“Aye, whatever you say, my lady,” Stiles said and kissed his wife’s brow. “I’ll be waiting right outside.”
Lendra and Elysia saw to Walda while Edana and Willa saw to cleaning and dressing their grandson before wrapping him once again in the blanket. Then both eagerly took turns holding him. When the bedding was changed and Walda was washed and in a fresh shift, her son was returned to her arms.
“Your mum and Willa should be able to advise you from here on, but if you need me for anything, just send for me,” Elysia advised.
“Again, my lady, I don’t know how to thank you,” Walda said. “The sheer joy I feel holding my newborn son would not have been possible without you. You are a true blessing to our clan.”
“Thank you, Walda. Now rest and enjoy your son,” Elysia said and turned to see that Lendra had everything ready to go. “You did well. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Bliss would be proud of you,” Lendra said.
Her words touched Elysia’s heart. It was Bliss who saved the little lad today, for Elysia would not have known what to do if Bliss hadn’t taught her.
“Lady Elysia.”
Elysia turned to Willa standing close behind her.
“I am a stubborn woman who does not always mind her tongue. I deeply regret the way I spoke to you. What you did today to save my great-grandson was remarkable. Walda is right. We are blessed to have you and maybe, just maybe, you are strong enough to break this evil curse that claimed Stiles’ mum—my precious daughter and only child—and his da and has kept our clan prisoner for so long.” A smile returned to Willa’s aged face. “Now I must go get my grandson, he no doubt paces outside the door eager to join his wife and son.”
“I have a sister inflicted with the same tongue problem,” Elysia said with a grin.
Willa’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “Dare I hope you found a cure for it?”
“Unfortunately no, but I can say that I love my sister Annis just the way she is.”
Willa smiled. “You have a good soul, my lady, and I apologize now for any future words that may spew from my untamed tongue.”
Elysia chuckled as Willa hurried to the door, tickled at getting a glimpse of what Annis may be like when she aged.
Stiles rushed in as soon as his grandmother opened the door and was at his wife’s side in a few rapid strides.
Elysia slipped out, giving the couple time with their son.
“I will be at the keep, my lady,” Lendra said as soon as they stepped outside and saw Lord Odran there waiting for his wife.
Odran welcomed Elysia with outstretched arms and she eagerly drifted into them and rested her head on his chest.
He tightened his arms around her and kissed the top of her head, though he would have preferred her lips, but she appeared exhausted and in more need of his chest to rest against than his lips.
“You did well, wife. Tongues begin to wag already. Every woman will want you to birth their bairn.”
A sudden yawn caught her response that would have given all praise to Bliss, not her.
“I am sorry, Elysia,” Odran said.
She raised her head. “Whatever for?”
“For not giving you any bairns when you would make such a loving mother,” he said, his voice filled with regret.
Elysia didn’t know what to say. She thought to tell him he had no reason for regret for she carried his bairn, but now was not the time. When would it be a good time? A question she often asked herself. She would wait, but she had to tell him before she could hide it from him no more, especially with how often he saw her naked.
One thing, though, that was proven to her today was that she would trust no one but Bliss to deliver her bairn safely.
Chapter 21
“You worry, son,” Fergus said, joining Odran on the top steps of the keep.
Odran eyed the village busy with activity. “Three weeks since I’ve arrived home with my wife and no word, nothing, from the clans that took up with the Clan MacFarden against us.”
“They lost, so they hide and lick their wounds,” his da advised.
“They may hide but they don’t lick their wounds—they plot. They are not through with us yet. They intend to see the Clan MacBridan gone and they won’t stop until they see it done. What I can’t understand is who is truly behind it all. We have maintained good relationships with the clans that suddenly rose up against us. Why? What changed?”
“The curse,” his da reminded.
“Why now? Why not five years ago, ten years ago?” Odran asked it more of himself than his da. Why all of a sudden had the clans revolted against them?
“Who can say what the cause? It has happened and must be dealt with,” his da argued.