Post by Lady Liliana Campbell on Jul 23, 2011 11:50:27 GMT -6
Beathag & Caldean
The world beyond the castle was a world that still felt her presence; the feet of the Queen walked the floors of Blue Castle halls to turn the ear of the parliament to ways most beneficial to the crown whilst her own edicts carried out beyond the voting halls resounding all the way from the heart of the mountain the Griffin made its place. The world within felt her the most. It was in sacred bonds of the family that the Queen found her greatest purpose realized with every year that passed to see her children age, her husband wear his crown, and others find happiness. Beathag had earned this right! Aye, earned a right as simple as being on her brother's arm as he debated with the old Guardian if one man should surrender her to the other. Somewhere the stone rang with the games of children. Somewhere, a boy was becoming a man as he trained with his knight in the way of the sword. Now, she felt she was truly becoming a Queen where she reigned well rooted in the ways of a contented woman.
Kendrew
"Nay, m'lord, you needn't give of your sister to my keeping. What keeping can be better than that of a brother?" Kendrew offered up to the man who in turn offered a hearty retort of "Does she not see you as the same?" He could not deny that was so. Where once many years ago he had loved a sister of her blood now he came to do so again. The ties of the soul were more steadfast than the blood. Liliana was the sun rising to his Eastern sky, and his King and Queen were the solace of the West in which that when his time was done, he knew that he had served well. Instead he took up the unoccupied side for no doubt his own arm would soon be full with his own prize. "Things here seem well. Indeed after the prior summer and this fall that has passed, I am pleased for the quiet."
Or so it was said. Did warriors somewhere in their hearts yearn evermore for each war to be that last ringing notes of glory to sing them to sleep? Did not a warrior wish to die with a sword in his hand, a cry in his throat, than a'bed in Scotland? He, too, had found that battle had lost its luster. Duty was done with due diligence when required him. Now, as the sun hang at a different point in the sky and his life was in the glory of what he felt a victorious summer, he had no need for the things that once called to him at Moill or in the southern killing fields. Instead he craved to learn how the world did turn.
Liliana
Ties beyond blood seemed to create many familial connections on the shores of Skye. In this place, unlike others, something as simple as not being related by blood or marriage did not keep the bonds from being created. While still young Liliana Campbell had visited many places within the world- some willingly, some not- and had never found them to be as welcoming as Skye. In this place she'd felt at home so easily, and it was here that inner scars were healed by the bonds created with those who'd made her feel welcome. Liliana had never thought to have a family again after losing her own when only a child, but...God had given even when doubt had plagued her mind and heart. Some would scoff at the woman's faith, at her belief in miracles, yet she would simply smile. Point out her husband, always at her side, who had given her a mother, a sister, and four wonderful children- two not even of her blood and yet just as cherished as those who'd come from her womb, and then she'd direct them to the others.
To Bess who had comforted her by simply braiding her hair when she thought Kendrew might die. To Rosalind who had listened when she'd been nervous about telling Kendrew of the child she carried long ago, their first. And to many, many more. Liliana's was far larger than even she could have ever imagined and it was filled with infinite amounts of love, and acceptance. That same look of contentment upon Bess's face could be seen upon Liliana's own as she spoke,"How we are blessed, aye?" Already the older children were nearing ages of adulthood. Roric was 14, almost old enough to be considered a man. Kylie was 10, already on the path to become a fine and educated lady. Glenna was almost four and looked up to both her siblings, but still had her Father wrapped around her little finger. And last, though never least, there was little Morgan. Kendrew's son who, everyday, looking more and more like his Father, was already long walking and constantly watched over by his siblings.
Kendrew
"Aye, wife. Very much so. No one could be desirous if more and if so they are a fool for not appreciating what is given them. This is a very good life." He put his hand over the bend in her arm to squeeze it, and then he lifted her hand to his mouth to be kissed. The years he had been married to Liliana passed over him as if they had always been, and he were fortunate to have her when he was a young man with the world still waiting to fulfill a promise. That time of life was now on hand for the generation who had once been the small ones held in their arms. In two years time his brother's son could be considered a man. Yet as Roric had aged, he felt that he did his brother homage in carrying on a legacy to the fullest paternal extent. His education would see Roric now fostered with the knight whom he served as a squire, so the time to see him now was most precious. It gave him pause.
Kylie was all but a maid instead of a little girl, which made him desire to keep Glenna small enough for his knee forever. Morgan had learned to walk, and already knew of life beyond mother or father's hold. "I am amazed that each time we come to see you, majesty, it seems the young will grow but you do not change."
Beathag & Caldean
Bess chuckled. Then she laughed, full bellied and loud through the halls as she shook her head .It turned the long paired coils of gold hair to shiver in her excitement. A few more lines from laughing, a few more lines from worry had found places to settle. Little crooks at her eyes or a thin area of her smile. "Blessed flatterer, tha' is how ye may be blessed Liliana..by a husband with a silver tongue. N' thank ye, Campbell, but I dae change sae m'body feels n' my glass doth tell me. But it matters little. I be happy tae change."
Caldean gave his hand to pat his sisters arm, "We all change, sister. We all change. And yer right, it is by nay means a hard thing.You are the oldest living woman within our family now. Survived of mother and grandmother, you have lived to see many o' the children live to adulthood, your brothers go on to families o' their own. Change by this way is nay hard at all."
His voice was almost a music, the medium aspect of tone that held the best of what was high and the pitch of the low mixed together. As they all went along he would pause before a window. Kendrew would ask him what it was he looked for and he told the man, "The amazement o' what my family has done, what it has become. Do you ever stop to give pause to such a moment, m'lord?"
Kendrew
"All of the time, your Grace, all of the time."
Liliana
Laughter mingled with Bess's own as mocha eyes locked on her husband,"Aye, that is true. He flatters me at every turn. How do you think we ended up with two more children?" There was nothing, past or present, that Liliana would change. It was the hard moments that had nearly broken the woman asunder that made her stronger to bring her to this part of her life. In each of them, even Bess, something changed with the mere passing of a minute. For it only took a second to make one older. "Caldean speaks true. A wise man your brother. Does that wisdom run in the blood?"
Ebon head nodded toward where the older children talked, learned, and strengthened bonds made in moments that children should never have to bear witness to. These bonds, if each adult gathered was lucky enough, would continue on through their adult years. "All over Skye the children as seasons change, and we grow older too. It is both frightening and wondrous. This land will one day be theirs to oversee, to help flourish, and to eventually pass on." Liliana could not help the amused curve of lips that followed,"Listen to me prattling on as though some philosopher instead of the mere wife of a clan chief who spends her days teaching the children and baking bread." One hand pushed long strands out of face while the other still grasped her husband's.
Kendrew
"You teach them well, and your thoughts are wise one. That, and the bread is more than merely passable." He offered her praise wrapped around a boy's humor as he pulled her in close to him, kissing the top of her forehead. "The time is coming sooner rather than later.His Highness is now thirteen years of age, Roric is fourteen. I remember when they were much younger, and we speculating upon a day such as now when they are somewhere between lads and men."
Beathag & Caldean
"So the legends tell me, Lady Campbell, tha' the wisdom does run in our veins as much as the infamy o' a temper or the ability to move o'er water, or make music. Sae the legends tell me. Caldean has always been a gentle sort with a broad mind. Ah have lived sae long I will see my eldest nephew tae marry soon." The joy in her voice was beyond any fathomable measure for it meant that she had family to witness them moving on in age old ritual. To not have had the pleasure of her brother's child for so many years, only to see him go on in life was a thing as precious as giving birth for it meant that the cycle of kin was unbroken. No matter the way the isle approached the conflicts that would come to her shores, no matter the way the world might view the leaders giving edict from on high in the castle by the sea, she would always know that from where they began there was endurance. Caldean followed the line of his sister's thought beyond the center. He walked along its seeming unending way in order to contribute, "Tha' will be a fine time. A fine, time. Bryce will look down with pride upon his son, as will mother upon her grandchild."
