Harcourt nodded. “I want to romance my woman tonight, to give her some pretty words, feed her some fine foods, drink a toast to her beauty, and give her a few sweet memories to cling to during the coming trouble.”
“I didnae hear anything about making a few promises in that listing,” said Callum as he joined them at the table.
Irritated that he had not heard the man approach, Harcourt took a moment to think on how to respond. “Ah, weel, I am nay sure I can give her any. Nay sure I should, in truth,” he said.
“Because she must abide here and ye must return to Gormfeurach?”
“Aye. I have looked at that problem from every side and see no answers. When this fight is over I must ride away from her and Benet again. At least this time I will pause to say a proper fare-thee-weel,” he muttered and took a drink of his ale.
“There is a solution. Ye stay here with her and the boy. Aye, ye willnae be able to openly claim him as your son, but that doesnae mean ye cannae still be a father to him.”
Harcourt ached to do just that. He wanted to spend his nights wrapped in Annys’s arms, perhaps make another child or two, and his days teaching Benet how to be a good man and laird. The desire to have that was growing so strong he was often trying to think of ways to get the land he craved yet not have to go back to Gormfeurach. He did not think Annys would want a husband who lived by selling his sword, however.
“If I walked away from Gormfeurach and that land that awaits me, I would be coming to her with nothing,” he said and held up his hand when Callum started to speak. “What I do ken right now is that I must cease thinking on it all. There will be an army at the gates soon and war requires a man’s full attention.”
“Verra true.”
“And the first thing we need to do now is to start bringing the people in, securing a hiding place for as much of the livestock as is possible, and do a careful tally of what we have for drink and food.”
“I will gather up a few men and see to that,” Callum said as he stood up.
Nathan also stood up after gulping down the last of his ale. “I will join you. First we best tell Dunnie to send whate’er wagons and carts he can to the village and ready a place to put whate’er stock gets brought inside the walls.” He looked at Harcourt. “Mayhap ye can get Annys to bring as many of those benches she has under near every window in the keep down here. More places to sit are always best. Mayhap the young ones could begin filling up buckets or whate’er else will hold water and set them close to anything that can burn. We will be soaking down that sort of thing but it can help to have more close at hand to keep it all wet.” Nathan suddenly noticed that Callum and Harcourt were staring at him. “Why are ye looking at me like that? Have I grown a fat, hairy wart on my face?”
Harcourt laughed and shook his head. “Nay. It was the e’er-growing, extremely clever list of preparations ye were giving us. It was a wee bit of a surprise.”
“Dinnae forget, my da once had near every clan for a hundred miles round thirsty for his head on a pike. In the years when it was verra bad, we could find ourselves fighting off attackers near to once a month.” He shrugged. “I would see what went wrong and think of ways to mend that weakness, or sort out that confusion that took time and attention away from the fight and staying alive. Ewan once told me I could ready them to live under a siege lasting several years without them suffering any real hardship if I set my mind to it.”
“I think he may be right in that.”
“Warn your lady that the people will be coming in fast once they get the word. She needs to make it clear where they cannae go while inside the keep,” he added as he followed Callum out the door.
Harcourt was still shaking his head as he stood up to go find Annys. If he had had to choose one man to plan out how to survive a siege, it would not have been Nathan, but Ewan was right. Nathan was a planner. Even as he and Callum had walked away, Nathan had been working aloud on that long list of what he felt needed to be done, right down to having everyone in the village clearly mark what belonged to them before bringing it inside the walls as it would save arguments when the battle ended and they could all begin to collect their belongings and go home.
He left the great hall just as Annys stepped inside from the bailey. The dazed look in her eyes told him she had already met Nathan and had probably been given a long list of things to do. Harcourt walked up to her and opened his mouth to speak, but was silenced by her raised hand. He watched her lips move as she repeated something several times, even though he could not discern what. Then, abruptly, her eyes cleared and she smiled.