RETURNING HOME AGAIN
As they walked, Duncan told Alina the story. He had come home, successful, from Inverglass and found her missing. He had left almost at once and, taking the hunting party, he had set out to find her.
Alina looked at his stricken face and could not help her voice wobbling as she replied. “Oh, Duncan! I am so, so sorry. I wanted to be there. I couldn't be. I thought...I had to...” she couldn't speak, the tears were flowing. Now that she was safe, out of the grasp of that man, all the terror flooded into her and she felt it block her throat and root her to the spot.
Duncan was beside her in an instant, arms around her, voice tender.
“Hush, dear. Whatever it is, you can tell me. I won't care what it is. I love you. I love you, Alina.”
She sighed, her sobs subsiding to soft hiccups.
In the gentle rain, their mounts walking a little behind them, she told him. How she had ridden to warn him of what she thought was wrong. How Camry had captured her, and the threats he had made. When she had finished her tale his face was dark.
“I cannot let this go unpunished.”
“Duncan...” Alina rested a hand on his chest. “It is well. I am safe. We will marry. No one can hurt me now. I want to forget. Let me forget? Please?”
She was tired, her voice cracking on the last word, close to tears.
Duncan let out a great shuddering breath. He stood with his fists clenched for a long moment, face changing from anger, to hurt, then to acceptance.
“Of course,” he whispered at length. “For myself, I would not rest until I have obliterated that man and every trace of him. But I understand you have been hurt enough. If you wish it, we will leave matters as they are.”
Alina sighed. A great relief washed through her. She had not realized how deeply it worried her that Duncan, or her uncle, would seek retribution. That would make her pain a thing of public knowledge, add more humiliation to what she had already received. Make it harder to forget. This way, the whole event was something that need have no bearing on her, unless she chose it to. She did not, at all.
They walked on in silence for a few moments after that, each lost in their own thoughts. At length, Alina turned to him, dark eyes shining.
“You mean you brought a whole host out to find me? That we'd be safe on the road?”
Duncan chuckled. He stroked her long hair, wet from dew and rain. “Of course I did. We can call them now, if you would like?”
“If they're with us, can we risk stopping at an inn?”
Duncan chuckled. “I certainly hope so,” he said. “It would be good to have breakfast.”
Breakfast. Alina closed her eyes, letting her mind drift in the wonder of that. Visions of fresh bread and porridge, boiled eggs, cream, and butter, swam before her.
“Call them?” she asked faintly, looking at him with wide eyes.
Duncan laughed. “Of course.” He drew out the hunting horn of Lochlann, and, setting it to his lips, let it sound, high, clear, and brilliant.
As they waited, men appeared out of the woods.
Alina recognized all of them – loyal woodsmen and hunters all, owing loyalty to her family. When she saw them she felt her legs go weak. These were her people. Almost family, and as protective. She was safe.
“How long until we reach the inn?”
He laughed. Looked at the sun where it showed fitfully through the clouds, just burning off the mist from the moorlands.
“Perhaps twenty minutes. Will you manage?”
Alina snorted. “I will manage anything.”
* * *
The pace of the horses was gentle and Duncan, who had ridden all the previous night himself, soon found himself nodding asleep in the cool morning. By the time they reached the inn, he was asleep in the saddle.
“My lord?” a voice asked in Duncan's ear.
“Where are we?” Duncan asked, still unsure what was going on. Beside him, he heard someone huff a soft laugh. Alina. He would know that laugh anywhere.
He turned and looked at her, forgetting all the unimportant things like where they were or why they had stopped. She was with him. That was enough.
“We're here, sir,” Joe explained patiently. “The Fir Tree Inn.”
“Oh.” Duncan cleared his throat again, feeling suddenly foolish.
Around him, the men dismounted and trooped into the inn. Duncan slid out of the saddle and stood at Alina's horse, lifting her down.
She chuckled and slid from the horse, landing in a heap in his arms. They both laughed. The weight of her body was soft and warm against him and, before Duncan even knew what he was doing, he had kissed her.
He moved back and they stood gasping, looking at each other like they were the only man and woman in the world. Just then, they were.
“Milord?”
Duncan whipped around, feeling shamefaced. He couldn't quite remove the grin and Doug, one of his men, grinned widely. “Yes?”
“We ordered eggs, sir. Ham. And six loaves. You think we need more?”
Duncan felt his stomach rumble. “Mayhap,” he agreed.
Alina giggled. They both laughed.
Breakfast was a merry time. Duncan and Alina sat together side by side on the wooden benches, surrounded by the men, grumbling, laughing, and eating vast quantities of eggs and loaves. The informality was a relief after hours of sitting tensely beside Alina at formal luncheon or supper, wishing he could reach out to her and knowing he could not. Here, her hand was beside his and they sat together, legs touching, fingers twined.
As Duncan watched, Alina ate her first eggs, looking a little green at first. She put a hand to her belly and closed her eyes quickly.
“What is it, dear?”
“I think I'm going to be sick,” she said promptly.
