“Now ye just soak a bit while I take the evidence of yer virtue lost to yer grandsire,” she told her mistress before she bustled out, leaving Maggie in the tub.
Returning to her mistress’s bedchamber, Grizel pulled back the coverlet and stared down at the stained bed linen. Nodding with satisfaction, she pulled it from the bed. Then she hurried down to the hall, the sheet gathered to her ample bosom. Dugald Kerr was still seated at the high board. He was engaged in conversation with Maggie’s new husband. Grizel stepped before the board. “My lord,” she said to the laird, curtsying.
Dugald Kerr looked up.
Grizel flung open the sheet to reveal the bloodstain.
The old laird looked, nodded, and then said, “Have Clennon Kerr fly it from the battlements, and tell my granddaughter she has done well.”
Grizel curtsied again. “Aye, my lord.” Then gathering the linen back up, she left the hall.
“She was braw,” Fingal Stewart told the laird.
Dugald Kerr nodded. “Aye, she’s always been a brave lass.” Then he looked closely at the younger man. “Ye like her, don’t ye?”
“Aye, I do,” Fingal answered without any hesitation. “She makes me laugh with that sharp tongue of hers. She has no fear of speaking her mind.”
“That’s why I let her have her way in this matter of marriage,” the laird responded. “Maggie has always known what she wants. I suspect if the king hadn’t sent ye, and ye had been a lesser man, my granddaughter would still be a maid.”
“If the king had sent another?” Fingal asked, curious as to what the laird would say to his query.
“She would have eventually killed him rather than wed him,” the old laird said bluntly. “Ye gained her respect quickly, but for the honor of the Kerrs, she had ye meet the challenge she had set forth for all of her suitors. And that has gained ye credibility with our neighbors, particularly as ye beat her.”
“We were equal in both races,” Fingal said, “and she would not have given up in the swordplay had ye not declared me the victor. I cannot say with complete honesty that I overcame her. I am frankly astounded at her skills.”
“Ye disarmed her fairly,” Dugald Kerr said. “She is a braw lass, Fingal, but in truth she could hardly stand any longer, let alone wield her claymore. My judgment was a fair one. Maggie knew it too, for if she had disagreed with me, she would have shouted it to the high heavens for all of Scotland, and not just the Borders, to hear.”
Fin laughed. “Aye,” he agreed with the older man, “she would have.”
Upstairs, Maggie soaked in her tub. The water felt wonderful, and the wretched soreness she had felt in her muscles the past night was almost gone as was the soreness between her thighs she had awakened with this morning. Would she be sore each time they coupled? He had promised her there would be no more pain after the first time. Well, she would learn if it was truth tonight, for he had said they would sleep together again each night until she was with child. It was fair.
When she went down to the hall, she found her grandsire alone. “Where is Fin?” she asked him. “And please tell me the Netherdale Kerrs are gone.”
Dugald Kerr chuckled. “Aye, at first light, and Edmund complaining as they departed. As for yer husband, he’s gone out to make certain the men in the watchtowers have what they need to weather the snowstorm old Tam says is coming.”
“How long ago did he leave?” Maggie wanted to know.
“Too long for ye to catch up with him,” the laird said. “The hall is yer province now, lass.”
“Ye know if I don’t get out of doors I will suffer for it, Grandsire,” Maggie said reasonably. “Once the storm sets in, I will be forced to remain in the hall until it passes.”
Dugald Kerr sighed deeply. “Margaret Jean,” he said, and she knew when he called her by her full Christian name that it was serious. “The Aisir nam Breug is no longer yers to watch over. That’s what yer husband is for, lass. Let him do his duty so he may gain the respect of the men who serve him now. Dinna go trailing after him. If ye would ride out, take a man with ye, but stay away from the pass. Go out and visit the far cottages. ’Tis yer place to see to our clan folk now as the lady of Brae Aisir.”
Maggie thought a long moment. As much as she hated to admit to it, to face it, her grandsire was right. The Aisir nam Breug was Fin’s obligation now, not hers. A sense of great loss overcame her. She had known with a part of her being that this day would come, yet she had not expected it to really happen. But it had, and she would have to make a new place for herself in the scheme of things. “Yer right, Grandsire,” she said. “I’ll ride out to the far cottages, and aye, I’ll take a few of the men with me.”
“ ’Tis hard, Maggie lass; I know, for I can see it in yer eyes. But yer a woman, and a woman’s place is different from that of a man,” Dugald Kerr said. His tone was a kindly one, but Maggie felt a flash of bitterness at those words.
“My sex mattered little these past years when I controlled the traverse for ye, Grandsire. Think if ye will that others thought ye were just indulging me and allowing me to play while it was ye who really held the reins to our heritage. Well, perhaps some did believe it, for there are still enough men in this world who think a woman is not capable of anything other than hearth and bairns, but others knew better. They knew ye lay ill, and I was in charge. The Aisir nam Breug has never been managed better than when I was managing it, so do not, I beg ye, tell me that my place is in the hall at my loom while I wait for my big belly to ripen.” Then turning abruptly, Maggie departed the hall.
Dugald Kerr watched her go. She was right, of course, but what did that matter? She was a woman, and the rest of the world would refuse to see her for anything other than that. It saddened him, for he did not want his granddaughter unhappy, but had he died before she wed, their neighbors would have been upon her like a wolf on a lamb.
Out in the stables, Maggie saddled her stallion, calling to Clennon Kerr to bring a few men and ride out with her. Finished, she climbed upon the animal’s back and rode him out into the yard.
“Where are we going?” Clennon Kerr asked her.
“To the far cottages. I should see that all is well for the cottagers,” Maggie said.
“Take Iver Leslie then,” Clennon Kerr replied. “He’s nae been that way, and he should have some familiarity with the path. Yer not going to the pass?”
