Ghis (closed)

[heartofcourage]

Beth had a happy and content smile on her face as Maxwell quietly nestled against her. She curled up at his side, holding her husband close in the quiet aftermath of their love making. It was always a delightful moment, some of her favorite memories were in bed with her husband, simply enjoying one another without the world intruding.

 

[KieranSoares]

That next morning, Max had a chance to spend some time with his younger nephews and Kate, inviting them to ride along with him around Chester to check with guard posts for their nightly reports. Ciaran was welcome to go, but he politely declined for the sake of his little sisters.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate rode alongside her uncle, Kell keeping her company as they looked out at the changes that he had made to Chester since the death of her grandfather. She was impressed at what he had managed to accomplish in such a short amount of time with such a small amount of money.

"Grandpa never wanted to expand any of this?" Kate asked as she glanced at Maxwell. "Did he not care about his own people?"

 

[KieranSoares]

"Not any more than he had to," Max sighed. "I don't know that I'm terribly personable either... but I know that I'm nothing without my people. Father was paranoid and greedy. He hardly ever walked outside, and he spent all the treasury money on luxuries we didn't need. He spent so little on the people that we couldn't break even anymore by the time your mother married your father. He stepped down years later to run around with a mistress and spent money on jewels for her, leaving me with the debt. Since then, Beth and I have spent every spare coin on rebuilding run-down homes and bringing business to Chester in the form of demand for craftsmen. But our first responsibility is making sure the people never starve like they used to. They're a little on the thin side, but they're healthy and they all get three meals a day as long as they're working or trying to find work."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Why did he never like Ma?" Kate asked out of the blue, glancing towards her uncle. "She never said one thing bad about him the entire time that we were growing up, but we all know how she ended up with Da in Inverness. How can a man bring a child into this world and then abandon them when they needed them most?"

 

[KieranSoares]

"He was focused on me most of the time, but other than that... he considered her to be very much what your grandfather considered your aunts; bargaining chips. He was of the mind that she'd never serve him as anything but a tool to forge alliances, or as it turned out, get himself out of trouble. And once Julia turned nineteen, he was sure no one would want to marry her and she resigned herself to being a spinster til I took over, but she might not have gotten through the change of power." Maxwell sighed, "I wasn't very good to my sister or my mother..."

Gathering his thoughts, he continued into bits Kate had never known from her parents as they didn't like to talk about those early days, and Brogan especially didn't like to talk about the man he was after Cassandra was killed. "Brogan and the other clan kings hated Chester because Father mistreated the people and the land alike. He argued with Father from the moment he took Tamblin's throne, but it came to blows about a month after Lady Cassandra was murdered and your older sister was sent away to Ireland. That was back when Brogan still owned land on the English-Scottish border near here, but he gave that to King Brian after his fight with us was over. Brogan fought with us and other northern English clans all the time to keep anyone from taking land in Scotland and in order to right the wrongs in Chester, until Father offered him a treaty and sweetened the deal with Julia's hand in marriage. Brogan was furious at the suggestion and it would've been the end of Chester if Lady Katherine hadn't asked Brogan to save Julia from this place and take her home. Brogan could've just stolen her away and given her a new life, no string attached, but for some reason... he decided to accept the treaty and marry her. I still don't understand why, when he clearly didn't want to think of having a wife or children." That was a detail Kate had never heard, that Brogan never had to marry Julia and he likely wouldn't have in his state then. But he had.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate was very quiet as her uncle told her the story of how Julia had ended up with her father. She had no idea how hard her life in Chester had been. Julia always seemed sad when she thought about home, but she never once said a bad thing about the place that she had left behind. She remembered all the letters to her grandmother and how Julia would seem content when she received one back. They were a comfort to her and when she had died, her Ma had spent days reading back through those letters, struggling to come to terms with the loss.

"Our Ma is an angel." Kate said softly to her uncle. "Grandpa died a miserable man for never wanting to know her."

 

[KieranSoares]

"That he did... Which is one of the many reasons I welcomed her back for this visit. I don't want to be my father and I want to be a part of something happy for once in my life. The only joy I've gotten out of living has been with Beth. I could survive with just her, but we both just want to keep family close now. So I'm trying to fix my stupid mistakes and do my best to at least apologize for, if not make up for lost time."

