Chapter 43
Padraig was unprepared for the attention Cairren’s return generated.
The ladies-in-waiting tittered and peeked at him, which was annoying, but harmless.
It was the men he wanted to run his sword through.
He noticed immediately that the men’s gazes were lascivious and predatory.
His neck hurt from being on a swivel as he glanced around and found one man after another ogling Cairren.
He showed his support by keeping his arm around Cairren as they walked through the Great Hall.
He steered the ladies toward a table occupied by members of Clan Fraser of Lovat.
He avoided the Rosses and gave the Mackenzies a wide berth.
Once the meal began, Padraig relaxed. But when the music started, his hackles went back up.
“I don’t want to dance with any of them, Padraig,” Cairren whispered. He saw her nervousness, and he felt the tension radiating from her.
“We are still newly married. I will explain that I refuse to share. If you will dance with me, then I shall merrily twirl you aboot. If you’d rather remain here, then we shall. If you want to retire, I will escort you to your chamber. I—”
Cairren giggled and placed her hand on Padraig’s arm to stop his babbling.
“I know, Padraig. Let’s sit for a while and watch.
I can point people out.” She looked around, then discreetly pointed to their left.
“Look. There’s Lachlan speaking to his sister, Blair.
They’re standing with Arabella Johnstone.
She was their sister Maude’s close friend.
Arabella and I grew closer when Maude and Allyson Elliot both married.
I’d like to speak with her at some point, but there isn’t a rush to do it tonight. There will be time.”
Nay, there willna. Padraig wanted to blurt out his thoughts, but he kept them to himself.
We willna linger here. I already ken Cairren was right.
It’ll make me miserable stuck here. I need to convince her we should set off for Dunure within the next couple days, or the weather will make that choice for us.
“Alex,” Cairren rose to greet Alexander Armstrong. He bent over to kiss her hand, and Padraig watched the smile that brightened Cairren’s face. It was the same one she’d worn while Alex and her clan members visited. She had not flashed it since.
“What brings you to court, Cairren?” Alex posed the question to Cairren, but his gaze was on Padraig.
“We have some clan business to attend to, and I wanted to see Caitlyn. I feared I might never see her again, so when the opportunity arose, I made my way here.”
“And you’re sharing a chamber again, just as you did when you were young,” Alex arched an eyebrow. Cairren refused to take the bait.
“For now. I’ve missed her, and Padraig understands.”
“You’re an understanding husband,” Alex taunted, but before Padraig could respond, Cairren rushed to speak.
“He is. I’m grateful for the time with my sister. I don’t ken when I will see her again, and Padraig knows this is important to me.”
“As you say. Would you dance with me?” Alex looked directly into Cairren’s eyes as though he searched for the truth to her sudden reappearance at court.
She wouldn’t lie to her childhood friend, but she wouldn’t volunteer more.
She felt that was all she did since she arrived.
Pick selective bits of her story and evaded the rest.
“Not tonight, Alex. I’m fatigued, and prefer to sit this out. Another night.”
“I shall hold you to that.” Alex nodded before slipping back into the crowd.
“I’m surprised you didn’t make an exception for Alex,” Padraig mused.
“I didn’t want to answer questions that I didn’t want asked. And I am tired. I think I would prefer to retire.”
Padraig didn’t ask questions, rather offering him her arm.
He noticed the attention that continued to follow them, but he preferred looking at Cairren, who walked with the dignity she had whenever put in the spotlight before his clan.
He marveled at her silent strength, but he knew it exhausted her.
When they arrived at Cairren’s door, Padraig felt like he had when he began courting Myrna, uncertain of what to say or do.
“Goodnight, Padraig,” Cairren murmured. She hesitated as though she weren’t certain what came next, but then she turned to her door.
“Goodnight, Ren.”
Cairren looked back over her shoulder before passing through the doorway.
Morning came, and Cairren woke before Caitlyn and Laurel.
She was unaccustomed to court hours after living in the Highlands for months.
She hadn’t danced most of the night away like the women she shared the chamber with.
Her friend and sister would likely sleep until close to midday since it was clear the queen didn’t expect them to join her on her morning constitutional.
