Giving his head a shake in an effort to wake up, Niels peered along the hall to the stairs. He could hear the sounds of activity floating up from the great hall below, and wondered what time it was. It must be early yet, he decided, because no one had come out of their rooms. Not Edith, and not any of his brothers. He would have heard if Edith's door had opened, and his brothers would have made sure he knew they were up by kicking him awake and taunting him mercilessly for falling asleep. So it had to still be quite early.
Niels had barely had the thought when movement drew his gaze toward the stairs. He saw Rory moving up the hall toward him with a bowl in hand. Restraining a groan, Niels wiped his hands over his face and tried to look more alert. It seemed one of his brothers was up and had witnessed his failure in guarding Edith. It made him wonder why Rory hadn't stopped to wake him up on the way below stairs.
"Good morn, brother," Rory said cheerfully, stopping beside him.
Drawing one knee up, Niels rested an arm nonchalantly on it and grunted. It was as much of a good morning as he could manage just then.
"Is all well?" Rory asked. "Edith is safe and fine?"
"Aye," Niels growled.
"Hmm. And how would ye ken that when she's below stairs breaking her fast with Geordie and Alick and ye're here?" Rory asked mildly.
Niels's head whipped toward his brother. "What?"
"Aye, she's been up and about fer a good hour now, along with everyone else," he informed him with amusement.
"Well, why the devil did ye no' wake me?" he snarled, launching himself to his feet.
"Edith would no' let us. We came out just as she was heading for the stairs and she insisted we no' wake ye. She said 'twas obvious ye were exhausted what with yer no' waking when she tripped over ye," Rory finished acerbically.
Cursing, Niels raced for the stairs, ignoring Rory's laughter.
Last night had been Niels's third night guarding her door from the hallway, and he couldn't believe he'd failed so miserably at it. Although, perhaps he should have expected as much since he hadn't slept at all the two nights previously. Niels hadn't been able to find restful sleep since kissing Edith in the clearing. Kissing her had been a huge mistake. Niels had known it even as he'd done it, but hadn't been able to resist her. She'd been temptation incarnate to him in that clearing. Her hair had looked almost aflame with the sun shining on it, and it had smelled sweet from her bath in the loch. Once his body had brushed against hers as he reached up to help her hang the sack from his saddle, he'd been lost.
Edith hadn't helped matters much. She'd been like fire in his hands, her mouth clinging eagerly to his, her body responding passionately to his caresses. God, her nipple had been hard before he'd even slipped his hand inside the neckline of her gown to catch and pinch it. And the way she'd thrust into his touch when he'd cupped her between the legs . . . The memory was enough to have him hard even now. At the time Niels had wanted nothing better than to drop to his knees, push her skirt up to her waist and lap up the wet heat he was sure waited for him between her legs. He might even have done that had Ronson's shriek not brought them both to their senses.
That thought made Niels grimace. At the time, he'd actually managed to forget all about the boy being with them. He had no idea when the lad had left the clearing with Laddie, or what he'd seen before leaving. But Niels thanked God he hadn't tugged Edith's neckline down in front of the boy, baring her breasts for easier access as he'd wanted.
Sighing, he stopped at the top of the stairs and peered down over the great hall, looking for his brothers. Geordie and Alick had arrived back from MacDonnell last night after the rest o' the keep had gone to bed. Exhausted from their journey though they were, Alick had still offered to guard Edith's door for him to give him a break, but Niels had refused and sent the younger man to bed. Now he thought perhaps he should have accepted the offer. He had been less than useless snoring away outside her door, especially if her tripping over him hadn't woken him. If that were true, then anyone could have just stepped over him, entered the room and killed Edith. Not that that was a real concern anymore. They were pretty sure Victoria was the culprit and she wasn't here. Still, pretty sure wasn't positive and it was better to be safe than sorry.
Niels's gaze slid over the people bustling this way and that in the busy great hall below, and then he suddenly relaxed against the railing as he spotted Edith. She stood out in the crowd, a bright figure in pale green with fiery hair. She was chatting with Tormod, Geordie and Alick, he saw, and smiled when she laughed. The sound was like a bell in the room, clear and sweet, and Niels found himself wanting to hear more of it.
"She does no' understand why ye're acting as ye are toward her."
