Page 12 of Draped in Plaid
“You’re doing the right thing to save them,” I said, hoping to impart courage. “No child should have to suffer at the hand of cruelty.”
Joan let out a shuddering breath. “I did not think it would be so hard as this.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “Take them to McAlister. To the millennium. Keep them safe.”
I nodded, tears gathering in my eyes, imagining what she must feel. I’d been separated from my son by no choice of my own before, and that pain was unimaginable. Worse than any injury. An agony that clawed cruelly and relentlessly at your heart. And right now, at this very moment, whichever of these two was Moira was being held captive, most likely in this castle.
“Be well, your highness,” I said, standing up. Both babies still slept soundly, snuggled against my breasts.
“Wait,” the queen said softly.
I glanced down at Joan as she tugged a necklace from around her neck. A golden circle to represent the crown with a lion etched on top of it to show the joined houses of Scotland and England. “Let me see them one last time.”
I brought them close and she stroked each of their pink foreheads, then placed the necklace on the chest of the baby in my right arm.
“She was born first. Give her this necklace to wear all the days of her life, so that I might know that even though she is not here with me, she will someday be the rightful Queen of Scotland.”
“I will. What are their names?” I bit my lip and prayed the queen didn’t give them different names than the ones I’d already grown so familiar with. I took the necklace and slipped it into a hidden pocket in my gown.
“Moira and Shona,” she whispered, looking away. “I do not want them to have royal names.”
“They are beautiful names for beautiful princesses.”
Joan looked at me sharply. “Do not call them that. They are henceforth commoner children. Albert McAlister will see to it they are raised as such.”
“I promise they will live a beautiful life.”
She glanced toward the window, away from me, her lips turned down, quivering. “Do not make promises you cannot keep.”
But I held strong. “I intend to keep it.”
“Go now.” Her voice was hard, void of emotion. “I made certain McAlister has enough coin to see them raised comfortably for a hundred years.”
I nodded. “You have my word, I will see it done.” I started for the door.
“Tell my ladies I do not want to be disturbed,” she called as I reached the threshold.
“I will, majesty. Rest well and have peace of mind that I will be certain to see them straight to McAlister.”
The queen said no more to me, and I didn’t wait to hear if she would.
Baby Moira opened her eyes to look at me. There was a deep soul within those dark blue orbs. She parted her little lips and let out a loud yawn, then snuggled closer and fell back asleep.
I stepped out into the hallway, my wide-eyed gaze mirroring Logan’s.
“What’s this?” he asked, though from his pale complexion, he must have had a guess.
“Moira and Shona,” I whispered. “We are to take them to McAlister. In the future.”
Logan opened his mouth but no sound came out. Much as I felt. There were no words to describe the magnitude of the task that had just been literally laid in our hands.
“But the poem says born at Ayreshire and swept back?” He shook his head, trying to wrap his mind around what he was seeing.
I shrugged. “But Ayreshire was a name of one of the lairds. A descendant of Robert the Bruce, the same as their father’s line. Probably just another trick of the words, part of the riddle.”
My husband held out his arms. “I will carry one. This is a responsibility we share. Now and always.”
As I slid Moira into his arms, I couldn’t help the swell of love that linked me to him. This man was always my hero. The best of what the world had to offer. My savior. My love. For it was a matter of truth that I would not be where I was without him. I would not be who I was without him. We were inextricably linked, him and I.
He saved me.
I saved him.
We were soul mates until the end.