 

[heartofcourage]

"As long as you're good an honorable, you'll never have a problem with any of us." Kate said as she glanced towards her brothers who were riding ahead of them. "Especially Sam and Rho. They love abundantly but you have to earn it."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I can definitely see that with Sam. He seemed fairly wary of me when I first walked in." Max smiled ever so slightly. "He reminds me of myself when I was his age. And of your father while he was here to marry your mother. So serious."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Sam is haunted. He watched his twin almost die from the loss of his arm. Ma hopes with time and sweetness he'll get better." Kate confessed to her uncle.

 

[KieranSoares]

"After something like that, he may never be even close to the boy he was," Maxwell told her honestly. "Seeing someone you love mangled and ripped up like that does terrible things to one's mind. The guilt is inescapable, even if there was nothing he could do."

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate glanced towards her uncle as he said that, nodding as he talked about Sam carrying that guilt with him for the rest of his life.

"You know that Ma forgives you, right? You don't have to carry that guilt with you for the rest of your life." Kate said in a soft voice. "We would love to have you in Scotland, included in our family gatherings. Ma would be over the moon."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I might do that one day soon," Max murmured with a nod. "I've never seen Inverness... And I ought to meet Lady Katherine and thank her. She's the one who really saved Julia."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Gran might just adopt you." Kate said with a soft laugh. "She tends to do that for everyone. She likes to take wounded souls and make them whole again."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Ah, well, my wounded soul belongs to someone else, dear," Max told her with a slight smile. "But I think I'll enjoy meeting her very much, not to mention the rest of your relatives. I've always been interested to meet them even if I wouldn't say it out loud before."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Aunt Beth seems like a lovely woman. I'm glad that she has helped make you smile." Kate said as they rode to catch up with Kell and the twins.

 

[KieranSoares]

At each stopping place, Max listened to brief report summaries, all devoid of anything troubling, and then he took his niece and nephews into the main market. The people were a little worse for wear, but lively and healthy and hardworking.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Princess!" A cry came from a nearby stall and soon an older woman was stepping out with a lovely red rose in her hand. "For you, lovely. Your grandmother's favorite."

Kate took the rose and thanked the woman with a smile, glancing towards Kell and her uncle as she carefully tucked it behind her ear. "Don't say anything about a woman who wears trousers and a red rose in her hair."

 

[KieranSoares]

Max could only chuckle while Kell decided that was worth some teasing. "Why, will I get in trouble, Princess?" He never called her that unless he was making fun.

 

[heartofcourage]

"You should hold your tongue, Kell. We all know how tied in knots you get when you see me in a dress." Kate teased back, giving a smile to her wolf as Sam and Rho both stifled laughter along with Max.

 

[KieranSoares]

Kell rode up next to her to kiss her cheek and secretly whisper in her ear, "I get all tied up no matter what you wear, Kate."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Bad wolf." Kate murmured back, kissing his cheek in return.

Young love was in the air as Kate and Kell rode through the town side by side. It was apparent from the way that they interacted that they were meant for one another. The future queen of Scotland would soon have a husband if everything worked out between the both of them.

On the other side of town, Beth sat in front of two tribal healers, her stomach in a jumble as she waited for their verdict on what they believed was wrong. She nervously twisted her wedding band on her finger, looking between the two wolves that were discussing something between themselves in Lunar.

"We've been trying for years." Beth said softly. "With no result."

 

[KieranSoares]

One looked to Beth as she spoke, a short but broad white weretiger from the east. He offered her a kind smile, but he spoke little English. It was up to his partner, the lithe black werepanther beside him who was probably his mate. "Milady, we are very confused," she said quietly. "It is still very early, but you seem to be carrying a child right now." It had probably been the result of a particular night a few weeks prior.

 

[heartofcourage]

Beth was stunned by that news. She instantly shook her head, looking towards the werepanther as she stated that it was very early, but she and Maxwell had finally succeeded.

"It's...not possible." Beth said in a soft voice that was shaking. "We've tried for so long..."