The Chieftain Needs an Heir - a Highland ménage novella (Clan MacKrannan's Secret Traditions) Read Online Free PDF Page B

more to keep Mirren quiet while her husband was washed so intimately by two women not of the servant class.  It was unlike her to care, but there was something ritualistic about their ablutions that made Mirren protective of her property, and she hovered close when they attended to his nether regions.
    Her tongue got the better of her during Ruaridh's drying, although the honeymead made her words softer spoken.
    " See, the water is cold now.  Ye need not think I am getting into that."
    Cecily doubled the volume of the bees' song while Hilde dealt with the intrusion.
    "Nay, milady.  The Grandam Wisewoman has cleansed ye herself all the days needed.  If ye could remain silent, and put on the robe given ye, we are near ready to go now."
    But Mirren would not be hushed, for her robe was far too like the ones the Wisewomen were wearing, but for the color, and should she not have something much fancier?  And she had a headache and a toothache and an earache all at once and what could they do to relieve her afflictions?
    T he Wisewomen feared every incantation was ruined with her interruptions during the dressing of the chieftain's brother.
    Ruaridh MacKrannan would know who to blame if he messed up his part in the Tradition, and they took the Bard aside to say exactly that after delivering the couple to the Vault.

    H ilde and Cecily's last stop on their cleansing round was a big cottage seldom occupied, although the reek from the chimney now declared its owner in residence.  This time the Wisewomen carried a large bundle of drying cloths, for an especially pervasive kind of cleansing was needed for a man who dwelled amongst the sullying auras of the royal court.  Hilde deliberately lagged behind so that it was Cecily who knocked on the door, sure that her heart's thudding was as loud as her knuckles.
    Cecily was surprised she had to knock at all.  A man didn't get to be Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard by letting anyone sneak up on him, and especially no' when the sun was nearing its set.  She shuffled from foot to foot, waiting on the door to open.  He couldn't be out.  The Bard had told him to expect the Wisewomen.
    She was about to knock again when Hilde's hand came by her ear to hit the door in a patterned series of loud and soft taps.
    " For pity's sake, Cecily… if ye want to impress Hector, get yer entry codes right," she whispered, giving her a playful nudge just as the door opened and the man himself came out.
    The two girls had just begun their curtsies when he raised his hand and said, "None o' that, lassies.  Let us get this done."
    He gathered every bit of their supplies into his own arms and strode so far ahead on the path that Hilde called for him to slow down.  He stilled without turning round until they'd nearly caught him up, then began striding out again.
    "Hector, wait, if ye please!" Hilde called again.
    This time he turned to face them.  "What is it?"
    The girls glanced at each other and then back at him , more than a bit wary of his tetchiness.
    "Ye canna start without us, " said Hilde.  "It is more than washing."
    With a n impatient sigh, he motioned for them to walk ahead of him.  And he kept his gaze on the far distance as both passed.
    At the waterfall the girls busied themselves gathering wood, refusing his help even with the lighting of the th ree small fires around the pool.
    Hector sat on a rock watching them light candles and scatter acorns and leaves and god- knows-what in the pool.  His suspicions were aroused.  Keeping his senses alert was ingrained, and all knew that, so when the Bard had been far too eager for him to drink Oona's honeymead he'd left it untouched and took the springwater only.  Her bees had as much to do with the water as the mead, and his misgivings had mounted even then.
    The Bard would say only that the Wisewomen must give him a cleansing – and aye, he would need to strip, or did he usually bathe with his clothes on?  And it had to be Cecily and Hilde.