Even the night they had ran off from the Kincaid clan did not make Amhuinn's hands shake as they did now as she ascended the stairwell after their meal. Sounds of people moving around the Keep, as well as those going out could be heard echoing, but the roar in Amhuinn's ears drowned everything else out. Would one usually be so nervous meeting one's own child? As Hammond threw a look over his shoulder at her, he could not see a trace of the defiant minx he had thought she was, and instead saw only a nervous woman who was at a loss of what to do. While the pale yellow dress Gillian had borrowed her fit well on her willowy figure, it was hunched inwards as if Amhuinn was trying to protect herself from an unseen force.
In a way, Hammond could feel what she felt. Through their years of growing up, Hammond had never been particularly close to Gillian. His sister had a brilliant mind that his parents acknowledged, and as much as Hammond would've been loathe to admit, he had been jealous of Gillian's brilliance and how much their father sought her counsel. It took up till he was twenty-five before he began communicating with the then eighteen Gillian, and when their parents passed on three years later, he had felt at a loss of how to father the twenty-one year old young lady, just on the crux of adulthood. Their relationship had been tenuous at best, but they had grown much closer in the recent years since the deaths of their parents.
"Dinna fash yerself, Amhuinn. He's quiet now, and if there had been any issue, Tristan would've came looking fer me." he tried to console. Amhuinn shook her head.
"Isna his wellbeing I am afraid of." she started, still looking blankly at her fingers whilst they stood on the second floor. "I havena seen him since he was a few months old. He wouldna believe I am his mither."
"Then tis time fer the lad ter learn. He canna live his life the way he behaves, or he'll be a horrendous grown up." Hammond reminded.
It was the harsh reality, but it was the truth that Amhuinn had to accept. If she had continued letting Adair remain in Kincaid Castle till he grew up, there would be no hope for her to ever be reunited with her son. Even after four years under the sole care of Dougal MacCallan had turned him into a feisty, mean-spirited kid from what the morning's display had shown Amhuinn. She did not want her son to turn into a reincarnation of Dougal MacCallan. "Nae son of mine would be a mean-spirited bastard." she suddenly bit out.
Hammond was surprised, but pleasantly so. For the first time since they had returned Adair and Tamhas to MacKenzie Keep, he saw a whisper of the headstrong minx he had first met in the woods, and a smile came to his face. "Aye, that's the way lassie. C'mon, lets go and meet yer son."
Steeling her resolve and determination, Amhuinn followed behind Hammond pushing open the door, followed by Tristan into the room. The warrior shut the door behind them, and Amhuinn moved to stand next to Hammond as her blue eyes scanned the room. She had initially expected the small but strong body of her son to fly at them once again as it did this morning struggling for release. She was surprised however, to find one four-year old sitting with a mutinous look on the plain bed, legs crossed underneath him. The large white tunic he wore flared over the short legs like a tent. The dirty blond hair fell in messy waves down his head, but Adair spoke no word as they entered, and merely glared at them until Hammond made the first move.
"Have ye finished yer tantrum now, lad?" he asked.
"Bring me back ter my fither and the Kincaid lands, or my fither would nae let ye go." the boy said with a stubborn turn of his mouth, glaring at Hammond as he crossed his arms. "The Kincaid's hold great power."
"And why do ye wish ter return, Adair?" the elder male asked.
"Tis me fither. He has promised me riches, and the Kincaid land as mine once I grow up. I am ter rule them all." he proudly and arrogantly announced.
Hammond scoffed. "Ye will rule no one if yer attitude is as such. Yer people would hate ye."
"They wouldna! I rule as my fither does. Only if people fear, would they listen." he called out in all the young naivety only a four-year old would have.
Hammond wryly shook his head. "Nae. Ye have much ter learn, and Dougal MacCallan is a poor teacher."
"How dare ye insult me fither! He is the laird of oor clan!" Adair blindly defended.
"Lad, how do ye know that yer fither is a good laird?" Tristan spoke up, raising a brow. He smirked when Adair sputtered, but could give no answer. "O'er here, oor laird works with us, shares his sup with us, puts his clan's safety afore his own comfort. Does ye fither do all of that? Or are ye too spoilt in the castle ter see?"
