Ayrshire Survival #2
“This is not quite about a battle. This is about an evil man. Shall I?”
“Aye, do tell.”
“When I was your age and I lived in the crate, every day I did the same things. I would run to the taverns to try to beg for scraps, then to a bakery to ask for a stale loaf of bread, then I would go to the center of town to see what was transpiring near the king’s castle.
After that, I would go check on a lass I called Missy Angel. ”
“Great-Grandmama?”
“Aye. She was the loveliest in all the land, but she had the saddest eyes I’d ever seen.”
“How could you see her that close?”
“I would look every morning to see her pull the fur back on her window and stick her head out to take deep breaths. Sometimes I saw her cry. Once I saw someone grab her arm and yank her back inside the tower.”
“Who?”
“A man known as the Baron.”
“He was evil? He must have been if he treated a lass like that.”
“Aye. Let me tell you about this one particular day. It had rained that night, and I’d gone to the market, hoping to steal a tarp.”
“But stealing is wrong.”
Loki chuckled, pleased to hear that Lucas had taught him well. “I know, but I didn’t know so back then, nor had I any coin to buy what I needed. Now, listen to the tale.”
“I’m listening.” The lad’s eyes locked on his, waiting for the tale to continue.
“So that day at the market, I’d seen a group of warriors go by, and I learned they were Grant warriors. How I wished to be one of them! When the warriors had ridden off, the mean boys of the burgh ambushed me, wrapped me up in a tarp, and tossed me about before throwing me against a tree.”
Ketill leaped off Loki’s lap and began to swing his fists. “I’d punch them for you, Grandda. Like this.” Then he swung his fists and kicked a leg up.
“And I would appreciate that, but they were bigger than you and me. And I was outnumbered. But what they didn’t realize is they did me a favor.”
“What favor?”
“They were so mean and I was so tired of their bullying that I wanted more than ever to be a Grant warrior.”
Ketill settled back on his lap sideways so he could watch him.
“Once I was able to get away, I ran to look for Missy Angel. But that particular day, she didn’t appear.
I waited and waited, but I never saw her, so I walked around the entire castle to see if she’d gone to a new chamber.
I waited a while, then circled again, looking for her.
Sometimes she was late peeking out, but I had nowhere to go, so I waited.
All was quiet. Then I heard her. She was at a side window trying to climb out.
I yelled at her to stop because she’d fall, but she didn’t hear me. ”
“How could she not hear you?”
“Because of all the ruckus the warhorses were making coming down the path. I turned around and saw the biggest black horse I’d ever seen coming straight for me, a score of horses behind him.
I hid in the bushes as they approached, but one warrior stopped his mount because of the angel. He’d seen her trying to climb out.”
“Which one was Great-Grandda?”
“The one who stopped. Uncle Alex, on the black destrier, yelled at him to keep moving, but he refused. When the angel saw him, she dropped the furs and fell back inside. Your Great Grandda went up to the door and banged on it, but they wouldn’t let him in.
I could see how upset he was and how angry he was with the man at the door.
But he left and went on his way. That’s when I got my idea. ”
“What idea?”
“How I could get some coin from the man who was so interested in Missy Angel. I returned to the burgh and found out that they were also Clan Grant warriors. It turned out this group was the Grant laird and his best warriors—fiercer and stronger than the first force I’d seen.
And I found out over the next couple of days that one man kept sneaking into her manor, so I knew I could get coin from him. ”
“How? Why would he give you a coin?”
There was that scrunched up face he loved again. Ketill was a joy to watch. But Loki forced himself to continue. “Because I knew he was searching for Missy Angel, and I knew her better than he did.”
“Did he give you a coin?”
“He did, but it took a while. One day, I was listening to him talk with his friend in the burgh and he caught me, threatened to get me in trouble until I told him what I knew about Missy Angel.”
“Then he liked you, because she’s Great-Grandmama. And you helped him find her.”
“Aye.”
“So what was the best part of the tale? I know you saved Grandmama and brought her to Grant land. And you got Grandda home after his leg was cut.”
“The best part. Hmmm. Two things stand out in my mind.”
“Tell me both!”
“The first one was the first meat pie that Da bought me—he wasn’t my da yet, of course. It was lamb and so juicy that it ran down my chin. I swear it was the best meat pie I’ve ever eaten.”
“Better than scraps?”
“Much better than scraps.”
“What are scraps?”
“Scraps? Mostly stale bread, moldy vegetables, and rows of fat cut from meat that people wouldn’t eat.”
“Och. I would not like that. What was the second one? Did the mean boys come after you and you punched them?”
