"Aye," Alex agreed quietly. "He is not the sneaky sort, either. Sometimes I think 'twould be better if he did learn a bit of sneakiness."
When she tilted her head to peer at him curiously, he explained, "The man has a sharp mind and is good with a sword, but diplomacy is not exactly his long suit, as you may have noticed. Were he just a touch less forthright, he could avoid insulting unnecessarily."
"Hmm," Merry murmured, but said, "Ye ken the people of d'Aumesbery better than I. Who do ye think is sneaky enough to do this?"
Alex was silent for a moment and then sat up, taking her with him. He took a moment to help when Merry then quickly set to arranging the furs and linens around herself to be sure she was decently covered, and then admitted, "You are not going to like this."
Merry grimaced. "Ye're going to say Edda."
He nodded solemnly. "I know you like her and she has been good to you, but she has proven herself sneaky in the past. When my father lived and was home, she acted much as she does with you and me now. However, when he left on the occasional journey, her demeanor changed entirely. She was cold and even cruel to those left behind, including myself and Evelinde. And then he would ride through the gate and she was suddenly sweet and dutiful again. 'Twas like there were two of her, a good Edda and an evil Edda."
Merry considered this, upset at the possibility that Edda was not what she presented herself to be, and then admitted, "Evelinde made me promise to approach ye about sending Edda away to visit her sister for a while once we return."
"Sister?" Alex echoed with surprise, and then nodded. "Oh, aye. I had forgotten she had one."
"I didna even ken she had one until Evelinde told me," Merry admitted. "I found that surprisin' considerin' how often we've sat by the fire chattin' ower our mending on a night."
"'Tis odd she would not have mentioned it," Alex agreed, and then asked, "Would you mind did we send her away for a visit when we return?"
"Nay," Merry said quietly. "I shall miss her, but it need only be until we sort things out and can prove she's no' behind all of this nonsense."
"Aye," Alex agreed, hugging her.
"My lady!"
Merry pulled a little away from Alex to glance around as Una came stumbling up. The maid was a complete mess, her hair still sleep-rumpled and her gown laced up crookedly. It was obvious she'd been in a rush to dress.
"Godfrey woke me with the news of the fire. Thank God, ye're all right," the woman gasped dropping to her knees beside them. "Ye didna get burned at all, did ye? Godfrey didna think ye had, but--"
"I'm fine," Merry assured her quickly and then glanced to her husband with surprise when his chest began to rumble with fresh laughter.
"It does seem amazing to me that the women from your part of Scotland can sleep through such things. Surely the ruckus the men were making with their shouts and so on should have woken you, Una."
"Oh." The maid flushed, but waved that away. "I am a deep sleeper. Most o' the people at Stewart are. It comes from years o' Eachann and the boys stayin' up all night drinkin' and carousin' and makin' a hell o' a racket. We are used to sleepin' with noise."
"Ah, that explains a lot," Alex said with sudden understanding and eased Merry off his lap so that he could get to his feet. "I suppose we, too, should get moving. I have not done so ere this because I am not sure what we are going to do for clothing now that everything burned up in the fire, but the men are nearly finished breaking camp and I'd best look into the matter."
Merry opened her mouth to point out that her gowns were safe and sound in the wagon where she'd taken them last night when she'd thought she'd be sleeping there, but swallowed the words and nearly her tongue along with them as she glanced up and found herself staring at her husband's naked chicken neck. Until then, she hadn't realized that he was naked as the day he was born. She should have, since that was how he'd climbed into bed last night, but...
"Dear Lord, Godfrey's no' the only one with a claymore," Una muttered, bringing Merry abruptly to her feet to wrap the furs that had been covering her around her husband's waist.
"Merry, stop that and cover yourself," Alex snapped, trying to wrap the furs back around her even as she wrapped them around him. "You are not decent."
"I may no' be decent, but at least I'm in me chemise. Ye, on the other hand, are bare-arsed, husband," Merry snapped back in case he'd missed that fact.
"My men will not care about me being naked," he argued, pushing the furs back toward her.
"And I doona mind, either," Una assured her, ogling Alex.
Merry scowled at her. "Well, I do. 'Sides, they willna care about me in me chemise."
"They may not, but I do," Alex growled back, and then gave up trying to cover her and merely scooped her up in the furs and headed for the wagon, saying firmly, "You shall have to borrow a gown from Una for the rest of the journey."