Again, silence from the boy. Tristan shook his head, and then approached Adair on his bed, crouching down as a sign of peace. "Ye stay here, and ye will learn how yer people can love ye. Once they do, ye will be a great laird, I promise ye."
"Och, nae!" As if in denial, Adair jumped up and shook his head, warily staring at the three of them, not even noticing that Tristan looked mildly hurt. "My fither will be looking fer me. He loves me! He will want me back!"
"How do ye know he loves ye?" Amhuinn spoke up for the first time since they came in. It was like Adair noticed her for the first time when he looked over to find the source of the voice, and his nose crinkled.
"He keeps me away from all who would taint me. I am the only son of the Laird, and fither says I should not associated with serfs, maids or women unless tis ter reassert my male status."
Amhuinn's heart hurt when she heard the words, for she knew then that her son had been brought in by the MacCallan's values after four years of staying with him and only having him as his role model. How was she to undo this?
Hammond however, would stand for none of this, and Adair's last words to Amhuinn was his final straw. "Enough!" his voice reverberated, so menacing that even Tristan flinched, backing out of the way as Hammond stalked towards Adair who now stood at the edge of the bed, and grabbing the boy's wrist. Amhuinn swallowed a whimper when she saw her son flinch, but held herself back when she saw it was not from pain - Hammond's hold was not hard enough to inflict pain but merely to shock, and she knew now that Adair needed that shock to wake him up from his world Dougal MacCallan had created for him.
"Ye will stay in this keep until I see fit. And ye will earn yer keep as ye stay on MacKenzie lands. That means helping out in the Keep." Hammond informed.
"Nae!" Adair resisted, struggling now that the shock had wore done. "I am the Kincaid heir, I dinna need te-"
"Ye can and ye will!" Hammond roared. "Unless ye canna walk or are inflicted with a serious disease, ye will earn yer keep as one of the MacKenzie's."
"Why do ye want me here? Ter work as yer servant?" Adair loudly retorted. In a way, Hammond could see Amhuinn's daredevil personality in her son, although in this situation it was making his job much harder. Glaring at the boy, Hammond was pleasantly surprised to find Adair, young as he was, meeting his gaze head on without flinching.
"Ter learn how ter be a man. If ye grow up following Dougal MacCallan's footsteps, ye are nothing but a rutting coward." Hammond bluntly said. Adair looked as if he wanted to rebuke, but fell silent when Hammond continued. "Ye will learn ter be a man worthy of yer name, and worthy of yer mother's effort fer ye. She has tried to do everything ter get ye back, just so she can make sure ye dinna grow up ter be like the coward bastard yer fither is. Dinna waste her efforts."
"I have nae mither." Adair scowled, a growl worthy of Hammond's for a child his age. "Fither said she had died."
"Ye have a mither, and she is right here." Hammond harshly grabbed the boy by his waist and placed him to face Amhuinn, who now had tears lining her blue eyes. Horror suffused Adair's being, and his jaw dropped open as he stuttered.
"B-but, but... Fither said my mither had died! He said mither died because she was a coward who couldna face life. He said all females are like that. That's why males are the superior species."
Hammond felt like he wanted to wrangle Dougal MacCallan's neck for teaching the child such lies, but reined in his anger as he knelt down, not wanting to scare the child further. "Nae, Adair. Women are to be taken care by us fer they help us. Withoot them, we canna be alone." Hammond said. Adair found it all very hard to take in however, and shook his head,biting his lip.
Hammond sighed. The day wasn't even half over, and he felt completely worn out by then. Straightening up, he motioned at Tristan to come over, and nudged the now weeping Adair to the young warrior. "The lad is now in yer charge, Tristan. See ter it he stays with the pages of the castle, and he is fitted with clothes suitable fer his station."
With that instruction, he headed to walk out of the castle, Amhuinn following in his wake. Once they were out of earshot, Hammond turned and sighed again when he saw the streaks of dried tears on Amhuinn's face. "Dinn-"
"I understand, Laird. I know ye did what is good fer Adair. He has been poisoned by Dougal since I left him. But thank ye fer helping me." Amhuinn spoke before Hammond could start. He raised his brow, and gave her a lopsided smile. "Ye have thanked me countless times since ye came here, lass. Do ye think ye could stop now?'
