Page 103 of Highland Queen

Chapter 30

That night, for the first time in months, I truly slept. Something about lying in the bed I had shared with Gillacoemgain made my heart feel safe. I was behind the walls of my own castle and surrounded by my own people. No harm could come to me or my unborn child here. I set my hand on my stomach. The little one inside jiggled, the fluttering feeling making my heart stir with joy.

I sighed contentedly.

“Ah, are you awake?” a familiar voice called.

“Good morning, Morag.”

“Afternoon, actually,” she said. I heard her chair scrape as she rose. “I have some food here for you. No doubt, you are hungry.”

“Famished.”

Morag chuckled. “That’s the way it is after the morning sicknesses pass. You look about that far along.”

I sat up. “Morag!”

“Oh, don’t worry. I doubt many other eyes would notice. They probably all thought you were getting round off the rich, southern food. Now, does my Thane know he’s going to have a wee babe?”

“He does.”

“Good. Otherwise, he was about to get a big surprise,” she said then grinned at me.

A moment later, there was a knock on the door. Morag went to answer. I heard low voices, then a moment later, Banquo walked into the room.

“Gruoch,” he said, rushing to me.

“Call me if you need me, lady,” Morag said then pulled the door closed behind her.

Thora, who was lying by the fire, lifted her head and whined at Banquo, her tail thumping.

“Banquo! What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I didn’t want to be apart from you a moment more. Oh, my Cerridwen, look at you,” he said, taking my belly into his hands. He kissed my stomach then leaned in and kissed me. “How are you feeling?”

“Very well. She’s started moving about.”

“Any problems, issues?”

“None.”

Banquo exhaled deeply. “May the gods be praised,” he said then flopped down onto the bed with me.

I laced my hand in his then lay my head on his chest. “How I’ve missed you.”

“And I you,” he said, then kissed my forehead.

I closed my eyes, feeling a deep sense of bliss.

I passed the summer in Moray, continuing to guide the country as best I could, and ruling the north. My work felt good, right. Perhaps this separation between Macbeth and me was for the best. The north was at peace and prospering. The south was quiet. Dispatches came regularly from Macbeth. He kept me abreast on what was happening and the progress on Dunsinane. Madelaine wrote as well. Macbeth was holding steady, though he seemed greatly distracted. Again, I thought about suggesting Macbeth pursue his pilgrimage to Rome, but the timing was not right. Winter would come soon enough. And with it would come my daughter. As much as I hated to admit it, I needed Macbeth.

“Before the weather turns and you get much larger, we should remove to Lochaber,” Banquo told me as we sat beside the fire in my chamber late one night. “It is three days’ journey. I don’t want you to make the trip in the cold.”

“When do you want to go?”

“When can you leave?”

“Tomorrow.”

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