The Castle of Eilean Donan, Spring, 1717

“Tis’ the last of the towers to be completed, tis’ a fine achievement,” Kin said, pointing up to where the last stone had just been set in the tower above them.

Murdina smiled, trying hard not to laugh.

“Ye did it again,” she said, and he looked at her curiously.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Tis’–ye said it, and nae “it is” like ye normally dae. Ye are catchin’ the brogue whether ye like it or nae, laird,” she said, slipping her arm into his.

Kin blushed and began to laugh. They had been master and mistress of Eilean Donan for two years now, and, in that time, they had presided over the rebuilding of the entire castle. When they had arrived, on a late summer’s day, a few weeks after the marriage of Freya and Cillian, the castle had been little more than a shell. But now, it stood proud and resplendent, a keep, surrounded by a curtain wall and four towers, with a gatehouse between two of them. A house had been constructed to run along one of the walls, built in a timber frame, and it would be here they would live, the keep reserved for the clansmen who had rallied around Kin on his return.

“Tis’ a fine sight, laird,” one of them said as they stepped back to survey the building.

“Tis’ a tribute… I mean, it is a tribute to my family. To see Eilean Donan rise from the ashes is to see the possibility of victory for our cause,” Kin said, and Murdina nodded.

“Aye, my father will be pleased to see it,” she said.

“And we shall be pleased to welcome him and yer sisters when they arrive. We are finished just in time,” he said, putting his arm around her.

They made their way back inside, greeting the clansmen who had just descended from the tower, covered in masonry dust.

“A fine job, men, a fine job,” Kin exclaimed.

“Who would have thought when we arrived that this is what would become of the place,” Murdina said, thinking back to the first sight she had glimpsed of the castle when, as newlyweds, they had taken up residence two years previously.

Back then, Murdina had wondered if the task they had set for themselves had been too great, but they had been blessed by fair winds and good fortune, and now, Eilean Donan was rebuilt–the legacy which Kin so passionately spoke of. But they had not forgotten their duty to the cause, and with their signet rings ever on their fingers, each remained a loyal and trusted member of the brotherhood of the knot.

“Today is a day to celebrate,” Kin said as they made their way inside the house.

It was comfortably furnished, a large hallway opening into a dining hall and parlor, their chambers lying up a flight of stairs on a landing above.

“Then we should find a way to celebrate,” Murdina replied, catching kin by the arm, and pulling him into her embrace.

“Will ye still tease me about my brogue?” he asked as their lips met.

“I find it… endearin’, to be honest. Ye are a Scot, even if all those years in the English court turned ye into somethin’ else,” she replied.

“I shall always be laird of my clan. No one can take that honor away from me. In that, I am as much as Scot as you,” he declared.

“A Scot by marriage then, for my blood flows in yer veins, I suppose,” she said, still with her arms around his neck.

“And how happy I am for that,” he said, as now their lips met again.

Murdina felt her passions aroused, and she pulled him closer, running her hands down the small of his back. After two years of marriage, she knew just how to entice him, and, as their lips parted, she bit down ever so gently, her hands now searching out his pleasure.

“Here?” she asked, a mischievous smile playing across her lips.

“No one will disturb us?” he replied as they backed against the wall, and Kin pulled at Murdina’s dress, exposing her breasts, his lips trailing down her neckline.

She allowed the dress to fall to the floor, her hands tugging at his breeches. She wanted him, she desired him, and she knew just how to bring them both the pleasure they desired. His lips traced a trail from her breasts down her stomach, his tongue searching out her pleasure. She arched her back against the wall, biting her lip at the intensity of his touch. A shudder ran through her, that ever-familiar warmth building inside her. She placed her hands on his head, thrusting forward so that his tongue pushed deep inside her, each of them moaning in a shared moment of ecstasy.

“More,” she gasped, and rising to his feet, he lifted her in his arms, her back against the wall as now he thrust himself forward.

Murdina cried out in pleasure as he entered her, his length fulfilling her desires. He held her in his arms, his rhythm strong and steady, their pleasures heightening in this snatched and unplanned moment of encounter. Their eyes were fixed, deep and gazing at one another, their pleasure as one. She pulled him further forward, thrusting her hips, as now he gave a cry, his body shuddering. She felt his seed burst forth, her own ecstasy erupting with such intensity that pulled him forward, their lips meeting in a passioned kiss, breathless from their exertions.

