Chapter Thirty-Five
The next week was a buzz of activity that began with Fenella’s and Kennon’s wedding. Cairstine held Eoin’s hand as they stood outside the kirk and watched the couple exchange their vows before the two families entered the chapel for the private Mass. She wondered if she would celebrate with a wedding like Fenella’s or if it would be a simple vow exchange, since she and Eoin already handfasted. As if reading her mind, Eoin brushed back Cairstine’s hair and leaned toward her even though they were kneeling during the Mass. “Before we leave for Huntly, that will be us. I promise,mo chridhe,” Eoin whispered. Cairstine nodded before bowing her head in prayer.
Competitions and games filled most of the days. Ewan and Eoin tied for the footrace, Allyson and Cairstine cheering them on. Some grumbled that they rigged the race, so the inseparable twins didn’t have to name a winner. There were taunts that they’d done it to spare their sensitive feelings. Others laughed at the preposterous idea. While the twins were not competitive with one another about most things, feats of strength brought out a rivalry that developed during adolescence. It was well known to most in the Highlands.
Magnus Sinclair won every round of the caber toss, which came as a surprise to no one. He was renowned for his size and strength. Murmurs abounded that despite being in his twenties, the man kept growing each year. He was reported to be a giant among men, but he looked like little more than a lamb when he doted on his pregnant wife. There’d been uproarious laughter when Deirdre heard the rumors, and Magnus had to hold back his hissing, irate wife. Among the many things the Sinclair brothers were known for was their fiercely loyal wives, who never hesitated to come to their husbands’ defense, be it with a biting word or sharpened knife.
The other Sinclair brothers took first place in archery, swimming, and knife throwing. Between the Sinclairs and Gordons, there were few competitions for others to win. Cairstine suspected that the Sinclairs threw the other games, so clans besides them had a chance to win. Too many victories by one clan would have soured the already tenuous balance.
Alliances and feuds in the Highlands were more complicated than a spider’s web. One clan could be in accord with another, while that ally was bound to their enemy. At events where so many septs and branches of the same clan were present, old rivalries and slights came to the surface. Everyone was supposedly there to have fun and enjoy a reprieve from political squabbles, but invariably a new feud emerged each year. Very few were laid to rest.
These entangled relationships were best demonstrated by the Sinclairs, Mackays, Gunns, and Mackenzies. The Sinclairs, Mackays, and Gunns were all neighbors. While the Sinclairs risked a feud with the Mackays, both the Sinclairs and Mackays had once shared a tenuous peace with the Gunns. Tristan Mackay’s marriage to Mairghread Sinclair bound the two clans into an unbreakable alliance. When Callum Sinclair married Siùsan Mackenzie, the Mackenzies and Sinclairs formed an alliance that was flimsy because of the Mackenzies’ alliance with the Gunns. The Sinclairs barely tolerated either clan after they learned how neglectful Siùsan’s upbringing had been.
A battle between the Sinclairs and Gunns over Alexander’s wife, Brighde, made the rift with the Gunns irreparable despite the king’s intervention. While the Sinclairs and Sutherlands were at odds two generations ago, Liam Sinclair’s marriage to Kyla Sutherland became that of legends. Their love was so great that not only had Liam sworn off all women when he became a widower, the alliance between the two clans became the strongest in the Highlands.
Cairstine considered the alliance that now existed between the Grants and Gordons. She prayed that her marriage to Eoin would forge the same connection the Sinclairs had with the Mackays and Sutherlands. It was made from love and loyalty rather than wealth and position.
Cairstine watched as Eoin and Kieran MacLeod wrestled. They were among the finalists, and while Cairstine cheered on Eoin, she admitted to herself that she was uncertain who would come out the victor. The two men were evenly matched in size and skill, and both men were fiercely competitive. As other matches ended, the two men continued to grapple. In the end, it was called a tie to allow the event to move on. Cairstine stood beside Maude, who she’d pulled aside and apologized to. She’d confessed most of her story to Maude, and the woman was surprisingly understanding. Maude shared that she’d had a similar experience with a lad who was too aggressive in his pursuit. Her cousins had come to her rescue just as they did for Cairstine.
“Are you hungry?” Cairstine asked Eoin as he joined her where she’d stood watching his match.
“Always,” Eoin’s seductive grin made Cairstine’s stomach flutter. “Mayhap even for food this time. I don’t have another event this afternoon and neither do you. What say you we disappear for a few hours?”
