Page 56 of The Guardian's Bride
“Just wanting to see my lad.”
“Before we arrive, let me thank you again. You have been so good to me.”
“Always,” he said.
“I think wehave been sighted,” Rowena said a little while later. Shading her eyes, she watched a few men gather along a strip of beach, waving. “Who are they?” “Fishermen from the village above Castle Black,” Aedan said. “Friends all. The big man, blonde in the red plaid, I have known since I was a babe.” He waved and shouted. “ErikBeag!Bring a boat out for us!”
“MacDuff, is it you!” Erik shouted. He and another man pushed a rowing boat off the rocky beach into the water. They jumped in to row to the longship.
Brian took Aedan’s hand. “We will meet you at Dunfermline, then.”
“I am grateful to you. Take care—and keep an eye out.”
“I will. Lady Rowena.” Smiling, Brian inclined his head. When she took his hand to wish him farewell and thank him, he blushed to the roots of his red hair.
The smaller boat came alongside and soon Aedan lifted Rowena in his arms to help her step into the boat, which dipped slightly. Erik, golden-haired and brawny, guided her over a wad of nets to sit on a crossbench in the narrow stern. Aedan stepped down too as Erik slapped him on the shoulder.
“Aedan MacDuff!Fàilte!Welcome, man!” They murmured in Gaelic, and then Erik gave Rowena a broad smile.“Fàilte gu Fìobha!Welcome to Fife, lady!” His English was lightly accented. “I am Erik Ogilvie and this is my brother Andrew. Sit there and soon you will set your bonny foot in Fife.”
She smiled, and Aedan settled on a center crossbench to pick up an oar and dip it in cadence with Erik and Andrew as they sped to shore.
The craft was a currach used for fishing, she knew, common enough on lochs and rivers, and though she had ridden in them on occasion, she had not seen one used on the sea. The long, sleek body of thick oiled hide was tightly shaped to an inner skeleton of curved and fitted branches for a swift, lightweight vessel that could hold half a dozen men as well as nets and fishing gear. It was a good boat, quick and well-balanced.
She sat with hands gripping the sides, but soon realized she felt remarkably safe. The water was calm, the boat light and fast, the men capable, and the shore near. A few men and womenstood on the beach, children and dogs running about; inland beyond rocky hillocks lay a cluster of huts and cottages.
Rowena looked left and westward, where the narrow, rocky shoreline wandered into the distance. Far off, she glimpsed the top of a castle’s crenellated tower and parapet. That must be MacDuff’s castle, she thought.
Aedan pointed that way as he chatted in rapid Gaelic with Erik and Andrew. His broad back was to her, but she sensed that he was relaxed, his earlier tension gone as if he had shed a heavy cloak. Aedan MacDuff was home at last—and his relief lifted her own spirits. She smiled as the little boat skimmed along.
What might come next, she could not say. But for now, all was well.
Erik pointed toward the castle and spoke to Aedan. Though she did not understand his rapid Gaelic, Rowena recognized “Caisteal Dubh”and “bàta.”Boat.
Aedan glanced at her. “We can continue on the water, or we can walk if you like.”
The currach had been a gentle ride so far. Besides, the boat was fast and she knew Aedan was anxious to be home. “Over the water is fine.”
Lifting his brows in surprise, Aedan murmured to the others and they bent to the oars as the craft followed the curving shoreline. At times the curragh slapped crosswise over small waves, but Rowena held on and smiled, reminded of Aedan’s habit of hiding his reaction that way. Just now his smile was wide and genuine, his laughter as delighted as she had ever heard from him.
Soon the castle loomed above the shore, a massive structure of red sandstone on a green hill. The incline swept down to a sandy crescent scattered with stones and seaweed, the rocky hillside and beach forming a small cove. Above it all, the castlewas blocky and forbidding, with round towers at the corners and thick walls pierced by narrow windows.
As the boat pulled into the shallows, Erik leaped out to drag its bow onshore, and Aedan helped Rowena step onto the beach. He turned to speak with his friends, and she walked up the beach a bit, gazing at the rugged beauty of cove and castle. Clusters of pebbles and round stones stretched over the damp sands like a sprawling mosaic so that she stepped carefully. Then she turned to see the men walking nearby.
“Àite brèagha,”she managed to say in simple Gaelic. A beautiful place.
Erik grinned. “It is! You and MacDuff will be very happy here.”
She lifted a brow. Did he think she was MacDuff’s bride? She almost smiled.
Aedan murmured to him in Gaelic, and Erik replied with a laugh, patting MacDuff on the shoulder. Moments later, Erik and his brother waved and rowed away.
She waited on the beach for Aedan to return. “Your friends are lovely men,” she said. “Erik said we would be happy here and spoke in Gaelic. What was that?”
“He said it was nice to meet you and hope you have a nice visit.”
She huffed. “He said more than that.”
He chuckled. “Truly, he thought I brought home a bride, seeing your veil and all. I said you were a widow and a friend. So he said I was abaobach, a dimwit, if I did not marry such a fine widow when I need a wife.” He tipped his head.
