“What?”
Both Caelen and Alaric roared their outrage.
“I’m to bringnsummated in to court, where the king will decide the matter.”
“What are you going to do?” Caelen asked.
“I’m sure as hell not taking my wife anywhere Duncan Cameron is in residence. She’ll remain here under strict guard while I travel to court.”
“What do you want us to do?” Alaric asked tightly.
“I need you to watch over Mairin. I trust you with her life. I’ll take a contingent of my men with me but the bulk of my army will remain here. Mairin’s safety is paramount. She’s more vulnerable than ever now that she carries my child.”
“But, Ewan, these charges are serious. If the king doesn’t rule in your favor you’ll face stiff sanctions. Possibly even a death sentence, since Mairin is the king’s niece,” Caelen said. “You need more support. If you leave the majority of your army here, it puts you at a disadvantage.”
“Perhaps it would be best if you took Mairin with you,” Alaric quietly suggested.
“And expose her to Cameron?” Ewan snarled.
Caelen’s lips tightened. “We would go with the might of the McCabe clan behind us. We may not be as large an army as Cameron’s, but he’s already suffered one crippling defeat against us, and he has to know, judging by the way he tucked tail and ran like the bastard coward he is, that he’d commit suicide by challenging us to a fair fight.”
“ ’Tis too convenient that you’re summoned away, Ewan,” Alaric added. “It divides our might. If you go with too little protection, you could be ambushed and killed on your way to court. If you take too much, it leaves the keep vulnerable and Mairin as well.”
Ewan considered Alaric’s words. As much as it pained him, after his initial vehemence over taking Mairin anywhere Duncan Cameron would be in attendance wore off, he knew that the best course was not to let Mairin out of his sight. If he went, so would she, and he’d carry the might of the entire McCabe clan.
“You’re right. I’m too angry to think straight,” Ewan said wearily. “I will call on the McDonalds and the McLaurens to provide troops to protect the keep in our absence. Mairin needs to be close so I can see to her protection at all times. I don’t like to think of her traveling now that she is with child.”
“We can take a slower pace and bring a litter so that she is comfortable,” Caelen suggested.
Ewan nodded, and then he remembered snarling at Mairin to leave him, when she’d asked him what was amiss. He’d been so furious that he’d needed a moment to process the ludicrous charges that had been laid out against him.
“Jesu,” he muttered. “I must find Mairin and explain. I fair bit her head off before she left the hall, and now I must tell her that we have to travel to court to answer a summons from the king. Our future depends o the whim of our king. Her dowry. Neamh Álainn. My child. My wife. Everything could be taken away in a moment.”
Alaric raised an eyebrow and exchanged glances with Caelen. “Are you going to allow that?”
Ewan pinned his brothers with the full intensity of the emotion brewing in his chest. “Nay. I’ll send missives to the McLaurens, to the McDonalds, and to Laird Douglas to the north. I want them to be ready for war.”
Mairin paced the floor of her chamber until she was ready to scream her frustration. What had the message from the king contained? Ewan had been furious. She’d never seen him so angry, not even when Heath had struck her.
She was so sick with worry that for the first time in a fortnight, her stomach seized and nausea rose in her throat. She sank onto the stool in front of the fire and gripped the goblet of water that Maddie had brought up moments before. She sipped the liquid in an effort to settle her stomach, but the tension was knotted too thickly.
As soon as the water went down, her stomach lurched and she stumbled toward the chamber pot, retching the liquid right back up. She registered the door opening and closing, but she was too embroiled in her current misery.
“Ah, sweeting, I’m sorry.”
Ewan’s hands soothed up her back and her stomach convulsed painfully. He gathered her hair at her nape and put his palm over her belly in an effort to soothe her.
Sweat poured from her forehead and she sagged into Ewan’s arms as she finally stopped the horrible gagging. He stroked her hair and held her tightly against him. He pressed a kiss to her temple, and she felt the roll of tension flash through his body.
She turned, so worried that for a moment she had to battle back the urge to heave again.
“Ewan, what is it?” she whispered. “I’m so scared.”
He palmed her face and stared down at her, his green eyes flashing. “I’m sorry I yelled at you in the hall. I was greatly unsettled by the contents of the missive and I took out my anger—and fright—on you. It was unfair.”
She shook her head, unconcerned with his earlier outburst. It had been obvious that he had been upset over the news, whatever it was.
“What was in the message?” she asked again.
Ewan sighed and leaned forward until his forehead touched hers. “First I want you to know that everything is going to be all right.”
That statement only worried her all the more.
“We’ve been summoned to court.”
She frowned. “But why?”
“Duncan Cameron launched a claim for your dowry before my request was received by the king.”
Her mouth fell open. “On what grounds?”
“There’s more, Mairin,” he said softly. “He claims you were married, that he bedded you, and that I stole you away and sorely abused you.”
Mairin’s eyes went wide with outrage. Her mouth opened and shut as she tried to gather an appropriate response.
“When he learns you carry a child, he’ll claim he fathered the babe.”
Mairin clutched her belly, suddenly terrified as the implications hit her. Ewan had been summoned to answer to those charges. The king would decide the matter. What if he decided against Ewan?
The idea that she would be handed over to Duncan Cameron sent her straight back to the chamber pot. Ewan held her, murmuring words of love and reassurance as she was sick all over again.
When she was done, he scooped her in his arms and carried her to their bed. He gathered her close in his arms and cradled her against his chest as they lay on their sides.
She was terrified. Utterly terrified.
