My Cursed Highlander (33 page)

Viviana blew a breath and rolled her worthless eyes. Why? Why did he make it his first priority to tell people of her flaws? She waited for him to also inform Cora-Rose that she was barren.

Cora-Rose's dark eyes narrowed on him, her full lips thinned. "Ye are a dunderheid. Might I suggest ye return to Italy and collect your charms."

"I only wish to keep her safe." When he pulled the backs of Viviana's fingers to his smile, she resisted the urge to extend the distance and pop him in the nose.

"Think ye it safe to walk from here to a trestle bench?" The sarcastic question didn't need reply, nor did Cora Rose wait for one. Instead, she hooked her arm in Viviana's and led her away. "Our husbands can suffocate a woman with their constant guard. 'Tis verra fortunate for them, they are as braw as the devil himself."

Viviana laughed, agreeing wholeheartedly. "Thank you for saving me." The bloom of friendship eased her nerves.

"'Twas my pleasure." Cora-Rose's palm curved over Viviana's fingers. A murky, pink light settled over the blackness in her head. She couldn't see exactly, but there was something there. A swirling glow, but naught else.

"Ow." The woman moaned, her steps faltered just as they reached the edge of the trestle table. She released Viviana's arm and grunted.

"Are you ill?" Viviana assisted her onto the bench seat.

"Nay. The babe is verra active today." She pulled Viviana down beside her. "Meet my restless daughter, Kenzie Kraig." Cora-Rose pressed Viviana's hand to the side of her belly. A phenomenon so foreign to her grazed across the palm of her hand, sending a tingle up her arm.

The amulet heated against her skin, but Viviana could hardly move. The desire to experience the sensation again nigh paralyzed her. "Do you fear the coming days?"

"Nay. I trust Taveon told ye of my gift." Cora-Rose guided Viviana's hand to the lower left side of her swollen abdomen, where a tiny bulge pushed out of her gut.

"He did." Briefly, Viviana recalled that Cora-Rose had been accused of heresy and only escaped execution because of her marriage to Keegan. Viviana didn't fear the woman's gift of foresight. In fact, she envied it.

She felt the movement again and an odd sense of yearning washed through her.

"I see my daughter in my visions. She has whey-colored curls and a smile that melts her da's heart. I know all will be weel."

Viviana twisted the ring on her finger and battled her conscience. Having met Cora-Rose and Makayla, Viviana wanted nothing more than to see an end to the curse that had plagued Clan Kraig for a century, but she wasn't yet prepared to give up the amulet's gift. Especially now that she'd found others she could see through. All of whom were related in some way. Taveon, Keegan, and Makayla all had the blood of Clan Kraig running through their veins. Cora-Rose carried it her womb. Then there was Angelo. How did her young friend fit into her theory?

The smell of cooked meat and tangy wine interrupted Viviana's thoughts just before trenchers of food clanked atop the table. Her stomach churned.

"Are ye hungry, m'lady?" Viviana recognized Remi's voice as he took up a seat across from her. A shuffling of bodies added weight to the bench, filling their table with Taveon's kinsfolk. Monroe was close. She knew his zesty, cedar scent well and it was ripe this day. If he had any intention of gaining the clothier's attention, he would need a bath soon.

Rubbing her neck, she willed the illness back down her throat. "Thank you, Remi, but I fear the seasickness has followed me ashore."

"Mayhap some gooseberry wine would settle your nerves." A woman spoke beside her and poured drink into a cup.

She turned toward the voice and inhaled her odd scent. Sweet bread came to mind. Actually, the odor more resembled fruitcake, but also like puppies. The woman's scent reminded her of Angelo. She smelled like boys.

"M'lady, I would like ye to meet my Meghan." Remi's pride-filled tone spoke volumes about the affections he held for his wife and mother of his four sons which would explain her scent.

