Page 26 of Highland Dove

“I’m afraid my wish wouldna come true right now anyway,” she said sadly, thinking about how much she wanted to be with Duncan. She hated being Eideard’s wife, and wanted an annulment so she could marry the man she truly loved. Hopefully, Duncan would find a way to make that happen.

Looking around at the great hall, it never looked prettier. Her sister and the children had done a wonderful job. Evergreen boughs graced all of the trestle tables, decorated with holly and little bows made from strips of the clan’s plaid. And hanging overhead in the doorways to ward off evil were balls of string wrapped with mistletoe. Unfortunately, Mari noticed some of them had ivy woven into them and that made her nervous. Ivy indoors only meant death. And that only made her long to see her father.

“Mmmm, somethin’ smells guid.” Angus lifted his chin and sniffed the air as the servers came from the kitchen with trays loaded down with food.

Mari saw Eideard take his place at the dais. He glanced over at her but, thankfully, did naught to ask her to join him. The thought of possibly getting blisters like her on his skin must have really frightened him. Mari looked down at her arm, trying not to scratch. She was really miserable, but not as miserable as if she’d had to bed Eideard, so it was well worth it.

“I look so ugly,” she said, feeling like she wanted to crawl out of her skin.

“Ye think ye look ugly?” asked Angus in a whisper. “Take a look at me, lass.”

Tillie settled her girls at the table and came back to join them. “It’s time to eat,” she told them. “The girls are excited by the stuffed peacock with the feathers reattached. It looks amazin’. Plus, I made yer favorite, Annabel,” she said, looking up shyly and smiling at Angus.

“Really?” Angus perked up. “Is it haggis, roasted goose with herbal gravy, or boar’s head and brawn puddin’?”

“All of the above,” she said, smiling more than Mari had ever seen her do.

The old gypsy, Malmuira, walked up to join them just then. “We need to find out where Eideard is keepin’ Duncan’s mathair,” she said softly. “Has anyone talked to Eideard to find out yet?”

They all shook their heads.

“Well, then it’s a guid thing I told Eideard that ye’d read his palm first thing on the morrow,” she told Angus.

Angus was busy looking at the food and smiling at Tillie. But when he heard that, his head snapped up and he almost looked frightened. “Och, nay. I’m no’ really goin’ to have to do that, am I?”

“We have to do it. We promised Duncan,” said Mari in a soft voice.

“I want to find my mathair just as much as anyone,” said Angus. “But I refuse to read Eideard’s palm. It’s bad enough I have to dress like this and act like a wench!”

“Ye’ll do it,” said Tillie, not taking no for an answer. “If my sister was willin’ to purposely be infected with hogweed, it’s the least ye can do. Now stop complainin’.”

“Well I –” he started, but stopped in midsentence when Tillie crossed her arms over her chest and gave him the evil eye. “Oh, all right, but I’m no’ goin’ to like it. Let’s go eat.”

As they started away with Malmuira, Tillie turned around. “Mari, why dinna ye come and join us?”

“Nay, I dinna want the young ones or any of ye to catch this.” She scratched the back of her neck and wiggled uncomfortably. “I think I’ll just grab some food from the kitchen and go to the servants’ room and stay there for the night.”

“We’ll miss ye,” said Tillie. “But I understand.”

Mari almost felt jealous as Tillie walked away with Angus, dressed like a woman, because Mari wished she was spending Christmas with Duncan and not by herself. But with the way she looked and felt right now, she decided she didn’t want him to see her this way anyway. She walked through the kitchen, grabbing a loaf of brown bread, feeling like a leper the way everyone made a wide circle around her, not wanting to get too close.

Once in the small room off the kitchen, she put down the food and lit a candle and closed the door. Laying her head against it, she cried.

“Dinna cry, lass,” came a voice from inside the room, causing her to jump. She spun around, terrified, yet happy at the same time to see Duncan lounging back on the pallet with his arms behind his head. “I was startin’ to think ye were never goin’ to get here.”

“Duncan? Why are ye here?”

“I’m here to spend Christmas with the lass I love.” He sat up and smiled at her.

“Nay,” she said, turning away from him. “I dinna want ye to see me lookin’ like this. I’m ugly.”

“Ye are bonnie to me, Mari,” he said, walking up behind her. He reached out for her but she stopped him.

“Nay, Duncan. Dinna touch me. I dinna want ye to get what I have.”

“Then at least sit down and eat with me. I’ve already brought wine, sweetmeats and some roasted goose in a savory gravy.”

“Ye – ye really want to eat a Christmas meal with me?” she asked.