Read Song of the Highlands: The Cambels (The Medieval Highlanders) Online
Authors: K.E. Saxon
Tags: #adventure, #intrigue, #series romance, #medieval erotic romance, #medieval romance, #alpha male, #highlander romance, #highland warrior, #scottish highlands romance, #scottish highlander romance, #medieval highlands romance
Song of the Highlands: The Cambels (The Medieval Highlanders) (2 page)
Sruighlea
\ Stree-lye
\: ancient burgh of Stirling. Scottish Gaelic.
Sverð of Óðinn
\
Svairth ahv OhthiN \: Lit: Sword of Odin. (This expletive was
completely contrived by the author, and has no proof of historical
merit, as far as she has been able to find.) Old Norse.
Matins
\ MATT'-inz \:
“Sunrise Prayer”. The second of the seven canonical prayers, fixed
at sunrise
Mildr
\ Mill-der \:
Generous. Old Norse.
Napron
\ na-prau \:
Apron. Middle English.
Nones
\ nohnz \: The
fifth of the seven canonical hours, or the service for it,
originally fixed for the ninth hour of the day (or 3 p.m.).
Pasche
\ păsk \:
Medieval term for Easter or Passover.
Regnum Aragonum
\
rai-nyum ah-reh-gon-uhm \: Latin “Kingdom of Arragon”.
Samhainn
\ sah-win \:
All Hallows Day.
Scut
\ skuht \: a
short tail, especially that of a hare, rabbit, or deer, from old
Norse
skutr
. A medieval slang term for female genitalia.
Seed wool
\ seed wool
\: Cotton wool not yet cleansed of its seeds.
Sext
\ sekst \: The
fourth of the seven canonical hours, or the service for it,
originally fixed for the sixth hour of the day taken as noon.
Sìdh Chailleann
\
shee haaly-unn \: Schiehallion is a prominent mountain in Perth and
Kinross. The name Schiehallion is an anglicised form of the Gaelic
name
Sìdh Chailleann
, which is usually translated as “Fairy
Hill of the Caledonians”
.
Svanfríðr
\
svahn-fri-thra \: Beautiful swan. Old Norse.
Tarse
\ tahrss \:
Medieval term for penis.
Terce
\ turs \: The
third of the seven canonical hours of the divine office, originally
fixed at the third hour of the day, about 9 a.m.
Uachdar Àrdair
\
ooh-ahkgh-ar aar-dare \: The town of Auchterarder. Scottish
Gaelic.
Uisge Abha
\ ishka
ahva \: River Awe. Scottish Gaelic.
Uisge Beatha
\ ishka
beyha \: Lit: “Water of Life”, a.k.a. whisky.
Uisge Theamhich
\
ishka haym-ekh \: River Teith. Scottish Gaelic.
Whitsonen Day
\
hwit-sahn-en dey \: Whitsunday, Pentecost. A major holy day and
festival celebrating the descent of the holy spirit to the
apostles.
Widow’s Terce
\
wid-ohs turs \: Not to be confused with the religious term for the
third canonical hour. In Scots Law, immovable property bequeathed
by the husband to his widow upon his death.
Sources
:
Covington, Michael A. “Latin Pronunciation
Demystified.” University of Georgia,
Program in Linguistics
,
last revised March 31, 2010
MacAlpine, Neil.
A Pronouncing
Dictionary: To which is Prefixed a Concise but Most Comprehensive
Gaelic Grammar,
Stirling & Kenney, 1833
Maceachen, Ewan.
Maceachen’s
Gaelic-English Dictionary.
Inverness, Northern Counties
Newspaper, revised and enlarged 1922
Guðlaugsson, Óskar. “Pronunciation of Old
Norse (standard).” Old Norse for Beginners Website:
https://www.notendur.hi.is/haukurth/norse/
,
2000
Slocum, Jonathan & Krause, Todd B. “Old
Norse Online: Base Form Dictionary.” University of Texas,
Linguistics Research Center
Website:
http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/
, last
updated December 2013
Vikings of Bjornstad Group, The. “Old Norse
Dictionary: English to Norse.” The Vikings of Bjornstad Website:
http://www.vikingsofbjornstad.com
, last updated
2014
Additionally, the following
websites were immensely helpful
:
Forvo.com, Icelandic
Forvo.com, Swedish
Forvo.com, Scottish Gaelic
Forvo.com, Latin
Omniglot.com, Old Norse
Omniglot.com, Scottish Gaelic
Omniglot.com, Latin
Lexilogos.com, English to Scottish Gaelic
Translation
Translate.google.com, Icelandic, Swedish
(audio sample)
Translate.google.com, Latin (audio
sample)
Wikipedia.com, Old Norse
Wikipedia.com, IPA for Icelandic
Wikipedia.com, IPA for Swedish
Wikipedia.com, IPA for Scottish Gaelic
Wikipedia.com, IPA for Latin
Bonus Material:
Of Us That Trade In
Love (Morgunn & Gwynlyan)
ONE
A Knight’s Quest
“
Time is now to arise, from tables costly to part
us;
Now doth a virgin approach, now soundeth a glad
Hymenaeal.”
From Hymn to Hymen by Catullus
“
That kiss again; she runs division of my
lips.
What an eye she casts on me? It twinkles like a
star.”
