His fears weren’t completely unfounded, of course.Births didn’t always go according to plan.But she wasn’t near her time yet, and so far she’d been healthy.
She would have argued that the risk of arrest was no less now than it had been months ago.So it seemed unwise to turn up at Dunlop when they couldn’t be assured of a friendly welcome.
She’d intended to say all that.
But the moment she saw the sheer terror in his eyes and the pale cast to his face, she knew she couldn’t.Putting him through that kind of fear over the next days and weeks would have been cruel.
She had a sense he was right about the blame.If Carenza waddled up to the castle gates with the heir of Dunlop in her belly, no one would put her in shackles.And that gave her a certain leverage.
She rubbed her palm over her belly, calming the bairn.
“He must be eager to go meet his grandfather,” she said.
The relief in Hew’s eyes was instant.And she knew she’d made the right choice.
She grabbed her satchel and tucked their pair of wooden cups into it, along with two wild apples and the verses Merraid had written.
Hew shouldered the large satchel.“She.”
“What?”
“She’seager to meet her grandfather.”
She grinned.“Ye think ’tis a daughter?”
“Ihope’tis a daughter.”His eyes softened like melting silver.“I’d like another just like you.”
She sighed.He always knew just what to say.Secretly, though, she wanted a son just like him.
Packing all they needed for the journey didn’t take long.It was only a few miles to Dunlop.Still, it would be rough traveling, more than an hour over rocky ground and through dense woods.And Carenza would require frequent breaks.
They did leave behind Sister Eve’s gown.Carenza wanted it to be there for her, if and when she turned up at the byre.
She said farewell to the hens.She figured they’d live like queens even without their human masters.After all, they had plenty of grain and the entire cozy byre to themselves.
Then she pulled her arisaid over her head, picked up her satchel, and slipped out into the feathery white.
“Hold on,” Hew said.
He took her satchel and slung it across his back with his own.Then, before she could squeak in surprise, he swept her up suddenly into his arms.
“What kind of Viking’s son would I be,” he said, “if I couldn’t carry off a wench?”
His ancestors would have been impressed.He carried herandtheir bairn all the way to Dunlop.
They passed through the gates of Dunlop and crossed the snowy courtyard without incident.When Hew carried her through the doors of the great hall to set her on her feet near the hearth, a sudden hush fell over the clanfolk.
“Carenza?”Her father looked stunned.
She’d been thinking about this moment all the way from the time they left the byre.She’d decided if they were going to do this, if they were going to march up to the gates of Dunlop and drop their fate in her father’s hands, she would make it her mission to defend Hew with her life and the life of her unborn child.
“Father.”She straightened and faced him squarely.“I have somethin’ to tell ye.”
“Ye’re goin’ to have a bairn,” he realized.
“That’s right,” she said.“But I’ll have ye know, if ye’re not willin’ to forgive Hew, if ye plan to turn him o’er to the king, I’ll make certain ye ne’er see your grandchild.”
“But—”