Whom was the bride? The question unvoiced surely must have had president in some mind.
Liliana
"Mmm you have benefited much from my more than passable bread, husband." Copper-skinned hand reached out to pat Kendrew's stomach through tunic with teasing grin to accompany. Sometimes, at night, Liliana would yet still lay awake and marvel at the blessings this isle had brought. Too many more than just her, of course. Marvel at how Kendrew and her yet remained together even with all the troubles that had arisen to test their marriage vows. Separation? Divorce? Nay, not for the Campbells. Instead the passage of time healed all through talking and touching in the simplest of ways. Of apologies shared for at times it was not to admit that one was wrong, but to show how much one loved the other that they could bend so just to mend a rift. That was love. The clan itself also grew, their little sect doing admirably well even with all those things that arose before to cause conflict, and this pleased Liliana greatly.
"The children have minds that drink in those teachings heartily. I have yet to be able to quench their thirst for knowledge enough though know they will do well at Oisles Academy. Those whom will go when ready." While Bess marveled that she had kin to continue so did Liliana, for while both were different they'd both had somewhat similar experiences as far as family ties and tests. One hand reached out to squeeze her sister's hand fondly now though as mind turn curiously. "Marriage? What is this? You have not spoken before of this, Bess. Who shall Brycean be wedding? This bride is most lucky to be wife of the lad."
Kendrew
"This is not all bread, you are right." He laughed at how he was given a pat-a-pat to a place that with time had gone a little soft. Pliable areas were among the hard muscle, for his excursions came from tilling his fields and training with the men. They came from hunts or rowing pleasingly along streams since the last summer had gone away. With that had gone his want for battle, the lasts of his cravings to see a victory, and even began to fade his dreams of too much carnage witnessed. "Oisles shall turn out those who attend the fine places like the colleges n' universities. Mark me. The Lady Shyvonne is a determined soul. M'thinks if she demands as much excellence o' her students as she puts her kinsfolk in line they shall emerge made of knowledge and steel!" Weak did not seem a word in Shyvonne's vocabulary, nor any McGregor for that matter.
Beathag & Caldean
Caldean left the answer of his nephew's choice of wife to the Queen, for she was the one that was asked. Neither of them had told a soul what was ensuing in the last several months. Now the time for revelations will be at hand. "He is betrothed o' the Lady Joan." She said in a common fashion as if the Lady Joan had always been at court, and why would it not be so? Of course the Lady Joan was not placed with a lasting name, from what family, what place? So she clarified before Confusion could set in, "The Lady Joan Plantagenet, sister tae his grace Duke n' Lord Govenor Edward, her brother." The one who was claimed as a sister of the King. With this marriage so easily arranged for it was mutually wanted, a curious sunrise would come to a new day in the reign. They would hold a true place in the old English line of succession.
Liliana
Much came from mouths about the education taught within the walls of Oisles. Even more of the Lady Shyvonne's ability as a taskmaster and educator. Minds already becoming sharp would be sharpened far more in those halls of stone before being passed on to bigger, better universities about the world. There were far more options these days than before. Times were changing as ever they did. Mocha eyes played over the children a moment, imagining what was to come for them with a smile both pleased and melancholy, but it only lasted a moment for these were happier moments. Happier times for all. One brow raised most curiously at the mention of Joan and thankful was she for the explanation. Though the valley was not closed off to the way of court and gossip, and Liliana had heard and seen much, that didn't mean some details weren't likely to fade with time. That Joan or her sister were not truly the King's sister was buried more in the recesses of the mind.
While some might not yet be accepting of the King's declaration even after this long passage of time, yet hold grudges against them for their ancestors actions in England, Liliana had accepted such news from day one. They were sister's to the King in the same sense that she was to Bess. Blood mattered naught. "Oh, that is joyous news. They will get on wonderfully I am sure. The Lady Joan is an intelligent, graceful, and beautiful young woman. You must be most happy, Caldean and Bess." Though Liliana had asked of Bess she addressed both. The man that was Bess's kin she considered as much her own for Bess was her sister in every way that mattered.
"See, proof that it is all changing. Brycean and the Lady Joan marry, and soon shall our own children begin to foster. To make their own marks upon the world even more clearly." For some of them had already made their own during times of strife such as young Roric's sneaking to battle or the children's standing tall for the MacGregor and Robertson children at Struan, and in many more ways.
Beathag & Caldean
"Aye, Ah'm vera pleased. The Lady Joan could nay be more the wife fer Brycean than the sun could be fit fer the sky. Ah think, tae, tis because she was sae reared a she was. In a sense tis..destiny, perhaps, tae marry well." Beathag had considered if this were the young woman's ambition. Were it not true for every woman she hoped by whatever device destiny brought to her this chance that she marry well? When the announcement became an edict stated in the courtyard no doubt it would become speculation that with both sides now tide - would one try to lay claim to the others realm? Would peace come from it or a battle for supremacy? At the same time the Queen only considered the happiness of her nephew and of the young woman she had come to know. Joan often hid her intelligence in a demure turn of phrase, but was no less intelligent for it.
She was everything that her blood famed her to be, and more for her own created merits. In the court she kept a circle of radiant creatures who did more than hang on her words but cherished them in mutual affection. In her time among them she was paid court by no less than two eligible men before Brycean but using her ability to disprove them, did so. Yet with Brycean she had continued to allow him to walk with her, speak with her, sit with her. He took great pains to see her never outside the company of reputable persons so no harm came to her standing whatsoever.
Kendrew
Kendrew offered too his congratulations, "There is much to be proud of, indeed .It is a good match m'lady.Your family grows much. It goes from being small as you said it was, merely yourself, to many. "[/i[ He looked to Caldean and talked with him for a time on the particulars of the match, as well as things of interest to men, which left Beathag to be in Liliana's keeping as it used to be. As it should be.
Beathag
"Seems we have lost their interest. Now they speak o' smithies."
Liliana
"Smithies shall inevitably lead to weaponry, and eventually turn to those soldiers whom train in Skye's army, no?" There wasn't any upset or offense to be taken though. Instead the words held fond warmth to accompany the glance given to Kendrew then Caldean. Both were men getting on in years. Kendrew far beyond the usual age of acceptable warriors in most places. For men, some said, that the advancement of years was far harder to accept. Yet Liliana was pleased to see her husband was indeed seeming more comfortable in acceptance of this. If truth be told it was his wife who found it mighty difficult to know that her husband was growing older and it made her cherish more each year they would yet have the others company. "We are left to our own devices it seems. Shall we behave or misbehave?"
To be left in the company of Bess was as much to Liliana's liking as to be in that of her husband. They were fast friends from first moments, and she still saw to the overseeing of Bess's care by those ladies in her service. Training them to be fitting companions to not only Bess, but eventually her daughters as well. "The Lady Joan's betrothal affair must be fitting of such a lady of her station, should it not? I know that she has not many females of blood kin and I should like to help plan the affair if she should wish it." Generally such topics of betrothal balls and weddings were left much to the women. Though in this instance Liliana offered a kindness from the depths of heart. For it was strangers that did the same who helped plan her own wedding even if it was a simple, little affair of the heart.
Beathag
"N' talk o' the army will lead tae the daein' of Generals n' Captains. Tis neither m'day tae make use o' m'steel nor dae I desire talk o' war." She laughed as she inspired Liliana to turn her back on them. A few steps down the hall would find the women easily on their way. The men would not care, indeed, they may not even notice! Conspiratorial whispers were playfully traded. "In behavin' dun we misbehave. We will spend some o' the treasury for womanly things. Let us talk such. Her brother, his grace, is seein' his sister generously dowered though we had offered tae forgo this aspect o' tradition in light o' our familial ties, but he would have it nay. He will vest them with many English lands, o' course tae the Kings' pleasure. M'thinks he has a mind tae, at the end of his time, see his brother-in-law to have his stead. He is takin' great pains tae see the marriage well liked in England."
