"I wish I had jewelry," Fiona sighed wistfully.
Alix reached into the bag and drew out a long strand of pearls.
"These were my mother's," she told the child as she looped them twice over Fiona's head. "You may have the loan of them only, but they do show nicely on your red velvet."
Fiona flung herself at Alix and wrapped her little arms about the older woman's neck. "Oh, Alix, I do love you! I wish you were my mother! Thank you!"
Alix hugged the little body against hers back. "I love you too, Fiona," she said. Then she untangled them, saying, "We must return to the great hall. The queen will certainly have come by now, and your father will be wondering what happened to us." Taking Fiona's hand in hers, Alix led them downstairs and back to the hall.
Marie of Gueldres was already there and in light conversation with the laird. She was a lovely woman of medium height who still retained a good figure despite the six children she had born her late husband. Her complexion was a light olive and tone, and her hair was jet black. She had fine amber-colored eyes. She was known to be intelligent, educated, and devout.
Alix led Fiona to where the queen and the laird sat. Then she waited politely to be acknowledged. The widowed queen did not wait. She turned almost immediately, smiling at them. The laird came at once to his feet and drew his child forward.
"Madame, this is my daughter, Fiona," he said.
Fiona curtsied prettily as Alix had taught her.
"What a lovely child she is, my lord," Marie of Gueldres said. "Welcome to Ravenscraig, Fiona Scott. We are pleased to see you."
"Merci beaucoup, madame la reine," Fiona answered easily.
"Vous parlez Français, m'enfant?" Queen Marie smiled.
"Oui, madame, un peu," Fiona said.
"Très bon!" the queen replied, and then she laughed.
"And my daughter's companion is Mistress Alix Givet," the laird said.
Alix curtsied a deep court curtsy.
"You did not learn to curtsy like that anywhere but in a court, Mistress Givet," Queen Marie noted, curious. "In what court were you raised?"
"In the court of King Henry and his good queen, Margaret of Anjou," Alix replied politely. She realized the laird had said nothing of her background to the queen, leaving that up to her. Alix was grateful for his thoughtfulness.
"And what brought you there?" Queen Marie wanted to know.
"I was born there, madame. My mother was a lady-in-waiting to Queen Margaret, who is my godmother. My father was the queen's personal physician. They are both now deceased, God assoil their souls," Alix said, crossing herself piously.
The Scots queen crossed herself as well in a gesture of respect. "But how came you to the household of the Laird of Dunglais?" she asked Alix.
"I had traveled into Scotland and became lost upon the moor. The laird's men found me and brought me to him. As he has no wife and his daughter's nursemaid was elderly, the child needed to be educated in a manner befitting her station as the laird's heiress; he asked me to remain at Dunglais and care for Fiona. I am recently widowed, madame, and to be candid, his offer was the answer to my prayers. The husband my godmother had seen me wed to had died but seven months after our marriage was celebrated. I was planning to find her, but the truth is in her current condition she would not have been able to take me back into her household. That is why the laird's offer was such a blessing."
"But why would your husband's family not give you refuge?" The queen was curious and surprised.
"My husband's father had no other heirs," Alix said. "He sought to marry me himself, madame, which is why I left. He is a good man, but he was my husband's father. I felt it went against the laws of the church and of nature that he desired such a thing of me. But he sent the house priest to the archbishop at York for a dispensation. When I told him the archbishop would certainly not grant it, my husband's father said he had sent a large purse with his priest as a bribe. That is when I knew I must leave, and so I did."
"And you were perfectly just in doing so!" Queen Marie said. "Desperate men, however, will do desperate things, I fear, Mistress Givet. You are most welcome to Ravenscraig."
Alix curtsied again, and knowing she was dismissed, moved away with Fiona.
"She's lovely," the queen noted.
"She is good for my daughter," the laird answered.
The queen smiled a small smile but said nothing further.
"Tell me, madame, why have you called me to you?" Malcolm Scott inquired. "There is certainly nothing I have that can be of value to you or our young king. I am nothing but a simple border lord."
"You have a knowledge of guns, my lord," the queen said. "I wish to fortify this castle and arm it. Sitting on the edge of the Firth of Forth, it is vulnerable to attack."
"There are others who have a greater knowledge of canon than I do," the laird replied modestly.
"But I know I may trust you completely, for you were my husband's old and good friend, my lord. My position is precarious, now for my son, the king, is only a little boy. You know what happened to his father in a similar situation. I stand between him and the horrific childhood his father had. Bishop Kennedy has his own agenda, and only I can keep him at bay, making certain his loyalty remains with my son. But there are those among the earls and other lords who would kidnap the king given the opportunity and use him for their own power base. That is why I would make Ravenscraig impenetrable to any who would attack it. And you can tell me what weaponry I will need, for I know for a fact that you have no loyalties other than to yourself, my lord."
"And to Scotland, madame," the laird murmured softly with a small smile.
She returned the smile. "And to Scotland," she agreed. It was silently understood between them that Scotland meant the young king, James III.
"I will advise you as best I can," he told her.
"Good! My uncle of Burgundy has agreed he will have the canon I need cast and delivered here to the beach below the castle. He will also send men to install the canon."
The Laird of Dunglais nodded. "Has Martzioun built you battlements?" he asked.
"Aye, he is constructing them now," the queen answered.
"I will want to inspect them to make certain they are sturdy enough to hold the guns you will need," the laird told her.
"Tomorrow is time enough," Queen Marie said. "In the meantime, let us pretend I have simply asked my husband's old companion for a visit because I am feeling nostalgic. I have all the children here with me. You daughter must meet them. How old is she?"
"She will be seven in December," the laird said.
"My son Alexander is eight, and his brother David is six. They will need wives one day, my lord."
"And you will need greater names for them than mine," he replied with an amused smile. "You can do better for them than a border heiress." She did not need to bribe him. He would help her for the friendship he had had with her husband.
"You must wed again and have sons," Queen Marie said.
"So my housekeeper tells me." The laird chuckled.
"Your daughter's companion would make you a good wife. Her bloodline is respectable," Queen Marie noted thoughtfully. "And your daughter loves her, or perhaps you had not noticed it. However, seeing how well she does with your daughter I wonder if she might not make a good addition to my own household. My daughters are still babies, but Mistress Givet is just the sort of young woman I would want in their nursery influencing them. And her French is excellent, of course. Still I would repay you ill if I stole her away from you, my lord." Queen Marie smiled mischievously.