Ghis (closed)

[KieranSoares]

"She 'asn't," Boar told her softly. "An' beside tha', she's got no one else but us, Emma. I know she's no' a child anymore, but she sure as Hell ain' a woman yet either. She doesn't know what t'do, an' she's lookin' t'me t'help 'er. I'm no' gonna give 'er all th'answers, but I'm no' gonna leave 'er all by 'er lonesome t'figure out somethin' tha' no one should 'ave t'face alone. She's pregnant with th'dying King's child, Em. Tha's bloody terrifying."

 

[heartofcourage]

Emma let out a long, defeated sigh as she thought about everything that had happened. She knew that if she went against Boar's wishes that he would never trust her again. Still, it was painful to think that her only daughter had made a mistake and would be paying for that mistake for a very long time.

"Alright." Emma said softly, looking back into her husband's eyes. "We'll all figure this out together."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Thank ya, lass... I need you on my side now more'n ever..." Boar hugged her tightly and kissed her cheek. "She's asleep at 'ome righ' now... So let's just 'ave breakfast an' deal with this when we get 'ome. She needs th'rest."

 

[heartofcourage]

Emma nodded and kissed her husband in return before they headed back into the great hall. Lucy was smiled widely at the both of them as they returned, her cheeks smeared with strawberry jam as her father struggled to wipe it off with a napkin.

"Elijah, your little girl is absolutely adorable." Kayla murmured, watching her nephew interact with his young daughter.

 

[KieranSoares]

"That she is," Eli chuckled softly. "An' a right handful."

"C'mere, love," Boar took the napkin and held Lucy still to wipe her face.

"I don' know how y'get 'er t'sit still, Da."

"Neither do I. Certainly couldn' do it with you an' Leon, but I could with Kay. Must jus' be girls."

"Because they're all so charmed by you, Boar," Christopher commented with a chuckle.

 

[heartofcourage]

"You were the biggest handful of them all, Eli." Julia teased her nephew as Leon agreed wholeheartedly. "You would set the goats loose in the keep garden and when they ate all of the vegetables, you'd blame your brother. That's why I thank the gods every day that my twins are not identical. At least when they get in trouble, I can tell them apart."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Well, we're no' so identical now," Eli smiled to his brother. Indeed, Eli had cut his hair short and kept only a goatee, while Leon looked a little more like Boar with slightly longer hair and a full beard, not to mention Leon's hair had lightened a fair bit to a chocolate brown.

 

[heartofcourage]

Lucy soon scooted off her father's lap, intent on going to play with the other children. She only got a few steps away before she turned back to Eli and placed her stuffed horse in his lap for safe keeping. She then gave him one last sunny smile before she ran off to play with her cousins.

The keep was full of laughter as the family enjoyed each other's company. The twins were passed from person to person until Julia excused herself to nurse them as the morning wore on. Kayla excused herself to rest as she grew tired and Christopher left with Annie and David to take a look at one of her newest colts. It seemed he had his eye on a Scottish warhorse to add to his collection. One by one, the family left the great hall with plans to join up again that evening until it was just Kate and her father sitting there in front of the hearth.

"Da...I have to tell you something." She said softly as she looked over at her father with a little hint of blush upon her cheeks. "I kissed Kell. I wanted you to hear it from me before someone else told you."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I figured y'had, th'way you two 'ave been lookin' at each other this mornin'." Brogan simply smiled and chuckled. "An' of course, how Ciaran was teasin' you." Ciaran had given her a couple good-natured rubbings that morning but hadn't told a soul her secret.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Da, my insides are all jumbled up when I'm around Kell." Kate confessed to him, letting out a deep sigh of a woman in love. "And Ciaran always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. His ribbing makes me feel guilty."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Ciaran's really jus' lookin' out for you. 'E's doin' what I'd usually do- keep Kell in check. I'll bet you 'e's already 'ad a talk with Kell." He leaned over to kiss her cheek. "I'll bet 'e's got Kell scared, in fact."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I suppose I should thank my lucky stars that Sam and Rho aren't old enough to intimidate him." Kate said with a small laugh as the twins suddenly ran into the great hall on cue with Kristoff and Lucy on their heels.

Lucy stopped at Brogan's side, opening her mouth wide and showing him her tongue. It was a trick that Vincenzo had taught her when she was a wee baby to make it easier to check her throat to try and solve the mystery of her missing voice. It was obvious that Vincenzo had seen her that morning and the family always obliged her in her silly quest.

"Come on, Lucy! The birds will be gone by the time we get there!" Rho called and the little girl scurried from Brogan's side.

