Page 131 of Bound By Honor
Áine smiled at her handmaiden. “From here, Conall looks to be unharmed.”
Nessa’s face lit with happiness. “Lord Angus, too, Mistress.”
“Go to your captain,” said Áine. “His eyes are searching for you.”
Nessa acknowledged Áine’s words with a smile and hurried toward the beach.
Áine watched as Angus paused in his stride up the beach to speak to some of the families. After that, he proceeded on toward the castle. Nearing where Áine waited, the smallest of their children, their two daughters, let go of their nurses’ hands and bounded into his arms. Angus dropped his satchel and hugged them. Then, looking up, he caught sight of Áine, drawing closer.
She drank in the sight of him, full of life, full of health. His blue eyes shone brilliant against his sun-browned skin. His hair and short beard were streaked with lighter strands. She could see no visible scars.
He said not a word, but gave their daughters back to the care of their nurses and strode to where Áine stood, taking her in his arms. In front of his people and his sons, he kissed her. “A year is too long to be away from you, my love. Come, let us have some time to ourselves.”
Áine took his hand. He picked up his satchel and led her toward the castle. Questions flitted through her mind but, seeing how tired he was, she did not speak them.
On the way to the castle, Brian and Alexander came to walk alongside them with their cousins. Their looks of admiration told her the Lord of the Isles was a great man in their eyes.
“Will you tell us the stories of your battles?” asked Brian as Alexander looked on expectantly.
“Aye,” said Angus, stooping to hug Alexander and then, rising, tousling Brian’s red hair and smiling at his nephews. “I will tell you all the stories but, first, I need time with Lady Áine.”
The children made way for them and he and Áine walked on. “What were you saying to the people?” Áine asked him.
“I gave my men the choice to stay with the king or return with me. The unmarried ones decided to stay. I assured their families they are well. Sadly, a few men were killed in battle. I spoke to those who had families. Never a pleasant task.”
“Only a few?”
“Aye. We have done well, considering we were always outnumbered by many hundreds if not thousands.”
He met her worried gaze. “The king’s army grows with his reputation for courage in battle. Soon, Rob’s men will number in the thousands, too.”
They arrived at their chamber to find a thoughtful servant left them a tray of food and a flagon of wine. “Are you hungry?” she asked.
“Aye. But not for food.”
A hot bath awaited him and he began to shed his surcoat. She helped him with his mail and tunic. “I will be quick about this,” he said with a grin.
He sank into the steaming water and she reached for a cloth and soap to scrub his back and shoulders.
He lifted her hand from the edge of the tub and kissed her palm. “I have sorely missed you, Wife.”
“And I you. I must ask, are King Robert’s closest knights still with him?”
“Aye.”
“The young James Douglas as well?”
“Aye, Jamie, too. He is a fierce fighter. The English fear him.” He told her what had happened at Douglas Castle when James Douglas took the garrison and burned his own keep.
Áine thought of their home at Dunaverty and the other castles her husband controlled. “It must have been a hard task to burn his family’s castle.”
“Many castles will be sacrificed to keep them out of English hands,” said Angus. “Douglas was determined to do it. In time, under King Robert, they can be rebuilt.”
Minutes later, he rose from the water and she handed him a drying cloth. As he dried his body, she noticed his muscles, filled out with his days of fighting. There were a few new scars, thin lines across his shoulders. Otherwise, his body was the same as she remembered. “I am glad to see you have returned to me whole.”
“A few scratches early on but they have healed.” He turned her around and reached for her laces. In joyful anticipation of what was to come, her body was already responding.
He kissed the back of her neck, sending chills through her. Lifting her gown over her head, he turned her to face him, his gaze roving over her form covered only by her linen chemise. He led her not to the bed but to the furs in front of the fireplace where a small fire burned. “I am used to sleeping on the ground but not upon furs beside the fire. To be with you here like this has been a dream I conjured at will most nights.”
