Land of Ice and Snow [Cairngorm Dragons 3] (Siren Publishing Classic) (8 page)

“Hamish, allow me to present my wife, Eilidh. Eilidh, this is Hamish Munroe. He has been living in the Norse lands for many years but comes from Skye and knew some of my ancestors.”

Hamish took her hands as she curtsied to him and raised her to her feet.

“I’m very glad to know you, my dear,” he said.

“Welcome to the Caisteal, Hamish,” Eilidh said, smiling at him.

“Sigourney, this is my wife Eilidh. Eilidh, my love, this is Sigourney, Lachlann’s mate.”

Eilidh came forward and embraced Sigourney. She smelled of herbs, lavender, and something else. Sigourney was captivated.

“I am so pleased to meet you. It’s lonely here in the Caisteal. There are no young women for me to talk to, and I’m looking forward to getting to know you well. I assume you will be living in the Caisteal at least at first until you find your feet in this new land. Come with me, and I will show you to your rooms.”

Sigourney followed Eilidh up the stairs to a large, pleasant room at the side of the Caisteal. There was a four-poster bed in pride of place. It had dark-purple velvet curtains, matching the ones at the windows. The floorboards were bare and polished to a deep, rich shine. The chests of drawers and wardrobes shone, and the room smelled of herbs and beeswax. There was a small fireplace, where a fire was laid, ready to be lit. Off the bedroom was a bathing chamber, which Eilidh showed Sigourney. Hot water was waiting in a ewer with soap, scented with the wild flowers that grew in abundance on the hills, as well drying cloths. All had been set out for her convenience. Sigourney looked longingly at the bath. She hoped there would soon be time for a bath in the huge tub.

“Water is brought up from the kitchens when you need it. I’m sure you will enjoy a nice long soak later.”

“Thank you. It’s a beautiful room.”

“Well most of the rooms are like this, and I find they are very comfortable. If there’s anything you need, you must ask Seonag or myself. Now come and sit down by the fireplace. If you’d like, you can have the fire lit later. I want to hear all about you and where you live. How did you meet Lachlann?”

“I was too old not to be mated, and a jealous woman, who wanted me to mate with her son, got me banished. I was sitting on the mountainside when a gorgeous yellow-orange dragon flew out of the sun. He came to me, and it was as if lightning had struck us both. He said he was my mate, and I believed him. The same jealous woman challenged him to retrieve the brides’ golden torc from the old one under the mountain. That was Hamish. Lachlann succeeded of course and brought Hamish out with him. Lachlann and I were wed a few days ago. My parents are coming by ship bringing my bride gifts. They want to be present at the dragon mating.”

“What an exciting time you have had. It seems to me that no Braemuir can take a mate without a great deal of excitement. I must tell you about my own experiences.”

She got no further as the door burst open and two small bodies hurled themselves at her. Laughing she collected one in each arm.

“These are my children, Donald and Moira. Usually they are well- mannered, but today it seems they have forgotten what is due to a guest.”

At that warning tone in their mother’s voice, the two stood apart from her, and Sigourney was made a very correct bow and curtsey. She smiled at them, and they grinned back.

“We will leave you to rest now, and Seonag will come and collect you for the meal, later.”

“Please may I take the pretty lady to our great hall, Mother?” Moira asked.

“If you wish, certainly, but you will have to be ready betimes and not arrive late as you usually do.”

“I won’t, Mother. I will make sure that the pretty lady gets there on time.”

“Very well then. Come with me, the pair of you, now, and allow her to rest for a while. She has made a very long journey today and will welcome a little peace and quiet before the evening meal.”

* * * *

Downstairs Lachlann had explained Hamish’s story to Braemuir and seen the same light of speculation in his eyes. He was obviously thinking along the same lines.

“We will of course do all we possibly can to help you in your search, Hamish. I suggest we have our meal first, and then tonight you can rest, and Lachlann and I will do some thinking and planning, and we will talk about it tomorrow. You must be very tired after your journey.”

