Chapter 24
Cairren stood in the bailey and waved as her clansmen and Alex rode away.
Unlike the last time she said her goodbyes to her family, Padraig stood at her side.
She smiled up to him and patted his chest before walking into the keep.
She wasn’t sure where to go. She wasn’t in the mood to weave, and there was nothing else for her to do in the chamber she shared with Padraig.
She still wasn’t comfortable thinking of it as their chamber; there was still too much uncertainty to think of anything in permanent terms. Without Wynda to keep her company, there was no reason to go to her old bedchamber.
She wasn’t welcome in the kitchens after three unsuccessful attempts to offer her help.
She didn’t know, nor did she want to discover, where Mary and Myrna were.
Duncan was back on his feet, so she preferred to stay away from any dark passageways.
She changed into her boots and went for a walk.
She’d discovered a valley during one of her rides with the Kennedys and Alex, and she was certain she could make it there on foot.
The day was pleasant, but she appreciated how her plaid kept away the crispness of the autumn morning.
She’d agreed to wear Padraig’s plaid, but she disagreed that it would help people see that he accepted her.
It seemed to do the opposite, as if she committed sacrilege by wearing it.
But that morning she was glad to have the wool wrapped around her shoulders.
She walked for what she assumed was an hour and discovered the meadow she was searching for.
The heather and thistles painted the ground her favorite shades of purple.
She’d brought a basket with her, so she gathered heather to use in a fresh batch of soap.
When she had all that she needed, she decided she should return to the keep, or at least closer.
It was growing warm, and she feared her skin darkening too much if she remained in the direct sunlight.
She passed through a stand of trees and breathed easier in the shade, but when voices carried to her, she halted. She didn’t want to be discovered wandering alone, so she ducked behind a tree trunk, straining to hear the voices, hoping to know what danger they might present.
“I couldn’t wait any longer for the chit to be out of the way,” a man’s voice carried to Cairren. She struggled to hear, recognizing the voice was Duncan’s. She dared slip closer, knowing he spoke of Wynda, but she couldn’t see to whom he spoke.
“She caught us one too many times,” Myrna’s voice filled Cairren’s ears as she drew near to the couple.
She could see them lying naked together on the ground.
She swallowed her gasp as she watched Duncan playing with Myrna’s breast as she stroked him.
She ducked back behind the tree. “The stupid bitch wouldn’t have kept the secret much longer. You had no choice.”
“I just wish I’d done it sooner.” Cairren was close enough to hear Duncan suckling Myrna’s breast.
“I wish you had, too. There was no way I would have let her bear your heir. If you hadn’t beaten it out of her, I would have poisoned it like the last time.
At least now we don’t have to worry aboot doing either of those.
” A rustling of leaves beneath them and then Myrna’s moan signaled that they were done talking.
Cairren peeked back around the tree and spotted Duncan’s lily-white backside as he thrust into Myrna.
Cairren looked around for a way to escape the trees and make it back to the keep without being seen.
Even before what she heard, she didn’t doubt they’d kill her if they discovered her alone.
Her heart pounded as she tried to figure out what to do.
“By God’s bones, Myr. Your cunny is ringing my cock dry. You’re so damn tight.”
“Or you’re so big,” Myrna panted.
“Do you tell Padraig that too?” Duncan laughed.
“I wondered if his cock was broken until he started humping his little whore. I even wondered if he was a real mon, or if he preferred being buggered. He never tried to tup me. He claimed it was honor. I think his cock is tiny.” Myrna and Duncan chuckled as he rolled off her.
“Duncan, you know I haven’t been with anyone else since I arrived here. At least not this time.”
“You better not be. I’m the only cock you’re fucking, understood?” Cairren peeked back around the tree when Myrna yelped. She could see Duncan had a fistful of Myrna’s flaxen locks, and his hand was wrapped around her throat. “You like that, don’t you?”
Cairren watched Myrna struggle to nod. She turned her back to them yet again when Duncan thrust his fingers into Myrna’s sheath.
Cairren squeezed her eyes shut, blocking out the sound of them rutting and trying to recall what they’d said.
She’d heard them admit to not only killing Wynda, but Myrna admitted to bedding men other than just Duncan.
