The wagon slowly rolled away, and Laren raised her hand in farewell as Mairin left. The tears were cold on her cheeks, but Alex gave her hand a squeeze. “She’ll be well cared for, Laren.”
“I know it.” She wouldn’t have let her go if she weren’t convinced Mairin would be safer in the north. But worse, she would lose her husband today as well. He’d promised to bid Mairin farewell before he departed with Bram.
“I need to check our supplies before we go,” he told her.
She nodded, but as she waited by the horses, Grizel approached and said, “Alex, I want a word with your wife.”
Laren said nothing, flinching at Grizel’s tone. But she allowed the woman to lead her back into the keep. She smelled the aroma of meat from yesterday and fought back her unsteady stomach while she followed Grizel inside. The older woman brought her to a chair and ordered, “Sit down.”
“Is something wrong?”
Grizel caught the attention of a servant and gave her hushed instructions. Then she pulled a chair over and sat across from Laren. Her piercing gaze made it difficult to look her in the eye.
“It’s not easy to let your child go off for fostering,” Grizel began. “But it must be done. Especially if you want Mairin to have the status you lacked as a child.”
Laren colored, wondering when she would be able to escape the older woman’s criticism. She made no reply, not wanting to engage in an argument.
When the serving girl returned, Grizel took a steaming mug of tea and gave it to her. “Drink this.”
Laren sniffed the tea and caught a strong herbal aroma. “What’s in it?”
“Chamomile, mint and some other herbs to make this pregnancy easier.”
She sent a sharp look toward Grizel, who folded her arms across her chest. “I know when a woman is breeding. And I know it hasn’t been an easy pregnancy. You’ve been sick a lot, haven’t you? I imagine you’re afraid of losing it.”
Stung, Laren forced herself to drink a sip of the brew to avoid speaking. Why would Grizel say such a thing? Aye, it weighed upon her thoughts, the fear that this child wasn’t well. But she hadn’t lost it yet.
“You haven’t denied it,” the matron remarked with triumph. “But if you drink this tea each morn, you’ll find it easier. It will ease your sickness and help to steady the bairn in your womb. I’ll bring you the herbs.”
Laren took another sip, wondering what Grizel meant by it. Never once had the older woman spoken a kind word or done anything to make her feel accepted as Alex’s wife.
Grizel stood and pointed to a table on the far end of the Hall. “I suppose you might want your mother or sister with you when this babe comes.”
Laren’s fingers curled over the cup, too startled to speak. She hadn’t seen her mother Rós or her sister Suisan since they’d left for St. Anne’s. “I do miss them,” she admitted.
“I’ll send for them at summer’s end.” The older woman stood, gave a grim nod, and strode away. Laren finished the tea, realizing it was as close as Grizel would ever come to an apology.
“Idon’tlikeleavingour clan alone,” Alex admitted to Bram, after they’d set off on their journey. The last raid weighed heavily upon him, for he didn’t know whether or not to believe the claim that there was a bounty on his head. By going to meet with the MacLachor chief, he might be walking into a trap of his own making.
But he needed information. If Harkirk was recruiting the other clans to rise up against the MacKinlochs, Alex had to be ready. The MacLachors were his best hope in finding out exactly what the English baron was planning.
He cast another look back at the stone walls surrounding Glen Arrin, his mood heavy. Laren’s hair gleamed red against the wintry stillness as she watched from the gate. In a few months more, her belly would be swollen with child. He’d always loved the way her body softened in those months, her breasts full and lush while the child grew inside of her.
“Things are better between you and Laren?” Bram prompted, when they crossed over the hill.
“Aye.” He recalled the way he’d made love to her in the cavern the other night. Just thinking of it made him want to ride back to her, touching her until she grew breathless. Though he’d kissed her goodbye, it wasn’t enough. He felt as if he’d left a part of himself behind.
“We’re expecting another bairn,” he told Bram.
His brother gave a nod, but there was something else beneath his perfunctory smile and his murmured good wishes.
“And Nairna?”
“I don’t know,” Bram admitted. “She won’t tell me if she is or not. It’s something she wants badly.”
“I hope all goes well for the both of you.” Bram only grunted, and Alex added, “It’s never easy, even when the child isn’t born yet.”
The more he thought of Laren, the more he worried. Though she had admitted that she wasn’t feeling quite herself, ever since the night they’d spent together, she’d grown quieter.
