“It is?”
“Aye, we shall put a collar on it. I suspicion your mother can think of something. Mayhap e’en something with Roberta written on it so no one can mistake it for just any lamb.” When Benet started to scramble out of the bed, obviously intending to have it done immediately, Harcourt caught him up in his arms and put him back in place beside him. “Ye can talk to your mother in the morning and ask her if she can make something for Roberta.”
“Oh. Aye. Dunnie will keep a watch on Roberta, aye?”
“Aye. Now, go to sleep and I will take the wee beastie to the stable.”
He kissed the top of the boy’s head and then got up. Even as he picked up the lamb Benet leapt out of bed and stood in front of them. “Benet?” Harcourt asked, hoping he was not going to get a fight about the lamb now.
“I need to give her a kiss good night. She expects it.”
Harcourt looked at the animal he held who was trying very hard to dip her head down to Benet and sighed. He crouched down and waited as Benet kissed the lamb on the head and gave it a little pat.
Then Benet climbed back into bed but kept staring at the animal.
“Benet, I give ye my word as a knight, the lamb is safe in Glencullaich.”
“I just worry, ye ken.”
“Do ye trust Dunnie?”
“I trust ye, too. But, aye, I do trust Dunnie. He has been teaching me how to care for Roberta.”
“Weel, that is where your lamb will be. With a mon ye trust in a stable ye go to all the time in a keep that doesnae have men as bad as the ones who scared you.” He was relieved to see Benet smile and lie down. “Now, sleep and ye can see the wee beastie in the morning.”
He took the lamb to the stable and shook his head when Dunnie just laughed. Yet he found himself watching how the man treated the lamb for a moment to reassure himself. Harcourt shook his head again and headed back into the keep. Discovering that Annys had gone to see a new baby born to the weaver’s wife, he sat with his men and talked over what they should do on the morrow to continue readying themselves for the war they were certain was headed their way. When he heard Annys return, he waited what he considered a reasonable amount of time and then, ignoring the teasing of the others, went up to her bedchamber.
Annys opened the door at his knock and smiled at him. Harcourt smiled back, stepped inside even as he picked her up in his arms, and kicked the door shut behind him. Carefully he walked her to the bed, tossed her down, and started to take off his clothes as she laughed. It was, he decided, a perfect end to the day.
Chapter Fourteen
Muttering a curse, Harcourt made his way up onto the walls to take a turn at the watch. On the one hand he was more content than he had been in a very long time. He had a willing Annys warming his bed. On the other hand, there was still a lot that stood between them that could turn what they shared from a blessing into a curse.
She had to stay at Glencullaich. His son had to remain David’s heir. There was Gormfeurach and its people waiting for him to return. His brother had entrusted the care of his son’s lands to him. Back at Gormfeurach there was also the chance of gaining some land of his own. If he turned his back on that then he became no more than a landless knight, not a man worthy of the lady of Glencullaich. And that was the one thing that bothered him the most, he decided. He loathed the idea of coming to her empty-handed. She deserved better than that.
“I would have thought ye would be in a much lighter mood,” said Gybbon as he joined Harcourt at the wall. “Ye have certainly been smiling a lot this past sennight.”
Harcourt laughed but the moment of good humor passed quickly. “Aye, and most times I still am despite nay having solved this trouble with Sir Adam. Yet, although I am nay sure if I or she looks for this to last, every so often I find myself thinking of all the reasons it cannae. She must stay here and I must go back to Gormfeurach.”
“Ah, aye, that is a trouble. Especially since ye could gain yourself some land for the care ye are taking of Gormfeurach.”
“’Tis already chosen.” He nodded at Gybbon’s look of surprise. “’Tis but a matter of drawing the boundaries. Many things to consider when doing so. Then I hand o’er a token payment for the deeds to it and ’tis all mine. If I stay here, I really have no right to it.”
“And Annys cannae take the laird of this land away from it, especially with such greedy kinsmen eyeing it. They may have sat back as Sir Adam tries to take it but they all want it.”
“Nay, she cannae.”
“’Tis a shame the elder brother died.”
“Aye, but, if he hadnae, David wouldnae have wed Annys, and, in the end, there wouldnae have been a Benet. That would be a loss. As she said once, for all that is wrong in this tangle we put ourselves in, there is one bright blessing and that is Benet. Change one little thing and he wouldnae be here.”