“You certainly wanted that,” he said, and she smiled, blushing as he set her down.

She put her arms around his neck and kissed him, the two of them standing for a moment in silence, enjoying the sensation of their bodies as one. But suddenly, Murdina felt a sharp pain in her stomach, and she cried out, not in pleasure but in distress.

“Oh… Kin,” she exclaimed, and he looked at her in surprise.

“What is wrong? Are you all right, Murdina?” he said, hurrying to help her into a chair in the corner of the hallway.

“It was the strangest feelin’–like a cramp, a sharp pain in my stomach,” she said, clutching at her side.

“We must get you to bed–you must rest,” he said, and he hurried to fetch a shawl, pulling on his breeches as he did so.

Much commotion now ensued. Murdina was able to dress, and Kin summoned several clansmen to assist. They helped her up the stairs to their chambers and into bed. A fire was always kept kindled there, and Kin and the others now stood around the bed, discussing what was to be done.

“Ye must rest, mistress,” one of them said, and the others agreed, but one of the women–an elderly woman, gray-haired and stooped–now stepped forward and looked at Murdina curiously.

“Have ye had these pains before, mistress?” she asked, and Murdina nodded.

“Aye, but I have nae wished to say anythin’–I know what a worry it would have been,” she said, as Kin stared at her in disbelief.

“You were ill, and you did not tell me?” he asked, his eyes growing wide and frightened.

“I did nae want to worry ye–tis’ only a pain, it will pass,” she said, even as she was uncertain of her own words.

“A pain like this will nae pass, mistress–but it will have a happy endin’ to it,” the woman said, and Murdina looked at her in surprise.

“What dae ye mean?” she asked, and the old woman smiled.

“Ye are with child, mistress. Ye are showin’ so a little even now,” she said, and she approached the bed and laid her hand gently on Murdina’s stomach.

“A… a baby?” Murdina exclaimed, and the woman nodded.

“Aye, a bonnie heir for the laird,” she said, stepping back with a smile and glancing at Kin, who looked on in amazement.

“We are to have a baby? An heir? A son?” he exclaimed.

“Or a daughter–a daughter who will be just as worthy as a son,” Murdina replied, raising her eyebrows.

There was much congratulations from the clansmen, and with the fear of Murdina’s mysterious pain resolved, they filed out of the room, leaving Murdina and Kin alone.

“I wish you had told me you were suffering,” he said, coming to kneel at her side and taking her by the hand.

“Ye would only have worried. Besides, I have only felt it a few times. But today… it was worse, I shall admit that,” she said.

“Then you must rest until the day comes. I will hear no protest on your part. You must rest and suffer no excitement,” he said, but Murdina only laughed.

“Am I to be kept in a golden cage? I am nae that kind of woman, Kin, and ye know that well enough,” she said.

He sighed and shook his head, smiling at her as he raised her hand to his lips.

“The legacy will live on; the cause will have an heir. Yer father will be so pleased,” he said.

“And we shall be so pleased, too. Shall we nae? We have come through so much together, and now… to bring a child into the world together. Tis’ only right,” she said, and he nodded.

“What will we call it?” he asked, and Murdina laughed.

“Wait until tis’ born, Kin, but… well, there are two names I can think of even now–Aoife for a girl, and Gilroy for a boy. If this child is to be the legacy we desire, then those seem fittin’ names for one who has much to live up to,” she said.

“They are perfect–just as ye are perfect, Murdina,” he said, and he put his arms around her and kissed her.

Murdina lay back and closed her eyes, grateful for all that had been and all that was to be. This child would be her legacy, the legacy of her and Kin. Theirs was a love forged through hardship, adventure, and strife, and as she thought of the child to be born, she wondered what their life would see and what adventures they would have.

“We have so much to look forward to, Kin,” she whispered as he looked up at her and smiled.

“Another adventure to come,” he replied as their lips met in a kiss.

The End

The battle of Culloden in April 1746 saw the decisive end to the Jacobite rebellion, though even today, there remain those who believe the rightful heir to the English and Scottish thrones is a direct descendant of the Stuart line–the myth of the pretender lives on!

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