This is goin’ to be a long night.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Frync has yet to return with a response?” Helena asked over breakfast.
“Nothin’ yet,” Michael confirmed.
Two days had passed in the blink of an eye. Frync had ridden out promptly the morning after the ceremony with the letter to her father. Laird MacPherson should have received it by now if the messenger had successfully made the trip without running into trouble.
Alexander had broken his fast that morning with Helena, Alice, and Michael in the main hall. He watched the interaction between his sister and his new wife warily. The two had become fast friends. He was not sure how he felt about that.
They were not even halfway through their meal when a stable boy ran inside, exclaiming that a foal had been born to Alice’s favorite mare and Alexander’s stallion. The women promptlyexcused themselves to see the foal, Helena’s strange orange cat following behind them.
“Finally, some peace and quiet without their cacklin’. I swear they’re both related to banshees. How do they never tire of talkin’?” Michael complained once the women were out of earshot.
“I cannae understand how they continue to find things to talk about. Alice showed her the entirety of the castle, the food stores, and the grounds. She even introduced her to the staff. Why does she continue to coddle the lass?” Alexander grumbled.
“Aye. ‘Tis unsettlin’ that the lass needs such assistance. Are we certain that she is right in the head? Though it’s too late to do anythin’ about it now—ye married her.” Michael shook his head before taking another bite of bread.
“Aye, that I did.” Alexander rubbed his broad hand down his face in frustration. He had not considered all the ramifications of marrying Helena.
When Alice had informed him that Helena had no idea how to properly run a castle on a daily basis because it was not considered a woman’s responsibility in Clan MacPherson, his jaw had nearly hit the floor.
If Helena did not assume the responsibilities of the lady of the castle, his clan would see it as a great weakness. Many would question his choice to marry her, and the concerns would roll on from there.
She needs to learn quickly. She cannae depend on Alice forever.
“Perhaps ye need to cut the cord between the two of them?” Michael suggested. “Do ye nae need to go to the village today? Take the lass with ye.”
“Aye,” Alexander grumbled.
Dragging the quiet lass with him had not been in his plans, but Michael was right. Separating the two women for a few hours may be helpful.
“Why dinnae the MacPhersons teach their women to run the castle anyway? What sense does it make? Bein’ forced to leave more men behind in times of war?” Michael scoffed, thinking out loud more than anticipating an actual answer.
“I dinnae ken, but it is a stark disadvantage if ye ask me,” Alexander replied, ready to drop the subject altogether. The more he thought about it, the more it irked him. “Perhaps Laird MacPherson is more afraid of losin’ control over the clan than we thought.”
Helena felt uneasy as she walked back to the main hall from the stables, Mags hot on heels. A mare had foaled that morning, and she had been eager to see the newborn.
The stares of the people she passed by were wary as she wandered the castle, though. No one spoke to her, besides Alice and Margaret. It bothered her that the other women in residence were so cold to her, but she tried to pay it no mind.
I cannae say I blame them. If Broderic had married Alice before I had met her, I would have felt the same way.
“Greetings,” she said as she passed another maid carrying a bucket.
The girl just kept her gaze averted and nodded slightly as she scurried away.
The men were respectful but brisk when they spoke to her. The women, however, would not speak to her at all.
Sighing, Helena climbed up the stairs and entered the main hall. Alexander and Michael were sitting at the end of the long table, and she moved to sit beside her husband.
Even he was acting strangely. For all his whispered promises of consummation, he had yet to act on them. Twice now he had come to their room at the end of the evening and simply gone to sleep.
The first night, she had not slept, fearing he would pounce on her like some great lion in the night while she slumbered.
Last night, she had been too deprived of sleep to care and had simply curled up beside him and slept. His body and Mags’s had provided ample warmth in the cool spring night.
Why am I even worryin’ about this? I should be relieved that he hasnae forced himself on me.