Copper colored hand found the larger, more pale one to hold it. A few more steps, a few more steps to blissful obscurity. "Tis good ye 'ave arrived. I shall need such aid n' plannin the fittin things. This shall gae well with our summer jousts tae come, n' hunts. Tae think we live sae." At a window she stopped. When she looked out of it, she saw not the scars of the city seige but her own scars on the buildings, in the streets, all repaired now. They were as long, as thick, and as storied. "Tae think tha' once I commanded armies as m'husband n' Maahes has done. Tha' I..bid him come with me tae Sleat, n' then there after he stayed. Men gae on n' e'en come away from service, yet we are never done serving. Ye know, Liliana..at first it was hard to have this life?" She confessed the true depths of her heart with a brogue filled laugh, "Yet as time went by Ah went forward with it, n' e'en more sae than Ahdam. All he promised meh was a home by the sea, with a garden n' astable for our horses, n' our children. Sometimes he still thinks he condemned us. But Ah say..here..where we always should've been..we truly live. Aye, we truly live. Ah've ne'er been more alive."
Liliana
Slippered feet took them down stone hallways decorated by the artful hand of those who dwelled within. Past servants that bowed or curtsied, out of love and loyalty, before going about their daily duties. Those of lesser class inhabited this dwelling as much as those of higher, but none so much as the Queen, King, and their heirs. They were the ones that saw this home just as whole as they saw Skye, and soon the world beyond. Liliana traipsed along minus any weight brought by heavy emotion or thought. Here in these halls she'd dealt with some of her hardest times. Had once roamed it as though a spirit, haunting each hall with sorrowful steps, thinking that her beloved was gone. Had sat in a windowsill to be found and soothed of scars brought by the past by the very same man she called friend and husband.
These were walls that, in a sense, Liliana had grown within as well. "Once, a long time ago it seems some days, I worked in a few noble households before coming to these shores. From what I recall to bestow a betrothal is a sign of love, and pride, and to turn the offering down can be considered a slight. The Duke shows his own pleasure and acceptance of this union by seeing that his sister, her future husband, and their heirs are settled comfortably." An old custom, as ancient as fading ink on aging parchment, that some yet followed. Mostly to do with the lacking worth of a daughter. For who else would marry 'em if not for the dowry that accompanied? Yet, now, that was not always the view for women displayed their ever-growing worth with each passing day. Even the Queen tossed old views aside with her mere existence.
Leaning against edge of window, Liliana looked out at the scene below. Life went on in a land that always seemed to recover wondrously from the strife dealt it. Its people, its cities, growing stronger for all that they experienced. "Condemned? Nay. If anything Adam has delivered on his promise ten-fold. For now you have many homes near seas, many gardens, and plenty of stables for horses. As for the children? Ah, plenty you have been given and a secure, loving home to raise them in. You are a survivor, Beathag Aberdeen, that is what you are. A woman of stout spirit, gentle heart, and brilliant mind. When the need for a leader, a protector, came and when Adam felt at his weakest? It was you who rose and helped him stand. You and Adam are Skye. Your blood as much a part of this soil as any others. Your heart open to its people, always thinking of their well-being, every day. When you hurt? They hurt. And when you feel alive? Well, we all thrive in our endeavors."
Beathag
In the short time since she had come to be Queen, no, in the few years not even totaling a decade that she had come to rule, for all of the pain they had manifested a pleasure thrice over what the blow had dealt them prior. She leaned in to the curve of a window, her body seemed to support the stone as if it wanted to lean on her. A suiting image. To destroy was not always one capable of so easily holding so much up. She smiled to Liliana. In fact? She drank in each word. "Aye, n' I believe it. We are Skye. We are everythin..n' everythin is us. Time is gaein forward." As the men saw only pride in this, it was for the mothers to look with bitter-sweetness over the changes.
"Tis time tae let Aodhan begin his own ways. Many like him have long since had their own households, n' ways. He will soon be taken tae his own progress about the isle, n' then he will fer a time reside on the mainland in the capital, in one o' his holdings tae be educated n' trained by its keepers. I am sae vera proud o' him, a squire two years before his due, n' now..it is fittin fer him tae gae. Good for him. But m'heart aches. I know I've other children now far younger n' many years before they deem tae gae but..he was my first born, n' twas only us for sae long. Sometimes he still comes tae me, tae put his head against my knee, tae tell me things he will tell nay one else but his closest friend.But I see nay more a child there. I see his path o' manhood, n' tis comin ..sae quickly."
Liliana
To say that a Father's heart ached less or not as equally to that of the Mother's would be unfair. Moreso it was that the ache was different. Though Liliana had not carried Roric in womb nor been in his life as long as Kendrew she still felt the ache poignantly. With each passing day the realization that the boy was becoming a man, and soon would begin that journey in full made her heart ache more and more. There were others, might yet be more, but that wouldn't change the fact that the older two would soon go off. Liliana could not imagine what it must be like for Bess though. Aodhan had been hers to raise from the moment he'd been conceived until now, and soon would be put into the care of others while he traveled. They would be apart for lengths of time that they were unused to and even though the hands would no doubt be capable... they would not ever be as capable as her own.
Liliana placed a hand comfortingly on Bess's shoulder. "Our sons become men, our daughters become women, and we... we wish they would stay small just a little while longer. Alas that is not how time works. They will have each other though and in that we can take comfort. They've been raised well, Bess. Aodhan will, of course, continue to make mistakes as any child becoming an adult is likely to do yet he will know how to make them less, and recover from them more easily, due to your teachings."
Beathag
She sighed and smiled, looking out then to the sky as if it held the way it used to be for the two of them, "Fer what seemed an eternity though it was just a little while, he was all I e'er needed. I dare say tha' I am grateful for all tha' the Gods have deemed fit tae give me. Ah thank them often, be it in m'private reflections on or m'knees in the church, fer by any name they be heard." In that statement it could be said part of how she came to Christ was to bring her husband closer to what he had known as a child for his comfort and reflection, and in the same way honor all aspects of her life. It was an old thought, Mother Earth, Father Sky. While many a Christian custom had seen her invested, and all her children had been taken for the claiming to the cathedral door, you could never change the deepest of core. Rome may see the virtue, and it was true virtue, but she adored the Christ child's mother in as much as the Christ himself. And her mother before her.
"N he must see his realm n' order tae truly rule it one day, n' know the good people o'er. I must trust tha' tha' they will treat him rightly n' well where e're he goes." Lengths of time they were not used to would be hard not only for the mother, but for the son as well. Despite the hardships they had in the last several months, he set his mother above all in his life until the day he might take for himself a bride. She knew he would miss Adam, the only man he could truly say had fathered him, and his siblings. Yet he talked so much of what the world was like she knew it was his time. "Our sons become men indeed. Ah've not yet said it tae Kendrew, but tae you instead. M'thinks it may bring you a measure o' peace. Long ago it was decided tha' Ah would foster Roric. It is an honor for m'self and Adam tae dae sae, given Roric's father gave of himself until the end. It would be m'most ardent wish tha' after a time has passed here..n' he is deemed ready..he will join Aodhan 'pon the mainland, where they shall gae twixt Turas Lan n' there accordin'. Let them be taegether. I believe Aodhan has nay a fairer n' more loyal friend than Roric beyond his blood, save o' course the Lady Sienna."
The man indeed now talked of military means. Caldean was not so old as Kendrew was, not yet at least. But he, like Kendrew, felt the pain in his bones from abuses. To be vested as his family's keeper was fine with him. He had no taste for the front lines and there were those far more capable to do the task. By now, Brom was now the Queen's active Champion, who would rise for her in all things. Kendrew settled to the training of the men, the keeping of the Talons, and the turning of his own soil. Now for a moment the women were stealing choices their husbands had made. Given a chance to set a little destiny in their own hands.
