Once we were done overseeing Kirk’s work, we got ready to ride back to Glamis.
“Thank you, Kirk,” I told the man. “Your castle enchanted me,” I said with a laugh.
He chuckled. “I’m pleased to hear you say so, Your Majesty.”
I nodded to the man then mounted Swift once more. Our party ready, we turned and rode from Dunsinane.
“Did you like the castle?” Macbeth asked, reining in his horse beside me.
I nodded. “Yes. It’s an ancient thing.”
Macbeth smiled. “I remembered the place. We stopped there when we were hunting…my father, Gillacoemgain, and me. I never forgot the castle. I had never seen a more amazing place, greater in my eyes than even Inverness.”
A bubble of fury sparked up in me to hear Macbeth toss around Gillacoemgain’s name so freely, a name he had cursed far too often to have any right to use it in fondness.
I said nothing, simply kept my face blank then rode ahead.
Noting the tension, Macbeth reined his horse away from me. He trotted forward to speak with his men.
My gaze drifted to the forest as we rode, remembering the poem Cad Goddeau and The Battle of the Trees. It didn’t take much imagination to envision the massive old oaks coming to life.
But as we wound deeper into the forest, I felt eyes on me.
I scanned the woods.
Were there spies on the road? Enemies? I frowned and studied the green. As I did, my raven’s eyes sharpened. There, well-hidden amongst the trees, stood a girl. She was wearing breeches and a tunic, a bow strapped over her shoulder. For a moment, I thought it was Uald. But this girl was far younger, her hair very dark.
She stilled when she realized I had picked her out, then she raised her fingers to her brow and then bowed to me.
My gods, she was from a coven.
There was a coven near here.
She turned and slipped unseen back into the forest.
“Lady Gruoch, is anything the matter?” Killian asked, reining in beside me.
“No. Nothing at all.”
“How filled to the brim you are with secrets,” he said with a laugh.
“Am I? Doesn’t that make me interesting?”
“You are far too interesting for my own good, Lady Gruoch. I am very sure Lord Banquo would not appreciate the depth of my interest,” he said, his voice low so no one else could hear.
I smiled at him. He really was a very handsome man, and more, I liked the spirit within him. “I appreciate the thought, but as you have already gleaned, my life is…complicated. Perhaps in another life. But let’s keep that a secret,” I said softly.
He smirked. “As I assumed. Though, a man can always hope. Yet, there is one secret I am particularly interested in,” he said. And I could see from the expression on his face that he was trying to turn the conversation away from his confession. I followed where he led, never wanting him to feel uncomfortable around me.
“Oh? What is that?”
“When did you learn to walk through walls?”
“Well now, that is very secret.”
“It’s a very neat trick. Perhaps you’ll teach me sometime.”
“If the right time ever presents itself.”
At that, he chuckled lightly. I joined him in his laughter.
Once again, Macbeth looked back at us. Jealously flickered across his face. What did he expect from me? As it was, he was getting far more from me than he deserved. I had stayed in Glamis for Scotland, not for Macbeth. I had worked to heal Macbeth for Scotland, not for any love I had for the man.
And I still had work to do.
If there was a coven near Dunsinane, I needed to know. I would need to talk to Balor. If there was anything I could do to help the practitioners of my faith, I would do so.
But even as I thought it, a voice whispered within me: Then do it soon, before great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane hill comes again.
Chapter 29
I returned to Glamis and set about my work once more. As I did so, I watched Macbeth with a wary eye. He was recovering. And so far, he seemed far steadier than he had in the past. Perhaps he had finally found the bottom of his ailment and was slowly rising again. Either way, I did my work and steered clear of him. Macbeth busied himself with the building of Dunsinane, spending more time at the old fortress than at Glamis, a fact about which I was eternally grateful.
As the weeks passed, spring came, and the forest around Glamis came alive once more. The weather grew warm, and the land came back to life. I was at my desk working one morning when my back started aching. I rose and stretched, pressing my fists into my back.
Madelaine, who was hiding from Bethoc, had come to join me. She’d been working on her embroidery. When I rose, she looked up. She watched me arch my back.
“Corbie,” she said, setting down her work. “Your belly… There will be no hiding it soon. You need to make plans to depart.”
“There is so much work here,” I said.
“Take a secretary with you,” she told me then rose and came behind me. With a mother’s care, she worked the knots on my back. “Macbeth may be steady now, but I see that spark in his eyes still. Trust me, I know it very well. You need to leave.”
I nodded. She was right. “I’ll make preparations today. Will you be all right alone here with him? Are you sure you don’t want to come?”
“I wish I could, my love. But you need me here, so here I shall stay. And alone? I’m not alone. I have Bethoc,” she said with a laugh.
“And how is the weather today?”
“Ripe for causing gout. But more, she hasn’t stopped talking about the fact that she has neither seen nor heard from Crinian since she arrived.”
“Perhaps he’s happy to be rid of her,” I said.
“Perhaps,” Madelaine considered. “But if I were you, I would send someone to ensure he is where you left him.”
I nodded. Madelaine was right. “Yes. I’ll do so. Right after I send a rider to Cawdor to let them know I’m coming home. Would you like Rhona to stay with you? I know Tira is pining for her family.”
“No,” Madelaine said then shook her head. “Let them go home. I’m training one of the kitchen maids. She’s working out very well. Smart girl. Too smart for the kitchens. And Bethoc brought four or five maids. I’m sure she’ll let me borrow one, if needed.”
I smiled at Madelaine. In the months that had passed, she had started coming back to herself again. Part of me worried that Tavis’ death might break her. In a way, it had. I saw that there were pieces of her that were still injured. I understood the feeling. The death of a loved one is a wound that never heals. Their absence lives on with you.
“Very well,” I said. I kissed Madelaine’s hands, thanking her for her care, then went back to my desk. Given my condition, I didn’t want to send a casting to Banquo, but I was thrilled to share the news. I would return north very soon.
Over the next two days, I made ready to depart. It wasn’t until the third day, on the morning I planned to leave, that Macbeth appeared at the door of my bedchamber.
“Gruoch, may I have a word?” he asked.
Tira and Rhona looked at me.
“Please finish taking our things to the wagons. I’ll meet you below,” I told them.