“It is getting harder and harder to please both.”
Gorten shook his head. “No, what’s getting harder is the need to make Her Ladyship smile while keeping our oath to our laird.”
The door suddenly swung open, and Makenna stood ready to leave. “What oath?” she asked casually.
Gorten moved to block her path. “The one to keep you in your chambers and not allow visitors.”
“But that was just yesterday. I must go down and assist Colin.”
“He said until the funeral and that is at least another day, possibly two, away.”
“Two more days! I will not be locked away as a child for two days. I know I promised not to get you in trouble, but I’ll just have to beg for your forgiveness when I find a way to get out.”
“Milady, the laird doesn’t see you as a child—” Gorten began.
“No, quite the opposite. Of all the people right now, you are most important to him,” Brodie finished.
Gorten nodded. “It is true. Said so himself this morning when he checked in on you.”
“He was here?” Makenna frowned.
Gorten nodded. “Aye, for almost half an hour he stayed with you while you slept. The man is most concerned for you.”
“I felt him there. After he left, I suddenly felt cold, empty,” Makenna whispered, not realizing that she was talking aloud.
Brodie elbowed Gorten. “You see, milady? Staying in your chambers is not punishment, but a gift.”
“Aye, a gift,” Makenna acknowledged bitterly. “But a gift that I do not want or intend to take.”
“Now, milady, the laird wants you to be able to grieve in peace. He wants to protect your privacy.”
“It is a kind gift, as you put it, Gorten. Yesterday, it was needed. Today, however, it is not. My father’s death will weigh upon me for some time. Shall I lock myself away from duties and responsibilities until I no longer feel like crying?” Her eyes locked on to Brodie’s before moving to Gorten’s. Both men began shifting their weight uncomfortably. “I thought not. Now, if you will tell me where Colin is, I’ll explain this to him myself.”
Brodie swallowed heavily. “He rode toward the training fields when he left this morning.”
“The training fields?” Makenna barely kept her voice from shrieking. “The man would pick the one place I pledged not to go. How dare he use my own oath against me!”
“I don’t think it was intentional, milady. He needed to see the men. Tell them personally what was happening and give them assurance about leading the Dunstans.”
Makenna bit the inside of her cheek. She really must learn not to voice her thoughts out loud. She reached out and seized Gorten’s arm. “Of course, you are right. But I cannot just stay in my room all day. I have to be active. You can understand that, can you not?”
Brodie saw Gorten fight his reaction to her touch and quickly answered for his friend. “We do, but until the laird says otherwise, you must stay here. As soon as he returns, one of us will fetch him.”
Makenna’s shoulders slumped in resignation. Even if she did escape, she had no idea what she would do. Ula and Rona would order her about, and in truth, she had no desire to prepare her father’s funeral. She needed to remember him the way he was the last time she saw him. At her wedding reception, happy and at peace.
Silently, she turned and reentered her chambers. The only way she could help her clan and Colin was to remain out of the way. But just as she pushed the door closed, a thought occurred to her. There was something she could do for her clan as well as Colin. And it could be done in the secrecy of her chambers.
She swung the door open and grabbed Brodie’s hand in hers, gaining Gorten’s attention as well.
As soon as they saw her emerald pools beseeching their help, they knew they were doomed for a lifetime of night watches. For whatever Makenna was about to ask for, they were going to go through heaven and hell to ensure that she received it.
“Please, if you would do me one favor, I will stay in my chambers until my father’s funeral without trickery.”
Gorten and Brodie looked at each other and then back at her. “What is it, milady?”
“I want to prepare my father’s sword personally. I will be the one to polish it and wrap it in a Dunstan plaid and place it in his coffin. All I ask is for you to fetch it for me and stop anyone who might try and reclaim it before I am done. Will you?”
“Colin has ordered several guards to protect Alexander until he is laid in the ground. It might be difficult…” Gorten began. The truth was Colin put several men around Alexander’s chamber to protect the sword that so many were clambering to possess.
Brodie cleared his throat. “I will bring you the sword, milady. However, it might be best to tell no one of its whereabouts except Colin.”
“If you think that best, Brodie, then I will agree and hide it when anyone comes to call. But I need that sword. It will be my way of saying good-bye. Colin will understand.”
Gorten nodded in agreement. Colin would do anything for his new wife. He knew that after this morning. If retrieving the sword would make Makenna happy, then it would be hers. He didn’t know how Brodie planned to do it, but Makenna would hold her father’s sword by nightfall.
For two days, Makenna remained in her room working vigilantly on the most precious of Dunstan symbols. Once done, she polished the blade until it glittered without a single blight to hamper its reflection. Carefully she wrapped the hilt in a strip of Dunstan plaid.
Soon it would be time. Father Lanaghly was even now praying over the body of her father. Each time she had looked out the window, she could see activity in preparation for the feast to follow. If she had not been so focused on getting the sword done in time, she would have gone mad needing to go down and help. Each time she felt the urge to escape, she reminded herself that despite her desire to be otherwise, she would just be in the way. She knew nothing about preparing for such events.
Makenna smoothed back her rich velvet green bliaut and checked the Luckenbooth pin securing the pleats of her plaid. Both were symbols of her marriage to a McTiernay. Her clan would probably be upset by the gesture, but she knew her father would be proud of the support she was showing for her husband. The Dunstan plaid would be displayed with the sword.
She moved toward the window and looked outside hoping to see Colin come for her. She had not seen him once these past two days, but knew that he visited her in the early morning hours before anyone was awake. It was only when he left her side that she awakened, each time to a feeling of something missing.
Many times, Makenna had wanted to ask Brodie or Gorten to go and fetch him, to bring him to her if only for a few minutes, but she always refrained. Colin was busy. There was much to be done with so many at the castle, and this was not the time to indulge in personal, unnecessary wishes.
Colin leaped off his mount and gave the reins to the stable master. He had been gone longer than anticipated. With all his commanders assigned to more pressing tasks, Colin had left two promising junior commanders in charge of the training fields. Until this morning, they had maintained order. Then a talented but very young soldier decided a new recruit was being instructed incorrectly. The junior commander’s pride kicked in and soon complete mayhem erupted as men took sides as to how their laird would have trained the newcomer.
As soon as Colin arrived at the scene, he quickly deduced the true cause behind the havoc. The men’s nerves had been so taut with tension, the fight had been inevitable. He had seen similar outbreaks happen before a long-awaited battle. If men didn’t discharge their pent-up energy in a controlled manner, it exploded in unexpected and often unruly ways.
“Battle drills. Two hours on. Quarter hour off. From now until dark. Again tomorrow and the next day,” Colin ordered.