'Take me up with ye, Jamie-boy,' she wheedled the laird's brother, giving him her most winning smile.
'And have all the lasses at Brae laughing at me for carrying a bairn like ye? I think not, Jeannie Hay.' James Gordon was seventeen and thought himself quite a man.
'Then I must walk all the way to Brae, for I'll ride with no other, Jamie-boy,' Jean answered him boldly, not in the least discouraged by his rude refusal, or the fact that she was only ten.
'Take her up with ye, Jamie-boy,' Angus Gordon ordered his brother sternly. 'We don't have time to stand here and argue.' He bent, and lifted Fiona into the saddle before him. 'Are ye comfortable?' he asked.
'Aye.' She nodded as they moved off. She had never been in such close proximity to a man before. The hard arm, firmly clasped about her narrow waist, was disconcerting, but even more confounding was that the only way she could be truly comfortable was to lay her head against his shoulder. The leather of his jerkin was soft against her cheek, its coolness offsetting the heat she felt in her face.
'If ye don't breathe, Fiona Hay,' he said to her as they rode, 'ye'll soon swoon. There is nothing to be afeared of, lassie.' He struggled with the urge to kiss the top of her head in its velvet chieftain's cap. What on earth was the matter with him?
'I'm not afraid of ye, Angus Gordon,' she replied. 'I am simply in awe of so many new places and experiences. I've never been farther than the glen in all my life, and we only just came to the glen last year for the games. Our father didn't want confrontations with our grandfather.' She drew a deep breath, blew it out gustily, and then she laughed up into his face. 'Aye, that's much better!' she said.
'Have ye any idea of what ye have really agreed to, Fiona Hay?' he asked, suddenly overwhelmed by a surprising wave of guilt. This was no simple peasant lass. This was a maid of good family. Despite her thievery, it had been as wrong of him to accept her brazen proposal as it had been for her to even make such a suggestion of payment to him. Yet had he not, he would have looked the fool before his men… before everyone. Now, however, he was having second thoughts.
'Tell me exactly what I have agreed to, Angus Gordon,' Fiona asked. 'In truth I have never known a man. I have never even kissed one. I know a maidenhead is the most valuable possession of any woman. I know when it is lost outside of marriage a lass is not considered pure. I realize that in giving myself to ye I will not be fit to become any man's wife, but I don't mind. I promised my mam on her deathbed that I would see my sisters safely wed. It is great good fortune that my sisters have fallen in love with the men they married. My mam insisted that they not be sent to loveless marriages.' She took a deep breath. 'Now, tell me what I face.'
The simply spoken frankness of her words, said without any remorse, or even a touch of self-pity, impressed him. He realized that Fiona Hay was as proud as he was. She would insist upon keeping the bargain she had made with him. She would never admit to having stolen his cattle, he suspected, but her innocent willingness to meet her obligation to him stemmed from an innate honesty. Only Fiona's deep desire to keep her promise to the desperate, dying Muire Hay had driven the lassie to the pilferage of his herds. He should have looked to the welfare of Ewan Hay's young granddaughters before he had so casually annexed the glen to the Gordon holdings. Perhaps if he had, this situation would not have arisen.
'Between yer legs,' he began slowly, 'is an opening into yer body. 1 will join my body with yers through that opening.' He didn't know how else to explain it to her. He wasn't certain there was another way.
Fiona looked a trifle confused. 'How?' she asked him. 'How will ye join yer body to mine, Angus Gordon? Certainly there is something ye are not telling me.' A small chuckle escaped her. 'This is as hard for ye as it is for me, I expect. I don't imagine that ye have ever had to make such an explanation to a lass before.'
He laughed, almost relieved by her practical approach to the whole matter. “No, sweetheart, I have never had to explain bedsport to a maid, and yer right. I have forgotten something. We will be joined by an appendage that all men are blessed with.'
'I think I have heard of such a thing,' Fiona said thoughtfully. 'Is it called a manhood?'
