“Moira, ye are about to give birth. Surely ye can speak tothe laird after that?” Firtha tried to convince her.
“It must be now, Pol. If ye dinna get him for me, I will walk there myself.”
His smile told her he knew she could not do that, but he left the room and came back a few minutes later. “I sent a boy for the laird, Moira.”
Caught up in the waves of contractions, she could only nod. She tried to do all those things she advised other expectant mothers to do during this process; however, the pressure of knowing the message must be delivered to Struan added to her pain and frustration. Finally, the laird entered their cottage and walked into the room.
“I am here, Moira.”
“Struan, come closer. I must share the wisdom with ye.”
“Could this no’ wait until after ye give birth?”
“Dinna be foolish. The wisdom haes its own rules and its own time. ’Tis now ye must hear it.”
Waving Firtha from the room once more, she grabbed Struan’s arm and pulled him close.
“I warned ye about yer habit of sending yer sons away Struan, but ye did no’ heed me,” she whispered as another pain hit her. Gasping for breath, she pulled in nearer still. “The MacNab comes with his own solution.”
Struan looked at her and shook his head. “I canna control the MacNab. I warned Robert this marriage would no’ stand.”
“Ye must stop trying to protect the dead, Struan. Yer promises to those who have died are no’ as important as how ye treat those here now.”
“Ye dinna ken, Moira.” He tried to pull free from her hold but she hung on tighter.
“I do ken, Struan. I saw it. I saw it all.”
She saw the horror enter his face and knew that her visions had been true. Although she could not condone what he had done, ’twas not her place to judge him in the matter. She simply knew she had to convince him to change his mind.
“Ye refuse him because of the promises ye made to Glynnis and to Edana. They are dead and gone—and the promises with them. For the good of the clan, Struan, and for yer immortal soul, ye must release yerself from the pledges yegave.”
“But I swore... on my word, Moira. Yer a woman, ye dinna understand.”
She gasped as she felt the rush of birthing waters between her legs and another contraction forced the breath from her. Still, she would not release his arm. When she could draw in a breath, she forced out the words.
“I do no’ need to understand, Struan. I see, and I saw what the results would be if ye continue to ignore the wisdom. Ye are the only one who can do this.”
She could no longer ignore the burning stretching happening to her. She felt the bairn move down and knew it was time. She let go of his hand and called out for Firtha. Struan stood and moved towards the door.
“Struan,” she called out to him once more. “Do no’ fail the clan in this.”
Then with a scream of her own, she pushed the bairn out and into Firtha’s waiting hands. Her daughter was born. A dark sense of foreboding came over her, whether due to the birth or what she knew was about to happen, she did not know. She only knew that dark days were coming for some in Dunnedin.
32
She was in the workroom with Connor, discussing some questions of the harvest and food storage for the coming winter months, when the messenger entered the hall. She could hear his heavy marching steps as they approached the dais. If Struan were still at the table, she would know the news the messenger carried soon enough. Connor began to speak, but she hushed him and waited.
“Laird,” the messenger began, “I come from the MacNab.”
“What is yer message?” Struan commanded.
“The MacNab is a short distance from here and comes to fetch his daughter, the Lady Anice. He asks that you make all arrangements so that they can leave before the sun sets.”
Anice was stunned by the news. Why did her father think he could come and force her out of here? Her son was here, her husband was here. This was the challenge she knew would come against their marriage. Robert had always promised to handle this and now it was time. She had to find him before her father arrived.
Running out of the workroom and following the long corridor, she left through a posterior door where the messenger would not see her. Lifting her skirts, she hurried through the yard looking for any sign of him. Finally, after almost a half hour of searching, she found him in the stables. She stopped outside the stall where Robert was working but could not speak from her exertions. He took one look at her, handed the tools to the groom, and climbed over the fence to reach her.
“What is it, Anice? Ye look as if ye have seen a ghost.” He brushed the hair from her face and waited for her to catchher breath.
