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Chapter 10
“Bedivere, I dinna understand why we canna at least tell Lady Ernestine about our betrothal.” Morag walked hand in hand with Bedivere the next day as they strolled through the orchard. Since there were so many knights that had already arrived for the competition, Lady Ernestine had started to take audiences with them. She also spent time in the practice yard watching them spar and joust.
“Nay, she’s too busy and we wouldn’t want to distract her.” Bedivere scanned the courtyard. Everyone seemed to be looking at him. Mayhap it was his imagination, but still it was too risky. Someone might approach him like the man who called out to him, knowing he and his family had been imprisoned. Nothing was a secret for long, and that only made him anxious to finish off his mission in exchange for the release of his mother. But now, that wasn’t even an option because he refused to eliminate Morag’s father or uncles.
“Here she comes now,” said Morag, waving to Lady Ernestine. The woman made her way over to them, stopping twice to greet some of the competitors along the way.
“Morag, I have a favor to ask of you,” said Lady Ernestine.
“Of course,” she said cheerfully, too cheerful for Bedivere’s liking. In his opinion, when anyone asked for a favor it was always bad news.
“I have personally invited fifty of my late husband’s most eligible barons and knights to compete for his holdings. However, I am finding it hard to choose. I was hoping that you could sit in with me for the next few days while I listen to what the competitors have to say.”
“Ye want me to do that?” asked Morag, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “I can help ye make the decision which men should be presented to the king to inherit the earl’s holdin’s?”
“Aye. I trust your judgment, even though I know that you are going to tend to favor your father and uncles, and possibly Sir Bedivere, too.” She smiled slyly.
“Well, I might tend to favor Sir Bedivere since we are now betrothed.”
“Morag!” Bedivere felt like hiding under a rock. Why did Morag have to tell her this when they’d just discussed that they would keep it to themselves?
“You are betrothed?” asked the lady of the castle in surprise. “My, that was fast! Congratulations to the both of you.”
“Bedivere, I ken I was supposed to keep it a secret, but I had to tell Lady Ernestine,” Morag apologized. “I am so excited to be gettin’ married and had to share it with her since she has been like a mathair to me while I lived here.” Morag held on to his arms and looked up to him with those big, brown, innocent eyes. He found it hard to be angry. The girl was excited and meant no harm. He should have known that Morag could not keep a secret.
“Secret?” asked Lady Ernestine. “Why on earth would you want to do that? I will have the wedding banns posted right away to announce it.” She took Morag’s hands in hers. “We don’t have to wait the required three weeks. As a matter of fact, I think you should marry Sir Bedivere right here at Rothbury before I give away my husband’s holdings. After all, this has been your home for years now, too. Not to mention, we already have the crowd to help you celebrate,” she added with a chuckle.
“Aye, I’d like that,” said Morag, looking over to Bedivere. “Can we do that, Bedivere? Please?”
“Morag,” he said in a low voice, noticing the crowd gathering around them and eavesdropping. “Remember, the whole reason we weren’t telling anyone was because of your father.”
“Och, that’s right,” said Morag, hitting her head with a thump. “I was so excited that I forgot, I need to talk to Da first.”
“Then, mayhap, we’d better keep it hushed until you discuss it with your father,” said Lady Ernestine with an understanding nod. “After all, we all know how adamant he is that his daughters marry Scotsmen. Good thing Fia married a Scot.”
“Aye, good for her,” mumbled Bedivere, dreading the meeting with Reed Douglas that would be unavoidable.
“Come, my dear, everyone is waiting for us.” Lady Ernestine’s voice held excitement as well as a hint of sadness.
Morag looked back at Bedivere and he could see the confusion in her eyes.
“Go,” he told her.
“But what about our walk? We were goin’ to sit on the grass in the orchard to eat.”
“We can do that later.”
“But what about ye?” asked Morag. “What will ye do?”
“Oh, I’ll find something to do, don’t worry.” He leaned over and kissed Morag on the head and turned to go to his solar to think. If he was going to marry Morag, save his mother, and avoid having to kill the bastard triplets, he was going to need nothing short of a miracle. Unfortunately, he didn’t believe God smiled on men like him, so a miracle was out of the question right now. He’d have to find another option.
* * *
Morag spenttwo days with Lady Ernestine, listening to men brag as they talked about themselves. Each tried to convince the lady of the castle that he should be the one to inherit the late earl’s fiefdom. After spending the mornings listening to braggarts, Morag went to the practice yard and sat with Lady Ernestine each afternoon as they watched pompous men sparring to show off their skill with weapons.
Morag yawned, being bored by the entire process.
“What do you think, my dear?” asked Lady Ernestine, leaning over in the lists to speak to her.
