Highland Grace (21 page)

Reys acknowledged him with a slight nod.

Bao’s nod was curt, she noticed, and he stood
with his arms crossed over his chest with his feet spread. “So you
believe my sister shares your blood? What proof have you of this
rather odd notion?”

She gave Bao a questioning look, but remained
silent. She’d already told him who the man’s mother had been, and
the resemblance they shared to one another was quite distinct, she
thought.

“My home is Penrhos, on
Ynys Môn
, part
of the kingdom of Gwynedd, in the land of the
Cymru
kings.
My mother was the daughter of a
pencerdd
, the chief poet to
Prince Owain Gwynedd. Her name was Gwenllian wreic Gryffyd.” His
gaze settled on her. “Just as was this lass’s mother...and our
father was Gryffyd Duy ap Kenneric, the
penteulu
, head of
Prince Llywelyn ap Iorwerth’s
uchelwyr
teulu
, his
noble warriors,” he said the last with a bit of hesitation. His
gaze returned to Bao. “My pardon, but speaking of my father is not
an easy endeavor, as I lived with the broken spirit of the man for
nigh on thirteen years until he took his final breath on the
blood-soaked ridge overlooking the castle at Mold.” He turned to
Branwenn and said, “He took a Norman arrow through his eye in their
campaign to wrest the fortress from the Norman invaders’ grasp. The
castle was captured, but our father paid the ultimate price.”

Branwenn stared. “My father was the head of a
Cambrian prince’s noble fighting force?”

“Aye. And I, as well, served in the
uchelwyr
teulu
. At least I had done, until I set out
on my quest to find you.”

She cocked her head. “How did you find
me?”

“My father learned that our mother’s body had
been left at a small kirk near Duglyn. When he arrived there, the
priest told him that a foreign looking lad of around ten summers
had given instructions for burial and had given him our mother’s
full name, along with her betrothal ring, should her family ever
come searching for her. Even with that, it has taken years, and the
backing of my liege, to find you.”

“And now that you’ve found Branwenn, what is
your aim? To take her back to Cambria with you?” Bao said, his
words clipped.

Reys nodded, “Yes—”

“Nay!” Branwenn said loudly and moved behind
Bao, clinging to the back of his tunic.

* * *

Bao’s heart stopped momentarily and then
thrummed to life once more, beating a rapid tattoo in his chest.
“Never,” he said darkly.

“The lass is promised to one of the march
lord’s nephews. She must return with me and wed the man. Prince
Llywelyn has decreed it. He’s got the backing of King John of
England and he needs the alliance to extend his influence further
south.”

“You had no idea the sibling you searched for
was a lass—how could this prince have made a decree for her to
wed?” Bao said.

“According to the dictate, if my sibling
proved to be female, she is to wed the nephew. If my sibling proved
to be male, then he is to wed the niece,” Reys replied. “In either
event, Prince Llywelyn intends to provide either the dowry or the
bride price. That is how intent he is in this pursuit.”

Branwenn peeked from behind Bao’s arm. “And
why can you not wed this niece, then?” she asked.

“Because I’m wed to someone else.”

“You’re wed? Where is your wife?” she
asked.

“At home in Penrhos, taking care of my little
ones.”

She edged to the side a bit, but remained
standing behind Bao. “You’ve bairns?”

“Yes, twin girls.”

“Twins! How many summers are they?”

“They just past their second year not one
moon ago. I’ve yet to see them, tho’ I’ve tidings they fare well,”
Reys said. Bao heard sadness in his voice and that softened his
anger toward the man, but there was still more to be confirmed.
“How is it that my sister is sufficient to fulfill this
requirement?”

Reys regarded him a moment before speaking.
“We are cousins, twice removed, to Prince Llywelyn. ‘Tis a close
enough relation to make an alliance.”

* * *

Jesslyn was thrilled when Lady Maclean
finally got Maryn to rest on the bed awhile, tho’ her friend still
chafed to rise every few moments. It had been seven hours since her
water broke and her pains were coming in earnest now. They’d placed
the childbed chair near the hearth, tho’ Lady Maclean thought Maryn
might be more comfortable if she had the babe on the bed. The
tightening pains in her belly were more frequent and lasting a bit
longer than they had been and Lady Maclean told them it wouldn’t be
long until the babe began to crown.