He tipped up her chin until their gazes were locked. “I want you to listen to me, Mairin. No matter what happens, I will never hand you over to Duncan Cameron. Do you understand?”
“You can’t go against the king, Ewan,” she whispered.
“The hell I can’t. No one takes my wife and child from me. I’ll fight God himself, and be assured, Mairin, I won’t lose.”
She wrapped her arms around Ewan’s waist and laid her head on his chest. “Love me, Ewan. Hold me tight and love me.”
He rolled until he was atop her, staring down into her eyes. “I’ll always love you, Mairin. King and Duncan Cameron be damned. I’ll never let you go.”
He made sweet, fierce love to her, drawing out their pleasure until Mairin was senseless, until she knew nothing other than his love. Until she believed the words he’d uttered so fiercely.
“I won’t let you go,” he vowed as she fell apart in his arms. He found his own completion and cradled her to his chest, whispering his love for her and their child.
CHAPTER 33
“I have bad news, Laird,” Gannon said in a grim voice.
Not liking his commander’s tone, Ewan looked up with a frown as Gannon strode toward him, still dusty from his travel.
“Did you bring Father McElroy?” Ewan demanded. Time was of the essence. Ewan had sent Gannon to fetch the priest so that he could bear witness to the wedding ceremony performed for Ewan airin. They only awaited the priest’s arrival before they departed for court.
“He’s dead,” Gannon bit out.
“Dead?”
“Murdered.”
Blasphemies spewed from Ewan’s lips. “When?”
“Two days past. He was traveling between McLauren land and McGregor land to the south when he was set upon by thieves. They left him to rot and he was discovered by McGregor soldiers the next day.”
Ewan closed his eyes. Thieves? Not likely. Priests had nothing to steal. A thief wouldn’t have bothered. It was more likely that Cameron had arranged for the priest’s murder to prevent his testimony before the king.
The one card that Ewan held was the fact that Mairin was David’s niece, and surely he would listen to her accounting of the events. Women weren’t heard in such matters, but Ewan couldn’t imagine the king ignoring the word of his own blood.
“Ready our horses and the men,” Ewan ordered his brothers. “I’ll go tell Mairin we’re to leave posthaste.”
Two hours later, with the arrival of McDonald and McLauren men to fortify the McCabe keep, Ewan and his men set off. Mairin rode in front of Ewan. A litter was carried at the end in case she wearied of the horse, but until such time came, Ewan wanted her as close to him as possible.
The clansmen gathered to see them off, worry marring each of their faces. The farewell was somber and tense, and prayers were whispered for the safe return of their laird and his lady.
They didn’t travel as hard as Ewan might have in other circumstances. They stopped for the night before dusk fell and set up the tents and built several fires around the perimeter.
Ewan posted guards in turns around the area, as well as outside his and Mairin’s tent. Mairin didn’t sleep well, nor did she eat well. She was nervous and on edge, and the closer they got to Carlisle Castle, the deeper the shadows were under her eyes.
Ewan’s men were just as tense and silent, as if they were mentally preparing for war. Ewan couldn’t dispute that they might very well be going to war. Not just against Cameron, but against the crown.
Such an action would brand them as outlaws for the rest of their days. Life hadn’t been easy for the McCabes these last eight years, but it would only get worse once there was a price on their heads.
On the fifth day of their journey, Ewan sent Diormid ahead to announce their impending arrival and also to find out if Cameron had already arrived and what the mood was at court.
They paused in their travel and Ewan coaxed Mairin to eat while they awaited Diormid’s return.
“I don’t want you to worry,” he murmured.
She raised her head until her gaze met his and her blue eyes shone with love. “I have faith in you, Ewan.”
Ewan turned when he heard a rider approaching. He left Mairin to greet Diormid who’d returned from the castle.
His face was set into a grim line. “I have instructions from the king’s man. You’re to leave your men outside the walls of the castle. You and Mairin are to be escorted inside at which point Mairin will be placed under the protection of the king until the situation has been resolved. You will have your own quarters until you are called to give testimony.”
“And Cameron?” Ewan demanded.
“Also housed in separate quarters. Mairin is to be held in the king’s private wing under heavy guard.”
Ewan didn’t even consider that dictate. “She does not leave me. She will take up residence in my quarters.” He turned to his brothers and his three trusted commanders. “You will also accompany me inside the palace walls. There will be times when I must leave Mairin to attend our king, and I don’t want her without protection for the barest of moments.”
“Aye, Laird. We’ll guard her with our lives,” Gannon vowed.
“See that you do.”
They rode the hour’s journey to the castle and when they neared, they were met by a small contingent of the king’s soldiers and escorted to the castle walls.
On the east side of the walls, Cameron’s men had taken up residence, their tents bearing Cameron’s insignia and the banners flying from atop the structures. Ewan gestured for his men to camp on the western side and instructed them to remain alert at all times.
When his men departed, only Ewan and Mairin, Caelen and Alaric, and Ewan’s three commanders that he had charged with Mairin’s safety were left.
They rode down the long bridge over the moat and through the stone, arched gateway leading into the courtyard. Court was well attended at present and many stopped to watch as Ewan and his men came to a stop.
As the king’s man-at-arms surveyed those in attendance with Ewan, he greeted Ewan with a frown. Ewan lowered Mairin down to Alaric and then swung from his saddle and pulled Mairin to his side.
“I’m to escort the Lady Mairin to her private quarters,” the man-at-arms said as he approached.
Ewan drew his sword and pointed it at the man, who stopped in his tracks. “My wife stays with me.”
“The king has not issued his judgment on the matter.”