The Jew of Malta (Act VI, scene iv)
Perth, The Highlands
Scone Abbey, March 1207
M
ORGANA CAMBEL SAT
at one of the many trestle tables in the great hall of William,
King of Scots’ royal court and, as she’d done every night this past
fortnight, surreptitiously gazed at the object of her deepest
desire: Robert MacVie, Highland laird and knight magnificent. He’d
won yet another tournament that day on the lists, and the coin and
prestige that went with it as well. Just as he’d done the three
times she’d watched him on the tourney field these past days.
She’d heard he’d entered the contests as
more of a necessity for quick coin than a bid for acclaim. He did a
quick scan of the chamber and she straightened. His gaze lighted
e’er so briefly on her before settling warmly on her cousin, Vika,
who sat speaking to one of the many other warriors present in the
hall. Morgana sighed softly.
If only he could like one such as
me
. But, ‘twould ne’er be, she knew. For, she was quite certain
that not he, nor any knight in fact, would e’er willingly take a
lady like she with no power of speech, whom the priests were sure
the devil himself had taken hold of, and who had little to offer
for dowry, either—perhaps the biggest impediment of all.
Ah, but he was a handsome one, was he. Aye,
handsome as the devil with whom she was accused of consorting.
Sable hair and steel-gray eyes. Dark brows and a strong, square
jaw. And bulk. Aye, what bulk the man had!
As she watched, he leaned to the side and
said something to one of his comrades. Morgana’s eyes dipped
longingly to his wide, masculine lips. What would it be like to
have her own seized by them? To taste him on her tongue?
“You want him, do you not?” Vika said next
to her ear. “I can arrange it, if you’d like. Would you like that,
my pet? I’ve grown bored, but you might enjoy a bit of his style of
possession.”
Possession
. The word sent a thrill of
excitement through her, making her womb throb, making the tips of
her breasts harden. She didn’t hesitate. She nodded.
Vika’s laugh came from deep in her throat.
“At the chimes of midnight, be settled on the third bench in the
chapel. Wear the scarlet cloak I gave you, and keep that white hair
of yours covered. We look enough alike otherwise, that he’s sure to
think you are me.”
Morgana nodded again and gave her older
cousin a grateful smile.
“Now off with you. ‘Tis nearing that time
now. And wear a bit of my herbal tincture as well—you’ll find it on
top of the table, next to my comb, in my chamber. Place some on the
curls of your sex—do not ask me why, for ‘twill all become clear
later.”
Morgana felt a heated blush bloom on her
cheeks, but she gave her cousin a jerky nod before rising from the
bench she’d been seated upon. After signaling her farewell with a
dip of her head to each of the others at the table, she hurried out
of the hall, quelling the guilt that immediately rose up inside
her. She was eighteen summers, she told her conscience, with her
nineteenth fast approaching. Well past marriageable age and with no
prospects for husband. Or lover, for that matter. And she’d
remained chaste for as long as she was willing.
Aye, ‘twas true that before, when she’d been
in the nunnery, she’d had a different idea of what was proper. But
since joining the court a moon past and seeing just how liberal the
morality was here, her perspective had changed. Drastically. Now
she saw the benefit in experimentation prior to wedding. Especially
since it had become clear to her that her own chastity upon
marriage would not be the sticking point she’d always believed
‘twould be.
In short, she wanted to begin living her
life, as it no doubt would continue to be: Sans husband, sans
bairns. It made her sad to give up that dream, but to molder on the
shelf the rest of her life seemed pointless. And her cousin had
just given her the most perfect way for her to be initiated into
her carnal education: With the first man she’d e’er desired to mate
with, Robert MacVie.
* * *
Vika nodded and gave Robert a conspiratorial
smile when he caught her eye again.
Aye
, she thought,
plan your little scheme, but you’ll soon find you’ve tested a
much worthier opponent—and lost!
She’d learned from one of her
sources that day that her sometimes lover, Robert MacVie, with whom
she’d made plans to play one of their little lovers’ games—this
time, one of her favorites, ravishment by a stranger—was in fact
planning an abduction and forced pregnancy on her, an heiress to a
vast holding, in order to obtain an open assent to his troth.
Which, she knew, he desperately needed in order to pay his clan’s
debts.
This would get her cousin out of the way for
a bit as well. Thus aiding her cause with the man she, herself, had
set her eye upon, Guy de Burgh. Unfortunately, that man, thus far,
could not be swayed. And had, these past days, been spending a bit
too much time in Morgana’s company for Vika’s liking.
She watched Robert rise from his seat and
stride out of the great hall. Ah, to be a fly on the wall and see
his face when he at last discovered he’d taken the wrong lady! But
would Morgana be
taken
before he discovered the switch? Vika
chuckled. She truly did hope so, for ‘twas clear the lass was
deeply enamoured of the knight.
And, in truth, she wished her cousin a
better first time than she, herself, had endured nearly half her
own age ago when she’d been forced to wed the old man to whom her
father had given her. Vika’s brows drew together, her smile of a
moment before disappearing, as she absently rubbed the pad of her
thumb o’er the nail of her middle finger. Aye, ‘twould be a shame
if Morgana didn’t at least get her first taste of the culmination
of a woman’s desire. And from the one she so clearly wanted.