'Aye,' he answered. 'Where did ye hear of one before?'
'When our sister, Anne, married Duncan Keith, she came after a few months to tell us that she would have a bairn by Lammas next. I asked her if she was still happy with her man. She said, aye, she was, that Duncan has a verra fine manhood, and kept her happy. I asked her what a manhood was, but Annie just laughed. She said 'twas not for a maiden to know such things and that when I wed would be time enough for me to learn about manhoods.'
'I have told ye enough for now,' Angus said. 'Ye will learn by example, Fiona Hay, but I promise ye that I will not be rough with ye. There are certain men who enjoy being cruel, but I am not one.'
When they had finally reached the shores of Loch Brae, Angus Gordon drew his horse to a stop so she might see the castle in all its beauty. He loved his home deeply and never grew weary of it, happy to remain there. 'Brae Castle,' he told her.
Fiona caught her breath in wonderment. She had never in all her life imagined such a beautiful place.
Brae Castle had been built in the year 1295, in the reign of John Balliol. This unfortunate king had sworn his fealty to the English king, Edward I, better known in Scotland as the Hammer of the Scots. The castle was situated on an island just off the north shore of an inland loch. The loch was considered small in comparison to the more famous lakes of Scotland, but it was big enough, being almost a mile and a half across at its widest point and four miles in length, for protection.
The island was connected to the shore by a wooden bridge. The builder of the castle had originally thought to construct the bridge of the same stone as the castle, but his wife, the legend went, had pointed out that in case of an attack, an enemy could march easily over a fine stone bridge right up to the doors of the castle, whereas a wooden bridge could be torched, making it difficult for an enemy to reach the island.
The area between the bridge and the castle itself was kept in field. There were no trees or large bushes behind which an intruder might hide. The shoreline had no sandy beach. It was very rocky, making it difficult to gain the land unless one came over the bridge itself, or via boat to the small landing on the south side of the castle, which was guarded round the clock.
The laird nudged his horse around a bend in the shore to the bridge that connected with the castle, and they crossed over. Grooms came to take the Gordon brothers' horses as they clattered into the stone courtyard. The laird dismounted, lifting Fiona down, setting her gently upon her feet. He then took Morag, who was already half- asleep, from Roddy. The little girl's head fell heavily against his shoulder. Angus Gordon handed her to a young maidservant, who hurried from the house, instructing her where the child was to be put to bed.
'Jean will share the chamber with her,' he told Fiona, who looked about for her.
Jean still sat upon James Gordon's horse. 'Will ye not help me down, Jamie-boy?' she cooed at him, her amber gaze soft and inviting.
The young man flushed beet-red, and with obviously gritted teeth he reached up and set her upon the pavement. 'How old is this wench?' he demanded of Fiona.
'Ten,' she replied. 'Why do ye ask?'
'She is not ten,' he muttered balefully. 'And if she is, she is possessed by the demon of a well-versed courtesan. Ye would not believe the things she said to me as we rode down the ben.'
'Only that when I was older I wanted to lay with him,' Jean Hay replied sweetly. 'He is verra bonnie, is he not, Fi?'
'Jean Hay, ye will remain chaste until I find a good husband for ye,' her sister said in her most severe tones.
'Oh I don't mean to be his mistress like ye will be the laird's mistress,' Jean said blandly. 'I mean to marry Jamie-boy one day, Fi. I think he will make a grand husband!'
'I'd never wed a bold baggage like ye!' James Gordon declared.
'Aye, ye will,' Jean told him calmly. 'When I finally get my titties grown, ye'll not be able to resist me, Jamie Gordon. Just ye wait and see.' She smiled sweetly at him.
'Jean Hay,' the laird said sternly, 'ye'll behave yerself, or I will personally paddle yer skinny little rump. I can see ye'll need to be kept busy while yer in my custody, and busy I shall see yer kept. Now, follow along after
