“She may be a whore now, but back then she was more lad than lass,” Robert explained. “She could keep up with us at most everything we did. Running, fishing, hunting, even wrestling.” His face brightened as he spoke of the happy memories.
A pang of jealousy at his belonging to the clan rippled through her. Anice remembered the wanting to belong, in her own clan as a wee lass and then in the MacKendimens when she fostered here. But at her mother’s side, she was training to go elsewhere and when at Dunnedin, she was from elsewhere. A heaviness crept over her heart and she shook her head at the dark feelings.
“I ken yer disbelief, but ye should ask Brodie about Robena’s head-lock and watch his reaction. ’Twill be a sight to behold, I assure ye.”
She allowed him to misunderstand her head-shake.
“Will Rachelle misunderstand my question of him? I would not want her to think wrongly of him.” Asking about a whore’s wrestling with her husband could give the wrong impression and Rachelle’s kind acceptance was something that Anice did not wish to jeopardize.
Robert laughed out loud as the realization of what the question would sound like became apparent to him. His eyes sparkled and deep dimples appeared in his cheeks.
“Yer right to hold back on the asking of it. Rachelle may no’ ken about our younger days and misunderstaun the remark.”
Anice drew to a halt at the end of the path. Moira’s cottage stood before them. Larger than most of the other dwellings, it stood on the edge of the barren and frosted forest. Wide plots of ground, lying fallow for the winter, were arranged to the side and back of the house. Faint wisps ofsmoke escaped from an opening in the thatched roof and curled when touched by the colder air outside.
“’Tis Moira’s cottage,” Anice said, nodding her head at the small building.
“’Twas her maither’s afore her as well,” Robert added. “Well, shall we visit her for a wee bit?” He looked over at her.
“She is expecting me, but you will be a surprise for her.”
“No’ much surprises Moira if she haes grown to be anything like her maither.”
“Struan says her healing and her visions are stronger than her mother’s ever were,” Anice answered. “You knew her mother as well?”
“Oh, aye. The guidwife Glenna healed many of my injuries with her remedies, potions, and dressings.”
“Injuries? When you were younger, you mean?”
Anice gazed at him while her mind thought back to his more uncovered form. No evidence of past injury marred his figure, his face, his gait. And what kind of wounds would a young boy suffer? Aye, he was tall and well-muscled now that he was grown. Also obvious was the fact that he worked physically in his position at Dunbarton. But being a steward was different from being a warrior, like Brodie. Warriors were constantly injured, stabbed, beaten. Warriors were strong and powerful... and could be dangerous when angered. Sandy had been trained as a warrior once, all those years ago....
“Anice? Yer face haes lost all its color. Come, let’s make our way to Moira’s door and she can see to ye.”
She nodded and sagged against him, something she’d sworn not to do. Even the slightest thought of her husband sapped her strength and sent daggers of fear through her. Moira knew her fears. Moira would help.
8
The door opened as he half-carried Anice the last few steps down the path. He could feel her strength draining with each moment. Moira would know what to do for her since he was convinced it was due to the pregnancy.
“Anice? Are ye ill, lass?” Moira moved back into the cottage and allowed them entrance. Robert walked Anice over to the fire and sat her in the chair that was already there. Moira had been expecting her.
“She began to faint as we approached yer door, Moira. Can ye help her?”
His stomach knotted with unexplainable tension as he waited for Moira’s assessment. Was this really just part of the pregnancy or was it something more? As he watched Moira loosen Anice’s cloak, he tried to pinpoint when the change had happened. Ah, yes. It happened when the talk turned to injuries. But why should that upset her? Mayhap, she’d been injured as a child and treated by a healer? Or mayhap her husband had been injured?
There it was again. Could it have been thoughts of her husband? The fainting at dinner was definitely linked to Sandy.
Was this day’s also? But it made no sense at all to him. ’Twas surely a riddle waiting to be solved.
“Thank ye, Robert, for bringing Anice here.” He looked up to see Moira gaze on him.
He nodded in acknowledgment. “’Twas no problem since I was on my way here as well.” He took off his cloak and hung it on a wooden peg by the door.
She had called him by name, she must remember him.
“Aye, Robert, I ken who ye are. Ye hae truly grown to bethe son of yer faither.” The woman’s eyes seem to glow as she spoke. He shook his head at that crazy thought. Could she know the truth?
“He must favor his mother then, Moira, for truly I see none of Dougal in him at all.”
