“Yet feel free to move or remove anything ye must to make these chambers yours.I have little need for much, and my chambers are rough at best.”
Ailith did not agree, at least in regard to the chambers.He had a hearth, whereas she only had a small brazier to warm her room.His chambers were wider, and the tall ceiling was buttressed with wide wooden beams.His four-poster bed sat against the long wall, above which hung a leather-covered shield detailed with the MacDougal sigil.
The plain-woven rush rug left much to be desired, but the set of stuffed chairs and solidly-hewn table were wonderful additions.And if he only had a basic wooden bowl and a dented copper pitcher for water, well, ‘twas as much as she had in her chambers at Glenbervie.
“I should fit in well here, I think,” she commented.
William pulled a dark brown tunic over his head and fastened his belt around his waist to hold it tight against his toned frame.Then he reached over and kissed her forehead.
“Aye, ye fit with me in all ways,” he told her, then flicked his gaze over her naked body and sighed.“As much as I’d like to have ye again,mo ruaidh, taunting me with your breasts and thighs as ye are, I must go.I’ll meet up with my father and uncle.We have much to discuss after last night.I’ll retrieve ye after and bring ye to your father’s.”
William yanked on his boots and took two steps to the door before rushing back.Cupping her generous breast with one hand, he kissed her hard again.
“Och.Our wedding canna come soon enough.Now get ye dressed, otherwise I’ll never leave these chambers.”
Wearing only her richly-hued crimson hair as a cape, she gave him a sultry side grin.With a long moan, William stepped to the door, turned one last, lingering look upon her, and left his chambers.
The door closed, and Ailith sighed and looked about the room.A polished silver platter leaning against the wall reflected her image quite well, an image she had still not quite grown accustomed to.
In her previous life, when she was Emilie, she had a short, strawberry-blonde bob haircut, hazel-green eyes, and a more slender frame.Having come through time and living in the body of her medieval grandmother had meant her mind remained hers, just placed in a different body.What a task to pretend to be the same person when, under the skin, she was someone else.
As Ailith, her outer appearance was so different, beautiful enough to rival any model on a magazine cover.Most striking was her hair, reaching down her back in deep red waves almost to the point of curls.Her hips and bosom were much fuller, gifting her body with curves.Her eyes, bright green, shone back at her in the mirror from a much paler face over rosebud lips.Kissing lips, her friend Ashland had once told her.
Ashland.Oh, how she missed her, but that friend from college was also one of the reasons that convinced her to make this voyage through time.Ashland, like Emilie’s father, had fallen ill to a deadly disease, one only the scientists and the Romani woman said could be cured by an extinct mushroom.This body and her marriage to William were not something she had even considered when agreeing to this deal of mushroom rescue.
Now that she was here, Ailith vowed to make the best of it.
Brushing her hair off her shoulder, she turned from her stark red, white, and green image and retrieved her léine.Time to dress and figure out what needed to be done.
First, she needed a kirtle.Her one from the day before lay in a pile on the floor, a stinking, dirty, bloody pile.She wrinkled her nose.
The battle the night before had been important not only to the Highland clans but in her efforts to save her plant.Several clans had aligned and, with the information Ailith gave William about the secret entry to Dunnottar Castle, the clans killed the king.
Unfortunately, it was not all without their own bloodshed.The chieftain of the MacIntoshes had been slain, as had the chieftain MacDougal’s tanist, his second in command, Brian MacDougal.A dear brother and uncle to William’s family.
Then, to add insult to injury, trying to use loyalties to the mad king and destroy the Highland clans, the Morays had found her and her younger brother standing guard by her mushrooms.And she had to fight for her life.
Och, but her martial arts training had been coming in so handy in 900 CE!Who would have thought?
However, all of that meant her kirtle was beyond repair.She should have burned it in the hearth the night before.
Did she have another kirtle she could wear?Probably not in William’s chambers.A plaid she might fashion into a kirtle, like the plaid arasaid cape – did Highlanders wear those yet?She shook her head.Nay she didn’t believe so ...
A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts.Anotherknock at the door.Her life seemed to be a series of knocks at the door as of late.
Before she could answer, the door opened, and Muire’s fine-boned face peeked through, her blue eyes, as blue as William’s, sparkled.
“Och, Ailith!I had heard ye were here.Sine and I brought ye some clothing.”
Ailith smiled at her and waved her in.
“I am so grateful.My kirtle from last night ...”She tipped her head toward the wrecked wool on the floor.
Another kirtle she’d have to throw away.At the rate she was going with her kirtles, she’d have no gowns left.Ugh, and the thought of weaving more made her skin crawl.Was there any task more boring than weaving?
“I saw ye.Sine and I did.”At the sound of her name, Sine pushed Muire through the doorway, her smiling face appearing behind her older sister.
“Aye.We brought ye a kirtle.‘Tis too short, most likely, yet ‘twill do until ye return home,” Sine said over her sister’s protests.