Viviana smiled and raised her hand in greeting. "It is wonderful to meet you. Remi tells me—"

"I'm the weaver. If there is anything ye would like; a kirtle, a sash, a blanket, then ask and it is done." Meghan shook Viviana's hand with a force that jiggled the bones in her arm. Meghan's skin, though calloused, was feminine, and her warmth and sincerity was exactly how Viviana had imagined her. The woman prattled in much the same way Remi always had, and soon they were conversing overtop themselves.

"Enough gibberish." Cora-Rose interrupted in an impatient snap. "Forgive my rudeness, but I cannae bear the niceties. I must know how m'laird responded to the news."

"What news?" Viviana asked.

Cora-Rose paused, but hardly long enough to take a breath. "I'm eager to know how m'laird reacted when ye told him ye were with child."

Chapter 24

Viviana stared at the pitch in her head. The thudding of her heart muted the sounds all around her. Her palm flattened over her stomach.

How could she be with child?

Cora-Rose was wrong. Viviana shook her head, trying to recall her last menses. She hadn't flowed since before Taveon came to the Medici Palace. How long ago had that been? She never kept track. Her courses had never been more than a cruel reminder that she couldn't bring life into the world. Radolfo had always said her womb was black.

A useless bowel of cold ash,
were his exact words.

Luciano cared little about siring a babe, but used every opportunity to remind her that her uterus was as worthless as her eyes.

Her husbands had been fruitless, infertile. Not her.

Not her.

"Viviana?"

She was with child. Viviana told herself it was true. A giddy sense of joy filled her insides. The god who'd abandoned her in the past was giving her a gift, and she didn't dare question why.

She blinked, her mouth opened to speak, then the demon on her shoulder all but laughed at her foolish gaiety.
You are with child, and you are going to die.

The curse.

"Viviana." Someone shook her. "Forgive me. I assumed ye knew."

She pushed through the weight of her thoughts and searched for words to form a coherent sentence. "I'm going to die."

"Nay. Dinnae be foolish."

Taveon wouldn't want the babe. He'd married her because he believed her barren. Her infertility was one of her greatest attributes. She knew enough about the life he'd lived to know he would push her away. The thought of his rejection filled her with a pain she could hardly bear.

She clutched Cora-Rose's arm. "You mustn't tell Taveon. He can never know."

"'Twill be difficult to hide," Remi pointed out the idiocy of her brilliant plan.

Viviana panicked. "Monroe, you must take Remi far away. Tie him to a tree if you must. Do not let him near my husband."

"Ye gods and little fishes! Think ye I have a death wish?" Remi defended.

Monroe cleared his throat. "Ye have my word that Remi will hold to his tongue. 'Tis a woman's place to inform her husband of such matters."

"I'm not telling him." Viviana held stern.

"'Tis nay reason to fash." Cora-Rose attempted to soothe her. "Ye brought the amulet home. The curse will be broken."

"How can you know this?" Viviana didn't share her sense of calm.

"Because in my vision I see my daughter playing with a laddie I once thought was my son, but the color of your eyes now tells me otherwise."

"I do not understand."

"The boy has purple eyes. Your eyes. He is your son."

Viviana's stomach flipped inside out. "My son?"

"Aye. Ye are carrying the next chieftain of Clan Kraig. He is as handsome as our husbands and just as ornery."

"Oh,
cazzo
!" She pinched her eyes tight and swallowed the bile rising in her throat. She was going to be ill. "Are we there? In your vision. Are we there with the children?" A long pause made the blood rush from her face. "Answer me."

"Nay. We are not."

* * *

Taveon raced out of the Great Hall and into the corridor. He caught up with Meghan and Viviana at the cistern just as his wife convulsed with illness. What in the name of Zeus? Why had she rushed out? And why the hell was she ill?

'Twas doubtful he would gain the answers he sought by launching into a tirade of questions. He took the goblet of gooseberry wine from Meghan's hand. "Ye may go. Thank ye."

Meghan dipped her head and scampered away without a word which gave him more cause for concern than the fact that his wife was bent over a chamber pot casting up her guts.

Viviana snapped upright and gawked at him with wide violet eyes. "M'laird."

