Forbidden Heart (Hearts of the Highlands #6) - Paula Quinn Page 0,71

green and closed her eyes.

“Elysande,” Silene pushed forward. “Are you…”

His cousin nodded and then heaved.

Was she what? Galeren wanted to know.

“I will be fine in a moment,” Elysande said between doubling over and more dry heaves.

“Nonsense, we will not leave you.”

Galeren liked Silene’s willingness to help. She had done it for everyone. Even Morgann.

“D’ye want us to get Raphael or one of the nurses?” he offered.

“No,” she insisted. “I am well. ’Tis just that…”

“What?”

“I am with child.”

His gaze fell to her flat belly and then he smiled and embraced her again.

“I will tell my husband tonight when we are alone and in our bed. I just need a wee bit of fresh air and rest.”

“Of course,” Silene reassured her calmly. “Is this yer first babe?”

El laughed. “’Tis our sixth.”

Silene looked surprised and then she smiled when El insisted they go inside.

“How d’ye feel?” Galeren asked Silene when they were alone.

“She was very nice,” she told him. “I’m sure the rest will be the same way.”

He shrugged his shoulders and walked away. “Eh, I dinna know aboot that.”

She pinched his sleeve and pulled him back to her. “Will you protect me from the mean ones?” she whispered, tilting her lips to his ear.

“With my life,” he promised and turned his lips to hers.

The front doors opened and a handsome giant stood on the other side.

Chapter Seventeen

The savage Highland warrior was bigger even than Padrig. He wore his pale blonde hair cut close at his temples with a dangling tail in the back. His eyes were as blue as the sea, his shoulders as wide as oceans.

Thankfully, he looked quite happy to see Galeren.

Beside him was a much smaller woman patting her hair. When she looked up, her cheeks were bright pink.

“Little brother!” The Highlander pulled Galeren into a tight embrace. “We were worried aboot ye when we heard aboot the Black Death.”

“I am well, Bors,” he promised and then introduced Silene to him.

Bors cleared his throat and introduced her to Constance, from the village. Come,” he told them. “Everyone will be pleased to have ye home. Tristan has also returned. ’Tis a blessed night.”

“When you say everyone,” Silene asked him. “How many do you mean exactly?”

Galeren’s brother laughed. “Not many really. Ye missed supper—though I’m sure somethin’ will be brought in fer ye. We are goin’ to our uncle Cain’s solar. ’Tis just the immediate kin by now.”

Silene swallowed. She knew from Galeren’s stories that number was high.

She wouldn’t be afraid. God was giving her back a family. The bigger the better it would be.

She stayed behind when Galeren stepped into the solar. She needed a moment more to prepare. His parents were inside, and not only them, but his uncles and aunts, his cousins.

She felt ill, but strangely…calm.

They were happy to see him. She could hear his mother ask him what had happened, as if some kind of motherly instinct came alive in her and she knew things no one else knew. A few more words with his mother and then a man’s voice.

Galeren was there, appearing through the doorway to take her hand and pull her in.

She stepped into a large room decorated with tapestries depicting three stags, and running deer, gardens, all embroidered in warm, rich tones. The fiery hearth was built against the north wall. Polished wooden chairs were set by windows or by the fire. Some were positioned together, while others were alone with a small table of books nearby.

There were men and women sitting and standing, with children running around them.

Every eye fell to her but all their faces blurred as Galeren urged her forward. She would not faint. She would not faint. She heard someone’s shocked whisper. “They are holdin’ hands!” And another’s saying, “Aye. A captain and novice!”

Galeren held up his hand to quiet them. “She needs to stay here fer a wee bit. Fer protection.”

“Who would hurt a nun?” a dangerous Highlander said in a low, bear-like voice.

An old priest stepped around one of them and offered her a consoling smile. He was bald, with weathered skin, large, clear, sable eyes and a kind smile. Father Timothy.

“She is not a nun yet,” Galeren was quick to point out—and not for the first time. “I intend to offer her a different life.” He smiled and shrugged. “We shall see what she chooses.” Everyone cheered and it made her want to be a part of this family, cheering for love.

“In the meantime,” Galeren went on. “She has an enemy and he might show up