Page 100 of Highland Queen

Chapter 29

I returned to Glamis and set about my work once more. As I did so, I watched Macbeth with a wary eye. He was recovering. And so far, he seemed far steadier than he had in the past. Perhaps he had finally found the bottom of his ailment and was slowly rising again. Either way, I did my work and steered clear of him. Macbeth busied himself with the building of Dunsinane, spending more time at the old fortress than at Glamis, a fact about which I was eternally grateful.

As the weeks passed, spring came, and the forest around Glamis came alive once more. The weather grew warm, and the land came back to life. I was at my desk working one morning when my back started aching. I rose and stretched, pressing my fists into my back.

Madelaine, who was hiding from Bethoc, had come to join me. She’d been working on her embroidery. When I rose, she looked up. She watched me arch my back.

“Corbie,” she said, setting down her work. “Your belly… There will be no hiding it soon. You need to make plans to depart.”

“There is so much work here,” I said.

“Take a secretary with you,” she told me then rose and came behind me. With a mother’s care, she worked the knots on my back. “Macbeth may be steady now, but I see that spark in his eyes still. Trust me, I know it very well. You need to leave.”

I nodded. She was right. “I’ll make preparations today. Will you be all right alone here with him? Are you sure you don’t want to come?”

“I wish I could, my love. But you need me here, so here I shall stay. And alone? I’m not alone. I have Bethoc,” she said with a laugh.

“And how is the weather today?”

“Ripe for causing gout. But more, she hasn’t stopped talking about the fact that she has neither seen nor heard from Crinian since she arrived.”

“Perhaps he’s happy to be rid of her,” I said.

“Perhaps,” Madelaine considered. “But if I were you, I would send someone to ensure he is where you left him.”

I nodded. Madelaine was right. “Yes. I’ll do so. Right after I send a rider to Cawdor to let them know I’m coming home. Would you like Rhona to stay with you? I know Tira is pining for her family.”

“No,” Madelaine said then shook her head. “Let them go home. I’m training one of the kitchen maids. She’s working out very well. Smart girl. Too smart for the kitchens. And Bethoc brought four or five maids. I’m sure she’ll let me borrow one, if needed.”

I smiled at Madelaine. In the months that had passed, she had started coming back to herself again. Part of me worried that Tavis’ death might break her. In a way, it had. I saw that there were pieces of her that were still injured. I understood the feeling. The death of a loved one is a wound that never heals. Their absence lives on with you.

“Very well,” I said. I kissed Madelaine’s hands, thanking her for her care, then went back to my desk. Given my condition, I didn’t want to send a casting to Banquo, but I was thrilled to share the news. I would return north very soon.

Over the next two days, I made ready to depart. It wasn’t until the third day, on the morning I planned to leave, that Macbeth appeared at the door of my bedchamber.

“Gruoch, may I have a word?” he asked.

Tira and Rhona looked at me.

“Please finish taking our things to the wagons. I’ll meet you below,” I told them.

I closed the door behind them.

“I wish we had discussed your return to Moray,” he said simply.

“I was waiting until the weather cleared. I will tour the north while I am there, make sure things are as strong as we left them.”

“When will you return?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Dunsinane should be ready by winter. Will you be back then?”

“I don’t know yet.” The truth was, I didn’t know when I would return. With my child due in the winter, even if I wanted to return, it wouldn’t be feasible for me to come back until spring.

Macbeth ran his hand through his hair and took a slow, deep breath. He still looked far too gaunt, his eyes ringed black. He stared at my cold hearth, his eyes vacant. “Are you running from me?”

“I’m done running. We are king and queen. We will rule this land together as best we can. I am going north and will see to the northern provinces while I am there. You must retain a tight grip on the south while I am gone. Madelaine is here to see to the ladies, and you have your advisors. Listen to them, to Fife, and send word if you need to.”

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