Ghis (closed)

[heartofcourage]

Kate grinned at her father, a spot of blush appearing on her pale cheeks. He had the power to completely embarrass her sometimes but she still loved her father all the same.

"Enough with the sappy stuff. I swore to Rho that I would bring in the biggest buck in the woods." She said with her characteristic grin.

 

[KieranSoares]

"The biggest one left, you mean. Y'know I brought 'ome th'biggest one las' year. Still got 'is antlers o'er th' hearth." Brogan smirked and guided his horse, weaving through the trees. Soon, though, he found fresh tracks and they left their horses to cut down noise and size. Slowly, they worked their way along the tracks, until they found blood and a half-eaten carcass. Brogan easily identified it as the work of a bear.

"Care t'have a bear instead, love?" Brogan asked her. "He stole your buck."

 

[heartofcourage]

"A bear?" Kate said, looking at her father as he suggested that they go after the beast that had taken her prized buck. "Da, we've never gone after something so large as a bear."

She had seen her Uncle Durban and Uncle Boar returning to Inverness with prizes like that, most of the time with her cousins in tow, but she didn't know that she was ready for something so big and vicious.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Always room fer a first time," Brogan nodded with an easy smile. "'E won' be far." Even a person with no tracking skills would be able to see where the bear went, brushing lazily and haphazardly past bushes and over grass, stopping once to dig up what was probably a mushroom, scratching at a young tree, and so on.

Brogan tracked the beast to the river that cut through the wood, and they spotted the huge thing, swiping lazily at passing fish more for sport than food. Brogan laid a hand on Kate's shoulder. "You shoot first, love, I'll be ready with another arrow if 'e doesn' go down right away."

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate nodded, pulling an arrow and placing it carefully in her bow. She sucked in a deep breath and slowly let it out, pulling the arrow to her cheek and looking down the straight shaft to her intended target. Her hand shook. She was nervous at the thought of taking down such a large beast. Her Da was there by her side, looking over her shoulder...she took comfort in that but she wanted to prove that she could do this alone.

An instant later, her fingers were releasing the arrow, her eyes finally blinking as she pulled another arrow just in case.

 

[KieranSoares]

The great beast grunted and stumbled, turning to look straight at them. He rose up on his back legs and staggered before finally falling hard into the shallow stream and laying motionless. Brogan smiled, "Tha's my girl. Well done, sweet'eart." He drew his knife and they made their way out to the bear. It was completely dead, and Brogan was incredibly proud of his daughter for it. After all, he'd always told her that she should aim to quickly kill her prey rather than make it suffer.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate felt incredibly proud as she walked around the great bear that she'd taken down with a single arrow. She almost couldn't believe what she'd accomplished. She stood back, her hands on her hips as she watched her Da closely, a huge smile on her face.

"I can't believe I did it." She said, disbelief tinting her voice.

 

[KieranSoares]

Brogan looked the beast over, lifting one of its front paws which was the size of Brogan's huge hand. "Fine ol' fellow, a' least thirty years. Tha's pretty damn old fer a bear." He took both the bear's paws, and slowly but surely dragged him to the riverbank. "Well, you go get th' horses, love, I'll get th' skin off. We're gonna make ya a proper hunter's cloak with it."

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate nodded and hurried off to gather the horses. She mounted her steed and grabbed the reigns of her fathers, leading them both back to the huge body of the bear.

 

[KieranSoares]

When she returned, Brogan had set the huge bear hide to dry out, and was beginning to gut the animal. It didn't take long before he was quartering the meat and wrapping it all in burlap in the extra-large saddlebags to be carried back. He also kept the head to turn it into a trophy for her to mount in the great hall. It all took a good two hours before they were on their way back and Sam and Rho came out to see if she had done as she promised. Not seeing any antlers, they were confused.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I got something a hundred times better than a silly old deer." She boasted to her brothers, waiting in giddy excitement as they put their horses in the stables before her father pulled out the great bear skull for the boys to see. "All by myself."

Rho and Sam exchanged glances and there were exclamations of disbelief, neither believing that she had actually done it all on her own. "Of course I did. Da was just there watching."

Julia entered the courtyard hearing the commotion the boys were making, her mind elsewhere as she saw her daughter explaining that she had taken down a bear. She couldn't explain the emotion she felt hearing that. She had dreams that her daughter would be a lady, beautiful and fair, but it seemed that she was so much more interested in the pursuits of men. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but all the dreams she'd had for Kate were just ripped to shreds.

"Kitten." Julia called, gaining a sheepish look from her entire family. "Why don't you get cleaned up before dinner? You too boys."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Take the saddlebags down t'Chessie, Kate, I'll deal with th' skull an' the fur," Brogan nodded to his daughter. He stepped down from his horse and smiled to Julia. "Evenin' love." He came to kiss her cheek. She could see the immense pride in his eyes. "Can' believe my li'l girl took down a bear alone," he said softly as he watched Kate go.