Loki’s head fell back, a swift memory had popped into his head. “Lad, I forgot about that. My thanks for asking because now I recall. When Brodie put me up on his horse once, I looked over at the leader of the mean boys who harassed me. He’d appeared out of nowhere with his fist in the air.”
“He saw you with Great-Grandda?”
“He did.” How had he forgotten this part? The fool had cursed at him from a distance.
“What did you do?”
“I waved at him, grinning.”
Ketill giggled, his hand over his mouth. “I wish I’d been there for that. So that was your other favorite memory?”
“Nay. My favorite memory of all time was the moment Uncle Alex told me that Great-Grandda and Great-Grandmama wanted to adopt me. I didn’t think anyone would ever want me.”
“Why not? I love you, Grandda.”
“Back then, I thought my mama and da gave me away. If my own parents didn’t want me, I thought I must be unlovable. I learned the story wasn’t true later on, as a child, I believed the worst. And when they agreed to adopt me, I knew I had a home.”
The door opened and his son Lucas emerged. “Da, why don’t you come down. It’s cold up here.”
Loki ruffled Ketill’s hair. “I’m on my way. Ketill was keeping me company, but the wind is getting stronger. Inside with you, laddie.” He followed his son and grandson down the stairs, stopping at his chamber.
Lucas paused with him and said, “Da, I’ll go with you to Muir Castle. I’m sure you’d like to see your mama.”
“Nay, she has Catriona and Alison and Braden and a slew of grandbairns to watch over her. I’d probably just get in the way.
” He didn’t know how to explain that being an orphan had a way of making you feel as if you belonged on the outside.
His parents had always made him feel loved, but he knew how others thought.
He stepped inside his chamber and grabbed another plaid to wrap around himself. He was still chilled from the wind. Lucas and Ketill went below stairs while he did his best to untangle his long strands of hair from the wind’s effect. He moved over to warm himself by the embers in the hearth.
A wee bit later, a voice rang out. “Grandda!”
“Coming,” he said, knowing they’d all wish to comfort him after losing his father.
The man who’d meant everything to him, who’d taught him what love and fairness and pride and honesty and diligence meant.
He’d miss him terribly. Even though he hadn’t seen him often in the past few years, he’d stopped at least a few times a year to visit with him.
To listen to his wisdom and to see the undying love in his gaze. After all these years, the man still loved him.
Not nearly as much as Loki loved Brodie and Celestina Grant.
“Loki Grant, get out here right now.”
His eyes widened and he turned, then froze.
That voice sounded just like his mother.
He had to be imagining things. Taking slow steps out to the balcony, he finally gained the courage to peek over the railing, surprised to see his beloved mother standing there, Braden and Cairstine right behind her.
“Mama? What are you doing here? You should be home in mourning.”
The lovely woman with the long white hair flowing down her back held something out to him. “I’m doing what your father asked me to do. Come down here, if you please.”
He made his way down the stairs, his gaze traveling across all the faces in the crowd from Muir Castle, his sisters and brother and their families. He stepped in front of his mother and bussed her cheek.
“Mama, I’m so sorry.” And the tears flowed down his cheeks again before he could finish his thoughts.
His mother reached up to cup his cheek. “I’ve accepted it.
We lived a beautiful life together, blessed with bairns and grandbairns, and that never would have happened without your help.
Your da wanted you to have this.” She held out a long, cloth-wrapped bundle.
He took it and settled it on a nearby table, unwrapping it carefully, shocked to see what sat inside.
“Mama, you must have made a mistake.”
There, inside the wrapping, sat a sheathed sword. Loki recognized it instantly. It was the one Brodie had used in the Battle of Largs. The sword he used against Ivarsson, the cruel bastard, Brodie Grant’s most prized possession. It hung on the wall over the hearth at Muir Castle for many years.
“This belongs with Braden.” He picked it up, savoring the feel of the worn grip in his hands, his gaze traveling over the two gemstones embedded in the pommel, and the sharpened edge that had helped secure Scotland’s safety from the Norse.
His mother set her hand on his. “Nay, Loki. He wanted you to have it. It’s only because of you that Brodie found me so many times, because of you that he made it to the healer after he was injured at Largs.
We adore Braden, but you are our first son, and you deserve it. He asked me to bring this to you.”
He looked to his brother, but Braden nodded in agreement. “You fought with him at Largs when he used that sword, Loki. You deserve it.”
Stunned, he had no words. He hugged his mother, then moved over to the wall displaying his family’s weapons and took down his old sword.
With a deep breath, he set his sire’s sword in its place.
It was the best spot on the wall. Turning back, he opened his arm to his mother and tucked her up next to him, Bella on the other side, and they admired it together.
“I’ll miss you, Da, but I’ll never forget all you taught me.”