“And now?” Rory asked with a raised brow.
Richard and Lachlan exchanged a knowing glance. “Marriage has changed him,” Lachlan said, sounding disappointed. “He no longer fights or drinks or whores like he used to.”
“Ye say that like it is a bad thing,” Richard said.
Lachlan rolled his eyes in disgust. “’Tis a bad thing. And ye are just as bad as Caelen McDunnah. Ye’ve both gone soft.”
Richard threw his head back and laughed. “I dunnae feel soft,” he said. “I feel stronger than I ever have. And I will wager ye I can still best ye in any competition or battle.”
“Be that as it may,” Rory interjected, trying to bring the conversation back to the missive. “Do we believe the McDunnah? Do we take him seriously?”
Richard and Lachlan chuckled at that question. “Dead is the man who does nae take Caelen McDunnah seriously,” Richard said.
“Do we go?” Rory asked as he leaned forward in his chair.
“Aye, we do,” Richard said.
Lachlan shook his head. “Yer wife is nae goin’ to like ye leavin’.”
Richard hadn’t thought about how Aeschene might react to him leaving her, even for a short amount of time. “My wife will be fine,” he said as he got to his feet. “She will understand the importance of this meeting.”
“Two weeks?” Aeschene wasn’t happy about the idea of her husband leaving her for that long.
“I will be back before ye even realize I am gone,” Richard said as he held her close. He had waited until after loving her thoroughly before giving her the news about Caelen McDunnah’s missive. It had been his hope that she’d be too sated and too exhausted to argue. He had been wrong.
She sat up in the bed, her chestnut colored hair tumbling over her shoulders. The embers from the hearth were reflected in her pretty blue eyes. God’s teeth, but she is beautiful, he thought with a smile. His smile quickly evaporated when he saw the fierce glower she was giving him.
“Ye waited until after our lovin’ before ye told me.” ’Twas a statement, not a question.
He began stroking her arm with his fingertips in an attempt to distract her. It wasn’t working.
“Richard MacCullough!” The way she said his name made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. “We made a promise to always be honest with one another,” she reminded him.
“I did nae lie,” he said, his smile returning. Even when she is perturbed, she is a glorious sight to behold.
“Were ye worried I would become so upset at the thought of ye leavin’ that I would fling myself off the parapet?”
“Of course nae,” he answered dryly.
“Good,” she said.
“Lachlan was worried ye’d do that,” he teased.
Her eyes widened as her mouth flew open. “What?”
Chuckling, he drew her into his arms and lay back down. “I told him he was daft. I told him ye were the most understanding’ woman that I ken.”
She jabbed him in his side with her index finger. “And never ye forget it, Richard MacCullough.”
“Never,” he said, as he placed a kiss on her forehead.
They were silent for a long moment. “When do ye leave?”
“Next month,” he said. “’Twill take a few days to get to his keep.”
“I will miss ye,” she whispered as she ran her fingertips across his chest.
It felt good to know she would miss him as much as he would miss her. “I dunnae like leavin’ ye,” he said. “But I fear I must.”
“Ye will miss me?” she asked as she snuggled in closer.
“How can ye even ask that?”
She shrugged her shoulders slightly. “‘Twould be nice to hear ye say it.”
He couldn’t resist the broad smile that came to his lips. “How about I show ye?”
Aeschene yawned, feigning exhaustion. “I think I would rather hear ye say it.”
“How about I do both?”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Aeschene wanted for nothing, save for a few moments of peace. Richard hovered over her most days, behaving as if she were made of spun glass and the slightest wind would break her. While she was thankful for his attention, it began to grow on her nerves. He was leaving in a few days, for his meeting with the McDunnah and other clan chiefs. Secretly, she was looking forward to the respite his absence would afford her.
One sunny morning, she and Marisse sat atop the hill and watched the children play. Richard had insisted on escorting her to the top of the hill with the caveat that when she was ready to return to the keep, she was to send for him. He worried she would fall and hurt herself or their babe. “We must be careful,” he told her. We. As if he was also with child.
“If this is how is behaves now? Och! I do not wish to imagine how he shall be come winter.”
Marisse laughed at her friend’s distress. “My guess is it will only get worse. But ye must admit, ’tis better he cares than not.”
She knew Marisse was right. Perhaps instead of complaining she would relish in the special attention he was showing her. Leaning back on her hands, she soaked up the glorious sunshine, basking in the beauty of a peaceful late summer’s day.
It lasted as long as a sweet cake around Raibeart.
“Aeschene! Aeschene!” Colyne raced towards her with his friends, Daniel, Peter, and Thomas. They nearly tripped over their own feet in their zealousness to get to her.
“Slow down, lads,” Marisse told them, holding out an arm to stop them.
Out of breath, Colyne said, “Can we go search for Dagda’s treasures? Thomas says they’re not real, but Daniel, Peter, and I know they are!”
The boys all began talking at once, three excited lads and one pessimistic boy.
“Boys!” Aeschene said with a shake of her head. “Stop, now.”
She waited until they grew quiet before continuing. “Do ye have the proper tools for treasure hunting?”
They boys glanced at one another and shrugged their shoulders.
“How do ye plan on searching for treasures without the proper tools?”
“What kinds of tools?” Colyne asked as he scratched the back of his head.
Aeschene giggled. “Shovels, mayhap?”
Colyne looked heavenward and smacked his forehead with a palm. “So can we go? If we have the proper tools?”
“What do ye think, Marisse? Should we let them go?”
Marisse pretended to think on it for a long moment. “Aye, I think we should,” she told Aeschene. Turning to the boys she said, “But if ye do find Dagda’s sword, I want yer promise that I can hold it too.”
Each of the boys promised and waited with baited breath for Aeschene to grant per permission.
“Verra well,” she said. “But ye must be back by the nooning meal. And dunnae wander too far, aye?”
The boys happily agreed to her rules and thanked her kindly before hurrying away excitedly.
“Och!” Marisse said as she watched the boys running toward the keep. “Do ye remember being that young?”
“Aye, I do. ‘Twasn’t that long ago,” Aeschene quipped.