Merry glanced up with a start to find that her husband had slowed to ride beside her again. They had started out the journey side by side on their mounts, but she had been so distracted by her thoughts she hadn't been able to respond to his comments and repeated efforts to strike up a conversation. After a bit, Merry had allowed her mare to fall back some, leaving Gerhard to take her place and talk with her husband. Now, however, Alex had dropped back to ride beside her again, and she forced herself to stop fretting about things she could not control and managed to offer him a smile.
"Does this area look familiar?" Alex asked suddenly, and Merry glanced around, her eyes slipping with little interest over the woods they were traveling through. It looked much like the rest of the woods they'd been passing through for the last hour, she thought, and then noted the hills ahead and stilled in her saddle, her head tilting slightly as she stared at them.
"Stewart." She breathed the word, amazed to see the place she'd just been pining for.
"Aye." Alex smiled gently. "I thought you might wish to stop and greet your family and old friends since we were passing so close by. But we can avoid it if 'twould bring up unhappy memories for you."
Merry smiled at the man, thinking she truly had a thoughtful husband, and then glanced toward the hills ahead as she considered her answer. Finally, she nodded her head. "If you do not mind taking the time, I would be pleased to check in on my father and brothers on the way by."
"Then we shall," he said with a smile, and Merry smiled back, but then glimpsed Gerhard riding on his other side and noted the scowl on the man's face. It seemed he was not pleased with the stop, and judging by the suspicion on his expression, did not think she should be, either. She supposed she should not be surprised. No doubt he was imagining she had some grand plan to finish off her husband in the familiar surroundings, but there was little she could do about his thoughts, so she merely ignored him and looked toward the hills ahead and home.
The men on the wall were, of course, the first to see their approach, and she noted the way they each stiffened and grew still at their posts as they watched them draw near. Their party was nearly to the wall before the men were able to recognize her riding at the front at her husband's side, and the difference in them was immediate. They all relaxed, breaking out in smiles of welcome; most even waved and called out.
Merry felt a happy laugh slip from her lips as she waved back, and then they were passing under the gate into the bailey and their party was almost brought to a grinding halt as the people of Stewart rushed forward to greet her.
"Ye're back!"
"Are ye staying, lass?"
"Ye're lookin' fine and healthy, lass."
"Is this yer man, lovey? He's a fine-lookin' maun."
The calls came from every side, and Merry laughed as she urged her mare to continue slowly forward even as she tried to answer that aye, she was back. Aye, this was her husband, and no, she was not staying, just visiting. The warmth and welcome from the people of Stewart was a balm to her soul compared to the tension and suspicion of the last few days, and it was only then that Merry realized how upset she had been to be under that suspicion. She had understood it, but that apparently hadn't prevented it from hurting her.
The moment they drew their mounts to a halt at the steps to the keep and Merry dismounted, she found herself surrounded and caught up in one embrace after another by the women who had trailed them across the bailey. Things like "'Tis good to see ye lookin' so bonnie, lass" and "We're missin' ye here at Stewart, my lady" were repeated to her over and over, and Merry would have liked to load every single one of them into her wagon and take them home to d'Aumesbery with her. At least then she would not feel so alone for, despite Una's accompanying her, it had been a lonely three weeks directly after her arrival in England. She had felt quite lost and alone and had clung to the kindness Edda had shown her. Now, however, she was questioning that kindness and the woman who had shown it and felt she had no ally at all.
Just as Merry acknowledged that thought to herself, Alex suddenly appeared at her side, making his way gently but firmly through the women to get to her and slip an arm around her shoulder. For one moment, she fancied he looked a little worried, as if he thought she might disappear into the crowd of women and not return, but then he managed a smile and suggested, "Mayhap we should go in now. One of the men said your father and brothers are inside."