Cairstine returned Eoin’s grin and nodded. She’d competed in several of the women’s games, taking first place in archery. Mairghread trounced every other competitor in the knife throwing. Tristan argued that they should allow her to compete with the men, so she might have a proper challenge. It was her brother, Callum, who most vociferously argued against it. He was the reigning champion and eventually became that year’s winner, but he refused to agree to Mairghread’s entry, openly admitting that he didn’t want to lose to his wee sister. After he won the men’s game, his sister publicly challenged him, and Cairstine thought Callum might cry for a moment. He’d taken the teasing good-naturedly when Mairghread threw a perfect score, beating Callum by one point. She watched as a dagger exchanged hands between Mairghread and Magnus while the other brothers gloated that Magnus had lost some bet to his sister.
“Where do you two think you’re going?” Andrew asked as Eoin and Cairstine emerged from the crowd. Andrew scowled and shook his head. “Oh no. You can take a dunk in the loch, but I won’t believe for a moment that you’re going into the keep only to refresh yourself, Eoin. I already had to chase your brother back out here.”
Cairstine blushed as she hid her face behind Eoin’s shoulder. “We’ll stay, Andrew. I promise,” Cairstine forced herself to look at her father-by-marriage. Eoin growled as it was his turn to scowl. Cairstine laughed as she stood on her toes, pulling Eoin’s arm to get him to lean to a height where she could kiss his cheek. “Let us enjoy the nooning with meat pies from the market.”
Eoin opened his mouth to disagree, but his stomach rumbled. Cairstine laughed once more and led him toward the stall where Eoin purchased four pies for himself and one for Cairstine. “Perhaps I was a wee peckish,” Eoin confessed as he finished the last one. When they finished eating, they walked through the market holding hands. They browsed, but Cairstine turned down Eoin’s offers of ribbons and combs. She argued she had too many still at court. It reminded Eoin that they needed to send her belongings to Huntly. As they ambled through the crowd, Cairstine strained to hear someone speaking. The voice was vaguely familiar at first, then a memory slammed to the forefront of her mind. She knew the voice. It was one she would never forget.
Cairstine spun around, her skirts swishing at her ankles. She tried to determine where the voice came from, who owned the sound of her nightmares. There were men everywhere, and she could no longer distinguish that one from the buzz of both men’s and women’s voices.
“What is it?” Eoin asked, concerned by Cairstine’s abrupt halt and the frantic look on her face as she searched their surroundings. “Cairrie?”
“He’s here,” she gasped.
“Where?” Eoin’s voice hardened. He needed no further explanation for him to understand Cairstine.
“I don’t know. I’m certain I heard his voice, but now I don’t know where it came from.” Eoin pulled Cairstine into his embrace as she trembled. “Can we go back, please? I want to go to our chamber. I don’t want to be here anymore, Eo.”
Eoin elbowed his way through the crowd, shooting his brother a look that told Ewan everything. He whispered in Allyson’s ear, and both couples hurried back inside the keep. Allyson eased Cairstine into a chair in Cairstine and Eoin’s chamber, pressing a chalice of wine into her hands while Ewan and Eoin stood outside in the passageway.
“I know it was six years ago, but who knows if the bastard will recognize her. The other three might be with him,” Eoin whispered to Ewan as he watched Cairstine and Allyson. “All Cairstine can remember is some red in their plaids. I don’t know if Bram or Alex or Magnus recognized them, but I need to know. I need to be able to protect Cairrie and knowing who the potential enemy is would help. Can you find Bram and send him to us? Tell him it’s urgent.”
Ewan nodded and disappeared down the stairs as Eoin went back into his chamber. Allyson was quick to excuse herself when Eoin came to Cairstine’s side. Allyson pulled the door shut, and when they heard the door click, Cairstine crumpled into tears. Eoin’s heart broke as he lifted his wife into his lap. She sobbed until she was so exhausted that she drifted to sleep in Eoin’s lap. They remained in their chamber for the rest of the day and night, Eoin only stepping out to speak to Bram.
It surprised Bram when Ewan approached him, but when whispered that Cairstine heardthatvoice, Bram didn’t hesitate to run back to the keep and up the stairs to the couple’s chamber. He knocked, and Eoin eased out of the chamber while Cairstine slept.
“She’s sleeping. It was too much for her,” Eoin explained. “I need to know, Bram, if you know who they were. Did you recognize their plaids?”
Bram shook his head. “The light was too dim under the trees to make it out. Whoever they were, they wore their hunting plaids nae the ceremonial they should’ve worn to the gathering. They wanted to blend in among the foliage. I dinna ken if they’d always intended to nab Lady Cairstine or if she was just their unwitting victim, but those lads had planned to attack some woman.”
“You were helping Cairstine. Do you think Alex or Magnus saw who they were?”
“Nay. They didna. I asked them later that night, but they had the same trouble I did. The pattern was too dark, and I could tell it was aulder wool and faded.”
“Lawless men?” Eoin asked, but Bram thought not.