Liliana
"Aye, as any true heir should know the land and people that he shalll rule over. For it is those people, and the well-being of their lands, that he does his duty toward by sitting upon throne. You and Adam rule fair, thinking not only of yourselves, but of those who inhabit these lands. That is more fair than most monarchs in history past, no? I know that will continue on in Aodhan's own reign as King. Just as I know that any bride he chooses to be Queen? Will be more than suitable." Many had, in past and at times even present, called Aodhan by foul names. Usually they attached equally foul names to his Mother as well, and even at times to those who accepted him. However, as yet, there were more who were accepting of the Ebony Prince. Liliana had never been one to make judgments based on class or color, for those own prejudices had been used to bring her harm throughout life, and Aodhan had been accepted easily into her heart. Just as any of Bess's children.
She loved them as dearly as her own. It would make her heart ache as well to see him leave on his journey. Of course, the idea presented by Bess was one both comfort and ache, for in it they'd both be sending their sons off to the mainland. Having Roric foster with another family, even just Adam and Bess, would bring a pang to the heart... and that was just on Skye soil. To send her son, any who disputed that claim had been made to see the error of their ways, off to so far a place? It squeezed at the heart even more. Yet here was a true and good point.
The boys would both fair far better in the company of the other. Roric would see Aodhan protected just as Aodhan would see Roric, and both could take comfort in the company of each other. Something familiar in a world changing around them. "Well, it would indeed be fitting. They would be at a loss without the others company. Thick as thieves those two."
Liliana couldn't help the smile or amusement that accompanied those words, for it was truth. Mocha eyes briefly glanced down the corridor toward where Kendrew talked with Caldean, but not for permission. Nay. Here they made decisions as mothers were wont to do for the good of their offspring. "That would please me greatly, Bess, and it'd be a great honor for Roric. In this they can learn the land together, as future King and Guardian hmm?" For one could not doubt that one day Roric would protect Aodhan's backside as Kendrew had Bess. They would be dear friends just as their parents, or so they all hoped that would be the way it continued.
Beathag
"Tha' would be my greatest honor, tae have him stand for my son as Kendrew has done fer me fer sae long, n' his father did before his death. Tha' ye have taken him nae as yer nephew, but as yer son stands as testament tae ye Lily." Beathag held a great opinion of how well they kept the son and daughter of Roric the Elder as wards.. A high, esteemed opinion. As they stood their by the window with the world seeming to take no notice of them, the women took all notice of the world. Adam was not there either, but perhaps later all the men would discuss things in their own way. With this moment they sealed a boon. "Twould please me much if ye would be one of the households tha' took Aodhan durin' his time in the Valley. I could nay think 'pon better hands than those hands tha' have been as an aunt n' a sister-mother tae m'own children. It will make things..easier, knowin' tha' he may fer a time take in your family as your son will take in mine. I promise tae see him surroundin' by only the most fittin' o' sorts. We will have more than regular reports o' their health and well bein...more often than most truly get."
As good as she stood there now she would see that they had more to paper than most could want, for no matter their places in the world they were mothers. It set a new custom for a mother to be so involved, especially those of noble rearing who often had not much say in their children either way. Eamonn had mentioned talk of Aodhan's future years before this when he was on the border of nine years old! She hoped that with more time in the family, with more involvement in his life he would take with him the lessons, traditions, and ethics of his house. It was not a mere crown he carried, but his family with him. This was what she wanted to have above all else.
Roric the Younger was a good, fair lad. He had his father's affinity for making the fairer sex weak to their knees and reckoning with the stronger sex just as well. His mind, by now, was filled with things other than lolly gagging. No one could fault the country reared boy for being a laze about. He had pushed a plow just as his father and uncle had, hunted for his own meat, and understood what it took to bring down a stag. Equally, he understood what it would be to bring down an enemy. Kendrew spared him no expense by way of telling him the life of a warrior was not always victory. People he knew would perish young, and many before his eyes. There would be blood he would shed, yet Roric still wanted nothing more than to be as his own father had been, God rest his soul. He saw Kendrew as his father now, and so it was he had two men who had gone on to the knighthood.
Kendrew & Caldean
"I am glad it was you that found me, Kendrew." Caldean didn't speak much of the state of his recovery. He had his share of nightmares still; cold sweats greeted him to waking and he rubbed his arms, imagining them crunched in the stone sarcophagus. There would be a cough from being in the dank that would never go away, and a burden in his mind that he carried by way of the rest of the family's fate. "I am glad it was you and Sir Lucius. I hope to see him again one day. As too, the Horse Lord. I owe all of you a great debt of thanks for being her guardians, her brother, where I could not. I am glad the Horse Lord may claim blood with her, and you have much of her heart. "
Kendrew wandered with Caldean aways from the women, "You belonged not down there. No man did." To this day he did not impart to the fairer sex the full condition of how he found the Lord Caldean and his nephew, Lord Brycean.
Liliana
Even without spoken word Liliana and Bess knew the benefit of having their sons share this journey together. They'd each care for the other as friends, as family, and that too would benefit in receiving news of them. Boys becoming men had a knack for not always sharing the full truth with their, at times, overprotective Mothers. It was a right of passage that all took part in no matter their sex, in truth. This way though they could both find ease that perhaps what one wasn't willing to share, as far as full facts of their well-being, the other would be for them to keep sane the minds of fretting mothers too far away.
"Bess, I would love to foster Aodhan. It would be the pleasure of both Kendrew and I to have him in our home for a time. Roric is my son in every way that matters and Aodhan? Why he is my nephew for you are my sister in every way that matters. I would treat him as well as my own children while he is in our care, and we would see that he learns all that is of import for a young Prince to learn in the valley." There wasn't any need to ask of Kendrew's thoughts on this matter for she knew that he would be pleased as well.
Aodhan was as much family as Roric to her husband for he'd known the young man far longer than she. Mocha eyes lit up and smile softened while she looked out at the world beyond the window. Seeing places farther than the eye could see within the mind. Seeing Scotland and England, and of course France, as she'd seen them, minus all the strife and heartache that accompanied those times, so long ago.
"Do you ever just get this sense, Bess, deep in your bones? A sense that everything is as it was always meant to be. At times it creeps upon me, settles deep inside, that each thing that happened to me was meant to just to lead me to this point. My faith was renewed as far as God goes by Kendrew," A fond memory, of a church and sweet words...and a revelation that brought joy,"yet this is different. I have never truly been one to believe in Fate or Destiny except I think that is what I speak of now."
Beathag
"Aodhan shall be in the company o' the knight her serves and his guard, and with Roric the same we know they be well looked after, aye? Twill be a fine company tha' they be in." Liliana being an aunt to her son, a mother-figure to her boy meant the world. Beathag was more ferocious for the sake of her children than she had ever been on a field of battle. None could say that she turned them over to wet nurses to be suckled, or waiting servants to be reared solely by them. She fed them on her own breast and when that could not be done saw them given only the milk of a mare. She played with them, and often inquired after their tutelage to see that the eldest ones were sufficiently challenged. It was at their family's feet they learned their ancestral languages, stories, and ancestors. To forgo this intimate proximity created such a chasm in the heart. It was sad to consider the fact while each child's place was distinct, special, none could supplement the others place therein. So it was no one would ever be Aodhan to her.
Scotland, England, and France would look in the eyes of their sons so much more magnificent, so full of promise than when their eyes looked at it with jaded pasts clouding the beauty of each shore. It would not rain blood for them at first. No, it would rain real, true, and clear water from God's own hand to soothe them after all their hard work. "Lily, ah've lived by tha' many years. There is such a hand 'ere tha' it can be nothin' but the will of the heaven tha' makes it sae. Tae be here..in Adam's right inheritance. Fer us tae have been intended n' found one another. Tae have children when..we both should have had nay. Now as the years gae by, our children raised sae near taegether will make a grand journey. I feel a great comfort in this. Call it Fate, call it Destiny, iffn ye will. But ye are right. All is right with the world in this."
She breathed out a great sigh of relief. "Come, we gae aye? Let the men stay..as men. We have nay walked taegether in a long, long time. Remember when we walked through the Hall o' Guilds nay long after ye started here?"