"Boys, make sure she's back home before lunch. Eli doesn't like her being gone very long." Kate called after her brothers.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Look a' you, bein' all responsible," Brogan teased his daughter. "Why don' you go talk t'Kell? I'm sure 'e's probably worried about what y'think of 'im now tha' you two 'ave 'ad time t'consider everythin'." That was true enough. Kell was worried that she might've changed her mind about liking their kiss.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I had to grow up sometime, Da." Kate said as she stood and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "And I'll go talk to Kell. The way you're encouraging me, I'm starting to think that you might like him more than me."

She grinned at her father before she left him and went to find Kell. She entered the tower that led to his room, knocking at the wooden door as she waited for an answer.

"Kell? It's Kate." She called out.

 

[KieranSoares]

She heard nothing inside for several seconds until the door opened. It had once squeaked, but it seemed Kell had amended that. He met her with a soft smile and spoke almost teasingly, "Good day, your ladyship. To what do I owe the honor?" He chuckled and then motioned her into his room where she could see he'd been reading quite a lot by the stacks of books beside and on his desk.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Well, you disappeared so soon after breakfast that I thought I had done something wrong." Kate teased him back, walking into his room and looking at the stacks of books that covered nearly every surface of the room. "Or should I just let you get back to your books?"

 

[KieranSoares]

"I've had plenty of reading for a while," Kell smiled as he faced her. An unsure silence fell over them and he crossed his arms to try to appear more confident. He then murmured, "Has Ciaran been teasing you as much as he's been teasing me? He apparently wants to scare me out of any bad ideas about you too."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Of course he has. My entire family knows by now." Kate said as she walked over towards Kell's bed and sat down on the mattress with a deep sigh. "I don't want them to frighten you off, Kell. And I definitely don't want to feel like we've done anything wrong."

 

[KieranSoares]

"He hasn't told anyone at all, thankfully." Kell then chuckled at her, "I've stared horror in the eye, Kate. A kind family of strong Scots isn't going to frighten me away, even if their King promised to skin me alive himself if I broke your heart. Which Brogan has, and I completely believe him." He reached out to take her hand, his grip gentle and warm as ever. "Don't worry. They won't scare me off. The only one who could do that is probably you."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I never want to scare you off." Kate said softly as he took her hands in his own and she tilted her head up towards his for a kiss.

She would never have thought that she could become addicted to his kisses in such a brief space of time. It was all that she could think about and she wondered if there were something seriously wrong with her.

 

[KieranSoares]

Kell was glad to oblige her as he'd wanted nothing more than to kiss her again. His touch was gentle and loving as could be, and welcomed her to take all she wanted. She felt him relax at her kiss as well; a lovely side-effect that he thoroughly enjoyed.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate smiled as he kissed her, his touch incredibly gentle and loving. She could feel him relax and she knew that he was happy with his new position in life now. She was glad that she had a part in his settling in there in Inverness. As the kiss ended, she smiled at him, a hint of blush coloring her cheeks.

"Let's go to the loch today. We can take Sam and Rho. They love to fish down there." Kate suggested, wanting to get out of the keep.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Sounds good to me." Kell rose and retrieved his blade belt from where it hung on the wall. It wasn't so much the weapons that he wanted, it was more a habit and a knife was good for more than just fighting, not to mention everyone carried a weapon anyway. He especially carried his claymore on his back out of pride for his position as a Scottish knight.

He took Kate's hand again with a grin. "It's nice to go out in sunlight again."

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate gave Kell a loving smile and squeezed his hand tightly. "It's nice to see you out in the sunlight." She murmured as she leaned in and pressed a kiss against his furred cheek.

The morning at the loch had turned into a family affair, with Ciaran and Annie joining them as well. Annie sat on the banks, her belly already gently swelling as Kate and Ciaran helped the twins with their fishing poles. Annie glanced at Kell every so often, noticing the way the wolf watched her sister so intently.

"I've never seen my sister so happy." Annie murmured as she watched them cast out their lines. "And I suppose that you've learned by now that things aren't so easy here in Inverness when you want to court a Ghis. My cousin Elise is going through the same thing with her Da right now. She is courting a young soldier from Norway, but her brothers are not making things easy on her."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I knew it'd be much harder than sneaking in, if that means anything," Kell smiled to Annie, and she saw the honest gaze of a man in love. Human or werefolk, that look was the same. Annie knew Kell was older than Kate, but not by too much more than four or five years. If not for Brogan's trust of the two, he might've forbidden their relationship on grounds of age alone.