Amhuinn laughed despite herself, and used the back of her hand to wipe away the remnants of her tears. "I canna help it. Ye have been a great help since I came here, Laird MacKenzie. I'm running out of ways I could repay ye, save helping Evie with her birth. And even that I dinna know if I should consider it a form of repayment fer ye, fer Evie has become a friend ter me."
He raised a brow, surprised that Amhuinn has managed to charm both his cousin and sister in the short few days she had been to MacKenzie Keep. Sensing his question, the blonde responded. "They are friendly, and Evie was eager to make my acquaintance once she found out I knew the healing arts. Yer cousin is very distressed o'er her pregnancy."
"I dinna see why, really. Aunt Mailie had a poor bodily disposition, but Evie is healthy as a horse."he mused.
"One can never be too cautious. Tis her first pregnancy after all." Amhuinn reasoned. "But the matter still remains, Laird MacKenzie. I am heavily indebted ter ye."
"I'll claim one of those debts by insisting that ye call me Hammond. Laird MacKenzie sounds altogether too formal. I do believe I've mentioned that to ye before." Hammond grinned. That, and he loved the way she rolled his named off her tongue. He could almost imagine her repeating that name over, and over again as he- Nae, Hammond MacKenzie, nae when the lass is right in front of ye. His conscience reined his imagination in, and his eyes once again took in the image of the lass in front of him.
Her blue eyes were cold the first few days she had been here. He's heard Tristan compare them to a frigid icy loch in winter, beautiful but deadly. Yet now as he stood in front of her, those blue depths held nothing but warmth, like the blue sky on a summer day, framed by wisps of her streaked blonde hair. Hammond found himself caught by the sudden realisation of how beautiful Amhuinn Kincaid looked like.
"The other, would be permission ter call ye Ammi. I find myself insulted that my sister and cousin get ter use that name with ye, but nae me." he teased.
Amhuinn laughed, but nodded. "O'course. Please do. Amhuinn is a mouthful, but from what Tamhas told me, our parents had a liking fer funny names." Hammond laughed, but contrary to what Amhuinn thought, he laughed because he felt relieved that he finally heard happiness coming from the female, which was an achievement since she's spent the last two days looking worried and broody.
"Tis nae else I could do, L-Hammond? What ye ask seems so little compared to what ye have done fer me." Amhuinn asked again, a hopeful tone in her voice. Hammond considered her words, but shook his head.
"Dinna fash, lass. Adair needs a hard hand, and neither ye nor Tamhas is in the condition to tame the wildchild. I have trained many men, let me have my chance with young Adair. He could prove to be my toughest challenge yet." he grinned.
Amhuinn's heart thudded when she saw the way Hammond took taming her defiant, estranged son as a challenge. Something about the way he grinned sparked the boyish charm in his eyes, accentuated by the way his naturally curly red hair fell like mops across his gaze, made her heart soften. Was this what the lasses meant when they said they were infatuated? Amhuinn was not sure, and from how Tamhas had called her fickle and careless, she was not inclined to believe her own feelings. Yet how else would one describe the way she wanted to help him in anyway, eager to stand as equals next to him, happy to see his smile and afraid to be his burden?
"If there is anything at all, Hammond, do let me know immediately. I would help in anyway possible." Amhuinn settled for replying. Hammond nodded, and then looked down the stairwell. "I'll have ter go off ter the lists to practice. Leave yer son be. I promise ye, Tristan would make sure he isna physically hurt."
Amhuinn laughed at how Hammond specified 'physically hurt', but nodded despite herself. "Aye, I promise ye. Th-"
"Nae thank ye's any more, Ammi." he pressed a finger to her lip. Amhuinn was surprised by how such a simple contact could make her heart hammer, and she mourned the loss of his fingers when he let his arms fall. "I shall see ye at supper then."
She watched as he descended the stairwell, and gave a sigh. "Ye are twenty-eight Amhuinn. Dinna act like a fool." she scolded herself. Turning towards the hallway, intending to look for Gillian, Amhuinn still could not seem to stop herself from looking over her shoulder at where he had just stood, wondering if it was the same for him.