Sarah held up a hand. “Now don’t go getting yourself worked up. The lass is fine. Nothing a little rest won’t cure. I’m guessing you didn’t know she was carrying.”

Caelen gave her a blank look. “Carrying what?”

She rolled her eyes. “A babe. She’s pregnant she is.”

Caelen stood there processing what Sarah had just related but he couldn’t quite grasp it. Fury tightened his muscles and he shook his head at his wife’s daring. Sarah obviously thought it an odd reaction to the news, but at the moment he didn’t much care beyond the thought that he was going to blister his wife’s ears just as soon as she’d sufficiently recovered from her current weakness.

He turned to Gannon and pointed at the door. “She is not to leave this room for the remainder of the day, nor is she to rise from her bed. See to it.”

He turned and stalked down the hallway. He had a sudden need to shed some blood. Whose wasn’t of consequence. He’d had enough of the McDonald men and their unseemly reluctance to put in the work required to shape them into a decent fighting force.

’Twas a shame when their mistress was more of a man than they were.

CHAPTER 24

Chapter 25

“Normally I wouldn’t ever encourage gainsaying your husband, but the men think he has done something to harm you, lass, and ’tis the truth they’re not happy over the prospect. If you don’t make an appearance, the laird is likely going to have an unruly mob on his hands.”

Rionna glanced up at Sarah and then pointedly over to where Gannon stood, arms crossed over his chest, as he listened to the conversation.

Sarah cast a look of exasperation in Gannon’s direction.

“You said he didn’t take the news of the babe well,” Rionna said, bringing Sarah back to the matter at hand.

“Now I didn’t say that,” Sarah began.

“But he didn’t,” Rionna persisted.

“I don’t rightly know what his reaction was. He ordered his man to make sure you didn’t rise from bed or leave the chamber and then he stomped down the hall.”

“And you find nothing unusual about such a reaction to siring a child?” Rionna asked sarcastically.

“Give the man time. ’Twas obvious was news he was unprepared for.”

“I wasn’t any more prepared,” Rionna muttered.

Sarah shook her head and muttered under her breath. She stood, shaking her head, and threw her arms up in agitation. “The two of you are dense. Why it should surprise either of you to find you are with child is a mystery to me. It’s not as if you haven’t worked hard enough at it.”

“I wasn’t ready,” Rionna said defensively.