“Aye. There was a ring. Lagan kens that it was hers. ’Tis no surprise that she was with him either. So too did the descriptions of the woman match Catarine’s. Nay, I have no doubts that t’was her nor did Lagan.”
Although part of her shrank from the knowedge, Aimil had to ask, “As was done to my mother?”
“Ah, sweeting.” He sighed and nodded, kissing her palm then her cheek when she shuddered with revulsion and horror.
“Even though she put me into that beast’s hands and near got ye killed, I would never have wished such a fate upon her.”
“I ken it, lass. Therein lies the difference between ye and her. She wouldnae have cared how ye were treated. She erred in staying near Rory, didnae see the danger in it. Appalled though we are, she set her own fate. Ye must not fret so over it.”
“Aye, ye are right and I am getting cursed sick of saying that.” She smiled weakly when he laughed.
“And now I must say what I ken weel ye dinnae wish to hear but ye will heed this, Aimil. Heed it and obey it. I ken why ye had to take that ride, ken weel how the walls of even a place ye favor can close in about ye, choking ye. Ye are just going to have to grit your pretty teeth and endure, lass.
“There will be no more rides with only one man to watch over ye. If ye must travel somewhere, t’will be with an escort of a half-dozen or more strong well-armed men. Ye will be watched at all times. I must see that there is no way for Rory to reach ye, no way at all, and if that means ye are kept close, that I must make a prisoner of ye again, then so be it.”
“Ye dinnae make me a prisoner, Parlan. Rory does. His hate and madness lock me inside these walls, not ye.”
“So, ye mean to obey me, eh?” Although he knew she had common sense, he had not expected her to comply so easily.
“Aye. When he attacked me today, I kenned that he would not hesitate to kill the child I carried. Because the bairn is no longer within me willnae make any difference. The bairn and I will be close until he is weaned. If I am in danger, then the chance grows that the bairn is too. In truth, I fear Rory’s simply kenning a bairn exists.”
“Nay, I cannae like it either. He was enraged that ye shared my bed. I think he would hate any bairn we had made together.”
“He would. He also hates me. More so now than he ever did. He frightens me more than I can say. I have no wish to face him. I ken too weel what he wishes to do to me. I was a fool today not to think of him before I set out.”
“Not a fool. T’was not wrong to think yourself more or less safe. So many swords are searching him out that in the midst of the enemy t’was the last place to expect him. Howbeit, that shows us that he can and will get close if we are not exceedingly vigilant.”
“He has made us prisoners.” She sighed then looked at him with narrowed eyes. “Or has he? Ye dinnae intend to just sit behind these walls, do ye?”
“Aimil, the man must be found.”
“And ye must do the searching.”
“Mayhaps I could stay here and send others yet not be cried a coward but I willnae do that.”
“Nay, I didnae think so.”
“Aimil, Rory must be found and killed. He is a threat to all of us. What matters to me is that he is a threat to ye and our child. I mean to hunt him in every corner of this land. Aye, and elsewhere if the whoreson slips free of Scotland’s boundaries. It must be done for, until he rots in hell as he deserves, ye and the bairn arenae safe. ’Tis my duty as your husband. My duty as a father. Aye, as a man.”
She wrapped her arms around him, tugged him closer, and laid her head against his chest. “Ye will be verra careful?”
“Aye, sweeting. More careful than I have ever been in my life.” Kissing the top of her head, he glanced at his sleeping son. “I have more of a reason to be careful now.” He smiled down at her when she glanced up at him. “A wee wife that gives me bonnie, braw sons and a son I wish to see as a man, to see what mistakes I have made with him.”
His words hurt even as they flattered. He was clearly pleased to have her as his wife, but she ached to be more than the wife who gave him strong sons. It was, however, a beginning. She was not foolish enough to scoff at the bond the tiny infant had created between her and Parlan. What she needed to do was make it stronger and all-encompassing.
“Ye willnae make mistakes.” She gave him no resistance when he silently and gently urged her to lie back down.
He smiled faintly when she yawned then grew serious as he looked at his son. “I will. ’Tis something I wager cannae be avoided. Ah, Aimil, though I rejoice in the gift ye have given me, I tremble when I think of the responsibility that comes with it.”
Although she felt weary and wanted to rest, she brought his hand to her mouth and kissed his palm. “’Tis a heavy one but I dinnae fear that ye cannae carry it. Aye, ye will carry it weel with few stumbles.”
“Such trust ye have in me.”
“I have seen ye with Artair.”
“Ah, ye mean the brother I had beaten.”
“As ye had to.”