Duncan squeezed her hand. “Only eat what you can, dearest. I can call them to bring gruel, if that would be easier?”
“No, no,” she waved a hand and grinned at him. “Once that lot has settled, I'll have an appetite as good as any of you here, trust me.”
He grinned. He did trust her. She proved herself right, doing ample justice to the innkeeper's fine stew, oatcakes, and fresh loaf. The only dark spot on their horizon was the thought of telling Uncle Brien.
What if we're wrong?
Duncan had not voiced his concern to Alina, but it still plagued him. What if their guess was wrong: about the pearl, and the question, and all it meant? I'm not sure I have the energy for another challenge. And I will not leave her side. Not again. Not ever.
The light slowly wore on towards afternoon as they rode. Duncan's forbidding thoughts faded as the sun came out and then the day slowly fell towards dusk. He and Alina talked as they rode, cozy thoughts of him.
“...I am so excited to see Amabel again soon,” Alina said softly. “But I think we should travel to Dunkeld. Amabel must not ride far...not in her condition.”
“Condition?” Duncan wrinkled his brow.
“Amabel is expecting a child, Duncan,” Alina said.
Duncan stared at her. “She is? But...But then Brod...” he trailed off. The news was amazing. Broderick, his stern, strict older brother was about to be a father? He shook his head, grinning.
Alina was laughing at him. “Your brother is going to become a father. Yes. And you, my dear Duncan, are an uncle. Or you will be, God willing.”
“Uncle?” He stared at her, a bemused grin stretching his face.
“Uncle Duncan. Doesn't it have a nice sound?” Alina said, grinning teasingly.
“And Auntie Alina,” he pointed out.
Alina blushed. Duncan had never seen her do it, and it was spectacular. He smiled.
“Sorry,” she said, voice surprisingly teary. “I just hadn't thought about the fact that when we wed, we'll be uncle and aunt twice over! I am going to marry you, Duncan.”
Duncan laughed. The thought hadn't fully sunk in either. Though they had lived the last months wishing for it, working for it...the fact that it was true now, a reality, had not really penetrated into his head either. The full implications of it.
“I know,” he whispered softly. “I can't quite believe it either.”
“We have to tell Uncle Brien as soon as we get back,” Alina said firmly.
“The minute we get back,” Duncan promised.
They rode in silence a long while, both scanning the horizon without having discussed it. When Duncan saw Lochlann Castle appear, he turned to her.
“There it is!”
“Home!”
They had both shouted it at the same time, and they started laughing.
“I'll race you,” Alina said, already nudging her horse into a trot.
“I'll catch you!”
Joe and the other guards stared at them, but Duncan did not care. He was so happy. They both laughed and, among laughter and delighted yells, they took off, chasing each other across the hill.
They reached the castle just as dusk began to fall. They walked in briskly, side by side. Duncan stood straight and tall beside Alina and she had the sense he was a hero, coming home successful. She shook her head at her foolish notions. I'm too full of old tales myself, so I oughtn't to chasten Uncle Brien for his gallant notions, she thought. All the same, the spark of happiness would not die down.
Together they marched up the stairs to the turret room, and Duncan knocked.
“Enter.”
The two looked at each other. Alina nodded and Duncan grinned at her, though he looked extremely nervous. He opened the door.
Uncle Brien looked up when two pairs of footsteps crossed over into his domain. His eyes were wide when Duncan walked up to the desk.
“I found it. Both of them. We can marry now.”
“Oh?” Brien looked surprised. He leaned back, his customary detachment dropping down over his features. “Tell me.”
Alina stood back, making herself less noticeable, knowing that her uncle would not wish her to know the secrets Duncan uncovered about his past. She did not need to worry about it: as Duncan talked, Uncle Brien grew more and more attentive. When Duncan described her, Alina saw Uncle blink rapidly. He lifted a kerchief and cuffed away a stray tear with some irritation.
Alina felt her own heart contract. Uncle Brien had truly loved Lady Benoite. It was worse than sad that he had never found the courage to ask for her hand in person: it was a tragedy.
When they had finished the account, her uncle looked up at them.
“You came, no doubt, to have my answer. The one to the question you did ask.”
Duncan nodded. He licked his lips nervously, smiling at Uncle Brien.
“Well, it is yes to the first question: that is the pearl mislaid. Yes to the second. And to the very first question, which I think was a matter of weddings, and hands of my great-niece and some such...my answer is also yes. You may. With all my blessing.”
Alina looked at Duncan, who looked back at her. She felt her throat close with emotion. She smiled at her uncle and, when he smiled back, she saw something of the boyish, idealistic youth who had sent them on this quest, who had loved lady Benoite with all his heart and lost her to uncertainty.
“Thank you, Uncle Brien,” she whispered.
“Thank you,” Duncan said.
“Well, then,” Uncle Brien said after a long moment. “Off with you. I'm busy. And now I have a wedding to think about, too.”
Alina laughed. Duncan grinned. Looking at each other, they took hands and walked briskly out into the late afternoon sunshine, shining in the hallway outside.