“I do not know.I have dreamed of her running through a field of flowers, with two children, their hair of the same hue as her own.They laugh together, but I cannot tell the gender of the children.”He frowned and rubbed his brow.“That vision is fleeting.”
“Can you tell where they are?”
He shrugged.“A field in summer, beneath a clear sky.”His gaze met hers and she sensed that he wished for reassurance.
“It seems a gift that raises more questions than it answers.”
“It does, indeed.”
“And what do you see for your father and Killairic?”
Fergus swung his legs around and rose from the bed.He went to the window and opened the shutter, the moonlight touching his silhouette as he looked over the land.Leila hesitated only a moment before following him and resting her hand upon his back.His skin was warm and smooth, his strength reassuring beneath her touch.He captured her hand in his and held it against his chest, as if they were friends instead of husband and wife.
Instead of lovers.
Leila wrapped her arms around his waist and was glad he did not push her away.He kept one hand within his own, his other arm sliding around her waist to hold her close.
She could have stood thus forever.
The hall was falling quiet below them and she heard the sounds of the villagers returning to their homes.The land seemed tranquil and quiet, different from her homeland and yet so very welcome.
Fergus looked at their hands, his brow furrowed.“I have sensed a shadow ever since we left Jerusalem, like a cloud of ill fortune that loomed ahead of us.I have expected something to go badly awry ever since we left the Temple.”
“Thingshavegone awry,” Leila reminded him.“Kerr died, Christina was assaulted, Duncan was hunted, and Gaston faced rebellion in his own home.”
Fergus raised a hand.“Yet after each incident, the cloud became darker and more ominous, not less.”
Leila swallowed.“And when you learned that Isobel had wed?”
“Darker yet,” he said and shook his head.“Some dire fate lies ahead, Leila, but I cannot see more than that.I fear its import.”
“The warning is a blessing,” she said with a confidence she did not feel.“For it will ensure that we are prepared.”
“I do not want to live with suspicion.”
“We will not, but we will be slower to trust than we might have been otherwise.You must tell me what you remember of every soul in Killairic as well as what you know of your neighbors.I will watch and listen, and we will identify the threat together.”
He smiled down at her.“Are you truly fearless?”
“Nay, but I refuse to sit and wait for some dire fate.I would hunt it, kill it if need be.I would act to ensure the safety of those I hold in esteem and to defend my home.”
“Will Killairic be your home?”
“Aye, for I will make it so.”Her words were more fiercely uttered than she intended, but Fergus did not take offense.
Indeed, he took a breath and hugged her tightly against his side.“And perhaps this is why, that day in the stables of the Temple, when I heard you and Bartholomew, I knew that I should offer you protection.”
“You did?”
He nodded without hesitation.“I could see you here, in my father’s garden.”He met her gaze.“I do not know what lies ahead in much detail, Leila, but I hope you do not regret your choice to ride with us, much less to handfast with me.”
“I do not.And I will not.”She tightened her embrace, pressing herself against his heat.“Now, come, and do your part to see that blue-eyed boy come to light.”
He smiled and kissed the top of her head, as if she were a child.“Not yet,” he said quietly.“I must prepare for the morning.”He went then to his weapons and his garb, choosing what he would wear and what he would take.
Leila bit her lip as she watched him.She sensed that he made an excuse.She wondered if he thought of Isobel, tall and fair as she was not.While she respected that he had not brought that woman to their bed the first time they coupled, she already came to resent the hold Isobel had over his heart and thoughts.Leila could not imagine that the woman was worthy of him.
If she had been, she would not have wed Stewart.