Cairren dressed and slipped from the chamber.
She made her way through the winding passageways until she stepped into the brilliant sunlight.
She didn’t hear voices, but she heard the crunch of footsteps.
She waited for Queen Elizabeth and her matrons to round the corner before dropping into a deep curtsy.
“Lady Cairren, I hadn’t expected to see you, yet there you were at the evening meal.
” Queen Elizabeth flicked her hand, and Cairren rose.
A speaking glance sent the other women away.
The queen’s assessing gaze missed nothing as Cairren stood still.
She wouldn’t speak unless asked a question. “Why have you returned?”
Cairren knew the queen was often direct, but she hadn’t expected her to be so blunt so soon. “I would seek an audience with the king, Your Grace.”
“Walk with me.” When Cairren took her place one step back from the queen on the woman’s left, Queen Elizabeth continued her questioning. “What reason could you have to see the king? Is your husband not handling clan matters?”
“Padraig will surely speak to the king and keep him abreast of the politics and happenings on Munro territory, but I would speak to the king aboot something else.”
“You are being evasive, not reserved, Lady Cairren. My patience is thin already this morning. Come to the point.”
“Yes, Your Grace. My marriage hasn’t been what my parents intended, nor what I imagine the king intended.
While most of the Munros have been merely inhospitable, there was an attempt on my life.
” The queen came to such an abrupt halt that Cairren nearly stepped in front of her.
Only months after her joint coronation with Robert the Bruce, the English King Edward Longshanks captured Queen Elizabeth, and she spent eight years under house arrest while her sister-by-marriage and Isabella MacDuff were kept in cages suspended outside separate castles.
After the harrowing experience, the queen took threats and mistreatment of her ladies as a grave offense. “Explain,” she commanded.
“The clan’s priest accused me of heresy and witchery after I became the clan’s healer and midwife.
He hates me to his very core. He sprayed me with barely diluted lye, and when I flinched, he claimed that it burned, and this was proof that I was a witch.
My father-by-marriage was prepared to put me on the stake. ”
“That is outrageous,” Queen Elizabeth declared.
“Your Grace, that wasn’t the event to which I’d referred,” Cairren grimaced.
“There’s more?” the queen demanded incredulously.
“Aye, Your Grace. I made my way to the Sutherland and sought refuge from him. Laird Sutherland directed Lachlan to accompany me here, but my husband’s brother, Duncan, absconded with me. He tried to drown me in a cave on the shore of the Moray Firth.”
“And where, precisely, was your husband during all of this?” The queen’s tone made Cairren fear for Padraig’s life.
Cairren shifted uncomfortably, and Queen Elizabeth’s eyes shot up.
“During the incident with the priest and the doctored holy water, he was away from the keep. He became aware that the woman he intended to marry before me was having an affair with Duncan. By the time he returned, I’d already escaped the stake and was on my way to Dunrobin.
He followed me there, but I’d departed by the time he arrived.
He intended to gather more supplies and men before following me to Stirling.
But just before he reached Foulis, he encountered Lachlan, who explained what happened with Duncan.
Padraig figured out where Duncan took me and came for me. ”
“He rescued you from the cave. How heroic.”
“Aye, Your Grace.” Cairren reasoned that Padraig had saved her, so she didn’t feel compelled to share her part in her own rescue.
“I suspect there is far more, but I think it is best saved for the king. Come along, Lady Cairren. You have a meeting to attend.”
“Yes, Your Grace.” She hurried to keep up with the queen’s brisk pace. Before she realized where she was, she followed Queen Elizabeth into King Robert’s Privy Council chamber.
“Lady Cairren,” the russet-haired monarch greeted her. She’d known Robert the Bruce since the day she arrived at court, but he didn’t intimidate her any less after three years of living at his court. “I noticed you arrived with your husband. You were not expected.”
“It was a rather unexpected journey.”
“Do tell,” King Robert said as he gestured to a chair. He ordered everyone from the room, leaving only Queen Elizabeth, Cairren, the king, and his guard. “I suspect this shall take a while.”