbled into his arms and look up at him in wide-eyed fear, her face just inches from hers.

“Don’t look at me like that, Megan.” He said quietly. “I am not going to hurt you. You can be as ornery as you want and I still won’t hurt you. However, the journey will be more pleasant for both of us if you decide to do as I ask. I’m not exactly asking anything unreasonable, am I?”

Megan didn’t answer. She just lay there, looking up at him without blinking. The fear had left her eyes as soon as he had started speaking and had been replaced by a strong curiosity and awe. She lifted her hand and touched his cheek before pulling her hand away as if she had been burned. Aaron placed her feet on the ground but didn’t free her. He took her hand and lifted it, placing it on exactly the same spot on his cheek, holding it there while she tried to pull away. In a matter of seconds, the resistance had gone.

“I like you.” She said simply before turning away from him and searching for her food.

* * * * * * * * * *

Annabeth couldn’t help staring as they rode up to Robert’s holding. It was huge! It was even bigger than Fulford Castle and that was the largest place that Annabeth had seen before that moment. The Castle towered above her and she leant back against Robert, half-awed, half-scared by the size and solemnity of the building.

Robert laughed at the expression on her face and helped her down after dismounting himself. He and Owen handed the reins of their mounts to a large man, who had come running up as soon as they had arrived, and then led the way through the imposing entrance into the keep.

A small girl, with hair as dark as Robert’s, scampered down the main stairway and squealed as she saw Robert in the grand hall. “Papa.” She ran across the hall and threw herself into his arms. “You were away ever so many times this time Papa. I thought you had gone ever after. You said you wouldn’t be much times this time. You promised.”

The only word that Annabeth caught was ‘Papa’ and she stared at Robert in surprise and confusion. Hadn’t he said that he wasn’t married and that he was not a heathen?

Robert caught her dumbfounded look and guessed the reason for it. “Annabeth,” he said quietly. “This is Aurelia, my sister. Since our parents died, I have been the only father she has.”

Aurelia removed her thumb from her mouth, whence it had been ensconced as soon as she had finished talking. “Are you going to be my mama?” she asked pointedly, wriggling out of Robert’s arms and down to the floor.”

“No, I’m…”

“…going to look after you.” Robert cut Annabeth off and looked affectionately at the little girl. “Why don’t you take Lady Beth to your room and show her how big it is for such a little girl as you?”

“But…but you only just got back.” Aurelia’s little lip quivered and her eyes filled with tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. “I want to stay with you.”

“I have to go and talk to one of the big men.” Robert squatted down in front of her and dried her eyes with his handkerchief. “But, if you’re a good girl and take Lady Beth to your room and stay there, I’ll come and find you just as soon as I’ve finished. Ok?”

The tears disappeared instantly and a smile graced her face. She nodded and held out her hand to Annabeth. “Come on, Lady Beth, Papa has work to do.”

Annabeth took the tiny hand and followed Aurelia across the floor, almost running to keep up with the child’s light-hearted skipping. Her heart almost broke at the thought that the child had been left alone without parents for so long. How could Robert have stayed away so long when there was such an enchanting character waiting patiently for him to return? She twisted her head and glared at him, hoping that he understood what she was upset about. Surely the little girl, who seemed to be obedience itself, deserved more than that. Well, for the short time that she was at Robert’s holding, Annabeth would show the little girl the love that she herself had been denied when she was Aurelia’s age. She squeezed Aurelia’s hand as they climbed the stairs.

Robert watched them closely and winced at the look that Annabeth sent his way. She was obviously not happy at the discovery of Aurelia. Why should his having a sister bother her? He shook his head. Women! He would never understand them. But Annabeth was going to be even more upset when she discovered the misconception that he had given the baron.

He sighed heavily and then followed his two ‘girls’ up the stairs and entered his own chamber. His sigh turned to one of relief when he saw the figure in black robes standing quietly in the far corner.

“Never, in all my born days, have I ever been as glad to see any man as I am to see you now.” Robert said, striding across the room to take the Priest’s hand. “I’m in a wee bit of trouble, Father, and I’m not exactly sure what to do next.”

“Aye, I guessed there was trouble when your men asked me to stay here. It’s not every day that a priest gets to wait in his Laird’s own chamber. It’s about the lass that the men were talking about; I ken that. Have you something to confess to me, Laird?” Father McKenzie got straight to the point.

“Nothing of the kind that you’re thinking of.” Robert laughed. “The lass is as innocent now as she was when she joined us. But I must confess to leading a man to believe something that wasn’t quite the truth.”

“So it’s the ninth commandment that you have been breaking, is it?”

