Page 46 of A Highlander’s Heart

Chapter Twenty-Six

The next morning, Gregory sent word that the great hall had been cleared out and was ready for the men to gather and swear their fealty.

Fully dressed in his clan’s formal attire, Morgan and Emma left their bed chamber and descended the stairs. They made their way to the laird’s chair that Gregory had set at the front of the great hall.

Still in pain, but not as bad as the day before, Morgan walked slowly, but with no one in the great hall except them and Gregory, he didn’t mind taking his time.

Once he was comfortable, Emma said, “I can go to the kitchen and get us a meal.”

“Aye, that sounds like a good idea.”

With Morgan’s instructions, she headed to the kitchen, located the same place as the Castle Leod’s kitchen, at the back of the house with the outside door leading to what looked like a bountiful garden. She looked forward to wandering it sometime soon to see how many, if any, medicinal herbs were there.

She stepped into the room; familiar smells greeted her. “Good morning, I am Lady Gunn.”

Several young girls chopping vegetables at a long table stopped working and looked up at her with curiosity. A woman stirring something in a large pot over the fire turned toward her. “Good morn, my lady. What can I get for ye?”

Relaxed at the warm welcome, Emma smiled at the woman and nodded at the young girls who still sat staring at her.

“The laird will be holding meetings today in the great hall. Can ye please prepare a meal for us that I will bring to him?”

The cook placed the large spoon on a table behind her and wiped her hands on a piece of linen. “My name is Mary. ’Tis a pleasure to meet ye.”

“Thank ye. ’Tis a pleasure to meet ye as well, Mary.”

The cook scowled at the young lasses. “Get back to work, everyone. We doona want our new lady to think we can’t get our chores done.”

Emma smiled at the young lasses as an encouragement. The last thing she wanted was to have the kitchen help think she planned to be difficult. Since she’d never been in charge of a keep before, she knew she had a lot to learn, but one thing she’d learned from watching Beth was that kindness got more work out of a servant than nastiness.

“Nay, my lady. We canno’ have ye carrying trays around when we have many maids to do that. Ye just go ahead and join the laird, and we will bring breakfast for the two of ye.”

“If ye doona mind I’ll take two mugs of ale for us while we wait.”

She took the mugs and went back out into the great hall where several men had arrived. They were lined up awaiting their turn to swear fealty to the new laird. Morgan sat in the laird’s chair with Patrick standing in front of him.

Heated words were being exchanged, but she was proud to see that Morgan remained much calmer than Patrick. She placed the mugs on the small table she’d asked Gregory to have placed next to the laird’s chair.

“Are ye making yer wife a servant, now? Is that ye plan to run the keep? Are we all to be yer servants?” Patrick said as he snarled and gestured at her.

She stepped back in shock. Before Morgan could answer, she straightened and looked Patrick in the eye. “’Tis too bad ye doona recognize someone doing something nice for another without putting a name to it.”

Then she looked at Morgan, who winked at her.

Emma took her mug of ale to one of the long tables where the warriors sat during meals. She didn’t want to be close enough to Morgan to hear his conversations or she would find herself in a whole lot of trouble with her husband, not being able to keep her thoughts to herself.

As she sipped her drink, Morgan’s voice carried over to her in spite of her efforts. She could hear the strain in his voice as he dealt with the difficult and nasty man. “All ye need to do is pledge your fealty and do yer duties as my Second-in-Command if ye wish to keep the position which, remember, is no’ permanent.”

The two men stared at each other, then finally, Patrick knelt, but his body was stiff and his words mumbled. His oath made, he rose to his feet and, sliding his sword back into its sheath, stomped from the great hall.

Emma took another sip and watched the man leave. Her husband was going to have a problem with that one.

The warriors who were lined up in front of Morgan came forward one by one and knelt to offer their fealty. From what she could see, no one appeared as disgruntled as Patrick had been. Instead, she saw a great deal of respect in how they spoke to Morgan.

One of the maids she’d seen in the kitchen entered, carrying a tray of bannocks, porridge, and bread.

While the meal was plentiful it was not as tasty as Jemima’s cooking from Castle Leod. However, she thought it best to not say anything about it to Mary until she felt her position here was more solid.

After finishing her meal, she picked her dirty dishes up along with Morgan’s and returned to the kitchen. Things were lively, but since Morgan was still busy with the men who continued to arrive, she decided to start her job as chatelaine.