…

XX.

"In the stable?" Margaret whispered with wide eyes, but Elizabeth would swear that her sister almost seemed proud at the confession.

Elizabeth smiled and felt her cheeks warm at just the memory of hers and Daryl's time in Fowler's stall, two nights prior. She nodded. "The Laird had gifted us with a bed for our marriage, but… you told me that the first time would hurt and I did not wish to cry out and make too much noise in our chamber where others would be able to hear. I wanted it to be just the two of us and… The stable would be able to give us a bit of privacy."

She still couldn't shake the feeling that someone had been watching her and Daryl in their intimacy, but she had managed to nearly convince herself that it had just been her imagination.

Nearly.

But honestly, who would have been watching them and why would they have been watching her and Daryl? Elizabeth could not think of any answer to either of those questions and she certainly hadn't brought it up to Daryl. She wasn't sure how he would react. Either, he would find her to be completely crazy and write off her concerns as a woman's overreactive imagination or he would believe her and instantly go into overdrive to figure out who the culprit spying on them was.

Elizabeth admitted that she wasn't sure which reaction she wanted from her husband.

On one hand, she knew it would feel wonderful to be believed and have a husband willing to do anything to protect her, but on the other hand, she didn't wish there to be a need to protect her from anything.

"And did it hurt?" Margaret asked, cutting into Elizabeth's wandering thoughts.

"It did," Elizabeth replied honestly with a nod of her head. "But…" she paused and couldn't help, but sigh and give a faint smile. "He was so wonderful," she heard herself whispering and Margaret smiled, too. "He probably would never believe me if I told him that to his face, but Margaret…"

"I love you, too, wife."

She could still hear Daryl whispering those words to her and she knew now that there were no better words in all of their known language to ever be strung together and spoken in a sentence.

Daryl loved her. Her husband loved her and it had been something she had wanted to be true so badly that when it had come true and Daryl had said that to her, she still found herself wondering if these past few moons of marriage to him had all just been a dream and she would wake to find herself still being Judith's nursemaid and Daryl would still be in charge of the Garrison and they would have nothing to do with one another.

Elizabeth couldn't even imagine a life anymore if she wasn't married to Daryl and he wasn't at her side.

Margaret looks to the smile on her sister's face and it makes her smile, too. She leans forward and pulls Elizabeth into a tight hug and Elizabeth feels almost silly for feeling tears in her eyes, and yet, she can't seem to help herself.

She had been so young when her mother died and Margaret had stepped into that role without complaint or even a hint of hesitation. Elizabeth knew that the person she was today was because of her sister and Elizabeth didn't know how she would be in this life if she hadn't had her older sister.

"Will you be making me an aunt soon?" Margaret asked once their hug ends.

Elizabeth let out a laugh. "Me? When are you and Glenn going to make me an aunt?" She asked in return.

She meant it to be teasing, but the smile slowly spreading across Margaret's lips made her gasp.

"Truly?" Elizabeth couldn't help, but exclaim and Margaret laughed and smiled, her head nodding quickly, and Elizabeth let out another exclamation of excitement before launching herself at her sister for another hug and Margaret laughed again.

Elizabeth still felt a buzzing coursing through her veins when she and Daryl left her father, Margaret and Glenn at the inn and begun their walk back through the village to the Keep.

"A baby," she said, almost dreamily.

"I think it might have been the flowers you gave her," Daryl remarked with a slight twist of his lips and Elizabeth beamed, her hand sliding into his and holding on. "Want to go pick any before we head back?"

Elizabeth was not an idiot and she knew that speaking about babies wasn't something Daryl necessarily wanted to do; thinking it would lead to a discussion of when they would have their own. And Elizabeth supposed there was nothing new they could say on the matter. Her wanting to be a mother to her own baby was far from a secret and she knew that having a child of his own was not something that Daryl thinks of that often. She didn't know that if she did become with child, his reaction would be of one of happiness or anger.

She worried of her husband and what the future would bring. Carl marrying Laird Phillip's daughter, Penny, was to ensure safety and peace between the two families and lands, but Elizabeth – naïve as others thought she was – knew that nothing of the sort was ever guaranteed. Anything could happen. Unrest and violence could erupt as suddenly as an afternoon thunderstorm.

And when such a thing happened, her husband would be the one, leading the charge into the battle.

Perhaps he wasn't wrong in not wanting a child. Perhaps his view was not the wrong one to have. If he was to fall in battle, leaving her a widow, would Elizabeth truly want to be in this world without him, having to raise their child on her own? Elizabeth couldn't even imagine living herself if anything was to ever happen to this man at her side and she didn't know if she was strong enough to go on without him.

"I can hear you thinking," Daryl commented, looking down to her.

Elizabeth shook her head, not planning on telling him what had been in her mind just now. Today was a happy day. Her sister was having a baby, she was walking with her husband, who she loved and who loved her, and she was not going to let any kind of dark thought cloud the sun shining on her.