The world beyond the castle was a world that still felt her presence; the feet of the Queen walked the floors of Blue Castle halls to turn the ear of the parliament to ways most beneficial to the crown whilst her own edicts carried out beyond the voting halls resounding all the way from the heart of the mountain the Griffin made its place. The world within felt her the most. It was in sacred bonds of the family that the Queen found her greatest purpose realized with every year that passed to see her children age, her husband wear his crown, and others find happiness. Beathag had earned this right! Aye, earned a right as simple as being on her brother's arm as he debated with the old Guardian if one man should surrender her to the other. Somewhere the stone rang with the games of children. Somewhere, a boy was becoming a man as he trained with his knight in the way of the sword. Now, she felt she was truly becoming a Queen where she reigned well rooted in the ways of a contented woman.
Kendrew
"Nay, m'lord, you needn't give of your sister to my keeping. What keeping can be better than that of a brother?" Kendrew offered up to the man who in turn offered a hearty retort of "Does she not see you as the same?" He could not deny that was so. Where once many years ago he had loved a sister of her blood now he came to do so again. The ties of the soul were more steadfast than the blood. Liliana was the sun rising to his Eastern sky, and his King and Queen were the solace of the West in which that when his time was done, he knew that he had served well. Instead he took up the unoccupied side for no doubt his own arm would soon be full with his own prize. "Things here seem well. Indeed after the prior summer and this fall that has passed, I am pleased for the quiet."
Or so it was said. Did warriors somewhere in their hearts yearn evermore for each war to be that last ringing notes of glory to sing them to sleep? Did not a warrior wish to die with a sword in his hand, a cry in his throat, than a'bed in Scotland? He, too, had found that battle had lost its luster. Duty was done with due diligence when required him. Now, as the sun hang at a different point in the sky and his life was in the glory of what he felt a victorious summer, he had no need for the things that once called to him at Moill or in the southern killing fields. Instead he craved to learn how the world did turn.
Liliana
Ties beyond blood seemed to create many familial connections on the shores of Skye. In this place, unlike others, something as simple as not being related by blood or marriage did not keep the bonds from being created. While still young Liliana Campbell had visited many places within the world- some willingly, some not- and had never found them to be as welcoming as Skye. In this place she'd felt at home so easily, and it was here that inner scars were healed by the bonds created with those who'd made her feel welcome. Liliana had never thought to have a family again after losing her own when only a child, but...God had given even when doubt had plagued her mind and heart. Some would scoff at the woman's faith, at her belief in miracles, yet she would simply smile. Point out her husband, always at her side, who had given her a mother, a sister, and four wonderful children- two not even of her blood and yet just as cherished as those who'd come from her womb, and then she'd direct them to the others.
To Bess who had comforted her by simply braiding her hair when she thought Kendrew might die. To Rosalind who had listened when she'd been nervous about telling Kendrew of the child she carried long ago, their first. And to many, many more. Liliana's was far larger than even she could have ever imagined and it was filled with infinite amounts of love, and acceptance. That same look of contentment upon Bess's face could be seen upon Liliana's own as she spoke,"How we are blessed, aye?" Already the older children were nearing ages of adulthood. Roric was 14, almost old enough to be considered a man. Kylie was 10, already on the path to become a fine and educated lady. Glenna was almost four and looked up to both her siblings, but still had her Father wrapped around her little finger. And last, though never least, there was little Morgan. Kendrew's son who, everyday, looking more and more like his Father, was already long walking and constantly watched over by his siblings.
Kendrew
"Aye, wife. Very much so. No one could be desirous if more and if so they are a fool for not appreciating what is given them. This is a very good life." He put his hand over the bend in her arm to squeeze it, and then he lifted her hand to his mouth to be kissed. The years he had been married to Liliana passed over him as if they had always been, and he were fortunate to have her when he was a young man with the world still waiting to fulfill a promise. That time of life was now on hand for the generation who had once been the small ones held in their arms. In two years time his brother's son could be considered a man. Yet as Roric had aged, he felt that he did his brother homage in carrying on a legacy to the fullest paternal extent. His education would see Roric now fostered with the knight whom he served as a squire, so the time to see him now was most precious. It gave him pause.
Kylie was all but a maid instead of a little girl, which made him desire to keep Glenna small enough for his knee forever. Morgan had learned to walk, and already knew of life beyond mother or father's hold. "I am amazed that each time we come to see you, majesty, it seems the young will grow but you do not change."
Beathag & Caldean
Bess chuckled. Then she laughed, full bellied and loud through the halls as she shook her head .It turned the long paired coils of gold hair to shiver in her excitement. A few more lines from laughing, a few more lines from worry had found places to settle. Little crooks at her eyes or a thin area of her smile. "Blessed flatterer, tha' is how ye may be blessed Liliana..by a husband with a silver tongue. N' thank ye, Campbell, but I dae change sae m'body feels n' my glass doth tell me. But it matters little. I be happy tae change."
Caldean gave his hand to pat his sisters arm, "We all change, sister. We all change. And yer right, it is by nay means a hard thing.You are the oldest living woman within our family now. Survived of mother and grandmother, you have lived to see many o' the children live to adulthood, your brothers go on to families o' their own. Change by this way is nay hard at all."
His voice was almost a music, the medium aspect of tone that held the best of what was high and the pitch of the low mixed together. As they all went along he would pause before a window. Kendrew would ask him what it was he looked for and he told the man, "The amazement o' what my family has done, what it has become. Do you ever stop to give pause to such a moment, m'lord?"
Kendrew
"All of the time, your Grace, all of the time."
Liliana
Laughter mingled with Bess's own as mocha eyes locked on her husband,"Aye, that is true. He flatters me at every turn. How do you think we ended up with two more children?" There was nothing, past or present, that Liliana would change. It was the hard moments that had nearly broken the woman asunder that made her stronger to bring her to this part of her life. In each of them, even Bess, something changed with the mere passing of a minute. For it only took a second to make one older. "Caldean speaks true. A wise man your brother. Does that wisdom run in the blood?"
Ebon head nodded toward where the older children talked, learned, and strengthened bonds made in moments that children should never have to bear witness to. These bonds, if each adult gathered was lucky enough, would continue on through their adult years. "All over Skye the children as seasons change, and we grow older too. It is both frightening and wondrous. This land will one day be theirs to oversee, to help flourish, and to eventually pass on." Liliana could not help the amused curve of lips that followed,"Listen to me prattling on as though some philosopher instead of the mere wife of a clan chief who spends her days teaching the children and baking bread." One hand pushed long strands out of face while the other still grasped her husband's.
Kendrew
"You teach them well, and your thoughts are wise one. That, and the bread is more than merely passable." He offered her praise wrapped around a boy's humor as he pulled her in close to him, kissing the top of her forehead. "The time is coming sooner rather than later.His Highness is now thirteen years of age, Roric is fourteen. I remember when they were much younger, and we speculating upon a day such as now when they are somewhere between lads and men."
Beathag & Caldean
"So the legends tell me, Lady Campbell, tha' the wisdom does run in our veins as much as the infamy o' a temper or the ability to move o'er water, or make music. Sae the legends tell me. Caldean has always been a gentle sort with a broad mind. Ah have lived sae long I will see my eldest nephew tae marry soon." The joy in her voice was beyond any fathomable measure for it meant that she had family to witness them moving on in age old ritual. To not have had the pleasure of her brother's child for so many years, only to see him go on in life was a thing as precious as giving birth for it meant that the cycle of kin was unbroken. No matter the way the isle approached the conflicts that would come to her shores, no matter the way the world might view the leaders giving edict from on high in the castle by the sea, she would always know that from where they began there was endurance. Caldean followed the line of his sister's thought beyond the center. He walked along its seeming unending way in order to contribute, "Tha' will be a fine time. A fine, time. Bryce will look down with pride upon his son, as will mother upon her grandchild."