Daniel had surprised and horrified them all
by checking on his wife’s progress every hour for the last six, but
he was so worried and determined, his grandmother had allowed the
lapse.

“I need to stand again, Grandmother Maclean,”
Maryn said. “I feel another pain coming on.” She lifted her arm in
a silent bid for assistance.

Jesslyn side-stepped the older woman, saying,
“Let me help you this time.”

Unfortunately, another contraction began the
moment she stood up and she gasped and leaned against Jesslyn for
support.

Daniel opened the door just then and came
inside. “How are you fee”—he looked at Lady Maclean, his eyebrows
slamming together—“Why the hell is she out of bed again?!” He
crossed the room to Maryn’s side in four strides and took Jesslyn’s
place. Putting his arms around her, he held her to him to support
her weight. “You need to rest,” he said more gently.

She raised her dewy, heated face to Daniel
and replied, “Nay, ‘tis easier to bear the pains when I’m
upright.”

“Aye, ‘twas the same for me when I had
Callum—remember, Mama?” Maggie said.

Lady Maclean nodded. “Aye, you said it
relieved some of the strain on your back.”

“May I have some more of that water?” Maryn
said to Jesslyn.

Jesslyn walked over to the washstand and
poured some of the icy liquid out of the ewer into a silver cup. A
servant had chipped some of the ice from the well and brought it up
to them just before Daniel arrived. “Here, Maryn, drink this down
and then I shall get you another cupful.”

Her friend nodded and drank down the cold
liquid.

“I’ve been going out of my mind with worry
these last hours. I’m staying here with you through the birth of
our babe,” Daniel stated as she rested once more against his
chest.

“Daniel!” Lady Maclean interjected, “That
simply cannot happen. This is an untidy business and your wife
deserves her privacy.”

“If Daniel wishes to stay with me, I’m glad
of it. After all, he got me into this state, he can certainly help
to get me back out of it,” Maryn said.

Daniel grinned at her. “You must not be in
too much pain if your sharp tongue is still in such good form.”

Maryn’s eyes narrowed as she glared at him.
“Ha!” But she turned back to Lady Maclean and added, “Besides, you
know he’s knowledge of the healing arts. It might be useful.”

Lady Maclean shook her head. “Nay, lass—”

“And his presence comforts me,” Maryn said
with more force.

With a sigh of resignation, Lady Maclean
nodded curtly. “Aye, all right then.”

Maryn hunched over and cried out.

“Take a deep breath, lass, and then let it
out on a sigh,” Maggie instructed.

She pressed her cheek against Daniel’s chest,
allowing him to take most of her weight while she did as Maggie
told her to do. When the contraction passed, she said, “My back
aches!”

Daniel rubbed the muscles on either side of
her spine, concentrating on the lower area where she seemed to have
the worst pain. “Does that feel better?”

“Aye. Keep doing that, it helps.”

Jesslyn was having a hard time swallowing
down her panic. In only a few moons’ time she would be in this very
position. She could see that her friend was weary to her bones and,
with each new pain, grew weaker still. How was she ever to find the
strength to push the babe from her when the time came?
Involuntarily, her hands fluttered up and covered her belly. Just
then, the babe tapped against her womb and a warm glow filled her.
She smiled. For the chance to hold her babe in her arms at last,
she would—and could—do whatever she must.

Another moan erupted from her friend and she
held tight to Daniel. He placed a kiss on the crown of her damp
head and continued to massage her back.

“As soon as this one passes, we need to get
her back to the bed, Daniel,” Lady Maclean said, coming up beside
the two and placing her hand on Maryn’s cheek. “Are you ready to
have your babe, now, lass?”

Tears fell from the corner of Maryn’s closed
eyes. “Aye,” she said on the sigh of her released breath. “But I
must inspect the guardrobe once more before I do.”

A tender smile crossed Daniel’s
countenance.

There must be some privy memory attached to
her words, Jesslyn thought as he placed a kiss on the tip of
Maryn’s nose. “Need you my help, or do you prefer Jesslyn?”

“Jesslyn, please.”

“I shall have more water prepared for the
childbed,” Lady Maclean said.

When Jesslyn emerged from the guardrobe with
Maryn a few moments later, Daniel wrapped his arm around his wife’s
back once more and assisted her in her trek across the chamber.