She swallowed bile as she tried to decide what to do with what she heard.
“He’s going to send me back, you know.” Myrna’s voice carried as she and Duncan dressed.
“I’m certain of it. He’s turned away from me, and I can’t lure him back.
I don’t know that Mary will continue to help even if she wants Cairren gone.
Unless I can convince Padraig to keep me, we’ll be forced to meet here. ”
“As long as your messenger is better than the last one. He gave the bluidy missive to Wynda instead of me. That’s how she found out aboot us,” Duncan grumbled.
“Then we must turn Padraig against Cairren.”
“Aye, and the sooner the better.”
Cairren held her breath as she listened to the couple mount their horses and ride away.
She remained there as her stomach churned, and her heart pounded.
Do I tell Padraig? I doubt he’ll believe me.
He’ll believe I’m being a jealous shrew before he believes his darling has done aught wrong.
But that doesn’t make keeping the secret right.
Cairren replayed what she heard in her head.
They’ve sent each other missives. Perhaps one of them has saved theirs.
Dare I rummage through either of their chambers?
Will what I find even convince Padraig? I’m more likely to be caught than I am to be believed.
I wish Maman and Papa were here. They would know what I should do.
Padraig watched Cairren leave the bailey alone because she’d asked him for space after her family and friends left.
He made his way to the lists, but he couldn’t concentrate.
Cairren had endured Wynda’s funeral the day before, and now her friends had departed.
He worried about her as he watched her retreat since Wynda’s death.
She’d become introspective and distant, and he suspected part of it was she expected him to send her back to her own chamber now that it was no longer in use.
He had no intention of having Cairren spend another night anywhere but in his bed.
By midmorning, he abandoned his training and went in search of Cairren.
He looked in their chamber, her old chamber, and Wynda‘s. He went to the garden and even checked the stables. He asked two villagers as they entered the bailey if they’d seen Cairren among the crofts, but they shook their heads.
He figured she must have gone for a walk outside the walls, so he went to the guardhouse.
“Where did Lady Cairren and her guards go?” Padraig asked, his questions directed to any of the men. But he received blank stares in return. “She’s not in the keep or the bailey. Her horse is here, so she must have gone for a walk. Where did they go?” He repeated his question.
“We dinna ken, Padraig,” one guard offered. “She doesnae tell us when she leaves.”
“You mean she just walks out without her guards?” Padraig was incredulous. He didn’t think Cairren was that irresponsible.
“She doesnae have guards.” Another man, Timothy, spoke up and looked at Padraig as if he were a simpleton.
“Of course, she does. She’s my wife and a lady,” Padraig countered.
“Ye never assigned her any, so nay one has agreed to go with her,” a young guardsman named Matthew stepped forward. He shot an angry look at Timothy. “Or rather, none have been allowed to go with her.”
Padraig didn’t know if he had ever been as angry as he was now. “She’s outside the walls right now without a guard because she was refused an escort.” Padraig’s ears were ringing.
“She came happy as you please, demanding that men give up their time to play nursemaid to her,” Timothy explained. “I told her nay each time. If she’d mattered enough to be protected, ye would have seen to it. We ken ye dinna want her, so we figured this might help things along.”
“I didna need to order that she be guarded. She’s ma wife!" When upset or angry, Padraig’s burr overtook his speech. He spun around but stopped. He turned back to the guards. His left eye twitched. “What do ye mean ‘we figured this might help things along’?”
Timothy shrugged. “We all ken ye want to marry Lady Myrna. That canna happen if ye’re still married to that brown bitch.”
Padraig snapped. He lunged at Timothy, his knife in his hand. It entered the man’s belly as Padraig’s weight pushed the guard back against the wall. “I would cut out yer tongue for saying that, but I never want to see ye again.” Padraig drove the dirk deeper into Timothy.
Padraig stepped back and let Timothy’s body drop to the floor.
“He willfully endangered ma wife’s life and insulted her.
Let that be a lesson to ye all. Lady Cairren is ma wife, and I expect her to live a long and healthy life at ma side.
What I did or didna want in the past is irrelevant to yer duty to guard members of this clan, particularly women.
From this day forth, if anyone refuses ma wife’s request for a guard, ye will meet the same fate as this sod. ”