Merry nodded agreement and Alex began to maneuver them toward and up the steps while she apologized and made her excuses for leaving, and then they were inside. The keep doors closed behind them, blocking out the chatter and noise, as well as the sun. Merry and Alex both paused to give their eyes a moment to adjust, and suddenly she was reminded of her arrival at d'Aumesbery, for while she was briefly blind, she was not deaf and heard the men in the room before she saw them. The overloud laughter and slurring words that hit her ear made her heart drop at once, erasing all the pleasure of a moment ago, and Merry mentally raised her shoulders and stiffened her resolve as Alex took her arm and led her slowly, almost reluctantly forward.
As her eyes focused and her gaze landed on the three men seated around the trestle tables with several empty, overturned pitchers lying around them, Merry began to wish she had thanked Alex kindly, but rejected the idea of stopping. In her brief moment of melancholy on the hill, she had remembered only the people who lived and worked here and the good of her childhood home. She'd quite forgotten the three men who had been burrs in her behind since her mother's death.
She and Alex were halfway across the floor when Merry suddenly found her feet would no longer move her forward. Alex paused at once, a questioning gaze on his face, and she said unhappily, "Mayhap 'twould be better did we just continue on our journey."
"I'd say so," Gerhard muttered behind her, drawing her attention to the fact that they had not entered alone.
Merry stiffened and felt her face flush with shame for her family, but did not miss the scowl Alex turned on the man. His expression was neutral when it returned to her and he said, "If you wish it, Merry. We will do what you like."
"Aye," she said solemnly. "I wish--"
"Merry! As I live and breathe! Here we were just talkin' about ye and ye appear as if by magic!"
Merry's shoulders drooped at that loud shout from her father, knowing it was too late now and they would have to carry this debacle forward. Taking a deep breath, she turned and forced herself to approach the table as the three Stewart men staggered to their feet to greet them.
"Damn me, Merry!" Brodie greeted. He was the first to reach them and immediately caught her up in a bear hug. "Ye're lookin' fine, lass. We've been fretting ower that husband o' yers and how he's treatin' ye. Is he givin' ye any trouble? We can kill the bastard and bury him and his men in Cook's herb garden and no one would be the wiser."
Merry forced a smile, treating the words like a joke though she suspected they weren't. She managed to ease from his embrace as she assured him, "There's no need fer that, me husband is verra kind to me."
"Well, that's all right then," her father decided as he displaced Brodie to embrace her himself. "We'll let the lad live then, shall we?"
"Aye," Merry said firmly, and wondered what
madness had made her wish for this visit. Surely this was only going to add to the suspicion the English already had of her. Certainly, Gerhard had an expression on his face that suggested this was nothing less than he'd expected. As for Alex, his face was still in that neutral state and she could not tell what he was thinking.
And then her father was displaced by Gawain, who gave her a quick, hard hug and then tugged her toward the table saying, "Ye've got to come celebrate with us Merry. We've the most wonderful news."
"Oh?" she asked wearily as she was urged to sit on the bench.
"Aye," Brodie assured her as he and Gawain both settled on either side of her at the trestle table. Merry was about to glance around to be sure Alex was still nearby when he stepped up behind her and settled his hands on her shoulders. He then used that touch to urge her to relax back against his legs and use him as a chair back. Merry tilted her face up to peer at him, relieved to find his expression kind, sympathetic, and reassuring all at once as he murmured, "Let us hear this wonderful news."
Merry had to swallow a lump in her throat, grateful that he hadn't snatched her back off the bench and run for the door. She would not have blamed him had he done so, and part of her almost wished that he had, but they were her family.
"Kade is a-comin' home."
This announcement from her father made Merry whirl to stare at where he stood on the other side of the trestle table. He had a full pitcher of whiskey in one hand, a mug in the other, and a grin on his face full of happy expectation as he awaited her response. She stared at him blankly for the longest time as she tried to accept that the brother she'd begun to fear was dead was not and then finally said, "He isna."
"Aye," Brodie crooned, throwing an arm around her and drawing her up against his side in an exuberant, if clumsy, hug that pulled her away from Alex. "He is, Merry. Kade is alive and will soon be home."
"But how?" she asked with bewilderment. "Where has he been? Why has he not--?"