Niels glanced over to see that his brother had followed him and now stood at his side, peering down at Edith.
"Acting how?" Niels asked, though he knew the answer. He'd been pretty grumpy and grim around Edith since the clearing. He'd also been placing Tormod or Ronson at the table between him and Edith at meals, and keeping his distance. Guarding her, but at more than an arm's length, never close enough to touch. Niels would like to say his exhaustion was the reason, but it wouldn't be true.
"Acting like she disgusts ye," Rory said quietly.
Niels almost laughed at the suggestion, disgust was far and away from how he felt about the woman. That was the problem.
"I think she likes ye," Rory added when Niels didn't comment.
He stiffened at the suggestion, but said nothing.
"I think ye like her too," Rory added.
"O' course I do, she's a lovely woman. Smart, pretty, funny, beautiful, good-natured, lovely, kind to her people and beautiful."
"Ye said beautiful twice," Rory said with amusement. "Four if ye count lovely and pretty as the same word as beautiful."
"Leave off, Rory," Niels said wearily. "Ye ken there can never be anything between us."
"And why is that?" Rory asked with interest.
"Because I'm a third son with no prospects just like Brodie with Victoria. Only I'd ne'er lie to claim her. She deserves better."
"Ye're the fourth son actually," Rory said quietly.
Niels turned to skewer him with a glare. "Would ye bring up our Ewan at a time like this?" Before Rory could respond, he added grimly, "He's dead and gone, let him rest."
"Fine." Rory glanced back to Edith, but added, "Howbeit she can no' possibly deserve better than you. Ye're one o' the finest men I know."
"The other finest men being our brothers," Niels suggested with amusement.
"Aye," Rory acknowledged without apology. After a moment, he added, "Besides, Edith has no prospects. Saidh said her betrothed died years ago while still a lad, and ye ken as well as I do that Brodie'll ship her off to a nunnery the minute he gets back."
"Aye, well, ye heard her the other day. She has plans to avoid that by marrying a nice wealthy laird with a castle and people fer her to run," he reminded him.
"It will no' happen," Rory said with certainty, and when Niels frowned at him, shrugged and said, "Do you ken o' anyone who fits that description?"
"Aye, one or two," Niels said unhappily.
"Any ye'd recommend to her?" Rory added.
"Nay," he said at once. Neither man was husband material. One was notoriously violent, having beaten two wives to death. Hence the reason he could not even buy a wife at this point. The other could no' pull himself out o' the wine barrel long enough to sign a contract. Neither was good enough for Edith. Hell, he wouldn't even recommend them to the likes of Victoria, who might very well be a murdering witch.
"Exactly," Rory said firmly. "She'll no' find a husband and will end up a nun."
Niels's hands tightened on the rail. The very thought of Edith as a nun made his stomach twist. It seemed to him to be a sacrilegious suggestion; vibrant, fiery Edith as a nun, never experiencing love or loving, never having children or a home.
"I think ye should marry her," Rory said.
Niels closed his eyes
briefly and then shook his head. "I have nothing to give her. According to me plan it will be four more years ere I could give her a home or--"
"She'd be welcome at Buchanan with ye, Niels, and ye ken it."
"Aye, but she--"
"Is no' Victoria," Rory said solemnly. "Ye heard her as clear as I did when she said she'd be happy with a cottage and bairns."
Niels hesitated and then said, "What if she does no' want to marry me?" he asked, and then admitted, "I want her. But I do no' want a wife who only marries me to save herself from having to become a nun."
Rory laughed softly at the suggestion. "Brother, the woman has been eating ye alive fer days with her eyes. She tracks yer every move, kens where ye are every minute and does no' miss a word ye say. And judging by the look in her eyes as she does it, the nunnery is the last thing she thinks o' when she looks at ye." He peered down at Edith now almost wistfully, and admitted, "In truth I'm terrible jealous. She looks at ye the same way Saidh looks at Greer, and Murine looks at Dougall. I can only hope that someday a woman will look at me like that."
"Really?" Niels asked hopefully. He'd been so busy trying to keep from looking at Edith, he hadn't noticed how she looked at him.
"I'd never lie to ye about something like that, Niels," Rory said solemnly.
