Annys watched him hurry out of the room and sighed. Fear was a tight knot in her belly but she was determined not to allow it to rule her. There were a lot of people inside the keep now, every one of them as afraid as she was. She needed to show them only calm and an absolute certainty of victory. That was one of the things she had been taught that the lady of a keep was expected to do. It was one of the few things that had always made complete sense to her.
Before she left the bedchamber, she looked around. The lovely hot bath she had savored was now no more than a tub of cold, soapy water, but the memory of that pleasure remained. On the table in front of the fire sat the sad scraps of the hearty meal she and Harcourt had shared, the jug of cider empty now, but she could still smile over the teasing and flirting they had indulged in as they ate. The bed was a mass of tangled covers and her body warmed at the memories that sight stirred up.
It had all been almost perfect. The only shadow was the lack of any declaration of love, from Harcourt for her, or from her for him. Harcourt had spoken of how he wanted them to stay together, even brushed over the word marriage, but the one thing that firmly stood between them, was where they each had to remain after the battle was over, had not been banished. The laird of Glencullaich could not leave it and, as his mother, neither could she, and Harcourt needed to return to Gormfeurach, not only out of duty to the people living there, but to his brother. A part of her was grateful that he would give her no false promises when he had no answers to their problem yet, while another part would have liked to hear them anyway.
Shaking her head, she hurried out of the room. The best thing she could do now was to bury herself in all the work that needed to be done. It would keep her from thinking too much on what had not been said between her and Harcourt as well as help her keep her fear tucked away deep inside her. First she needed Joan, or any other grown woman, to correctly braid her hair so that it was out of her way while she worked.
Passing by David’s bedchamber, Annys could not resist stepping inside for just a moment. Her first thought when she entered was that Glencullaich was going to need a lot more cottages than it had now. There were ten cradles with infants in them and three more ready for the three very pregnant women there, ones due to go to the birthing room very soon. Since the children were all busy playing and running around, it was difficult to count the number of very young children but there were twenty pallets on the floor. The three women heavy with child had four older girls and three aged women plus Mary, whose new infant slept in one of the cradles, to help them.
She saw Benet being introduced to the infants by a boy who had to be close to his own age. Benet suddenly looked up, smiled, and waved at her. Annys returned the wave.
“Look at all the bairns, Maman! ” he said.
“I see, Benet. There will have to be more cottages built soon.” She grinned when he laughed and nodded. “Remember to be verra gentle with them, love,” she added and turned to leave only to come face to face with Mary.
“This is a wondrous thing to do for us, m’lady. For the bairns, for us, for the old ones,” Mary said.
“T’was Sir Nathan’s idea, Mary,” she said.
“And we have all thanked him. But, we ken weel he had the idea, aye, but ye and your ladies put it all in place. Now we willnae be underfoot, aye?”
“That was the purpose, aye. The sad thing is that ’tis also so we can move ye all, verra quickly, if the need arises.” She was surprised when Mary smiled for the knowledge should have served to remind her of all the danger they were facing.
“I ken it, m’lady. ’Tis true, I am frightened but kenning that we are here, easy to gather up and move, is a comfort. Sir Nathan showed us where to go when the time comes.”
“Good, but ye will have to be certain to stay together as ye go down to the ledger room.”
“Oh, we dinnae have to leave here. There is a way down to the cellars right in that lovely wee privacy room.” Mary pointed to the garderobe David had as part of his bedchamber. It was to the left of the huge fireplace and a room with his writing table was to the right.
Annys shook her head. “I believe my husband kept a lot of secrets, such as how this keep is fair riddled with holes.”
Mary laughed. “I heard t’was from his days as a randy young lad with verra pious parents.”
“It was. He did confess that. I just wish he had made some map of all the ways he found to slip away from their watchful eyes.”
“M’lady!” Gavin called as he ran into the room, stumbling to a halt in front of her. “Ye are wanted at the walls.”
“Why?” she asked as she followed him out only to tug him along with her so that they could use the way to the walls in her bedchamber.
“Sir Adam has demanded to speak with you.” Gavin’s eyes widened as she opened the way to the stairway that went up to the walls from her bedchamber. “I didnae ken about this.”