Thirty-Seven
Laurel woke warm and comfortable against Brodie’s side. He laid on his back, his wound away from her. Her head rested on his chest, and one of her legs had found its way between his. The bed beneath them was more comfortable than hers at Balnagown or Stirling. The sun already filtered in around the window hangings, and Laurel knew it must be close to midmorning. She had a moment’s panic when she realized Brodie still slept next to her, but when she tilted her head to look up at him, she found gray eyes watching her.
“I’m keeping ye,” Laurel mumbled as she tried to pull away and sit up. A brawny arm pulled her back down.
“I’m nae ready for ye to leave me.”
“Me to leave ye? Ye’re the one who must have a hundred things to do today. I have at least half that.”
“There are things I canna leave until tomorrow, but there are none that must be done this vera minute. Ye needed sleep, and I didna feel comfortable leaving ye alone.” Brodie saw the fear flash in Laurel’s eyes, and he realized his wording didn’t convey his thoughts. “I meant, I wasna comfortable leaving ye when I wasna sure how ye’d feel today. This is yer second morn here, and I havenae even introduced ye to most of the people ye had to work with yesterday. This isnae at all how I thought I would welcome ye here and help ye become Lady Campbell.”
“Mayhap, but it’s what the Lord gave us. Thank ye for being here when I woke. I admit I would have been vera sad to wake alone.”
“Laurie, I had to leave ye yesterday even though I didna want to. There will many more times in our life together when I must do the same thing for the same reason. But I dinna want to abandon ye to figure out life here. I will make the time to show ye around, to help ye get to know yer new home and yer new clan. Ye have yer brother and friend here for now, but I dinna want ye to be lonely when they leave. I ken Colina isnae a likely new friend, but there are women I think ye’d get along with. I’d introduce ye rather than leaving ye to find them on yer own.”
“Och, I love ye. Ye are a good husband. I canna think of another mon who would think aboot such things for his wife.”
“Laurie, that isnae true. Think of the ladies ye ken who married. Their husbands adore them just as I adore ye. I’m sure they all did things to help their wives. All but mayhap Padraig.”
Laurel’s face turned into a thundercloud, and Brodie wished to bite his tongue. “I’m nae angry at ye for mentioning Padraig. I just havenae moved past how much I loathe Myrna. I’m nae too keen on Padraig either. I ken he and Cairren are happy now, but I dinna like how things started between them. Probably because I feel guilty for nae telling Cairren more before she left court. Anyway, that isnae the point ye were trying to make. I dinna ken how their husbands treat them, but I can imagine it, and ye’re right.”
“If ye feel up to it, would ye go for a walk with me this afternoon?”
“I’d like that, bear. But will ye promise me something?”
“What do ye wish, Laurie?”
“Dinna go into the lists for at least two more days. I dinna want ye to rip yer stitches.” Laurel glanced down, embarrassed by her request. It seemed silly once she said it aloud. Brodie had been swinging a sword for at least thirty years—longer than she’d been alive—and likely riding out to fight for more than twenty. He didn’t need her telling him what to do.
“I admit I’m tempted to, but yer request speaks of common sense nae just concern. I willna train for a couple days. Besides, there will be plenty to deal with over the next few days.”
“How soon do ye think the king will demand ye return?”
“Och, that summons will be here in less than a sennight. Someone is already hying off to tell him what wickedness we did to them. He’ll dispatch a messenger the same day.”
Laurel nodded. She’d assumed the same thing. She didn’t revel in the idea of being left at Kilchurn so soon after she arrived, but she’d survived harder introductions to new ways of life. She worried about what would happen to Brodie while he was in Stirling. She jumped when Brodie’s hand slipped down to her bottom and gave it a quick squeeze.
“Unless ye dinna want to, I assumed ye’d be coming with me.”
“After the mess I caused on the way here? I didna think ye would want to travel with me again so soon.”
“That ye caused? Laurel, I wasna fighting ye on the battlefield yesterday. I fought the bluidy causes of this nightmare. Ye didna do aught but get stuck in the middle. Nelson and Matthew were looking for ways to cause trouble with me. They realized ye would be the best way to draw me into a fight. They did it because we were already feuding with the MacDougalls, and they allied with the Lamonts because we were feuding with them, too.”
“All the more reason I shouldnae travel. If I stay here, then I canna be used against ye.”
“Laurie, there are two reasons I wish ye to come. One is completely selfish, and one is unfortunate. I dinna want to miss ye. If ye come with me, then I can see ye, touch ye, talk to ye the whole time. But I’m also nae comfortable leaving ye here without kenning who caused yesterday’s incident. Even if I asked yer kin to remain, they dinna ken who to watch for. They dinna ken who is or isnae trustworthy. I dinna feel it’s safe. I hate admitting that when I want this to feel like yer home and yer clan. It angers and embarrasses me. I willna leave here if I canna be certain ye’re safe. But neither can I ignore a summons.”
“I feel the same way. If ye dinna mind me coming, I would rather be with ye, even if it means returning to Stirling so bluidy soon.”
“Then expect to leave here within a sennight.”
* * *
The hairs on Laurel’s nape rose again as she walked alongside Aggie as they made their way to the buttery. Three Campbell guards accompanied them. Laurel had already grown used to the men being her second shadow. Brodie tasked them as her personal guard the morning after he found her in the larder. That was three days earlier, and the men were polite and dutiful. They’d even fought not to laugh at some of Laurel’s more choice comments about gaining three wet nurses when she wasn’t even pregnant.
But even with the men in tow everywhere she went, she still had moments of inexplicable unease. She couldn’t pinpoint if she felt like someone watched her, or if she feared something was about to happen, or if it was something else entirely. It was unnerving and tiring. She hadn’t shared her feelings with anyone. She couldn’t articulate them clearly to her guards, she didn’t want to worry Brodie, and she didn’t want to accept that they might be accurate.
She found she felt safer outside the castle walls than inside. The afternoon following the battle, Laurel accompanied Brodie when he met with his dead warriors’ families. She’d begun her role as Lady Campbell by helping the clan through a crisis. She didn’t relish such tasks as Brodie’s, but she knew her presence served a purpose, that she could help people. She consoled women and children, then helped the widows and mothers work through what they would need now that at least one man in their life was gone. Brodie praised her in public and in private, impressed with her compassion and level-headedness. She relished the praise, even though she wished she could have earned it some other way. She looked forward to her daily visits to the village and the opportunity to meet more clan members. But she was happiest when she went riding with Brodie. They raced as they left the keep, but they returned with Brodie’s arms wrapped around Laurel as they shared a mount.
