“Aye, Keeley. You will have a respected and revered position in our clan. Though I brought you here to tend to Alaric and to deliver my child, ’tis the truth we have no healer and the members of my clan will have need of your services between now and the time Mairin delivers. I would hope that you see fit to help them. If you give your allegiance willingly, you will be treated as a McCabe, which means you never have to want for whatever we can provide.”
His speech was earnest and sincere. He didn’t look to be a man who offered deceit. Nay, he was a man of honor. She’d wager all she owned on it.
“I will do as you wish, Laird,” she murmured.
Mairin clapped her hands together in delight. “ ’Tis wonderful news! ’Twill be nice to have another woman in the keep. Perhaps you can teach me some of your skills, Keeley.”
“As if we don’t have enough women,” Ewan grumbled. “You already shamelessly run over the men of the keep.”
Mairin covered her mouth with her hand, but her eyes twinkled merrily in Keeley’s direction.
“After the meal, Maddie and I will show you the clothes we’ve gathered for you. Then I’ll show you around the keep and introduce you to the clan. Everyone is excited to learn we have a new healer,” Mairin said.
Keeley smiled at the other woman. “Thank you. I’d like that.”
After a light repast, Ewan pushed away from the table and leaned down to kiss Mairin’s cheek. “I must return to the men. Make sure you keep Gannon and Cormac with you while you give Keeley the tour.”
Mairin rolled her eyes as Ewan walked away.
“I saw that, Mairin,” Ewan growled.
Mairin grinned and waved her hand in dismissal. “Do you need to check in on Alaric before we begin?” she asked Keeley.
“He’ll be fine,” Keeley said quickly. “He was resting comfortably when I left his chamber, and Gannon was bringing him up something to eat. I’ll check in on him once we’ve finished touring the keep.”
Mairin nodded and then rose clumsily from her seat. “Come then. I’ll introduce you around to the women.”
Chapter 12
Throughout the tour of the keep and the cottages that dotted the hillside just outside the stone skirt, Mairin kept up a steady conversation. Keeley’s head spun through most of it, but she tried to hone in when people’s names were mentioned.
Mairin didn’t give Keeley’s surname, and many of the McCabes viewed her with suspicion, though some were warm and welcoming.
Christina, a young girl perhaps a year or two younger than Keeley, was vivacious with sparkling eyes and a ready smile. It was nice to feel an immediate kinship with the other woman.
Keeley smothered a smile at the obvious flirtation between Christina and Cormac. Neither could keep their eyes from the other but both fiercely pretended disinterest.
They circled to the back of the keep where a group of children were valiantly trying to scrape up the smattering of snow on the ground. The flakes had stopped falling for now, though a look at the sky told Keeley they would begin falling again at any moment.
One of the boys looked up and when he saw Mairin, he left the crowd of children and ran straight toward Mairin and Keeley.
“Mama!”
The child threw his arms around Mairin while Mairin hugged him close. Keeley watched with interest. Mairin looked far too young to have birthed a child of this age.
Mairin scrubbed the top of the boy’s head and then turned to Keeley, an indulgent smile on her face. “Crispen, I’d like you to meet Keeley. She’ll be staying with us for a while and lending us her healing skills.”
Keeley extended her hand in a solemn gesture. “ ’Tis wonderful to meet you, Crispen.”
He cocked his head and looked up at Keeley. Keeley was surprised to see anxiety flashing in the boy’s eyes.
“Are you here to attend my mama when her time comes?”
Keeley’s heart softened at the worry she heard for Mairin. What a sweet boy. She wanted to gather him in her arms and hug him tight. Mairin looked close to doing the same.
“Aye, Crispen. I’ve delivered many a babe. I’ll be attending your mother when ’tis her time to deliver.”
Relief washed through the child’s eyes and he grinned broadly. “ ’Tis good, that. Papa and I want her to have the best. She’s carrying my brother or sister!”
Keeley smiled. “Indeed she is. Do you have a preference as to boy or girl?”
Crispen wrinkled his nose and then glanced back at the group of children who were shouting for him to return. “I wouldn’t mind a sister as long as she wasn’t like Gretchen. But a brother would be nicer to play with.”
Mairin chuckled. “I think we’ve established that Gretchen is one of a kind, dearling. Run back and go play. I must finish showing Keeley around the keep.”
Crispen gave her another quick hug and then bounded back to the noisy pack in the distance.
Keeley shot Mairin an inquisitive look, not knowing where to start with the questions. Mairin shook her head. “Gretchen is a strong-minded young lady who will no doubt rule the world one day. She is the bane of Crispen and the other boys’ existence. When she’s not besting them in mock war play, she insists that she will one day become a warrior.”
Keeley grinned, easily searching out the girl named Gretchen in the group. She was sitting astride one of the boys, holding his arms to the ground while he shouted his protests.
“Crispen is Ewan’s son from his first marriage,” Mairin explained. “His wife passed when Crispen was but a babe.”