“Nay, Master Ian, ne’er think that. Ye did no wrong, nor did your son. The guilt is hers alone.” She leaned closer to him and cast a pointed glance toward the widow tentatively edging closer. “Learn from your weakness if ye must. I think the lesson might be that a good cure for loneliness isnae always to be found in the young or the bonny.” She squeaked with surprise when Alpin suddenly grasped her by the arm and pulled her back to his side. “I was comforting the poor mon.”
“Ye were matchmaking,” he murmured, but frowned out the gates as a troop of horsemen came riding into view. “A busy day.”
Sophie noticed that the villagers quickly slipped behind the men of Nochdaidh, then she looked at the approaching men and softly groaned. She should have taken time during the long, lusty night she and Alpin had just spent together to tell him a few of the truths she had kept to herself. Recognizing the four young men leading about a dozen others into Nochdaidh, she knew a lot of those truths were about to be revealed.
“Ye ken who these people are?” asked Alpin, feeling Sophie tense as the four handsome young men leading the others dismounted but a yard from them and eyed Sophie with a mixture of annoyance, shock, and amusement.
“My brothers,” she said and pointed to each as she introduced them. “Sir Adrian, Sir Robert, Sir Gilbert, and Sir Neil.” She took a steadying breath, knowing things could become a little chaotic, and took Alpin’s hand in hers. “This is my husband, Sir Alpin MacCordy, laird of Nochdaidh.” She winced when they all stared at her for a moment, then all cursed.
“Ye married this mon?” demanded her brother Adrian. “Do ye ken the tales we have heard about him?”
“Aye,” Sophie replied. “He lives in shadows, he drinks blood, he is a demon, he can change into a beast, and other such things.”
“Ye left without a word—”
“I left a note.”
Adrian ignored her and continued, “And Old Steven was sure that ye had been abducted. He had the men of Werstane searching and sent us word. We have spent weeks in the saddle looking for ye, going to Dobharach and e’en Gurby, then back to Werstane where we heard a chilling legend that made us think ye might be fool enough to come here.” He put his hands on his hips and scowled at her. “And we were right.”
“I had a plan,” she ignored the groans of Nella and her brothers, “to solve our troubles. Weel, my possible future troubles. ’Twas no legend, Adrian. Ye see, our ancestor—” She gasped when Alpin suddenly clamped a hand over her mouth.
Although shocked and wondering just how many secrets his wife had, Alpin kept enough of his wits about him to stop her tale. A bailey crowded with curious and avidly listening people was not the place to start speaking of magic, witches, and curses. It would be too easy for people to start thinking Sophie was a witch as well.
“I think we’d best go inside,” he said. “Eric, is there room for everyone?”
“Aye,” Eric replied. “The MacLanes left yesterday.”
Sophie grabbed Nella’s hand and hurried to her room to get dressed. By the time she joined the men in the great hall, however, she knew by the look upon Alpin’s face that she was too late to soften the shock of some revelations. She grimaced and took her seat at his side.
“I believe there are a few things ye neglected to tell me, wife,” Alpin drawled.
“Weel, mayhap one or two wee things,” she murmured.
“Wee things like Dobharach, Werstane, and Gurby—your lands? Or that ye have enough money to build a gilded cathedral? Or that ye have enough men to raise a small army? Ah, and let us not forget the eight brothers.”
“’Tis all that bounty which made us fear she had been abducted,” said Adrian. “She is a rich prize. Of course, since she lied to ye—”
“I didnae lie,” protested Sophie. “I just didnae tell him everything.” She waited a moment for the men to stop rolling their eyes and muttering insults about a woman’s trickery, then proceeded to tell them all about Rona’s curse and how she had been determined to find a way to end it. “And, so,” she put her hand on Alpin’s, relieved when he turned his hand to clasp hers, “I couldnae tell the truth or he may ne’er have made the choice, or would have made it for all the wrong reasons. If I was to be the choice o’er wealth and land, then he couldnae ken that I had any.” She breathed a sigh of relief when Alpin lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles.
Adrian shook his head. “’Tis so difficult to believe, yet hard to argue against. Too much of the history of both families follow the paths set out by the curse.” He looked at Alpin. “Do ye think the curse has truly been broken?”
“It would seem so. I think ’twill take more than one sunny day for me to feel certain, however.”
Those words troubled Sophie for the rest of the day, even as she enjoyed the company of her brothers. Even the pleasure of watching Alpin eat a normal meal, openly savoring each bite like a child given a sweet, did not fully ease her growing tension. It was not until she eased into bed beside Alpin that she realized he had noticed her troubled mood. He did not immediately pull her into his arms, but turned on his side and watched her closely.
“Why do I get the feeling ye are keeping another secret?” he asked. “More lands? More wealth? More brothers?”
“Nay, I believe I have enough of each, dinnae ye?” she asked, giving him a weak smile.
“Aye, more than enough. So, what are ye hiding?”
Sophie sighed and stared down at the small ridge beneath the blanket made by her toes. “I am with child.” She winced when she felt his whole body spasm with shock. “And, aye, I am sure, e’en though ’tis verra early in the game.”
Alpin flopped onto his back and stared blindly up at the ceiling. “Ye said ye had potions ye could take.”
Moving to sprawl on top of him, Sophie framed his face in her hands. “Do ye truly wish me to rid my body of our child?”
“Nay,” he said quickly, his heart in his words, but then he grimaced. “But, the curse—”
“Is gone. Think, Alpin, I conceived ere ye chose me.” She saw the glimmer of hope return to his eyes. “And I think ye also ken that I, er, feel things. I feel no taint in this child I carry. Have faith, Alpin.”
He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “I do have faith in ye. Ye will just have to have patience if I waver. After all, ’tisnae easy to forget four hundred and thirty-five years of darkness.”
“The darkness is gone now. Ye chose love, Alpin, and drove the shadows away.”
“Aye, I chose love.” He tilted her face up to his. “And I shall teach our children the importance of all I have learned.”
Sophie brushed a kiss over his lips. “And what would that be?”
“That a mon’s real wealth isnae measured in lands, coin, or fighting men, but in the giving and receiving of a true and lasting love.”
A Hell of a Time
Jackie Kessler
Acknowledgments
A zillion thanks to:
Heather Brewer (vampire author extraordinaire),
Caitlin Kittredge (where wolf? There wolf!),
Renee Barr (who, to date, has read everything I’ve ever written, poor thing), and
Brett Kessler (always, forever).
Chapter One