Whom was the bride? The question unvoiced surely must have had president in some mind.
Liliana
"Mmm you have benefited much from my more than passable bread, husband." Copper-skinned hand reached out to pat Kendrew's stomach through tunic with teasing grin to accompany. Sometimes, at night, Liliana would yet still lay awake and marvel at the blessings this isle had brought. Too many more than just her, of course. Marvel at how Kendrew and her yet remained together even with all the troubles that had arisen to test their marriage vows. Separation? Divorce? Nay, not for the Campbells. Instead the passage of time healed all through talking and touching in the simplest of ways. Of apologies shared for at times it was not to admit that one was wrong, but to show how much one loved the other that they could bend so just to mend a rift. That was love. The clan itself also grew, their little sect doing admirably well even with all those things that arose before to cause conflict, and this pleased Liliana greatly.
"The children have minds that drink in those teachings heartily. I have yet to be able to quench their thirst for knowledge enough though know they will do well at Oisles Academy. Those whom will go when ready." While Bess marveled that she had kin to continue so did Liliana, for while both were different they'd both had somewhat similar experiences as far as family ties and tests. One hand reached out to squeeze her sister's hand fondly now though as mind turn curiously. "Marriage? What is this? You have not spoken before of this, Bess. Who shall Brycean be wedding? This bride is most lucky to be wife of the lad."
Kendrew
"This is not all bread, you are right." He laughed at how he was given a pat-a-pat to a place that with time had gone a little soft. Pliable areas were among the hard muscle, for his excursions came from tilling his fields and training with the men. They came from hunts or rowing pleasingly along streams since the last summer had gone away. With that had gone his want for battle, the lasts of his cravings to see a victory, and even began to fade his dreams of too much carnage witnessed. "Oisles shall turn out those who attend the fine places like the colleges n' universities. Mark me. The Lady Shyvonne is a determined soul. M'thinks if she demands as much excellence o' her students as she puts her kinsfolk in line they shall emerge made of knowledge and steel!" Weak did not seem a word in Shyvonne's vocabulary, nor any McGregor for that matter.
Beathag & Caldean
Caldean left the answer of his nephew's choice of wife to the Queen, for she was the one that was asked. Neither of them had told a soul what was ensuing in the last several months. Now the time for revelations will be at hand. "He is betrothed o' the Lady Joan." She said in a common fashion as if the Lady Joan had always been at court, and why would it not be so? Of course the Lady Joan was not placed with a lasting name, from what family, what place? So she clarified before Confusion could set in, "The Lady Joan Plantagenet, sister tae his grace Duke n' Lord Govenor Edward, her brother." The one who was claimed as a sister of the King. With this marriage so easily arranged for it was mutually wanted, a curious sunrise would come to a new day in the reign. They would hold a true place in the old English line of succession.
Liliana
Much came from mouths about the education taught within the walls of Oisles. Even more of the Lady Shyvonne's ability as a taskmaster and educator. Minds already becoming sharp would be sharpened far more in those halls of stone before being passed on to bigger, better universities about the world. There were far more options these days than before. Times were changing as ever they did. Mocha eyes played over the children a moment, imagining what was to come for them with a smile both pleased and melancholy, but it only lasted a moment for these were happier moments. Happier times for all. One brow raised most curiously at the mention of Joan and thankful was she for the explanation. Though the valley was not closed off to the way of court and gossip, and Liliana had heard and seen much, that didn't mean some details weren't likely to fade with time. That Joan or her sister were not truly the King's sister was buried more in the recesses of the mind.
While some might not yet be accepting of the King's declaration even after this long passage of time, yet hold grudges against them for their ancestors actions in England, Liliana had accepted such news from day one. They were sister's to the King in the same sense that she was to Bess. Blood mattered naught. "Oh, that is joyous news. They will get on wonderfully I am sure. The Lady Joan is an intelligent, graceful, and beautiful young woman. You must be most happy, Caldean and Bess." Though Liliana had asked of Bess she addressed both. The man that was Bess's kin she considered as much her own for Bess was her sister in every way that mattered.
"See, proof that it is all changing. Brycean and the Lady Joan marry, and soon shall our own children begin to foster. To make their own marks upon the world even more clearly." For some of them had already made their own during times of strife such as young Roric's sneaking to battle or the children's standing tall for the MacGregor and Robertson children at Struan, and in many more ways.
Beathag & Caldean
"Aye, Ah'm vera pleased. The Lady Joan could nay be more the wife fer Brycean than the sun could be fit fer the sky. Ah think, tae, tis because she was sae reared a she was. In a sense tis..destiny, perhaps, tae marry well." Beathag had considered if this were the young woman's ambition. Were it not true for every woman she hoped by whatever device destiny brought to her this chance that she marry well? When the announcement became an edict stated in the courtyard no doubt it would become speculation that with both sides now tide - would one try to lay claim to the others realm? Would peace come from it or a battle for supremacy? At the same time the Queen only considered the happiness of her nephew and of the young woman she had come to know. Joan often hid her intelligence in a demure turn of phrase, but was no less intelligent for it.
She was everything that her blood famed her to be, and more for her own created merits. In the court she kept a circle of radiant creatures who did more than hang on her words but cherished them in mutual affection. In her time among them she was paid court by no less than two eligible men before Brycean but using her ability to disprove them, did so. Yet with Brycean she had continued to allow him to walk with her, speak with her, sit with her. He took great pains to see her never outside the company of reputable persons so no harm came to her standing whatsoever.
Kendrew
Kendrew offered too his congratulations, "There is much to be proud of, indeed .It is a good match m'lady.Your family grows much. It goes from being small as you said it was, merely yourself, to many. "[/i[ He looked to Caldean and talked with him for a time on the particulars of the match, as well as things of interest to men, which left Beathag to be in Liliana's keeping as it used to be. As it should be.
Beathag
"Seems we have lost their interest. Now they speak o' smithies."
Liliana
"Smithies shall inevitably lead to weaponry, and eventually turn to those soldiers whom train in Skye's army, no?" There wasn't any upset or offense to be taken though. Instead the words held fond warmth to accompany the glance given to Kendrew then Caldean. Both were men getting on in years. Kendrew far beyond the usual age of acceptable warriors in most places. For men, some said, that the advancement of years was far harder to accept. Yet Liliana was pleased to see her husband was indeed seeming more comfortable in acceptance of this. If truth be told it was his wife who found it mighty difficult to know that her husband was growing older and it made her cherish more each year they would yet have the others company. "We are left to our own devices it seems. Shall we behave or misbehave?"
To be left in the company of Bess was as much to Liliana's liking as to be in that of her husband. They were fast friends from first moments, and she still saw to the overseeing of Bess's care by those ladies in her service. Training them to be fitting companions to not only Bess, but eventually her daughters as well. "The Lady Joan's betrothal affair must be fitting of such a lady of her station, should it not? I know that she has not many females of blood kin and I should like to help plan the affair if she should wish it." Generally such topics of betrothal balls and weddings were left much to the women. Though in this instance Liliana offered a kindness from the depths of heart. For it was strangers that did the same who helped plan her own wedding even if it was a simple, little affair of the heart.
Beathag
"N' talk o' the army will lead tae the daein' of Generals n' Captains. Tis neither m'day tae make use o' m'steel nor dae I desire talk o' war." She laughed as she inspired Liliana to turn her back on them. A few steps down the hall would find the women easily on their way. The men would not care, indeed, they may not even notice! Conspiratorial whispers were playfully traded. "In behavin' dun we misbehave. We will spend some o' the treasury for womanly things. Let us talk such. Her brother, his grace, is seein' his sister generously dowered though we had offered tae forgo this aspect o' tradition in light o' our familial ties, but he would have it nay. He will vest them with many English lands, o' course tae the Kings' pleasure. M'thinks he has a mind tae, at the end of his time, see his brother-in-law to have his stead. He is takin' great pains tae see the marriage well liked in England."