 

[heartofcourage]

"I don't like her hunting." Julia said softly as she watched Kate lug the heavy saddlebags to Chessie. "Brogan, you promised that you'd let me teach her what she needed to know to be a good wife. This...well, this isn't it."

She wasn't sure why she was scolding her husband. It probably had to do with the news that she'd received that afternoon...

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'm teachin' 'er to be a provider too, Julia. She looks up t'Selena so much... so I figured it'd be easier to teach her to be no' just a family woman but also make 'er capable of takin' care of 'erself an' 'er children if she ever needs to. An'... I'm teachin' 'er t'be an Invernessian Queen, if she decides she'd like t'take up my offer." He hadn't told her he would offer the mantle to Kate after Ciaran refused it.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia sucked in a breath at the news that Kate would be the ruler of Inverness. Hope had always been on Ciaran, but it seemed that her son wasn't up for the challenge. The thought disappointed her immensely.

"No more hunting." Was all she could murmur as she moved from his side, her step not as light and sunny as it had been in the past.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Julia... wha's goin' on, love?" Brogan stopped her and turned her to face him. "This isn' like you. You alrigh'?" He brushed a lock of her hair back, concern, confusion, and a little bit of hurt evident in his gaze.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia could barely stand to look into his concerned gaze as he brushed aside a lock of her hair. Her world crashed around her as she burst into tears, her green eyes showing her confusion and sorrow.

"I'm pregnant." She blurted out, sobbing even harder at the thought of having another child.

 

[KieranSoares]

Brogan's brows stitched in concern and he hugged her tight, "It's okay, love... What're ya cryin' for? I thought ye'd be happy about somethin' like this." Lifting her chin, he met her eyes, trying to understand her pain.

 

[heartofcourage]

"The twins were going to be our last. We were so careful after that." She said as he held her tightly. "We're too old to be having a baby, Brogan. Not to mention we have to teach Kate how to run a kingdom now that Ciaran doesn't want the title. We don't have the time..."

 

[KieranSoares]

"You leave Kate t'me. I know y'don' trust me t'make 'er a lady, but I will. We're no' too old, love, we'll make it." He kissed her forehead and hugged her tightly. "Everythin'll be fine, I promise."

Brogan kept an arm around her, bringing her back to their room where he had her sit down and try to calm down. He tended to her as he always did when she wasn't feeling well, and she had his undivided attention.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia was still a mess when Brogan brought her into the rooms, sobbing against his shoulder as he gently placed her upon their bed. She only calmed as their blankets were brought up over her body, his strong hand soothing up and down her back until she slipped into an exhausted slumber.

A short time later, a knock sounded at the door and Kate peeked her head in. "Dinner is ready, Da." She said softly. "Is Ma alright?"

 

[KieranSoares]

"She'll be okay," Brogan came to Kate and closed the door behind him. "Listen, Kate... Ma's pretty upset. She jus' found out she's goin' t'have another baby, an' she's not sure about it. So from now on til anythin' changes, yer gonna be takin' all yer lessons from me. I expect ya t'be a lady along with all I teach ya, alrigh'? Fer yer Ma's sake. She's worried about you an' yer future."

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate was stunned to learn that her parents were expecting another baby. She was equally as stunned to learn that her father would be taking over her education. He was the one person in the world that she could never say no to. It would be a different experience, one that would challenge the both of them.

"Da, she doesn't have to worry." Kate said softly.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I know she doesn't. But she will anyway. So... I won' force ya t'wear dresses an' whatnot, but I expect ya t'behave like a lady when yer around town an' th'keep. Yer Ma's not too happy about the hunting... but I'm not gonna make ya stop doin' somethin' ya love." Brogan kissed her forehead, and for the first time in her memory, she could see the lines of deep worry in his expression. She'd heard stories of the trying times before she was born, of her mother and father's heroism in the face of destruction, and how both of them had nearly broken in the battles. Surely anything after that seemed like a trifle worry. But it seemed Julia's state wasn't the only thing on his mind.

"Now... get yer brothers. An' Lir too if 'e's around. Tell th' twins t'keep it down so Ma can rest, aye?" Brogan laid a hand on her shoulder with a somewhat forced smile, and he stepped past to go to attend to something else before dinner.

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate nodded, watching her father go with a heavy heart. Something was seriously wrong in her family and she was going to get to the bottom of it. She left the chamber, going to find her brothers. She didn't even give them an explanation as she grabbed them by their arms and drug them off towards the woods. Once in Ciaran's camp, with all of her brothers and Lir present, she finally told them what had happened.

"Ma is going to have a baby." She said bluntly. "And Da wants me to be the ruler of Inverness."