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The remainder of the day was spent in feasting and dancing. When the afternoon came, they went outside into the castle's big grassy courtyard, where the men stripped their shirts off and hurled javelins and heavy round stone balls to see who could gain the greatest distance. Kegs of ale were set up, and shortly the men's aim was less than accurate. The piper began to play, following them back into the hall as the day waned. Fiona once again danced the bridal dance with her husband, after which the men began to dance, and Roderick Dhu was suddenly prancing boldly before Nelly, holding out his hand to her.
For a long moment Nelly hesitated, but finally she accepted his invitation, and they danced together. Everyone in the hall knew what it meant. In his invitation to the dance Roderick Dhu had made plain his intentions to court Nelly formally. Until she either accepted him or rejected him, no other man would seriously seek the girl's company. The look upon Nelly's face made clear there was no happier lass in the hall that night.
“Do ye approve?” Nairn asked Fiona.
Fiona nodded. “’Tis her choice. I offered to return her to Brae, but she insisted upon staying with me, and not alone for yon laddie. She is my servant, but she is also my friend, Colly. Nelly will have her own will in this matter.”
“As ye didn't,” he said softly.
“Oh, in the end I have gotten my own way, Colin MacDonald. I would not have wed ye in the church if I didn't want to. Now, let me go, for the bairn needs his nourishment before he is put to bed.”
“We must find a wet nurse for the laddie.”
“Not yet.”
“Soon,”he said through gritted teeth. “My son encroaches upon our time together. I find I am growing jealous.”
“In a few months we will choose a healthy lass to nurture our laddie. By then I will undoubtedly be with bairn again, my lord, if ye can but do yer duty by me.” With a mischievous wink she rushed off.
He watched her go to their son, her sudden change in attitude making him intensely curious. Turning to the priest, he said, “Since yer arrival she has turned about. What did ye say to her, Father?”
The priest looked up reluctantly, for his plate was filled with the sort of fine foods he would not see once he had reentered his abbey for the winter, contemplating how he should answer.
“From the beginning I have counseled marriage within the precincts of the holy church, my lord. Yer wife was angered at ye when we first met almost a year ago, for she was newly stolen. But in that time the bairn has come and suckled at her breast. She is content at last. She has made her peace with herself. Do not question yer good fortune. She is a fine woman and has brought calm to yer house.”
“I suppose ye are right, Father,” Nairn replied, thinking that the priestly counsel was good. Fiona's heart seemed to be turning toward him, as he had wanted all along. Yet, suddenly, in the midst of his happiness, a tiny worm of doubt began to writhe within him.
“In yer regular travels ye pass near Brae,” he said. “What news of the laird? Did he seek after Fiona?”
“Aye, he did,” Father Ninian replied, “but you covered your tracks well, my lord, and he found no trace of her.”
“So he simply gave up? I'd not have thought it of him.”
“The king gave him a wife,” the priest said, remembering what Fiona had told him—and wishing to turn Nairn's thoughts. “The laird's wife is with child.”
“Is she? Then may she have a son as fine as mine.”
Colin remained in the hall after it emptied, watching his wife go about her evening duties. The trestles had been cleared and put back against the walls. She went from candle to lamp, snuffing them out. She banked the fires in the fireplaces neatly, then called to him. Colin rose and accompanied his wife up the stairs to their bedchamber.
“I have sent Nelly to bed,” she said softly as he barred the door behind them. “We can help each other to undress, can we not?” She sat down and, holding out her foot, said, “Unboot me, my lord.”
He drew the boots off and followed with her knitted stockings. He sat down so that she might do the same for him.
“Stand up,” he said.
Fiona obeyed the command, facing him and unlacing his shirt as he unlaced her gown. Her hands smoothed across and up his chest, pushing the garment off his shoulders. He pulled the houppelande from her, letting it puddle about her ankles. Swiftly Fiona stripped her chemise off, then unbuckled the wide leather belt he wore. His kilt fell to the ground. His fingers were clumsy as they undid her fillet, then her caul, which he put aside upon a table.
“Tell me, Nairn,” she said in a low, seductive voice, “have ye ever made love to a woman slowly?” She drew the word out so that it sounded likeslooowly.
“Aye,” he told her, fascinated by this new woman she had suddenly become.
“Ye have not made love to me slowly,” she told him. “It has always been a battle between us. Ye were always quick.”
“I feared if I didn't take what I could of ye quickly” he said honestly, “I would not get anything of ye, Fiona mine.”
She slid her arms up about his neck, pressing her nakedness into his nakedness. “I told yer mam that we would all make a new beginning, Nairn.” She pulled his head down so that their lips were almost touching. “Wouldn't ye like to have a new beginning with me?” The tip of her tongue ran across his mouth as she reached around him and squeezed his buttock.
‘Jesu, yer brazen!” He groaned, feeling the heat of her thighs pushing against him. “I want ye, Fiona mine!”