Copper colored hand found the larger, more pale one to hold it. A few more steps, a few more steps to blissful obscurity. "Tis good ye 'ave arrived. I shall need such aid n' plannin the fittin things. This shall gae well with our summer jousts tae come, n' hunts. Tae think we live sae." At a window she stopped. When she looked out of it, she saw not the scars of the city seige but her own scars on the buildings, in the streets, all repaired now. They were as long, as thick, and as storied. "Tae think tha' once I commanded armies as m'husband n' Maahes has done. Tha' I..bid him come with me tae Sleat, n' then there after he stayed. Men gae on n' e'en come away from service, yet we are never done serving. Ye know, Liliana..at first it was hard to have this life?" She confessed the true depths of her heart with a brogue filled laugh, "Yet as time went by Ah went forward with it, n' e'en more sae than Ahdam. All he promised meh was a home by the sea, with a garden n' astable for our horses, n' our children. Sometimes he still thinks he condemned us. But Ah say..here..where we always should've been..we truly live. Aye, we truly live. Ah've ne'er been more alive."
Liliana
Slippered feet took them down stone hallways decorated by the artful hand of those who dwelled within. Past servants that bowed or curtsied, out of love and loyalty, before going about their daily duties. Those of lesser class inhabited this dwelling as much as those of higher, but none so much as the Queen, King, and their heirs. They were the ones that saw this home just as whole as they saw Skye, and soon the world beyond. Liliana traipsed along minus any weight brought by heavy emotion or thought. Here in these halls she'd dealt with some of her hardest times. Had once roamed it as though a spirit, haunting each hall with sorrowful steps, thinking that her beloved was gone. Had sat in a windowsill to be found and soothed of scars brought by the past by the very same man she called friend and husband.
These were walls that, in a sense, Liliana had grown within as well. "Once, a long time ago it seems some days, I worked in a few noble households before coming to these shores. From what I recall to bestow a betrothal is a sign of love, and pride, and to turn the offering down can be considered a slight. The Duke shows his own pleasure and acceptance of this union by seeing that his sister, her future husband, and their heirs are settled comfortably." An old custom, as ancient as fading ink on aging parchment, that some yet followed. Mostly to do with the lacking worth of a daughter. For who else would marry 'em if not for the dowry that accompanied? Yet, now, that was not always the view for women displayed their ever-growing worth with each passing day. Even the Queen tossed old views aside with her mere existence.
Leaning against edge of window, Liliana looked out at the scene below. Life went on in a land that always seemed to recover wondrously from the strife dealt it. Its people, its cities, growing stronger for all that they experienced. "Condemned? Nay. If anything Adam has delivered on his promise ten-fold. For now you have many homes near seas, many gardens, and plenty of stables for horses. As for the children? Ah, plenty you have been given and a secure, loving home to raise them in. You are a survivor, Beathag Aberdeen, that is what you are. A woman of stout spirit, gentle heart, and brilliant mind. When the need for a leader, a protector, came and when Adam felt at his weakest? It was you who rose and helped him stand. You and Adam are Skye. Your blood as much a part of this soil as any others. Your heart open to its people, always thinking of their well-being, every day. When you hurt? They hurt. And when you feel alive? Well, we all thrive in our endeavors."
Beathag
In the short time since she had come to be Queen, no, in the few years not even totaling a decade that she had come to rule, for all of the pain they had manifested a pleasure thrice over what the blow had dealt them prior. She leaned in to the curve of a window, her body seemed to support the stone as if it wanted to lean on her. A suiting image. To destroy was not always one capable of so easily holding so much up. She smiled to Liliana. In fact? She drank in each word. "Aye, n' I believe it. We are Skye. We are everythin..n' everythin is us. Time is gaein forward." As the men saw only pride in this, it was for the mothers to look with bitter-sweetness over the changes.
"Tis time tae let Aodhan begin his own ways. Many like him have long since had their own households, n' ways. He will soon be taken tae his own progress about the isle, n' then he will fer a time reside on the mainland in the capital, in one o' his holdings tae be educated n' trained by its keepers. I am sae vera proud o' him, a squire two years before his due, n' now..it is fittin fer him tae gae. Good for him. But m'heart aches. I know I've other children now far younger n' many years before they deem tae gae but..he was my first born, n' twas only us for sae long. Sometimes he still comes tae me, tae put his head against my knee, tae tell me things he will tell nay one else but his closest friend.But I see nay more a child there. I see his path o' manhood, n' tis comin ..sae quickly."
Liliana
To say that a Father's heart ached less or not as equally to that of the Mother's would be unfair. Moreso it was that the ache was different. Though Liliana had not carried Roric in womb nor been in his life as long as Kendrew she still felt the ache poignantly. With each passing day the realization that the boy was becoming a man, and soon would begin that journey in full made her heart ache more and more. There were others, might yet be more, but that wouldn't change the fact that the older two would soon go off. Liliana could not imagine what it must be like for Bess though. Aodhan had been hers to raise from the moment he'd been conceived until now, and soon would be put into the care of others while he traveled. They would be apart for lengths of time that they were unused to and even though the hands would no doubt be capable... they would not ever be as capable as her own.
Liliana placed a hand comfortingly on Bess's shoulder. "Our sons become men, our daughters become women, and we... we wish they would stay small just a little while longer. Alas that is not how time works. They will have each other though and in that we can take comfort. They've been raised well, Bess. Aodhan will, of course, continue to make mistakes as any child becoming an adult is likely to do yet he will know how to make them less, and recover from them more easily, due to your teachings."
Beathag
She sighed and smiled, looking out then to the sky as if it held the way it used to be for the two of them, "Fer what seemed an eternity though it was just a little while, he was all I e'er needed. I dare say tha' I am grateful for all tha' the Gods have deemed fit tae give me. Ah thank them often, be it in m'private reflections on or m'knees in the church, fer by any name they be heard." In that statement it could be said part of how she came to Christ was to bring her husband closer to what he had known as a child for his comfort and reflection, and in the same way honor all aspects of her life. It was an old thought, Mother Earth, Father Sky. While many a Christian custom had seen her invested, and all her children had been taken for the claiming to the cathedral door, you could never change the deepest of core. Rome may see the virtue, and it was true virtue, but she adored the Christ child's mother in as much as the Christ himself. And her mother before her.
"N he must see his realm n' order tae truly rule it one day, n' know the good people o'er. I must trust tha' tha' they will treat him rightly n' well where e're he goes." Lengths of time they were not used to would be hard not only for the mother, but for the son as well. Despite the hardships they had in the last several months, he set his mother above all in his life until the day he might take for himself a bride. She knew he would miss Adam, the only man he could truly say had fathered him, and his siblings. Yet he talked so much of what the world was like she knew it was his time. "Our sons become men indeed. Ah've not yet said it tae Kendrew, but tae you instead. M'thinks it may bring you a measure o' peace. Long ago it was decided tha' Ah would foster Roric. It is an honor for m'self and Adam tae dae sae, given Roric's father gave of himself until the end. It would be m'most ardent wish tha' after a time has passed here..n' he is deemed ready..he will join Aodhan 'pon the mainland, where they shall gae twixt Turas Lan n' there accordin'. Let them be taegether. I believe Aodhan has nay a fairer n' more loyal friend than Roric beyond his blood, save o' course the Lady Sienna."
The man indeed now talked of military means. Caldean was not so old as Kendrew was, not yet at least. But he, like Kendrew, felt the pain in his bones from abuses. To be vested as his family's keeper was fine with him. He had no taste for the front lines and there were those far more capable to do the task. By now, Brom was now the Queen's active Champion, who would rise for her in all things. Kendrew settled to the training of the men, the keeping of the Talons, and the turning of his own soil. Now for a moment the women were stealing choices their husbands had made. Given a chance to set a little destiny in their own hands.
