Highland Strength (Book 3)

Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Sheena had no idea what had happened, after a rather formidable but tiny woman had declared she needed to be cleaned up, she had been whisked through a whirlwind of activity in which she had just being dragged through. She had been divested of her kilt and shirt, and she was sure she had heard the tiny woman say something about having the burnt, but she could not even think on it as she had been dragged to another room, where a fire roared and she found herself thrust into a steaming tub of water. The experience would have been wonderful, if not for the presence of hundreds of women…well maybe not that many, but it felt that way.

Some scrubbing at the dirt encrusted upon her skin, and others trying to untangle and soak her hair with fragrances that made her smell…like a girl. It had been a very long time since she had been able to claim anything female in her belongings. The floral scents of lavender, heather and she was even sure rose was in there as well. She could not remember ever having a time before when such aromas surrounded her, and seemed to permeate her very skin, so the light scents travelled with her as she walked.

A dress as been pulled from somewhere, and amazingly fit her to perfection, making the Laird’s wife proclaim it was meant to he hers, as she was placed into the dress and sat so her hair could be tugged and twisted into position, a few sprigs of heather twisted into the locks as the design was created. She was confused over the motives of these women, why were they doing such when they did not even know who she was? Every time she tried to ask, they bombarded her with question on what she thought of the colour, or how she liked her hair, or which flowers were her favourite?

She had to admit there was definitely something to be said for the simple tilting yard, where the men put strength against strength. Aye there may be bawdy comments thrown about, but at least it was easier on the ears, and on the mind, she had no idea which way was up with all the tugging and pulling and pushing. She knew Scott had been put through the same torture, but had gone along with it due to her calming words when he tried to bite on of the women, but once he had been given a brand new plaid and was scrubbed bright pink, he grimaced at the rather white shirt and ran from the room, escaping the elusive hand which tried to catch him. A part of her longed to be able to do the same, heaving a sigh, she only hoped he had gone to find reinforcements. The thought had given her enough humour to make it through the rest.

Had she really been so out of the loop of being female that she did not even know half of the things they wished to do…or rather did and then explained why afterwards. It was with a feeling that an entire layer of herself had been scrubbed, boiled and plucked away from her that she was finally allowed out of the room of torture, and allowed to descend once more to the main hall which she had only a glimpse of before being whisked above…and here she was thinking most Keeps had their dungeons and torture rooms below ground. And usually had males in charge of that area, instead the women were seemingly the MacKay’s most deadly occupants.

Thinking of Hamish, Iain, Artair and even Aonghus being the enforcers of Mackay land. Causing fear to spike through any man who heard they would be up against them in battle, and yet in their own Keep, upon their own land, she could see each and every one being struck down by the women they cared for. And she knew they did, cared deeply about their land, and their women and bairns. She had seen the way Hamish and Laird Camdyn had talked off their women, comparing the advancement of their bairns and what they hoped for them in the future. A small part of her even hoped that Aonghus thought of her that way, but that was probably too much to ask for after all the situations she had placed him in over the last…she frowned, how long had it been now? Summer was just around the corner, and the snows were still melting on the ground when he had first landed on the back of her horse.