“Not exactly, Father, I never let a lie pass my lips but the meaning of the words could have been taken two ways and I rather counted on him taking the wrong one, which he did.” Robert ran his hands through his hair and looked straight at the priest. “He believes that I am married to the lass and he’s coming here to make sure that it wasn’t a lie. I’m afraid that you’re the one he wants to question.”

“I won’t lie for you, Laird.” Father McKenzie said stoutly.

“I don’t want you to lie.” Robert sighed. “I want your advice. What should I do?”

“The only thing that you can do to set things right.” The priest replied, as if the answer were obvious. “Make your lie into the truth. Marry the lass, and quickly if the man you lied to is coming here.”

“I can’t marry Annabeth.” Robert thought to bellow but realised that Annabeth would hear him if he did

“And why not?”

“Because the lass is betrothed, that’s why!”

“To whom?”

“The same man that is coming here to check that I am married.”

“Why did you tell her betrothed that she is married?” Father McKenzie asked, puzzled.

“Because she ran away from his beatings.”

“Beatings? Then you should definitely marry her.”

“I can’t, Father, she doesn’t like me and she has the temper of a wolf with an arrow in its leg.”

“In other words, you are scared of her.”

“I am not scared of anything, least of all a woman!” Robert scoffed.

The priest raised his eyebrows. “Then what were you thinking of when you said that you can’t marry her because she has a temper? I assumed you meant that you didn’t want to be on the receiving end.”

“If I go in there and ask Annabeth to marry me, she will erupt. The baron, who I am trying to keep her from, would hear her from wherever he may be and he will know that we are not married. Besides, I have Aurelia to think of, I don’t want her to witness a screaming match in her own home.”

“Talk to the lass somewhere else then or, better still, I’ll take the bairn for a lesson. The lass needs a mother as well as a father, Laird. If you’re thinking of Aurelia, you’ll be thinking that the lass you brought home could fill the child’s heart. Now get in there and tell the girl that you’re marrying her before I come up with a suitable discipline for lying to a priest.”

“I haven’t lied to you, Father.” Robert said in surprise.

“Nay, perhaps not, but I cannay be sure if you have or you haven’t. If you don’t face the lass I’ll be inclined to believe that the words ‘I am not scared of anything, least of all a woman’ are a well-spoken lie. If you cannay prove to me that that wasn’t a lie, I will have to discipline you for it.” The priest held his countenance firmly but Robert knew that all the little man wanted to do was laugh.

“I still find it hard to believe that I have so much influence over every man, woman and child in this clan and yet absolutely no authority with you at all.” Robert shook his head. “I sometimes wonder whether I should have been a priest.”

“The only authority over me is God.” The priest nodded to punctuate his statement. “But that’s an immense authority to be up against, Laird. Your people might answer to you, and you might answer to me but when the day comes we will every one of us answer to God.”

“So is marrying Annabeth something that God is telling me to do or something that Father McKenzie is telling me to do?”

“Ah Laird, you’re too intelligent for me. ‘Tis what I am telling you to do, though I would like to think that my words are the ones that the Laird Almighty would wish me to say to you under the circumstances.” Father McKenzie gave him a gentle push towards the door. “What makes you think that the lass will be angry, anyway? You have to be a better match than the man she’s running from. Didn’t you think of that, Laird?”

“I’d thought of it.” Robert said grimly. “If it came to choosing between us, I flatter myself that she would choose me above the baron. However, if she had a choice, she wouldn’t marry me either.”

“You’re making a catastrophe out of a wee muddle.” The priest shook his head. “You’ll probably make her the happiest of women.”

“I hope you’re ready for the happiest of women to bite my head off as soon as I have the words out of my mouth.” Robert remarked dryly, knowing that there was no way for him to dissuade the priest and also knowing that the old man would stick to his word about the discipline for lying if he didn’t do what he was told.

He stomped out of his chamber and strode into Aurelia’s room, not even bothering to knock. “Aurelia, go have your milk with Lily in the kitchen, Lady Beth and I have to talk.”

“You said that you would come to me.” Aurelia said accusingly, glaring at him, looking very much like him as she did so.

“I said that I would come when I finished talking didn’t I?” Robert waited for her nod. “Well, I haven’t finished yet and I need to borrow Lady Beth. I promise that I will come down to the kitchen the minute that my business is completed.”

Aurelia did not look happy but she had been taught to obey so she quietly left the room, leaving Annabeth alone with Robert and Father McKenzie, who had entered behind his Laird.

“Don’t you have something to say to the lass?” the priest prompted, grinning from ear to ear.

Robert scowled at him and then turned to his other companion. “Beth…”

“Yes Laird.” Annabeth looked at him expectantly when he paused.

He looked pleadingly at his priest but saw no mercy in the twinkling blue eyes. “We’re getting married!”


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