“Yes, indeed I am. That sounds like an excellent idea. I’m very grateful for all your help.”

Braemuir summoned Seonag again, and Hamish followed her upstairs to his chamber.

“Brother, I see you are thinking what I’m thinking,” Lachlann said.

“Yes, no-one knows how old she is or where she really came from. She seems always to have been there. She herself says nothing, and no-one gets any personal information out of her. It seems that’s our best way forward. You can take him to see Ness tomorrow, and meanwhile I have a dragon mating to plan. I don’t think Ness will allow Muireall to come here so soon after the birth of her babies. So who else will you have to hold Sigourney?”

“I hadn’t thought about it. What about you and Eilidh? That would be ideal for me.”

“Have you explained what she is facing? The customs are all so very different I hardly think theirs will be the same as ours.”

“No, they aren’t, but then their marriage ceremony is very different, too, and I survived that. She will be fine. I have to tell you she is pregnant with twins.”

“Is she? Well that’s wise, brother. You are large, and she is small. It will be much better for her to have two smaller babies the first time. I am assuming that’s why you did it? How did she feel? Ness had endless trouble when he tried to manipulate our sister.”

“Yes I heard, but I haven’t tried to stop her getting pregnant. She is older than the usual years for starting her family, and although she didn’t actually tell me, I read enough in her thoughts to know that she was worried she wouldn’t be able to give me children. I thought to remove that doubt from her mind.”

“Well you seem to have taken care of all that. You go and see Ness tomorrow and take Sigourney. She can visit the babies and meet Muireall while you take care of Hamish and his problem. I just hope that what we suspect is true and it can all be solved to our satisfaction. If it isn’t, you are in for a long and arduous search.”

The next morning accordingly, Lachlann, Hamish, and Sigourney set off for Ness’s lands. The old saying “least said soonest mended” had made Lachlann decide to say nothing at all about what they suspected. They landed outside Darroch Keep. Lachlann saw that Sigourney was impressed by the building. It was different from the sort of houses she was used to. Mellow, old stone walls towered over her and glowed in the sun. The Keep was a solid, square building with conical towers at each corner, with windows in their walls. Huge oak doors, studded with large black nails, were opened wide onto the main hall. The steward MacKay came out to greet them, doffing his bonnet with the pheasant’s feather and bowing to them.

“My lord of Ness is within. Please come this way.”

Lachlann made the introductions and then asked if Alanna could be summoned to take Sigourney to see the babies. Ness was agreeable, and soon the three men were seated in Ness’s bookroom with a large goblet of uisge beatha each.

“Slainte,” Ness said.

“Slainte Mhath,” Hamish replied.

“What brings you to my lands today?” Ness asked.

“Hamish lost his mate one hundred years ago,” Lachlann explained.

“Impossible. If he
had
lost his mate, he’d be dead.”

“I did tell you that was the dragon law,” Lachlann said.

“Yes, you did. After all these reiterations, I do believe you. Now all that remains is to find her. I suspect that is going to be a task beyond all of us.”

“Not necessarily so,” Lachlann said. “I have an idea, and Braemuir agrees with me.”

He saw he had all Hamish and Ness’s attention.

“Who do we know who is older than any of us, wise in the ways of men, and skilled in the use of herbs?” Lachlann asked.

“Mairi,” Ness replied.

“Yes, even the name fits,” Lachlann said. “Please send for her, Ness, and let’s see if we are right or not. Hamish, please sit over there in that chair where you cannot be seen until we find out.”

Mairi was sent for, and the tension mounted as they waited for her to arrive. The door to the bookroom had been left open, and Lachlann heard her footsteps as she descended the stairs. She was slow now with advancing age, and his hands balled into fists with the waiting before she entered the room.

“Lord Lachlann. How very nice to see you. I hope your quest was successful?”

“Yes, indeed it was. I have a mate now from the land of the ice and snow.”

“That beautiful creature who is at present with my lady, Muireall? You are fortunate indeed.”