Edith's laughter rang out again and Niels turned to peer at her. He then found his feet taking him down the stairs to join her, when if he had a lick of sense he knew he'd take himself off to his room and get some much needed sleep. He should really be well rested to consider such a serious decision, he knew. Unfortunately, he didn't appear to have the sense God gave him at the moment. All he could think was that he wanted to be with her.
"It's no' true!" Edith was protesting on a laugh as he reached the table.
"What's no' true?" Niels asked with a smile, stopping next to Tormod and wondering if it would be rude to ask the man to move over so he could sit next to Edith. He was supposed to be guarding her after all. Well, technically, his guard duty was over, still--
"Niels," Geordie and Alick said together.
He glanced to his brothers and nodded and then spotted Edith's smile and returned it as she greeted him with a cheerful, "Good morn, kind sir. I hope ye slept well."
Niels stilled and it was Alick who said on a laugh, "Oh, that's just cruel, that is."
"What?" Edith asked with a frown, and then her eyes widened with dismay. "Oh, I never meant--'Tis just a greeting, I did no' mean to--"
Waving away her apology, Niels dropped to sit on the bench on the other side of Tormod and leaned forward to look past him to see her. "Ne'er fear, I'm no' offended," he assured her, and then added with self-disgust, "'Tis no less than I deserve fer sleeping on guard duty."
"Aye, well, asleep or no, I'm sure just yer presence there at my door was enough to keep anyone from poisoning me in my sleep," she told him firmly.
Niels bit his lip and held back the smile that wanted to claim him at her words. Poisoning her in her sleep? That would be a new trick. Did the woman think he'd sat outside her door all night to prevent her being poisoned? It was in case the poisoner wasn't Victoria and decided to move on to other tricks now that poisoning was not on the table.
"Besides," Edith added with a concerned expression, "ye must ha'e been exhausted to sleep so soundly. Why, ye did no' even stir when I fell on top o' ye."
Niels stiffened and asked sharply, "Fell on me? Rory said ye only tripped."
Edith grimaced, but admitted, "Aye, well, I tripped and then fell on ye." She shrugged. "I suppose I'm still recovering and a little clumsy."
"So, ye're saying ye actually fell on top o' me and I did no' wake up?" he asked with dismay. His brothers were forever teasing him that he could sleep through a battle raging around him, but good God, if he'd actually slept through Edith's falling on him . . .
"Aye, I was most concerned I'd hurt ye, and mentioned me worries to Geordie and Alick when they came out o' their room, but they assured me ye were fine, just a sound sleeper. And as they escorted me below they began regaling me with tales o' other times ye'd slept soundly."
Niels stiffened, dismay sliding up his back. Clearing his throat, he asked warily, "They did?"
"Aye, like the time when ye were sixteen and yer brothers shaved ye bald while ye slept," Edith added.
Niels felt his jaw tighten and glared at his brothers for telling such embarrassing tales about him.
Looking uncomfortable, Geordie muttered, "Aye, well to be fair, it was no' that he slept through that so much as he was unconscious," he admitted. "'Twas a wedding, and the first time he was allowed to drink. Niels was in his cups and that's really why he did no' wake up."
"Really?" she asked with a frown. "Ye shaved him bald while he was unconscious?"
"What other tales did they tell?" Niels asked dryly.
Edith was still frowning at his being shaved bald, but finally said, "They told us about another wedding when they were able to cart ye, bedding and all, out to the bull's pen. They said they even dropped ye a time or two and yet ye still did no' wake up, and they left ye lying there in the pen til morn." Turning back to Geordie and Alick she asked, "Was he in his cups that time too? Is that really why he did no' wake up?"
"Aye," Geordie admitted, looking uncomfortable when Niels stared at him.
"Oh, aye!" Tormod said suddenly. "I recall this tale now. I thought it sounded familiar." Turning to Edith he explained, "Yer father, Laird Drummond, was at the wedding and told it to me when he got back." Glancing past Edith to Geordie and Alick now he added, "But ye left out the best bits."
"What did they leave out?" Edith asked with curiosity.
"Well." Tormod glanced past her again to eye Geordie and Alick as he asked, "Did ye boys no' then wait around for hours until he finally did wake up and then let the bull loose as Niels tried to drag his bedding out o' the pen?"
"Ye did no'!" Edith gasped with horror and his two brothers nodded guiltily.
