Page 25

“ D o ye think this dress needs gloves?” Keira felt the words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them.

Stella, who started to tighten the laces at the back of her corset, let out a mild laugh. “Nae necessarily, M’Lady,” she answered, amusement lacing her voice.

“I dinnae ken… I feel like I have to wear more than just this dress, for some reason.”

“I believe the dress on its own is fine, M’Lady,” Stella opined. “’Tis nae like ye’re trying to impress Lady Kincaid, is it?”

“Well, nay, but at the same time, I dinnae want her to think me some kind of prude, ye ken.”

Stella tightened the laces at the middle of her corset, and Keira felt her stomach get squished in a rather weird way. “If she thinks ye a prude merely because of yer dress, I believe that is her problem, nae yers.”

“Ach, well, she is a Kincaid. Ye can never be too careful with any of them. For some reason, I feel like I should attend this lunch with Hudson.”

Stella laughed again. “Ye’re a kind woman, M’Lady. I am certain Lady Kincaid will see that and more. Ye dinnae need to worry about how ye look.”

Keira nodded and let her maid continue to tighten the remainder of the laces of her corset. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, the brief encounter she’d had with Evander reverberating in her head like some kind of echo.

Had she spoken too much? Did she say something she wasn’t supposed to say and accidentally trigger something inside him? Had she been living off his mercy all these days, and now with her angry words, he would no longer grant her that grace?

She looked out her window, her gaze sweeping across the courtyard, hoping to find him walking around or doing something at the goat shelter. She could only see Rory standing by the fence, walking slowly back and forth, a mild frown on his face.

“Do ye ken why the Laird’s man-at-arms is standing by the fence?”

“Perhaps he is waiting for the Laird,” Stella suggested.

She stepped back momentarily and grabbed a string of white pearls that rested on the vanity.

“He doesnae ken that the Laird is back?” Keira asked.

“Should I inform him? I can send a maid to tell him,” Stella offered, handing her the string of pearls.

“Dinnae worry. He will find out soon enough,” Keira replied, clasping the string around her neck.

Then, she took a deep breath in front of the mirror, absolutely unsure of what to do with her hands. Her dark hair fell around her face in thick curls, and her eyes shone back at her, briefly reflecting the flickering firelight around her.

“Let me go attend the lunch from hell,” she whispered.

Stella nodded and gently escorted her out of her room.

They walked down the passageway, and Keira couldn’t help but study the tapestries she had asked to be put up.

Her servants did too good of a job because they were everywhere, and if she was being just a little frank with herself, some desolate part of her couldn’t help but feel frustrated by them.

“The tapestries. Do ye think they are a little too much?”

Stella raised her head, studying them as well as they approached the dining hall. The smell of venison and cheese drifted to them, and Keira could tell before she even saw the table that it was going to be an elaborate spread.

“I…” Stella trailed off.

“Ye can be honest.”

“I dinnae ken. Perhaps ‘tis a little?—”

“Aye,” Keira muttered. “’Tis a lot, and I agree.”

The remainder of the walk was spent in total silence, and they moved on stealthy feet. Soon, they got to the dining hall.

Keira’s eyes immediately landed on Shona and Tommy, who were both seated on one side of the table, their gazes sharp as they looked at the entrance. She plastered a smile on her face and approached the table, ready to do whatever it took to get through this dinner—and as soon as possible.

“Glad ye could join us,” Shona offered, a smile playing on her lips as well.

Keira’s eyes darted to Tommy, who had the most curious expression on his face as he briefly studied her dress.

“Please. The pleasure is completely mine,” she responded, the humility in her voice quite surprising even to her.

Soon, they were all properly settled before the spread on the table.

The one Keira had been right about. There was a giant plate of venison accompanied by lettuce on the side.

The other plates were laden with cheese, butter, and wild berries.

A giant jug of ale took up a rather significant space on the wooden surface as well.

“Shall we?” Keira prompted.

Shona responded with a smile as the maids began to serve the food.

“I havenae had a good meal in quite a long time, if I’m being honest with ye,” she admitted. “Ever since our castle burned, we had to manage with a few of the meals we could get back at the village. Now, me braither did his best, ye ken, but sometimes…”

“I understand what ye mean.” Keira nodded her head. “One of the things ye never notice but miss is always the food. When I travel across the land to discuss clan matters, I feel the same as well.”

“Ye used to travel?” Tommy’s curious voice rang out from beside his mother.

Keira shifted her gaze to him, briefly appreciating the slight wonder on his face. “Aye. Quite a lot, I will tell ye. There is a lot of the world out there that we dinnae ken.”

“I would love to travel, too. Ride out of Scotland and see what else is out there, apart from mountains and grass.”

Keira laughed and noticed Shona doing the same. “I am certain once ye’re old enough to take care of yerself, ye can do whatever ye want.”

“Aye,” he responded, his voice still thick with curiosity as he tapped his fork against his plate. “I shall be able to travel the world like me faither someday.”