Merry didn't tell him then that she had gowns. She was too busy scowling over his shoulder at Una. The maid had stood to follow, and her eyes were fixed firmly on Alex's behind as she did. Judging by the expression on her face, she was enjoying the view, too. Merry thought it terribly rude and was not enjoying her enjoyment.
chapter Fifteen
It was a hard ride for the next couple of days. With no tent to sleep in at night, they were forced to sleep around the fire with the rest of the men, and so Alex saw no reason to stop each day until well into the night.
It troubled him that this latest attempt on his life had nearly seen his wife killed, and that was another reason he rode them so hard to reach home. He knew he was driving them all to exhaustion and risked the wagon losing a wheel, but hoped that the exhaustion would be enough to keep whoever kept attacking him from doing so again and possibly succeeding this time, if not in killing him, then in killing his wife. He would not lose Merry now when things were starting to look up between them.
By the last day, the pace he'd set had everyone grumpy, and so when the sun set when they were only four or five hours from d'Aumesbery, rather than call a halt and sleep one more night in the open before finishing the journey the next morning, Alex kept them going.
It was a relief to every one of the exhausted group when the torches on the towers of d'Aumesbery were spotted through the thinning woods. Alex glanced down to Merry to point out that they were nearly there, but she was sound asleep in his lap. Unlike the journey out, she had ridden on her own for most of the way back. However, when he'd caught her starting to nod off in the saddle an hour ago, he'd pulled her before him on his mount and ordered her to sleep. He suspected it was a sign of how exhausted she was that she had not argued or even troubled herself about her mare, but had merely curled up and dropped off to sleep at once.
"She is dead to the world, poor thing," Gerhard said quietly from the side, and Alex glanced to where the man rode with Merry's horse trailing his own. The first had taken the mare's reins and attached them to his pommel to lead the beast when Alex had scooped Merry from her back.
"Aye," Alex agreed, and then added, "But dead to the world is better than just plain dead."
Gerhard nodded. "It has been hard the last few days, but 'tis better to reach d'Aumesbery quickly and avoid further possible problems on the trail."
"That was my thought," Alex agreed.
"I suspected as much," Gerhard admitted, and then added wryly, "But you may wish to explain that to your wife when she awakes. I think she and her maid thought you had lost your mind, riding us as you have."
Alex smiled wryly at the suggestion and nodded. They broke through the trees then and started up the sloping path to the castle gates.
The greeting here was much different from the one they'd received at Stewart. The men on the wall did not break out in smiles or wave and call out greetings as they let down the gate, and no one rushed across the bailey to crowd an
d meet them.
Alex told himself it was because it was the middle of the night, but knew even had they arrived during the day, they would not have been welcomed as they had been at Merry's childhood home. He had been away for years and only recently returned to a troubled keep, only to turn around and leave again, and Merry herself was altogether new here. But he hoped that someday their people would be as pleased to see them return from a journey as the people of Stewart had been to see Merry.
It was a goal for him to work toward, Alex decided. He would gain the trust and love of his people so that his return was always welcomed.
Alex drew his mount to a halt at the keep stairs and eased out of the saddle still clutching her close, and Merry did no more than stir and mutter unhappily before dropping off back to sleep. Shaking his head at his wife's ability to sleep through anything, he didn't bother to give any orders or instructions to Gerhard and the men, but left them to it. Secure in the knowledge that they would do whatever was necessary and tend to the wagon and horses before seeking their own beds, he carried Merry inside and moved quietly through the sleeping bodies in the great hall to reach the stairs. He met no one as he made his way up to their room. Once there, he settled Merry on the bed and then simply collapsed beside her, too exhausted even to think about undressing either of them. They would just have to sleep in their clothes this night, he thought as sleep washed over him.
Merry woke to find herself alone in the room she shared with Alex at d'Aumesbery. Her first reaction was relief that she was not lying stiff and sore on the cold hard ground but instead in her warm bed. Her second reaction was to wonder when they had arrived, where her husband was, and if he'd even joined her in the bed. The last thought brought a wave of depression over her, for while Merry had slept at Alex's side every night since leaving Donnachaidh, that was all they had done. He had not touched her in any way that could be construed as sexual, or even kissed her since the night he'd been so aggressive and they'd realized he was being drugged.