"Aye." Sitting back, Tormod shook his head. "Laird Drummond said ye laughed yer fool heads off as ye watched it chase yer brother about . . . until Niels ran straight fer ye lads and leapt over the fence right in front o' ye. The bull chased after him, smashing the fence to pieces, but Niels was still running while the rest o' ye were standing there with yer fiddles in hand, making perfect targets. He said as how the bull would have mown ye down had Niels no' turned and run back at yer screams. He said the lad jumped on the bull's back, grabbed him by the horns and steered him back into the pen and away from harming anyone until the older men could get there and get a couple o' ropes around the bull. Once they had it under control, Niels got off and out o' range and they repaired the fence."
Edith frowned on hearing the end of the tale and turned to Geordie and Alick to say heavily, "Ye did no' mention that part."
Both men avoided her gaze and Geordie muttered, "Aye, well . . ."
"What about the story about the piglet ye dressed in a lady's gown and placed in his bed with him?" Edith asked now, her tone suspicious. "Ye said ye thought it would wake and startle him, but rather than trample all over him as ye expected, the piglet settled right down and cuddled up to Niels and the two slept for hours with him blissfully unaware he was sleeping with a pig." She raised her eyebrows. "What perchance did ye leave out o' that tale?"
Niels watched both men squirm briefly, but then decided to put them out of their misery and change the subject. However, as he opened his mouth to do so, Alick blurted, "We'd painted the piglet's lips and cheeks red, and Conran wrote the name Annie on the pig's forehead."
"Annie?" Edith asked curiously. "Why?"
"Because, at the time, Niels had a fancy fer our neighbor, Annie," Alick admitted reluctantly.
"So ye put her name on a piglet?" Edith asked with dismay. "What if she and her family had come to Buchanan and seen it? Aside from insulting the lass, you would have humiliated yer brother in front of her." Mouth flattening out, she shook her head and said firmly, "Ye ken, now
that I think on it, ye boys were very unkind to yer brother."
Niels's mouth had been tightening with each example she'd given of what his brothers had shared with her. But now, as Geordie and Alick began to look dismayed, he began to smile. His brothers were actually looking shamefaced, their heads hanging . . . and it nearly made Niels laugh out loud. He'd done or been a party to tricks as bad or worse against each one of his brothers. They all had. But he'd never had anyone stick up for him like Edith was doing. She was lecturing Geordie and Alick like they were a couple of young lads, still wet behind the ears.
"Shaving off his beautiful hair the way ye did was bad enough," Edith said now with disgust, and Niels sat a little straighter, his ears perking up at her description of his hair as she continued, "But ye could have killed him with that bull nonsense. And ye're verra lucky that he troubled himself to save ye from that bull the way he did too. I would have let it tear ye to shreds were it me and I knew ye'd set out to get me gored, fer surely ye must have realized that could happen."
"Oh, nay, we would no' have let the bull hurt Niels," Geordie said at once.
"Aye," Alick assured her. "Niels was always the fastest runner of us all. We knew he could outstrip the bull, and we surely would have rushed in to save him if the bull had even gotten close to goring him."
Edith glowered at them for a moment, and then sighed and nodded. "Aye. I ken that. Saidh has told me enough stories of her childhood that I ken how close ye all are. Still, his beautiful hair?" she asked with a wince.
Niels was about to ask her what she liked about his hair when she suddenly peered past Tormod and smiled.
"Any change?" she asked Rory as he approached the table.
Rory shook his head grimly. "Nay. Her color is a bit better, her eyes are back to normal, but she still sleeps. I begin to fear she may never come out of the sleep the drug put her in and may just fade away and slowly die."
Edith frowned at this news and then whirled toward the kitchen as a scream sounded. When it was followed by a great ruckus of shouting and shrieks, she stood up, obviously intending to investigate, but Niels caught her arm and steered her toward Geordie and Alick, who had also stood up.
"Watch her," he barked, and hurried toward the kitchen on the heels of Tormod and Rory. He quickly caught up to the pair and surpassed them, reaching the door to the kitchens first. Pushing inside, he frowned at the group of people blocking the entrance, with their backs to the door, unaware that they were in the way. All of them too were now silent, he noted as he began to make his way through the crowd to get to what held their attention. He had to weave through the people to the far end of the kitchen to find the source of the upset, and then he stopped dead and simply stared at the man lying prone on the ground.