Why was she always surprised to find him caring for her? He pressed his hand to the small of her back and held the goblet to her lips. "What has happened?"

Her eyes grew impossibly wider. She latched onto the goblet and took a sip, only to swish the contents in her mouth, and then spit into the chamber pot. She repeated the action two more times then wiped the spittle from her lips with back of her sleeve. She offered him a wobbly smile. "I suppose I'm still suffering the seasickness."

"We are on land." His gaze narrowed.

Her chin pinned to her chest. "I... I've had a... taxing day." Her words were clipped, short, sharp. She was lying.

"Someone has upset ye."

"No. Everything is wonderful." Her head jerked side to side with a force that turned her hair into black whips. "Please. I'm weary. Might you summon a maid to assist me in my chamber? I wish to retire for the eve."

Something was amiss, but he held confident he wouldn't pry any answers from his wee wife this night. He would seek out Remi on the morrow to find out what had caused her such upset. For the nonce, he intended to coddle his wife and tend to her needs. "Come. I will assist ye."

Taveon escorted her up the curved stairwell of the north tower. He looked at the bare soot-covered walls thinking the keep lacked warmth. 'Twas not at all like her gaudy Medici Palace. "Have ye formed an opinion of Ravenhurst?"

"It is wonderful," was all she said and chewed on her lip.

Their footfalls echoed in the empty corridor. "And what of Cora-Rose? She is forthright. Did she make ye feel welcome?"

"
Sì. Sì
. She is wonderful."

"And Makayla?"

"She is wonderful. Just wonderful."

Ouish! Wonderful, aye?
He pulled her hand to his chest. "If everyone is so wonderful, why are ye trembling?"

"I'm cold." Her reply came far too quickly.

The yellow glow seeping out from beneath his chamber door eased his tension. He exhaled and pushed the door wide grateful to find his chamber clean and prepared for his return. The hearth blazed with a fire that warmed his face and soothed his angst. He scanned the chamber slowly for Viviana. On the bedside table, a candelabra flickered with a half-dozen tiny flames that danced across the four poster bed hidden behind a layer of dark green drapes.

He grinned, feeling suddenly mischievous. Whatever had caused his wife's upset could be remedied behind those curtains. "Our chamber, m'lady."

"
Our
chamber?" Her fingers flexed around his. She gestured toward an interior door. "Does that led to the adjoining lady's quarters?"

"Nay. It does not."

"When I was married to Radolfo and Luciano I had my own chamber."

He scowled. The mention of her previous husbands soured his mood instantly. "The wives of my forefathers never lived long enough to have need for their own chamber."

She stiffened. Her brow stitched together and her bottom lip quivered. 'Twas ludicrous to think she would be suddenly fearful of the marriage bed. Turning into her, he caressed her cheek and looked deep into her eyes where he might touch her soul. She was his mate. He was certain of it. No other made him feel the way she did. "Do ye not wish to share my bed?"

His question seemed to wash away her inhibitions. She inhaled a shaky breath, but her exhale was smooth, calm. She tilted her head back and closed her damp eyes. "I want for nothing more." With the press of her fingers at his nape, she pulled him close and kissed him. His skin tingled and his heart ached to tell her how much he loved her, but Da's teachings kept the words at bay.

He would show her instead. Cradling her face in his hands, he swept her mouth with his tongue. The salty taste of unshed tears stilled him. He pulled back and traced her glossed lips with his thumb. Black lashes lay against her cheeks spiked with tears. "What pains ye?"

His question only caused her more upset. Tears rolled freely down her cheeks. A sob escaped her. She wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him, holding him in place, and pressed her lips to his chest where his heart beat for her and her alone.

"Promise me you will never abandon me."

Confusion formed a heavy scowl on his face. "I have already promised ye this."

A small step backward set her away from him. "I am your wife. Your queen." A bit of ire turned her purple eyes to sparkling gemstones. "If I ask you to repeat a vow, I would expect you to do so."