my own family. You will have regular meals, for if the bairns are as thin as ye and the two brides, then good food will not be amiss.'
'We don't need yer charity!' Fiona cried.
'Fifteen,' she told him. Her hand trembled in his.
'When did yer mam die? I remember her long ago. She was to have been my father's second wife. The twins are her mirror image, but for their brown eyes.'
'She died when Morag was born. I was but eight, but I became the woman of the house then,' Fiona told him. 'Our father died when I was ten.'
He was astounded. Except for her two old retainers, she had been alone up here, raising her sisters since she was ten years old. 'How did ye manage to make matches for yer sisters?'
'We went to the games last summer,' she told him. 'Anne met Duncan Keith there, and they were married last autumn. Margery and Elsbeth met Colin and Walter then, but they were too young until now to wed. Thirteen is a good age to marry, I think. Anne will not be here tomorrow, for her bairn is due to be born soon, and she has not been wed even a year. Duncan is verra pleased that she is such a good breeder.'
He smiled at her. 'Yer mother was, too.'
'Aye, but Mam only birthed live daughters. Her three sons were born dead, or died soon after birth. 'Twas my grandmam's curse on our father, ye see,' Fiona told him solemnly. ' 'Tis why ye have the glen lands that belonged to my grandfather Hay. Did ye know him?'
'Aye. Ye didn't?'
''My father would not allow us to go into the glen, or our mam either, after he took her forcibly from her parents,' Fiona explained. 'He said our grandfather was a stubborn old man who would not see reason and would give away Hay lands rather than admit that he was wrong. He never forgave our grandfather and cursed him with his dying breath.'
'Ewan Hay never forgave yer father for stealing his daughter away, but he was a fair man, proud and good. He would have liked ye, lassie, although I don't think he would have approved of yer bold ways.'
'Would he approve of yer bold bargain with me, my lord?' Fiona asked him slyly. 'I may be brazen, but I have done what I had to do in order to see to my sisters' futures. They have only me to look after them and protect them.'
'Ye’ll not shame me, Fiona Hay, with yer goodness,' he teased her. 'Ye must see, however, that I canna allow ye to go unpunished for yer crimes against me. If I did, I should open myself up to all sorts of difficulties from our neighbors, who would think me a weakling. I must help to keep this region peaceful for the time when the king returns to Scotland. I canna do that if I am thought ineffectual or craven. No, lassie, ye'll have to pay the piper.'
'Do we have a king?' she asked, surprised. 'I thought the Duke of Albany was our ruler.'
'He was regent in the king's name, for King James has been held captive in England since before ye were born,' he explained. 'When the duke died two years ago, his son, Murdoch, took his place, but he is a weak fool. Negotiations are under way even now to bring the king home at last. I have spent time in England with the king. We are kin. Both our grandmothers were Drummonds.'
Fiona managed to extract her hand from the laird's gentle but firm grasp. It was difficult to think, she found, when she could feel the heat of his skin. 'Why has the king been in England instead of here in Scotland, my lord?' Her curiosity was overcoming her nervousness.
'Because he was captured by the English when he was but a wee lad. Ye see, his father, old King Robert, was not a strong king. He was past fifty when he came to the throne, neither sturdy of body nor majestic of presence, and he was given to deep black moods. He was truly unfit to govern, but he was a decent prince, and 'twas thought it better to proceed with the coronation. After he was crowned, however, his brother, the Earl of Fife, was made Governor of the Realm by the lords. There was much corruption, with lawlessness increasing daily. The king, a good man even if he was ineffectual, finally recommenced his responsibilities with much urging from the queen, Annabella Drummond, my grandmother's own sister. For the next few years he tried to rule,
but 'twas not easy, for the high lords were used to having their own way.
'Then, two years before the queen died, she attempted a small coup. She saw the danger her brother-in-law posed. She wanted to be certain the oldest of her sons was secure in his position as heir to Scotland. The eldest of the royal sons, Prince David, was created Duke of Rothesay, and made Lieutenant of the Realm. The king's brother, however, objected so strenuously that the king felt he had to name him Duke of Albany. The queen died. Then David Stewart died mysteriously while he was with his uncle.
'The king feared for his only surviving son, Prince James. He decided to send him to France for safety's sake. Unfortunately, the merchant ship upon which the prince traveled was captured by the English. The wee prince was sent to King Henry. The shock of learning of his son's capture killed old King Robert. His uncle, now Scotland's ruler, didn't try verra hard to regain the laddie's person, which was, perhaps, the best thing that could have happened. He surely would have killed the little king. The English, however, took good care of the lad.'
'So now the king is coming home to Scotland?'
'Aye, he is. And Scotland will be the better for it, lassie. King James is a strong man. He'll keep a tight rein on his kingdom.'
'He'll not be able to tell the clans what to do,' Fiona said wisely. 'The old chieftains don't like being told what to do. My father always said that those in the south never understood those of us here in the hills. And those in the highlands, he said, were even more independent. No king can rule all of Scotland in truth, I fear, my lord.'
'King James will do his best,' Angus Gordon said, allowing himself a small smile at her rather astute assessment of the political climate in their country. It seemed that as each year passed, the peoples in the south and those in the north grew further and further apart.
Old Tam came in, bringing a pitcher of cider. He refilled the laird's cup and poured one for his mistress, then disappeared again.
'You know the king,' she mused.
'The English didn't mind the visits, for in a sense all of us who came to be with the young king were hostages for Scotland's good behavior. We came to keep company with our liege lord and to be certain he did not forget his own country, for the English captured him when he was verra young.' He suddenly changed the subject. 'Where am I to sleep tonight?'
'Surely ye don't mean to-' Fiona stopped, pale of cheek.
'Jesu, no, lassie!' Looking closely at her, he said, 'Yer a sly wench, Fiona Hay. If I find yer not a virgin, I'll kill ye, I promise ye. Do ye swear to me that ye never have been with a man?'
'I am a virgin, my lord, and not dishonest, I promise ye. It's just that the house is small. My sisters and I sleep in the room above the hall, while Flora and Tam have their bed in the attic above us. Ye may sleep in the hall by the fire. There is no other place for ye but the stable. Yer men may rest there.'
'When I take ye to my bed, Fiona Hay,' he told her seriously, 'it will be a pleasant experience for ye, I promise-and ye will not be afeared.' He tipped her face up, looking intently at her with his dark green eyes. 'Yer a pretty lass, but I see none of yer mam in ye.'
'I look like my father, I am told,' Fiona replied. 'It is not surprising, for I was conceived, my mother told me, the day of her marriage to my father. She didn't love him, ye know, nor he her. He wanted her for the glen, but he didn't get it. He loved me, or so he said, for I was his firstborn, but then when my sisters kept coming and my brothers kept dying, he became impossibly cruel. The night our Morag was born, he took one look at her and howled his outrage. My mother lay dying, yet she somehow found the strength to laugh at him. He had taken her from the only man she always told me she loved, and only for the glen, but in the end she beat him, and he knew it. I believe my mam died a happy woman, my lord.'
'My father never stopped loving her,' he said, releasing her chin from his hold.
'I might have been yer sister,' she said softly.
