The Flower of Scotland

Chapter 12

"Gregory, ye look better than I thought ye would!" Ruairi said as he watched his old friend walk from different groups of men to assure them of his well being.  "Ru, to be honest, I don't if that is a compliment or not. Coming from you, I would imagine there was snark behind it."  Gregory smirked.  Ruairi dramatically gasped in response, "What now? Me? When have ye ever know ME to be snarky Gregory MacRae?"  Gregory opened his mouth to respond and Ru interrupted, "Actually don't answer that."  Gregory let out his breath in laugh, "I thought not.  Why don't you be useful and tell me if there is anyone else I reassure of my being alive to."  Ru glanced at the list in hand and was certain Gregory had spoken with everyone. Everyone Scottish that is; Ru had yet to mentioned that the English inquired about that month's taxes but heard Gregory had been badly injured instead.  Ru knew very well Gregory wouldn't like the idea of them coming back to town to investigate.  "Aye, that was everyone on the list.  But ye may want to leave some room in yer calendar to meet with, oh I don't know, a designated English general to assure them you're not dead and your land is not up for grabs."  Gregory stopped in his tracks and slowly turn to face Ruairi.  "What did ye say?"  Knowing he was going to be in big trouble, Ru sighed and braced himself.  "I said, ye may want to make sure you're available to meet with the English. They heard ye got badly injured when it was time to come by for taxes. So instead of us paying them, they are paying us a visit...soon."  Gregory cleared his throat, "Soon?  Ruairi, how soon is soon?"  Ru straightened and shook his head, "Tomorrow."  "TOMORROW? Tomorrow!  You are saying we will have an English fleet in our gates tomorrow and yer telling me this NOW?"

Ruairi understood why he was irritated, he had only known late last night himself!  Gregory wasn't so much mad at Ru as he was this entire situation; first someone got past the gates and attacked them and now the English were coming for dinner. How wonderful...  Gregory composed himself and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.  "Ru how long have ye know this?"  Ruairi came over to stand beside Gregory, "Early this morn before the sun even rose.  Erick's son ran over to my home in the middle of the night to tell us since he got word some Englishmen were spotted not even a day's ride out."  Gregory nodded and began to think through all of the ways he could meet with them for as little as possible.

...

The afternoon went by and Gregory finally returned home, notedly not in the best of moods.  Mrs. Aileas was waiting for him in the kitchens and as soon as she spotted him, she knew he was not in high spirits.  "Oh well now, what is it?" She asked, not even bothering to say hello.  Gregory frowned and sighed, "Those English savages are paying us a visit. All because they heard I got hurt, the first chance they have on this land, they're taking it. But over my dead body!"  Mrs. Aileas nodded and listened, anxious to let him know that Aine was busy readying herself for a nice dinner with him.  "Aye well I think I have something that could take yer mind off of all that.  I arranged for you and Miss Aine to have dinner tonight...alone."  Gregory ceased all train of thought and slowly turned his head to face the woman who had watched him grow from a lad to a man.  She was always meddling!  And always at the worst possible times.  "Well how thoughtful of you but I am afraid I can't make it."  Gregory made his way to head upstairs when he heard Mrs. Aileas call after him.  "Gregory!  She is under the impression that YOU invited her to dinner so I am afraid ye can't miss this."  Wide eyed, he looked at her with an incredulous expression.  "Ye did what now?"  Unbelievable!  She smiled sweetly and nodded her head as if she understood exactly what she had done but did not feel any shame.  "Yes, I know it's short notice but I think it will be good for you, Gregory. Now get up there, get dressed and be ready in a hour, young man!"  Gregory was stunned but knew not to argue.  He begrudgingly made his way upstairs.  I am Laird of this keep and a grown man, dammit! He thought to himself.

Aine hadn't taken long to get ready, she settled on a blue dress decided to keep her hair mostly out; she wasn't too sure what to do with it anyway.  Pleased with how she looked, she stared at her necklace and breathed a deep sigh.  If only she knew something that could help her make her way back home, her family must've been worried sick seeing as she has now been gone for a few weeks. Though not quite a month, it warranted some concern.  Aine made her way to the stairs when she saw Gregory leave his room.  He was dressed quite nicely, she hadn't seen him in anything like what he was wearing.  He wore a very nice white blouse and his business kilt as she called it, with his sword adorning his side.  Business casual hadn't really been invented just yet so this was her way of knowing how to dress for each occasion.  His hair, too, look freshly washed and brought back into a ponytail.  Gregory truly did look very handsome but his facial expression did not match. Was he tired or upset about something?  She slowly made her way to him and cleared her throat.  "Uh, Gregory?  Is everything ok?"

Gregory turned to see Aine standing next to him looking as if she waited for him to say something.  Did she say something first? Did he not hear her?  Gregory sighed, exhausted, and blinked his eyes.  "I'm sorry lass, did ye say somethin?"  Aine quirked her eyebrow up and observed him even closer.  "Is everything ok?  You look like someone killed your dog."  Unsure of what she meant, he did his best to respond.  "Aye, lass, I'm alright.  I do not have a dog but I can assure you none were harmed...that I know of.  Just tired is all."  Aine nodded and appeared to be satisfied with his answer.  "Oh, well I mean we don't have to do dinner!  We can always eat together some other time."  Aine suggested.  Gregory shook his head, "No no, Aine. I would enjoy having your company for dinner."  Aine shifted her weight from side to side and nodded her head.  "Alright, well...if you insist."  Aine descended the staircase with Gregory close behind her.  They went to the table and waited as their food came to them.  At first they ate in silence but it was quickly interrupted by Aine silently giggling.  Gregory paused mid bite and looked up to see her laughing.  "Aine, what is so funny?"  She bit her lip and pointed to his hair, "You have some hair dangling and I have watching to see if you would accidently take a bite out of it."  Caught off guard by her remark, he scoffed at how amused she really was by this.  "Well it is quite long, it gets in the way but it's never been a hazard."  Aine smiled and shook her head; she got up to get closer to him and she took the few strands of hair and gently swept it away from his face to tuck it back into his ponytail.

Aine was so close to him, he just sat still unsure of what to do next.  She smelled of lavender and honey and it was intoxicating.  It was such a small but intimate gesture, no one had touched his hair in years.  He then haphazardly glanced down at her lips and back up to her eyes before she could notice.  They sat in silence in front of each other for a brief moment before they noticed one of the stable hands nervously appeared from behind the wall and ran to Gregory's side.  The boy nodded his head at Aine shyly and she smiled back at him.  Then the boy whispered something in his ear.  Gregory's eyes went wide and he immediately stood up and excused himself.  Stunned and slightly curious, Aine got up as well to see what it was that appeared to be wrong.  Aine picked up her skirts to keep up with Gregory but the sight before them left them astounded.  There was a figure standing on the other side of the door and he looked battered and beaten but still alive. It was a man with dark brown hair and cuts all over his body. He was standing doubled over with only the help of a tall walking stick. He looks over at Aine and their eyes meet. He looked familiar and completely foreign at the same time.  Gregory quickly made his way to help the man and ushered him inside.  He looks so familiar...do I know him? Aine thought to herself.