Liliana
"Aye, as any true heir should know the land and people that he shalll rule over. For it is those people, and the well-being of their lands, that he does his duty toward by sitting upon throne. You and Adam rule fair, thinking not only of yourselves, but of those who inhabit these lands. That is more fair than most monarchs in history past, no? I know that will continue on in Aodhan's own reign as King. Just as I know that any bride he chooses to be Queen? Will be more than suitable." Many had, in past and at times even present, called Aodhan by foul names. Usually they attached equally foul names to his Mother as well, and even at times to those who accepted him. However, as yet, there were more who were accepting of the Ebony Prince. Liliana had never been one to make judgments based on class or color, for those own prejudices had been used to bring her harm throughout life, and Aodhan had been accepted easily into her heart. Just as any of Bess's children.
She loved them as dearly as her own. It would make her heart ache as well to see him leave on his journey. Of course, the idea presented by Bess was one both comfort and ache, for in it they'd both be sending their sons off to the mainland. Having Roric foster with another family, even just Adam and Bess, would bring a pang to the heart... and that was just on Skye soil. To send her son, any who disputed that claim had been made to see the error of their ways, off to so far a place? It squeezed at the heart even more. Yet here was a true and good point.
The boys would both fair far better in the company of the other. Roric would see Aodhan protected just as Aodhan would see Roric, and both could take comfort in the company of each other. Something familiar in a world changing around them. "Well, it would indeed be fitting. They would be at a loss without the others company. Thick as thieves those two."
Liliana couldn't help the smile or amusement that accompanied those words, for it was truth. Mocha eyes briefly glanced down the corridor toward where Kendrew talked with Caldean, but not for permission. Nay. Here they made decisions as mothers were wont to do for the good of their offspring. "That would please me greatly, Bess, and it'd be a great honor for Roric. In this they can learn the land together, as future King and Guardian hmm?" For one could not doubt that one day Roric would protect Aodhan's backside as Kendrew had Bess. They would be dear friends just as their parents, or so they all hoped that would be the way it continued.
Beathag
"Tha' would be my greatest honor, tae have him stand for my son as Kendrew has done fer me fer sae long, n' his father did before his death. Tha' ye have taken him nae as yer nephew, but as yer son stands as testament tae ye Lily." Beathag held a great opinion of how well they kept the son and daughter of Roric the Elder as wards.. A high, esteemed opinion. As they stood their by the window with the world seeming to take no notice of them, the women took all notice of the world. Adam was not there either, but perhaps later all the men would discuss things in their own way. With this moment they sealed a boon. "Twould please me much if ye would be one of the households tha' took Aodhan durin' his time in the Valley. I could nay think 'pon better hands than those hands tha' have been as an aunt n' a sister-mother tae m'own children. It will make things..easier, knowin' tha' he may fer a time take in your family as your son will take in mine. I promise tae see him surroundin' by only the most fittin' o' sorts. We will have more than regular reports o' their health and well bein...more often than most truly get."
As good as she stood there now she would see that they had more to paper than most could want, for no matter their places in the world they were mothers. It set a new custom for a mother to be so involved, especially those of noble rearing who often had not much say in their children either way. Eamonn had mentioned talk of Aodhan's future years before this when he was on the border of nine years old! She hoped that with more time in the family, with more involvement in his life he would take with him the lessons, traditions, and ethics of his house. It was not a mere crown he carried, but his family with him. This was what she wanted to have above all else.
Roric the Younger was a good, fair lad. He had his father's affinity for making the fairer sex weak to their knees and reckoning with the stronger sex just as well. His mind, by now, was filled with things other than lolly gagging. No one could fault the country reared boy for being a laze about. He had pushed a plow just as his father and uncle had, hunted for his own meat, and understood what it took to bring down a stag. Equally, he understood what it would be to bring down an enemy. Kendrew spared him no expense by way of telling him the life of a warrior was not always victory. People he knew would perish young, and many before his eyes. There would be blood he would shed, yet Roric still wanted nothing more than to be as his own father had been, God rest his soul. He saw Kendrew as his father now, and so it was he had two men who had gone on to the knighthood.
Kendrew & Caldean
"I am glad it was you that found me, Kendrew." Caldean didn't speak much of the state of his recovery. He had his share of nightmares still; cold sweats greeted him to waking and he rubbed his arms, imagining them crunched in the stone sarcophagus. There would be a cough from being in the dank that would never go away, and a burden in his mind that he carried by way of the rest of the family's fate. "I am glad it was you and Sir Lucius. I hope to see him again one day. As too, the Horse Lord. I owe all of you a great debt of thanks for being her guardians, her brother, where I could not. I am glad the Horse Lord may claim blood with her, and you have much of her heart. "
Kendrew wandered with Caldean aways from the women, "You belonged not down there. No man did." To this day he did not impart to the fairer sex the full condition of how he found the Lord Caldean and his nephew, Lord Brycean.
Liliana
Even without spoken word Liliana and Bess knew the benefit of having their sons share this journey together. They'd each care for the other as friends, as family, and that too would benefit in receiving news of them. Boys becoming men had a knack for not always sharing the full truth with their, at times, overprotective Mothers. It was a right of passage that all took part in no matter their sex, in truth. This way though they could both find ease that perhaps what one wasn't willing to share, as far as full facts of their well-being, the other would be for them to keep sane the minds of fretting mothers too far away.
"Bess, I would love to foster Aodhan. It would be the pleasure of both Kendrew and I to have him in our home for a time. Roric is my son in every way that matters and Aodhan? Why he is my nephew for you are my sister in every way that matters. I would treat him as well as my own children while he is in our care, and we would see that he learns all that is of import for a young Prince to learn in the valley." There wasn't any need to ask of Kendrew's thoughts on this matter for she knew that he would be pleased as well.
Aodhan was as much family as Roric to her husband for he'd known the young man far longer than she. Mocha eyes lit up and smile softened while she looked out at the world beyond the window. Seeing places farther than the eye could see within the mind. Seeing Scotland and England, and of course France, as she'd seen them, minus all the strife and heartache that accompanied those times, so long ago.
"Do you ever just get this sense, Bess, deep in your bones? A sense that everything is as it was always meant to be. At times it creeps upon me, settles deep inside, that each thing that happened to me was meant to just to lead me to this point. My faith was renewed as far as God goes by Kendrew," A fond memory, of a church and sweet words...and a revelation that brought joy,"yet this is different. I have never truly been one to believe in Fate or Destiny except I think that is what I speak of now."
Beathag
"Aodhan shall be in the company o' the knight her serves and his guard, and with Roric the same we know they be well looked after, aye? Twill be a fine company tha' they be in." Liliana being an aunt to her son, a mother-figure to her boy meant the world. Beathag was more ferocious for the sake of her children than she had ever been on a field of battle. None could say that she turned them over to wet nurses to be suckled, or waiting servants to be reared solely by them. She fed them on her own breast and when that could not be done saw them given only the milk of a mare. She played with them, and often inquired after their tutelage to see that the eldest ones were sufficiently challenged. It was at their family's feet they learned their ancestral languages, stories, and ancestors. To forgo this intimate proximity created such a chasm in the heart. It was sad to consider the fact while each child's place was distinct, special, none could supplement the others place therein. So it was no one would ever be Aodhan to her.
Scotland, England, and France would look in the eyes of their sons so much more magnificent, so full of promise than when their eyes looked at it with jaded pasts clouding the beauty of each shore. It would not rain blood for them at first. No, it would rain real, true, and clear water from God's own hand to soothe them after all their hard work. "Lily, ah've lived by tha' many years. There is such a hand 'ere tha' it can be nothin' but the will of the heaven tha' makes it sae. Tae be here..in Adam's right inheritance. Fer us tae have been intended n' found one another. Tae have children when..we both should have had nay. Now as the years gae by, our children raised sae near taegether will make a grand journey. I feel a great comfort in this. Call it Fate, call it Destiny, iffn ye will. But ye are right. All is right with the world in this."
She breathed out a great sigh of relief. "Come, we gae aye? Let the men stay..as men. We have nay walked taegether in a long, long time. Remember when we walked through the Hall o' Guilds nay long after ye started here?"
