Highlander Enchanted

Chapter Twelve

Isabel paused in the doorway of the Great Hall, drawn by the sounds of gaiety and laughter. The merry seillie of clan MacLachlainn had formed a circle in the center of the Hall and were dancing. The music of a lute and harp filled the air and was accompanied by clapping. The MacDonald's, wet and tired, were being drawn in slowly, some clapping and some rising to join the dancers.

Even Lord Richard and his knights were smiling as they watched from their table, seeming at ease in a hold they had not wished to enter earlier.

The longer she stood, the more relaxed she, too, became. Food was forgotten, and the wine cups empty. His guests did not seem to notice. Harp music, beautiful and soothing, wound through her senses and filled her with a sense of peace she had not experienced in a very long time. She began to think it was seillie magic causing everyone to smile when they had little reason to.

"Lady Isabel."

She turned and blinked away the spell, recalling where she had been headed before lured to the Hall by its music. Her handmaiden, the freckled girl with copper hair, stood grinning behind her. Her hair was in no less than six braids, the same amount she had placed in Isabel's hair earlier in the day.

She held out her hands for the load of wool blankets Isabel held.

"Oh, thank you," Isabel said and handed them off. "It is good of your cousins to make merry with the MacDonald's. They have endured much today, and there is little room for them here."

"We love t'dance and sing!" Fianna said and skipped down the hallway. "'Tis in our nature!"

Isabel gave a tired smile. She was at least grateful for the music in the Hall occupying those who had nowhere to sleep yet. She trailed Fianna into a large parlor near the entrance of the keep and began helping her build small pallets beside one another. Estimating how many would fit, she determined they would need more rooms, perhaps those bedchambers on the second floor of the keep. She both dreaded and rejoiced at the idea of putting Richard and his knights into two chambers instead of five.

"Lady Isabel," Brian called from the doorway.

"Yes?"

"We have meat fer four days and grain for ten," he reported.

"Four days and ten?" she repeated, eyebrows lifting. "How did you plan to survive the winter?"

Fianna giggled. Brian cleared his throat. "This willna be our home come winter."

Was she supposed to speak about her discussion with Cade?

"We had planned on Cade wedding th' MacDonald lass so we had a home."

She studied him. "You have nowhere to live."

"Not if Laird Duncan keeps the MacDonald's land!" Fianna said in a sing-song voice, oblivious to the danger of having no shelter in winter. "Cade will find us a home. He always does!"

"Of course," Brian agreed with a quick smile at the girl. He motioned for Isabel to join him in the hallway. "We havena the supplies for those who are injured."

"Marie does not need supplies," she said.

"My Lady," he said severely, "we canna use her magic. No one can ken what we are. Cade alone decides who we tell."

"If your laird will not permit it, then we will find material for bandages," she said and began walking down the hallway. "Old clothing? Kitchen rags? Drapery?"

Brian considered. "Yea, Lady Isabel, we can strip the windows."

"Then do it and tell Laird Cade to keep the rain outside."