Highlander’s Burned Heart Chapter 2
Ormond Castle
The next morning…
Mary Douglas Malloch, the daughter of Laird Patrick Douglas, the sixth earl of Douglas and the second Earl of Ormond, and wife to Ewan Malloch, huffed out an unladylike, tired, and frustrated breath. They had lost another nanny.
She shook her fingers at her four boys, ranging in age from four to nine. They were running around her chambers, shrieking and laughing and jumping on the bed.
“Stop this, ye wee wildlings! Stop! Ye will be wakin’ yer poor, auld, Granda Patrick from his sickbed!
” Mary tried in vain to catch one of them when the second youngest of the boys leaped off the bed with glee.
As was typical of her four wild boys, she could not catch any of them, and they were certainly not listening.
Her two younger sisters, Cairis and Gracie, came running into the room at the sound of their sister yelling and the children’s shrieks.
They stopped in alarm at the sight before them; all of the boys were jumping on the bed at that moment, and Mary had collapsed in a chair—her hair mussed, her face red, and her pink gown stained and wrinkled.
She was leaning back, her arms and legs splayed out in exhaustion, and her head laying back as she stared at the ceiling.
“I give up,” Mary moaned.
Just as the youngest of the four jumped into the air, Cairis darted forward and scooped him into her arms before he could land on the floor.
Gracie rushed forward to catch the next one.
The two little boys screamed and laughed.
The sisters stared at one another. There were two more boys to be dealt with, the eldest two, and the hardest to catch. Unfortunately, their nanny had learned this as well and had left after only a few days with them. She had been unable to control the little wildlings.
Adam and Aron squealed with joy as they wiggled in their aunts’ arms. Andrew and Aiden continued to whoop and jump on the bed until their father walked into the room and saw the chaos. He also noted his two young sisters-in-law looking frazzled as the youngest of the boys thrashed in their arms.
“Enough!” Ewan Malloch shouted into the melee.
Silence came, albeit slowly as Andrew and Aiden looked mutinously at their father. They crossed their arms across their little chests where they stood on their parents’ bed. Their lower lips were puffed out as they pouted angrily.
Behind Ewan stood four large men-at-arms.
“Take them tae their rooms,” Ewan said in a forced, even tone.
Cairis and Gracie handed over the two small boys with relief as the older boys were led out of the room with mutinous expressions still on their faces.
Mary struggled to sit up. “Four lads in seven years, darling Ewan.” She shook her head, dejectedly.
“Mither would hae kent how tae handle them. How I miss her and need her.” She sighed deeply as her sisters came to sit at her feet and hold her hands.
“How things hae changed since Ailbeart died in that fire, and Bhaltair couldnae rescue him.” She pulled one of her hands free from her sister and started counting off on her fingers.
“Mither’s sorrow at the loss of her eldest son killed her.
Now, Faither is weak and sick as weel, unable tae lead his clan as a laird.
Bhaltair is just a shadow o’ himself since oor brother’s death, blamin’ himself for it.
I fear what is tae become o’ oor clan. Can Bhaltair ever put his anger aside and become laird? ”
Ewan stood before her, a deep and worried frown on his face.
He rubbed one hand over his eyes. “I dinnae ken the answers, my darling. I fear what is tae come as well, nae only within this clan but within the MacMoir clan on the other end o’ the firth that mah cousin, Fiona, married intae.
We haed a short, fragile peace when they first married.
With Fiona’s husband dead noo, ’twil be his brother, Cormac, who will become laird and make trouble for the Douglases.
We control this end of the firth, and the MacMoirs the southern end, but Cormac will want the whole of the combined two firths again, just as his father and grandfather before him. ”
The three sisters looked up at Ewan with surprise.
Mary frowned. “Fiona’s husband is dead? Och, darling Ewan!
She wilnae be safe there. Why did ye agree to sich a match in the first place?
” she demanded of him with a confused scowl.
“The man was near his deathbed tae begin wi’,” Mary added as she rose to her feet and faced her husband with an apprehensive look.
“She was an orphan, Mary, my darling,” Ewan said with exasperation.
“It was the only match offered since the sickness took her parents and siblings and most of the village attached tae her family’s keep.
It was so vera terrible they burned everything tae stop the spread.
Nae even the keep is left.” He held his hands out to her, palms up.
“I haed nae choice,” he ended guiltily without meeting his wife’s eyes.
He looked dejected and sad as he added, “I ken it wasnae the best match for her, but nae one else would hae her after a’ the tales spread o’ the sickness, though she is a beauty. ”
Cairis and Gracie rose slowly to their feet. Cairis, ever the pragmatist, was the first to speak. “We must expect war and be prepared.”
Gracie clutched Cairis’ hand; being the youngest, she still believed in hope and dreams coming true.
“War between oor clan and the MacMoirs once again? Nay. We shall find a way.” Her lips trembled only slightly as she thought deeply.
“I think Fiona should be made their new laird since her husband died. She will keep the peace within the MacMoirs,” she said in a lilting, melodious voice.
“Or my dream is that Bhaltair will come tae his senses and become laird in place of Granda, making peace with the MacMoirs once and for a’.
Why, he could marry Fiona tae bring the clans taegether!
” she said earnestly as she looked hopefully at the others.
Ewan shook his head. “They are a cruel lot, young Gracie, and yer dreams are just that: dreams. I dinnae ken if Fiona is even alive noo that her husband is dead. There were rumors that she caused his death. Nay, she is in danger. I feel it. Which means we are in danger as weel. The peace is over. Ormond Castle needs a wise leader—a strong and healthy laird.”
Mary gasped quietly and went into his arms. “What will happen if Bhaltair cannae return from the ashes of his memory and the horrors o’ that day seven years ago? We need him tae lead the clan, Ewan.”
Ewan clenched his jaw as he held his wife. He looked over her head, drawn to the sunlight outside the narrow windows of their bedchamber.
“What…?” he murmured as he let go of his wife and strode to have a better look out of the uneven glass. “There is a lass riding through the gates on a white horse. Alone.” He leaned closer. “Mhac na galla! That is Fiona!”
Ewan turned and rushed out of their bedchamber with his wife and her sisters following.
Loved the opening? Keep reading Highlander’s Burned Heart here.