"I would love to pick some flowers," she smiled to him and Daryl gave her hand a squeeze. "We should go get Fowler to bring him as well. Do you think, that when Laird Phillip, Lady Andrea and their men come in a fortnight, I could manage to hide myself from anyone seeing me?" She abruptly changed the subject.

She asked the question with a smile, meaning to be making light of the situation – or at least attempt to – but Daryl did not smile. In fact, his lips turned downwards heavily.

"No man is going to come near you," he told her in a fierce tone that she knew did not mean to be directed towards her. "I will speak to Richard. Maybe you could stay down here at the inn for as long as they're here."

Elizabeth knew it wasn't exactly the most appropriate reaction, but she found herself smiling anyway at the idea of it. "I cannot keep Lady Judith in a village's inn while such important guests are visiting."

Daryl snorted at that. "Phillip and his wife aren't important guests."

"Shhhhhh!" Elizabeth quickly shushed him, tugging on his hand and pulling him into a small space between two huts in the village. "You can't say things like that where anyone can hear you, Daryl," she lectured him, frowning up at him. "You are the Laird's brother in all ways that matter, but you can't just insult another Laird out in the open."

Daryl frowned to her and crossed his arms over his chest. "Do I suddenly look like someone to you, wife, who gives a shit of others hearing what I say?"

Elizabeth gasped at that and smacked a hand against his chest.

She knew she probably looked completely aghast at his words and whatever her facial expression was, it made Daryl's frown begin to disappear.

"Please be careful when they're here," Elizabeth said. "Please, Daryl? Do not cause trouble for either Laird and jeopardize the match between Carl and Penny. Laird Richard seems to think this is a good thing."

Daryl looked at her and she wasn't sure he would say anything.

"I think Richard is putting a lot of stock in this marriage agreement between the two," he said.

"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked, her brow furrowed at that.

Daryl shrugged his shoulders, but Elizabeth kept looking at him, waiting for him to say something more because he couldn't say something like that and not further add to it.

"Laird Phillip, as you know, is not a good man," Daryl said. "And I'm not going to pretend that him being here is some special event."

Elizabeth was quiet, letting that roll around in her mind for a moment before she could think of what to say in response. She may not have liked Laird Phillip – she would not say she hated the man for hating anyone was a sin – but she didn't know Lady Andrea or their daughter, Penny, enough to have any sort of opinion on either of them. Was Daryl insinuating that Lady Andrea was as her husband or was he saying that he thought Laird Phillip would somehow go back on the agreement between Carl and Penny?

Elizabeth admitted that she was still learning of these kinds of things. She was a nursemaid. Her life – every day and every night – was consumed with Judith and caring for her. She had very little interaction with those who were not involved with Judith's life so honestly, besides Laird Richard, Lady Lori, Carl and Carol in the kitchen, Elizabeth was rather ignorant of the other happenings around the Keep.

Visiting Laird Phillip's Keep and being pinned down to the ground by that man before Daryl had killed him right on top of her had been a great shock to her in more ways than one.

Daryl might not think it of himself, but her husband was an important man. Not only as the Captain of the Garrison, but as Laird Richard's brother and Daryl was very much involved in so many important matters – whether he thought they were important or not.

"Is Laird Phillip going to go against his word to Laird Richard, do you think?" Elizabeth guessed.

"He better not if he values his life and the life of his men," Daryl replied – simply and shortly – and even when she didn't know him, she had never been afraid of him, but now, Elizabeth felt a shiver down her spine from his words. His voice sounded so empty; void of anything.

This man had already killed for her and she did not doubt that he would kill again without a second thought if she – or anyone else from their Keep – was possibly in danger. Still though, she did not like to think of her husband as a killer.

"Let's go pick flowers," Elizabeth said, reaching out and touching his arm so he would uncross them, and when he did, she took hold of one of his hands.

"I don't want you to be scared when they come," Daryl told her as they resumed their walk once again.

She nearly assured him immediately that she wouldn't be, but that wouldn't be telling the truth and telling any sort of lie was also a sin and what would be the point of committing a sin when it could be so easily avoidable. Daryl would know it wasn't the truth the instant the words left her lips. The truth was, she would be scared and she didn't doubt it because Laird Phillip was a man who used his position to easily scare. There were men just like him everywhere and Elizabeth didn't doubt that there always would be.

Elizabeth held onto his hand tightly and did her best to ignore the butterflies in her stomach; the butterflies she knew which would be there until long after Laird Phillip had already left again.

"I can't be scared if you're with me," Elizabeth said honestly.

Daryl looked to her and gave her a small smile and Elizabeth was easily able to return it.

For a moment, she nearly told him her fears of someone watching them, but at the last moment, she – again – decided not to. What could he do? She still didn't even know if someone had actually been watching them or not and why open that door unless she was absolutely certain? Daryl would have enough things on his mind for the next few weeks and the last thing Elizabeth wanted to do was add to it.

…

Remember this one? I've been in a "medieval" mood lately and wanted to come back to this story. I know it's been a long time, but I think I'm ready to move this one forward again. Also, I honestly hate what I have done to "Someone New" so while I'm figuring out how to fix it, I wanted to work on this one. Thank you so, so much for reading!