Chapter 26
Spring couldn’t stop smiling during the meal. She’d never expected to find out she had come from such a terrific family. Never in her dreams could she have hoped to find herself so loved by so many people she had just met.
Annalyse and Ross couldn’t stop hugging her and she was afraid she wouldn’t get a chance to eat during the meal. Still, she didn’t care. She would give up every meal if it meant finding the family she hadn’t even known she’d lost.
The meal ended. Spring couldn’t help notice that her sister, Summer, was being constantly yelled at by her horribly mean husband. Summer was only five and ten years of age and didn’t deserve this kind of treatment from anyone.
“Why is the baron so mean to Summer?” she asked Reed who was standing behind her at the dais, talking to his brothers and Shaw.
“She married as part of an alliance,” said Reed.
“She did it to save Reed’s ass from being thrown into the dungeon,” Rook added.
“I dinna like the way the baron treats her,” said Spring. “It makes me want to punch him.”
“Spring,” Shaw reminded her in a low voice. “Ye are no’ a warrior anymore.”
“Nay, dinna do that,” agreed Reed. “It wouldna be a smart idea since he is a noble.”
“Aye, there is not much we can do about it,” added Rowen. “An alliance has been made and it’s been done in front of King Edward himself. It can’t be broken.”
“I’ll never treat ye like that,” said Shaw, putting his arm around Spring and pulling her to him.
“I ken,” she answered, not liking the feeling of helplessness regarding her sister.
“I said it before and I’ll say it again,” said Reed with a shake of his head. “The best thing for everyone would be if the baron just died in his sleep. For poor Summer’s sake, we can only pray that it happens.”
“Excuse me,” said Spring, pulling out of her husband’s embrace. “I am goin’ to save my sister from a few minutes of misery.”
Shaw watched Spring take Summer away from the baron. Then Annalyse joined them as well as Colina and they walked out of the great hall together.
“My laird,” came a voice from behind him. Shaw turned to see Nairnie watching him, as always, having overheard every word they said.
“What is it, old woman?”
“I think I would like to leave the Highlands, with yer permission of course.”
“Leave the Highlands?” Her request shocked him since he thought Nairnie would be with him until the day she died. “Have I wronged ye in some way?” Suddenly, he felt like, mayhap, he’d been too harsh with her.
“Nay,” she said with a wise smile. “I would like ye to send me back to England with the lass named Summer.”
“I dinna understand. Why do ye want to go?”
“Perhaps, I can be her handmaid.”
“Ye are no’ a servant, Nairnie, nor will I ever ask ye to be one.”
“Then send me as her soothsayer or advisor or, perhaps, her midwife instead. It doesna matter to me, but I need to be there with her.”
“What do ye mean?”
“I’ve had a vision that in the next few years, Summer will be goin’ through some rough and tryin’ times. I’d like to be able to keep an eye on her for her sake and the sake of her family.”
“The way ye’ve kept an eye on me my whole life?”
“Ye dinna need me any more now that ye have Spring.”
Shaw knew the old woman was right. He hadn’t needed her for the last two decades, though he’d never once sent her away.
Still, he’d never liked the way she always watched him so closely.
And the fact she’d had visions of the deaths of his parents and wife made him feel very uneasy.
She was kind and wise, and part of the clan, but he wouldn’t miss her.
Sometimes, he swore she was a witch and he didn’t like witches.
Aye, sending her to England would be a good idea.
He was happy to send her to another castle – especially the baron’s.
“Perhaps ye are right. If Summer is in need of help, then, by all means, ye should go to England with her. I’ll tell the baron ye will be returnin’ with them, as a favor from me, to help birth his baby. ”
“Thank ye, my laird.” She nodded and faded back into the shadows.
Ross walked over with Spring’s brothers, Egil and Bodil next. “Shaw, I’m goin’ to take the boys back to the Lowlands to try to find their real parents,” said Ross.
“Aye,” said Bodil. “We’ve seen how happy Spring is to meet her family and we are excited to meet ours as well.”
“We only hope they’ll want us after what we’ve become through the years,” said Egil.
“No parents would ever turn away their child,” said Ross. “They will want ye.”
Shaw noticed Spring return to the great hall and she no longer wore her leather clothes that reminded him of a Viking. He was taken aback because, instead, she wore the plaid of his clan. Colina was with her and he was sure it had been his daughter’s idea. They walked over to join the group.
“Spring,” said Shaw, not able to take his eyes off her because of her beauty.
Not only her natural beauty but the glow of being pregnant that made her look like an angel.
She also had a smile on her face and looked confident now that she accepted the fact she was a Gordon.
“Ye look so bonnie,” he told her, taking her by the hand.
“I’ll no’ be needin’ these anymore.” She had her old clothes tucked under her arm and gave them to Colina. “Go throw these in the fire,” she told her.
“But they’re yer clothes,” protested Colina.
“Nay,” said Spring, “no’ anymore. I am a Gordon now and I’ll wear the plaid of my husband’s clan proudly. No longer am I a warrior.”
Leith saw what was happening and hurried over. “Are ye goin’ to throw yer bow and arrows into the fire, too?” he asked. “If ye are, can I have them?”
“No one is throwin’ my faither’s bow and arrows into the fire,” Shaw interrupted. “That was a present from me to yer mathair and they’ll be hers forever.”
“I would never throw away somethin’ that means so much to ye,” she told Shaw with a smile. “However, there is one more thing I willna need anymore. Faither, I’d like to return this to ye.” She held out her closed fist to Ross.
“What is it?” asked Ross, holding out his hand.
“It is the pawn ye made for yer chess game. It has been with me always and brought me comfort through the years as if ye and mathair were at my side. But now that I really have ye back in my life, I willna need it anymore.”
“Aye,” said Ross, taking the piece from her. He nodded and tears filled his eyes.
“Ye have blossomed,” Shaw told her. “Ye have changed from a hardened warrior into a lovin’, carin’ mathair and wife, and I love it.”
“I still have a lot of my warrior blood in me and I’m no’ sure it’ll ever leave me completely,” Spring warned him. “Does that bother ye, Husband?”
“Nay,” said Shaw, pulling his wife into his arms and laying a hand on her stomach.
“I like a lassie with a will and mind of her own. Be ye a warrior or a lady or anythin’ else, I will love ye just the same.
Ye have helped me to change as well and, for that, I am eternally grateful.
Ye are my wife and I will love ye forever, my bonnie Highland Spring. ”
Next in series Summer’s Reign – Book 2