A cuff on the shoulder had been the only acknowledgement, that, and Finlay following his gaze to a tower window where Magdalene stood, watching them.
Her hand pressed to the glass as if she’d been reaching out to Gabriel somehow—the mere thought of what that might portend making his heartbeat quicken.
“Let’s head back tae the castle.”
“Aye,” came Finlay’s quick assent, echoed by Cameron, Conall, and Alun who left Gabriel to return to their horses. Meanwhile, he reached out to lock arms with the youth at his side, no more than fifteen years, who stared at Gabriel as if in awe.
“If you see aught else, lad…Iain, is it?”
“Aye, Iain, Laird, I’ll come straightaway tae tell you!”
“Only if it willna put you in danger. I’d rather you safely tending MacLachlan sheep on the mountainside than with a sword in your gullet or a broken neck from riding in the dark. Will you promise me?”
A quick nod was his answer, but already Gabriel had left him, too, and strode to his stallion nibbling blades of grass sprouted between the rocks.
In his mind’s eye, he could see Robert the Bruce and his loyal followers forging up the path, their legs pumping and their swords at the ready in case anyone challenged them.
That the man had shown mercy to young Iain only made him grow larger in Gabriel’s esteem, which, ever voiced, would mark him as a traitor.
Sighing heavily, he hoisted himself into the saddle, grateful at least that his shoulder no longer seemed to be plaguing him.
He would need a strong fighting arm, for indeed, with King Robert and his forces on the move, war was coming.
* * *
“Look,Rhona, she’s about tae take a drink!”
Magdalene was hard-pressed not to smile at Keira’s breathless aside to her younger sister, both girls watching her intently as she raised the cup to her lips.
Their nurse, Grania, watched, too, and seemed to be perched upon the edge of the bench as if ready to hustle her young charges away at the first sign of any outrageous act by Magdalene.
She had entered the great hall alone—though she knew Euna and Donella were trailing not far behind her—just as luncheon was served, and had made her way immediately to Keira and Rhona’s table.
Magdalene could have heard the faintest whisper for the silence that had fallen over all those assembled, soup spoons stopped halfway to mouths and eyes widening. She had ignored them all, men, women and children, her rose-colored gown fluttering behind her and her chin held high.
Rhona’s reaction, however, had been anything but startled, the little girl jumping up from the table and running toward Magdalene with outstretched arms, her sweet face alight.
What else could she have done but pick up the little girl and hug her tightly? Everyone around them had gasped as if afraid of what she might do, and her ever-present caretakers had drawn closer, though Euna had grabbed Donella’s arm.
“Laird MacLachlan said free run, sister! If need be, we’ll step in, but he was quite firm about it. Canna you see that there’s something different about her? I’m certain we’ve nothing tae fear—och, there she goes!”
Indeed, Magdalene had set off with a laughing Rhona back to the table, where she’d settled the child on the bench and then sat down across from her and her sister. She tilted the cup now, with one eye upon them, and drank deeply, the cider sweet and cooling.
If the girls had thought she might spill the liquid down the front of her gown like the last time she’d seen them, they both appeared almost crestfallen when she set down the cup without even a splatter.
“Eat your lunch, children!” chastened Grania, who still eyed Magdalene warily.
She dipped her spoon into her bowl, too, more of Cook’s delicious chicken soup, though she had yet to meet the man to compliment him. She would visit the kitchen next and do just that.
She planned to keep as busy as possible until Gabriel returned to the castle, if anything to try and calm herself. She couldn’t deny that an air of agitation hovered over the great hall as most everyone resumed their meal, and she could only surmise that it had to do with wherever he and his men had gone.
Donella had offered no clues when she had appeared not long after Euna’s arrival, to assist Magdalene with a bath, though she had wanted only to dress and then rush downstairs. Yet the steamy buckets of water brought in by a host of servants had looked so inviting, especially after her unexpected dip in the lough, that she had changed her mind.
For the first time, Magdalene hadn’t resisted the two sisters, but instead surrendered to their ministrations as they tended to her bath. Instead of an unpleasant struggle, it had become a more pleasurable experience, and she had savored the soothing warmth of the water instead of splashing it upon them and the floor.
She had held her tongue, too. Euna’s shocked reaction to her speaking so normally was a clear sign for her not to take things too fast, too soon.
Everyone thought her mad as a loon, aye, mayhap with episodes of more docile behavior, but still unpredictable. Even now, the folk gathered in the great hall watched her as warily as Grania, though Magdalene hadn’t done anything to alarm them other than to interrupt their meal with her presence.