Keira wanted to give another encouraging response, but she noticed almost immediately the slight change in Shona’s demeanor. One that seemed to have occurred the instant Tommy mentioned his father. She didn’t know whether to probe further, but she decided to keep quiet anyway.

She returned to her food and continued to eat. The tension in the air grew so thick that she could cut it with a butter knife if she tried well enough. She swallowed.

“His faither was a soldier,” Shona started.

Keira felt a long breath escape her lips. For the briefest of minutes, she was beginning to enjoy her talk with them, and it would have frustrated her greatly if the mention of Shona’s dead husband ruined it.

“He was the former Laird of Clan Kincaid,” Shona continued anyway, oblivious to Keira’s thoughts.

“He was a brave man. He was never the kind to send his men into war and then wait for them to return while sitting in his chair. Nay, he would follow. He was always on the front lines, and he fought like his life depended on it. Because it truly did. It was one of the traits I greatly admired in him. His courage. His bravery. His ability to finish a whole turkey in one sitting came second.”

Keira laughed. There was something inane about the way Shona spoke about her late husband with such admiration and love. She could see the twinkle in her honey-brown eyes, no matter how dull they still looked.

Shona loved her husband, that much was quite obvious.

“Ye ken, a part of me had always feared that his bravery might very much kill him someday. This was something he kenned very well, too. We talked about it several times at great lengths. I remember when I had him in me belly…” she trailed off, gesturing toward Tommy, who continued to eat his food with almost little to no regard.

“He was in the middle of a war then. One that lasted way longer than it should have. I’m talking years , Lady Blythe. ”

Keira shook her head. “Please. Ye can call me Keira.”

Shona shifted in her seat, and Keira could see the unease that had crept onto her face.

“So what did he do?” Keira prompted, deciding to not let her linger too long on the subject. “Did he stop fighting after ye found out ye were with child?”

A bitter laugh escaped Shona’s lips. “I wish it were that simple. Ye see, he was going to. We talked about it at length the instant I learned I was with child. I told him it was different when it was just me and him. Now, one more person had a lot to lose when he was gone. Did ye conceive before yer husband died?”

Keira swallowed. That question came almost out of nowhere and practically destabilized her. She sat up straighter anyway and gently cleared her throat.

“Nay, I didnae,” she responded.

She wondered if she should tell Shona that she had not even consummated her marriage with Fletcher. But before she could ponder the question further, Shona helped her answer it by continuing her story.

“Ye see, me husband has always been a warrior even before I married him. We were together for three years before we decided to have a bairn. Part of that was also because he was rarely home and always on the battlefield, swinging and tearing at his enemy clans.

“What they dinnae tell ye is that when ye’re married to a soldier, ye get apprehensive every time he goes to fight.

At least for the first few times. During the first few battles, I would stay up late at night and pray to God to bring him back safe and sound.

I would try to busy meself with something, anything, to ensure that I didnae kill meself with a lot of worries, ye see.

Then, after a while, the worry, while still there, lessened. Ye want to ken why?”

Keira nodded gently.

“Because he always returned. Every time he went out to fight, he would always return. And he never lost a battle. Not once. I suppose some part of me must have relaxed into that cycle of his endless victories. Sometimes I wake up to find him gone and then go about me day because I kenned he would return to me in one piece. Because he always returned.”

Something about the way Shona emphasized some of her words made a wave of pity crash over Keira. Lady Kincaid didn’t just love her husband. She loved him dearly .

“The worry only increased when I found out that I was with child, of course,” Shona continued.

“I informed him, and he made me a promise. He told me, ‘ After this war, I shall retire. Ye and our son deserve the best of me, and I am prepared to provide that for ye.’ Then, we bantered about the sex of the bairn.”

Keira laughed again.

“It was supposed to be the last war, ye ken. And according to him, it was supposed to be a rather short one. One year, at most. But then one year turned into two, then three, then seven.”

“Seven?”

“Aye.” Shona nodded, sighing. “At first, he would come home at the end of every week and talk to the bairn in me belly.

Then, later, he would only come home every other month.

As Tommy started to grow, he stopped coming home.

For almost three years, we heard nothing about him.

I prayed, cried, and pleaded with God to protect him.

Tommy, on the other hand, was growing quite quickly.

“Then, he returned again. Tommy was six, at that time. He had spent a week with us, and in that week, Tommy never left his side. They went everywhere together. They rode into the villages, chased game in the woods. He was with our son throughout. Then, he told me he had to leave again. He said the war was almost over, and he would return to me soon. And then we could both properly raise our son together, the way we have always intended.”

Keira stiffened in her seat, already knowing how this story would end. And it didn’t sit well with her.

“But he never returned. We waited a whole year, and again, I assumed he would return because nay matter how long, nay matter how far, he always returned.”

Keira swallowed, the food in her mouth tasting like ash.