“If you’re staying, then you can get up on
the bed behind your wife and help her push, when the time is
right,” Lady Maclean said to Daniel as they walked toward the bed.
“Do you want to put on one of these tunics?”

Daniel shook his head, his eyes never leaving
his wife’s face. “Nay. ‘Tis too hot in here as it is.”

Jesslyn looked over at Lady Maclean, her
brows raised in disbelief.

Maggie had her back turned away from the
others as she gathered more linens from the chest. “Nay, ‘tis still
a wee bit cold, I trow,” she replied absently.

* * *

Nora Mairy MacLaurin made her entrance an
hour later. She had a shock of red, curly hair and the biggest,
bluest eyes her parents had ever seen. She was perfect, or so
Daniel stated to Bao when he knocked at the door not long after
learning the news of the birth. “Grandmother and Aunt Maggie said
the same when I met them downstairs. I know there was still a bit
of worry that the babe had been injured in some way by the blows
Maryn received from that murderous horse marshal, Clyde
Ramsey.”

Daniel’s jaw clenched. “Aye,” he said grimly,
“but God be praised, the babe was unharmed.”

“How is your wife?”

Daniel gave his brother a tired grin. “She’s
well. Pert and fiery, just as I like her.”

Bao returned his brother’s grin and gave him
a clap on the shoulder. “That pleases me, brother. Can Jesslyn be
released from her duties yet, or does Maryn still have need of
her?”

Jesslyn heard her husband’s voice and a
thrill of excitement passed through her. She rushed to place the
last of the soiled linens in a basket for one of the servants to
take down to be washed and, nervously running her hand over her
veil and skirts, scurried to the door. Maneuvering herself around
Daniel, she said softly to Bao, “Maryn has just fallen asleep. The
babe is resting next to her as well.” Turning her gaze to the new
father, she said, “The babe will need to be placed in her cradle,
do you want me to do it before I leave, or would you like to take
care of the task?”

“I shall do it. You must find your rest as
well; ‘tis been a difficult, yet marvelous, day for all of us.”

Jesslyn nodded and slid through the narrow
opening in the doorway, straight into her husband’s embrace.

Daniel quietly shut the door, leaving them
their privacy.

“‘Tis good to see you. I’ve missed you,”
Jesslyn said against her husband’s chest.

“I’ve missed you, as well. Let us retire to
our chamber, you’re clearly weary and in need of rest.”

Jesslyn nodded and allowed Bao to lead her to
their chamber on the level above.

“What is
this?
” she exclaimed happily
when she saw the steaming tub of water sitting by the hearth as
they came inside.

“I thought you might enjoy a hot soak in a
bath after the ordeal you’ve been through,” Bao replied. “How
is
our babe, anyway? Is she well? I worried you might be
putting yourself under more strain than is wise in your
condition.”

“Worry not. The babe has more strength than
do I. In fact, she’s moving about right now.”

“Here,” Bao said, lifting the filet and veil
from her head, “let me help you undress. While you bathe, I shall
find a servant to bring us our meal. We’ll eat in our chamber this
eve. I’ve much to tell you and I want to hear about my new niece,
as well.”

Jesslyn was so weary, she simply nodded and
allowed her husband to do most of the work of getting her out of
her garments.

“How went the childbed?” he said as he untied
the laces holding her gown together on the side. “Was it hard for
Maryn?”

Jesslyn pressed her lips together and gnawed
on the bottom one, nodding. “Aye, ‘twas hard for her. Tho’ I trow
the hardest part for her was the waiting. She was so weary by the
time the babe’s head crowned, I worried she’d not have the vigor
she needed to push the babe from her. But once Nora was finally
ready to be born, she slipped from Maryn with no difficulty, it
seemed. And having Daniel there actually seemed to ease her.”

He looked up from his task and met her gaze.
“Would you like for me to be in the chamber with you as well, when
the time comes for our babe to be born?”

Her drooping lids widened in surprise. “Would
you”—she began to yawn—“want to be?” she finished behind her
hand.

He nodded. “Aye, I would. I’ve a bit of
experience, since I aided Branwenn’s mother when she was in her
childbed.” He went still, his gaze intent. “Are you sure you can
stay awake long enough to bathe and eat your supper?”