Page 80 of Highland Slayer
“Es?” It was Cruz dun Tarh, his youngest brother, who now served him at Hollee. “Es, are ye in there?”
Anaxandra’s head came up, her eyes wide as she looked at her husband. He put a finger to his lips, asking for her silence, as he answered.
“I’ll be out in a moment,” he said. “What do ye need?”
“The escort is prepared for the journey tae Castle Questing,” Cruz said, muffled through the door. “Do ye want tae inspect it?”
“I’ll come in a moment.”
They could hear Cruz’s footsteps fading away. With a grin, Estevan pulled Anaxandra off the table before pulling up his breeches and securing them.
“At least he did not walk in this time without knocking,” Anaxandra said, fixing the bodice of her garment. “He’s done that before.”
Estevan grunted as he picked up his tunic. “Never again,” he said firmly. “The last time he did it, I threatened tae send him back at the Hydra and tell my mother what he’d done. That convinced him tae be more cautious when the door is closed and he knows ye’re in the keep.”
Anaxandra burst into soft laughter. “Poor Cruz,” she said. “He’s only just gotten away from your mother. He does not want to go back.”
“Not anytime soon.”
Anaxandra continued to chuckle as she finished smoothing her clothing and pulling on a shoe that had fallen off when Estevan lifted her onto the table. Once she was finished re-dressing, she put her hand on her belly, which was barely rounded at this stage. She still didn’t look pregnant, not like she would look toward the end. Estevan finished dressing also andput his hand over hers, feeling the gentle hardness of the life they’d created together. He kissed her again.
“It will be a lad and his name will be James,” he declared. “Mark my words, love. I will have my son.”
Anaxandra didn’t argue with him, nor did she mention that he’d said the same thing for their first four children, all daughters who looked, to varying degrees, like Mabel—with the exception of Paloma, who was the image of her beauteous mother. Truthfully, Estevan didn’t mind so many girls. He rather liked girls, and he particularly liked his own. But he was starting to feel outnumbered.
“As you wish,” Anaxandra said. “Now, we’ve a journey to prepare for and we should probably get to it. We told Titan we would arrive next week, you know. Everyone is going to be there—Matty, Rodion, your brothers Aurelius and Darien, and many others, I’m sure. It will be a big gathering.”
“I know.”
“Are Matty and Leonore coming?”
“Nay, but that’s a story for another time.”
Anaxandra accepted that. “Then we really should depart.”
They were already heading for the door. Estevan had Anaxandra by the hand, using his free hand to open the solar door.
“I might mention that we are going tae visit Titan tae celebrate the birth of his new son,” he said. “The new heir tae the House of de Wolfe.”
Anaxandra nodded patiently. “You’ve told me that every day since we received the missive.”
“Did I mention that he has a son?”
Anaxandra rolled her eyes, her patience thinning. “Then why not ask him if we can trade one of our girls for his son?” she said. “Our girls are bright and beautiful. Surely he would consider it.”
He could see her annoyance and knew he’d pushed her to her limit, so he grinned and took her in his arms, pulling her against him and gently kissing her cheek. He was about to kiss her on the mouth when a noise from the stairwell caught their attention and they turned to see a gang of little girls emerging from the steps in the care of their nurse.
Sister Hildegarde made an excellent nurse.
“Sophia, Paloma,” the old woman said firmly, “I’ve told you not to come down those stairs so quickly. If you do it again, I shall hold your hand the entire way. Is that what you want?”
Sophia, the eldest at seven years, and Paloma, younger by eighteen months, faced Sister Hildegarde, or “Hildie,” solemnly.
“Nay, Hildie,” they said in tandem.
Sister Hildegarde was holding on to the youngest girls, Catalina and Isabella, one in each hand. “You are not babies any longer,” she said. “But you must listen to me, still.”
“Aye, Hildie.”
