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K eira’s eyes flicked up at the noise. Her friend’s words faded into the background as her gaze landed on Evander, who rode into the courtyard on his horse, the wind blowing through his unruly dark hair.

He had that look on his face. One that said he was specially created and everyone around him was born to serve him and him alone. She hated it.

She hated the flutter she felt in her stomach just from staring at him. She hated how she couldn’t stop thinking about their encounter the previous night. She wondered if he knew it and was taunting her with those lingering glances.

She could still feel the warmth of his chest on her palms. She could still picture the look he had given her. She could still hear the last words he whispered to her before leaving.

“Ye look bonny when ye’re flushed.”

He looked away at the last second and rode toward the stables with the men-at-arms. Hudson cast a courteous glance and nodded at her. She did the same.

At this point, Lesley had noticed what was happening.

“Ye think he would’ve gotten away with being feared and respected if he wasnae so handsome?” she asked, her voice pulling Keira out of her daze.

“Who?” Keira asked.

“The new Laird.”

Keira winced. She hated those words. The new Laird . They made her seem old and tired. She felt like something to be discarded.

How did one man come in and manage to upend everything she had managed to build and every iota of respect she had earned over the months in just a few days ?

“Answer me.”

“I dinnae see the charm.” It was a lie.

“Ye saw those eyes and that jaw. The way he carries himself and the way he only says a few words. Even this baby goat sees his charm.”

As if the striped baby goat before them understood what was being said, he let out a throaty bleat.

“All I see is a man trying to take me home from me,” Keira hissed, venom lacing her voice. “And a man I’ll have to fight with everything I have if necessary.”

“I understand how ye feel. Ye have only just started feeling at home here. Then, someone had to go and destroy everything ye have built. Do ye ken who that is?”

“I have asked Hudson, yer brother?—

“Ye mean yer man-at-arms?”

Keira laughed. She knew how much Lesley hated it when she referred to Hudson as her brother. Yet she enjoyed seeing the look on her face whenever she did it.

“He is yer brother, is he nae?” She asked.

Lesley narrowed her eyes. “He’s yer man-at-arms first. Ye think the servants refer to ye as my best friend when they are talking to me about ye?”

Keira shook her head. “I suppose nae?”

“Aye. He may be my brother, but ye dinnae have to point that out every single time.”

Keira nodded.

“Anyway, Hudson and some of me men to look into it. Someone will have to pay, but until then, I want to get rid of him .”

“Who?” Lesley asked, the curiosity in her voice quite evident.

Keira turned to her, a smug expression on her face. “The new Laird,” she said, mimicking her friend’s tone and cadence.

Lesley rolled her eyes, catching the hint. “And how do ye plan to do that?”

“I am nae certain yet. But I will be damned if I let him take the castle from me, Lesley. I have had enough of men telling me what they want me to do or nae do.”

Lesley nodded.

“I cannae lose me home to another man. Nae after everything I’ve been through.”

“I agree with ye,” Lesley offered, after a brief pause.

Keira’s eyebrows rose. “Ye do?”

“Aye. Charming as he may be?—”

“He isnae charming,” Keira muttered.

And yet the image of his taut body haunted her mind, as if telling her that she was lying and she knew it.

“The point is that this is yer home, and nay laird, nay matter the agreement, can chase ye out of it if ye dinnae want to leave.”

Keira smiled. “I kenned I can always count on ye, Lesley.”

“Of course. We arenae best friends just for the fun of it now, are we?”

Another moment of silence passed between them. Keira watched her friend look up at the sun, which hung high in the sky.

“I must leave soon. I promised old Roberta that I would prepare some herbs and have them sent over to her this evening.”

Keira frowned. “Roberta?”

“Aye. Ye didnae hear about her?”

“Nay. What happened?”

“Ye ken her husband, Samuel.”

“Aye, the one with the beard?”

“Aye. Apparently, he had been beating her.”

Keira’s face fell. “What?”

“He’s been doing it for the past few months, and she didnae say anything. She said Samuel wouldnae come home until the moon was out. He would spend the nights and all his money in the tavern, sleeping with the barmaids and racking up debts by paying for others.”

Keira listened attentively, each word sending a ripple of shock through her.

“People saw the scars on her face,” Lesley continued.

“They asked her what happened, but she refused to say anything. Only that she fell while cleaning the stables. Everyone kenned it was a lie, of course, because yer face simply doesnae turn black after falling into the horse muck. Then, one day, her husband left to visit his braither, and she bought a baby goat and brought it home the day after. He hasnae returned since he left months ago, and now everyone thinks she replaced her husband with the goat.”

Keira’s eyes widened. “Huh?”

“Aye. They think she went to the cave by the waterfall and asked the witches there to turn her husband into a goat. Of course, she didnae deny it. She told me she had never been more at peace since people started to suspect that she was a witch. She gets food at low prices in the market, and people come to offer her clothing for free,” Lesley snorted.

Keira laughed. If that was not a woman who knew her worth, she didn’t know what.

“She better take advantage of her new reputation as much as she can, then.”

“Och, she will.” Lesley giggled.

Keira’s eyes flicked to the baby goat, Lesley’s story ringing in her ears. Like a moonbeam through a window, her eyes slowly widened, and the most excited smile spread across her face.

Lesley noticed it immediately and arched an eyebrow at her. “Keira?”

“Aye.”

“Are ye all right?” she asked, her voice laced with a mix of concern and confusion.

Keira nodded. “I am quite well. I just had the most brilliant idea, and I ken just how to execute it.”

“Idea of what?” Lesley asked, concern still evident in her voice.

“How to get the Laird to leave,” Keira responded, her eyes never leaving the baby goat the whole time.