“Do you recall how Lady Ysmaine hid the relic on our journey?”
“Of course!”
“I have not yet had word from Duncan, but it seems that if Radegunde is to join him on the anniversary of their handfast, she might do the same.”
Leila’s eyes lit.“She would be glad to do as much.I know it well.”
“And it would be safe wherever they make their abode, for none spoke of Duncan as a member of the party.”
“That is most clever,” Leila said and granted him another kiss.“You mean to teach me the price of having no discussion with you,” she teased.“You tell me so many interesting things this day.”
Fergus put a fingertip on her lips.“Aye, and there is more.”
Leila laughed.“What else do you scheme?”
“Solely to ensure the happiness of my lady wife.”
“I believe you have done as much.”
“Not to my own satisfaction.I have a suggestion for you, one that Karayan can take back to the east.”
Leila regarded him, her eyes bright with curiosity.“What manner of suggestion?”
“What if we were to make an arrangement with your cousin and her husband, to meet them at a designated time and place?”
“When and where?”
“Some city where Franj and Saracen can meet, between here and Jerusalem.”
“Venice, perhaps, or Constantinople,” Leila suggested, her excitement clear.“But she has a young son.She cannot leave him, and she will not.”
“I hope that soon we will have a young son, as well.”
Leila flushed in a most becoming way.“I am not sure,” she confessed softly and Fergus wanted to lift her in his arms and protect her from every breath of wind.
“Truly?”
“I missed my courses once,” she whispered.“But then Stewart struck me in the belly.”Anger thrummed through Fergus at the import of the other man’s choice.Leila’s brow puckered.“I know so little of these matters and have no one to ask...”
“Then I shall add to that missive to Gaston and ensure that Radegunde visits here with all haste.”
Leila smiled at him.“Thank you.”She ran her hand over his chest.“I hope there will be more than one son, Fergus.”
“As do I.We could choose a date, perhaps ten years from now, and we agree that we shall be at the selected city, all of us.You could see Aziza and talk to her to your heart’s content and share your tidings.”
“Fergus!I would be so glad of such a chance!”Leila bit her lip.“Do you truly think it could be done?”
“Any deed can be done if people have sufficient desire to do it.”Fergus watched her, knowing he would move the stars and the moon to see her happy.A journey to the east was a small effort in comparison.He had only to look at the resolve she had shown in making a new life for herself.
“And you would make this journey for me?”
“I could do no less,” he said, smiling down at her.“I told you before that I would take you east at your request.”
“And so you did.I like this scheme better, to travel together and both return to Killairic.”
“You have surrendered all that you know to be with me, Leila.I will surrender anything to see you happy.”He caught her close once more.“I would even have let you ride away with Karayan, never to see you again, if it would have given you joy.”
“Fergus!I can only truly be happy with you.”
He found her in his embrace again, a situation that suited him very well.“And I can only be happy with you, though it need not be at Killairic.”
“Of course, we must be here,” Leila chided, her eyes dancing.“I cannot imagine a place more perfect.”
“And I cannot imagine a wife more perfect,” Fergus concluding, capturing her lips beneath his own once more.His heart thundered when she rose to her toes and returned his kiss with the enticing heat he had long associated with her.
He had nearly lost the prize of his heart, but Fergus would never put it at risk again.
