Page 21 of The Plight of a Scottish Lass
Thane took two more bites of his meat pie before he spoke again, chewing slowly. He knew Mora would be disappointed.She was the only female who lived in the castle, though there were a couple who came to visit occasionally, but not exactly the kind his sister should befriend. All his guardsmen lived in the village down the path from the castle. Some were married with bairns, some were not.
“Tamsin stopped talking on our journey, Mora. She never awakened after we arrived at Clan MacVey. Doiron took a look at her, then came out and shook her head, said she’d never seen a lass beaten so badly. Said she couldn’t help her since she had no wounds or broken bones. The poor lass was barely breathing by the time we reached Duart Castle. Eli said she hoped to help her, and she knew exactly what to do for her.”
“What could she do?” Mora asked. “Did she save her? How long will it take?”
“I don’t know. She said it would take a while for her to heal.”
“What will you do now?” Mora asked. “Didn’t you wish to take over Duart Castle? Do you plan to do that still? I think you should change your plans now. We should be friends, should we not?”
Brian said, “We’d hoped to take it over before anyone arrived. But we surely cannot jump into a sea of archers. We need to make our decision soon while there are only two women and one man there. Do you not agree, Thane? Once their reinforcements arrive, we’ll not be able to attack at all. We must hurry.”
“Nay, we are not attacking the Grants and Ramsays, Brian. Do not be a fool. If we did, their reinforcements would take it back. We do not have the soldiers to battle two huge clans like that, even if they are mostly on the mainland.” He frowned, thinking on how this one development changed everything for him, and for his clan.
Mora said, “Good. Then we could become friends. They have lasses there. Are we going back to visit? Can I come along this time?”
Brian nodded. “Mayhap you are right, Thane. We could benefit from their existence and knowledge. Then how do we become allies with Clan Grantham?”
“And what about the man who hurt Tamsin?” Mora asked. “Will someone go after him? Or will you forget him and focus on Clan Grantham?”
Thane rubbed his hands together, because he knew everything had changed in a vein he hadn’t anticipated. He would not even attempt to take over Duart Castle, especially since King Robert viewed it as his to assign. If Thane wished to expand his own clan, he had to give serious thought to what his new choices were, and this would take time. He would not rush this decision. “I haven’t decided yet.”
He had much to think on.
Chapter Thirteen
Tamsin
Tamsin slowly healed. She’d been at Duart Castle for three days. Finally able to move a bit, she assisted Dyna and Eli in the kitchen with the food since she’d cooked much for Raghnall.
She was more than surprised when the door opened one day and someone yelled just before three bairns and a group of travelers came inside, causing Eli and Dyna to squeal and scream with happiness, something Tamsin hadn’t seen in a long time.
A very long time. It brought up memories of a sister she hadn’t seen in years, someone she wished to see again, but Raghnall had denied her.
Once she had the pottage all set to cook, she made her way out into the great hall and found a chair to sit in, covering herself with the fur she’d used before. She watched the group in their joyous reunion.
But she couldn’t take her eyes off the three wee ones.
Two lasses and a lad spent their time with Dyna Grant, their father behind them with an older lass. She watched the reunion, counting twelve new visitors plus the three bairns.
After a wee bit, one of the lasses wandered over to her, a small bow in her hand. “Who are you?” the white-haired lass asked.
Tamsin warmed up to her immediately because she reminded her of Alana. “My name is Tamsin. What is your name?”
“I’m Towa. I’m almost four winters. That is my sister Sylvi and my bwother Sandor and my auntie Astwa. And our papa. We came on a big ship. I’d never been on one before. Have you?”
“I have. Did you enjoy it?”
She nodded furiously. Her eyes wide. “It was fun.”
“Do you know all the others?”
“They are all my fwends,” she said with a fierce nod. “I’m happy to be back with Mama. Papa said we are to live here with Mama.”
“And who is your mama?”
Tora pointed to Dyna Grant.
“You look just like her.”