“As I am only too well aware. I have come to ask you a personal question, and believe me, your answer is very important. What is your full name?”

“Mairi NicMhàrtainn. Why do you want to know?”

“Because you are my mate and I thought that I’d lost you. I thought you were dead, and I have lived under a bloody mountain and mourned you for one hundred years. That’s why, woman,” Hamish grumbled.

Mairi went white then red. “Hamish? Hamish, is that really you? I thought you were lost to me. I have mourned you and remained faithful to only you.”

Ness and Lachlann left the bookroom.

* * * *

Hamish took Mairi in his arms and held her close. Tears fell. They murmured their love and their loss.

“Come and sit down by me and tell me what happened to you that day. I searched the sea, and there was no mind contact at all. How were you saved?”

“I hit my head on something, and the next thing I knew I was in a house I didn’t recognise with people I didn’t know. It took a couple of weeks to get my memory back, and then I looked for you, and my mind searched for yours and always came up with silence. I was told that you had flown north, and we all assumed that you’d fallen in the sea or been frozen in the ice and were no more. I left Skye as I couldn’t bear to be there without you. The places we’d walked, talked, and loved were hurtful to me. It was just too painful to see them without you. I believed that I had survived because we weren’t dragon mated. Later I discovered that we were in fact mated and linked, and that you must have survived somehow, because I was still alive. The other dragons hadn’t told me the rest of the lore because they thought I might in time take another mate. They knew that if you hadn’t returned and I couldn’t contact you then something drastic must have happened. When I at last discovered the truth, I thought that you must perhaps have received a blow to the head or something like that, destroying your memories. I just knew you were lost to me and I couldn’t contact you at all. I had no interest in taking any other mate but you, so I have remained as I am all this time. I missed you so. Why couldn’t I find you with my mind?”

“Because, fool that I was, I assumed you were dead. I didn’t know the lore until Lachlann told me about it. All these years I have believed that I had lost you and would never see you again. I wanted to see no-one. I found some caves under a mountain by Alesund and have lived there ever since, mourning your loss and feeling sorry for myself. No thoughts, especially from so far away, could possibly penetrate the rock. What a fool I have been, and how many years we have wasted. Well, we are going to waste no more now. You will pack your bags, and you will be coming with me today.”

“I couldn’t leave my lady Muireall as she has but just given birth and needs all the help she can get.”

“Well, it won’t be yours. You are my mate, and I need you now. I don’t want to waste another minute away from you.”

A heated argument developed. Ness strode back into the bookroom, and the two stopped shouting at one another.

“I couldn’t help but overhear what you said. I have a solution to offer you, Hamish, if you will listen to it.”

“Yes indeed, if you have any thoughts on the matter, it will be a relief. This stubborn female will not listen to me, her mate.”

“Why don’t you and Mairi live here in Darroch Keep? She could continue to oversee the maids that look after my mate. Her presence in the Keep will be enough to keep them in line. You can have a suite of guest rooms and live out your last years here. Neither of you are young. You need to be looked after now, and that can be arranged here.”

Hamish looked at Mairi, and she nodded.

“My lord of Ness, you are very kind. We accept your offer, gratefully.”

Lachlann’s mind picked up the consternation that reigned in the coastal towns along the Moray Firth. A Viking longship had been seen again. It was only a single one, and it didn’t look as if it intended to make landfall, but who knew? It was many years since the raids that had devastated the coastal communities, but the memories of them had been handed down and lost nothing in the retelling. Braemuir, too, had picked up the fear and worry. He as Solus and Lachlann as Feasgar in dragon-form flew to the coast and found Ness there. All three were ready to defend their Clans at any cost, but they knew such a ship was expected. They had picked up the sense of alarm from the people’s minds alarm at the sight of one of the once-feared ships. The inchoate thoughts of their people had alarmed them. They flew over the heads of the crowd, and the cheers and the relief that flowed from the people heartened them. Feasgar saw the longship and recognised the standard it flew.