by Jane Stain
“I’m glad you’re having a good time. I can’t wait to see your face once we get to the surface. We’ll just go have a look around and come right back, this first time. Those mimosas will probably help you out, and you might even feel like dancing that jig.”
Sasha threw her arms up in the air and gave them her best ‘well come on then’ look.
Kelsey turned around at the opening out of the corridor, chuckling a little at Sasha’s frustration as she got out a lighter and lit three torches.
“Okay, put away your phone. Now take this torch. We’re switching to Gaelic in just a second, but I’d better tell you this real quick. The only reason we came here in the first place was because the druids sent Tavish here to get a mag— … a special artifact for them. You can’t trust any of the druids, Sasha. It’s not just Brian. They’re all extremely dangerous.”
Okay. So they wanted to play medieval dangerous druid games that involved speaking Gaelic. Fine. She played along, switching to the Gaelic she had been taught at Celtic University just as the three of them walked out of the corridor into the three-way intersection.
“Verra well. I willna fash any o the druids. Am I needing tae run when I see one, or are ye taking me tae a druid dress-up ball?”
But she didn’t even hear their responses, because at the far end of the corridor facing her — wearing a kilt like Tavish’s and at least three weapons, not to mention sporting a mane of long fiery red hair — was the most gorgeous specimen of a man Sasha had ever seen.
Dhà (2)
Sasha knew she was staring, but she couldn’t help herself. The man looked like an old statue of a warrior come to life. There was not an ounce of fat on him. His muscles showed detail like those of old master statues chiseled out of marble. Unlike Tavish, who knew he looked good in a kilt and flaunted it, this man wore his kilt — as well as a coordinating linen shirt, an arisade, and heavy handmade leather boots — as if it were normal clothes. He had a huge sword strapped to his back, and the scuffs and small cuts all over it attested to the fact that he used it and didn’t just wear it for show. His long red hair was tied in a loose ponytail with a leather cord, and his head was otherwise bare, his face positively glowing with health and vigor in the light of the torch he carried.
With an appreciative smile, he was looking her over from head to toe also, while absentmindedly speaking to Tavish in perfectly accented Gaelic with a deep rich voice that she would bet was great for singing.
“I see ye hae found yer sporran, as wull as a lass, whom I’m guessing is another clanswoman o yers.”
Wow, this was one elaborate role-playing game. Sasha pulled the cloak around her a little more tightly. She’d only just met him, and she felt like she had let this gorgeous hunk of a man down somehow. She didn’t want to disappoint him by letting him see that she hadn’t gone to any trouble to look historic.
She gave Kelsey a look that she meant to say, ‘Why did you and Tavish have to be in such a hurry to get here? Didn’t you mention clothes I could have put on?’
Kelsey cringed a little and shrugged at her.
Sasha couldn’t see Tavish, only hear his voice responding. And Tavish sounded frustrated. She could almost hear him changing plans in his mind, because of running into this man.
But upon looking back at the man, she decided she didn’t care that much.
The guy was such great eye candy. The more she looked at him, the more she was impressed by how authentic his clothing was. New details kept leaping out at her: a rip in his sleeve that had been hand mended, the hand stitching around the collar of his shirt, the way his boots were buttoned shut instead of zipped or tied.
But mostly he was just so darn good looking she couldn’t tear her eyes away. And unlike how Tavish would’ve taken the attention, this man had the decency to pretend he didn’t notice she was staring at him. Which impressed her all the more, making her want to know more about him.
Meanwhile, Tavish was talking.
“Aye, I did find it. Thank ye for asking. Sasha, this is Seumas (Shaymus), my sparring buddy and fellow guard here at Laird Malcomb’s castle, not to mention being the laird’s nephew.”
Seumas bowed to her in a way that made her feel honored rather than entertained. And the look in his eyes made her heart race.
And then Tavish was introducing her, and she found herself standing up straight and raising her chin in a way that would honor Seumas back.
“Seumas, this is Sasha, and aye, she is also my clanswoman. It's her foremaist time away from home, sae she wull need a bit o understanding and looking after. Kelsey and I are sharing that responsibility, and mayhap ye will help us.”
Puzzled, Sasha looked over at Tavish, and then at Kelsey. With her eyes, she tried her best to ask them why Tavish was lying and saying it was her first time away from home. And then she put her hand on her hip and raised her eyebrows, doing her best to tell them they’d better have a good reason to say she needed looking after.
But they couldn’t keep her attention. Smiling tightly to keep the drool inside her mouth, Sasha turned to Seumas and held out her hand for him to shake.
“Wull met.”
But Seumas didn’t take her hand. No, he awkwardly looked over at Tavish, apparently waiting for permission to touch her. They were taking this game way too far, and she was about to say so when Kelsey moved in front of them all and spoke up in a take-charge way.
“Tavish, I think mayhap we’d better hurry up and show her the castle toon,” she looked pointedly at Seumas, “all things considered.”
But Sasha was looking mostly at Seumas and Tavish, and she saw the subtle look that passed between them just before Seumas reverently took her hand in his, saying something innocuous like she had. It could’ve been ‘well met.’ She didn’t really know.
Because as soon as Seumas touched her, Sasha had a vision.
They were outside, and Seumas was lying down on the ground, his face stoically trying to hide pain. She was looking at his shoulder, which was red and blistering.
And that was it. As quickly as the vision had come, it was gone. She tried to remember all the details she could, but it was difficult because she had never seen the location before, and it was dark in the vision. Not night, just deep shade. There was some sort of structure around them — not a building, but something she couldn’t define.
Seumas was still holding her hand, giving her a concerned look.
She must have been unresponsive for a moment. Pretty sure her vision wasn’t part of the game, she told the first lie that came to mind, proud of herself for sticking to Gaelic as instructed, even under really odd circumstances.
“Sorry, I just had the oddest sense o déjà vu. I’m wull now.”
That seemed to placate Seumas. He nodded in understanding.
But Sasha could see that Kelsey wasn’t fooled. Giving her a knowing look, her friend clapped her hands and started walking up the corridor away from whence they’d come.
“Wull, now that ye two hae met, let’s go on up tae the castle toon and show Sasha aroond.”
Tavish nodded sideways to Seumas, who held out his hand in a gesture that indicated Sasha should go ahead of him and follow Kelsey, so she did.
The whole way out along the corridor — which seemed a lot longer on the way out that it had on the way in — she was hyper aware of Seumas behind her. Her back and butt tingled with the awareness of his presence as if they were bidding him in like odd magical magnets.
Her attention was briefly drawn away from him when she realized they were leaving a different way than they’d come in. She almost said something, and then she wasn’t sure if it would fit into the game or not, so she kept quiet — which had always been difficult for her.
And then they were outside, and everything looked, smelled, and sounded different. Really different. Too different for a mere game. A gigantic castle loomed to her left, and it wasn’t the old tower house, but something truly formidable. An entire town surrounded the castle, bustling with people
and animals and wagons. All the trailers were gone. There was no sign of any of the construction crew. It was like a different… century.
She walked up and got in Kelsey’s face.
“What the hell’s going on, Kelsey? Where did all this stuff come from, and all these people? They weren’t here ten minutes ago when we went down into the dig.”
Kelsey hugged her tight and stroked her back, as if soothing her. But she whispered in her ear.
“We’ve traveled back in time, Sasha. Near as I can tell, we’re in the thirteenth century. I wanted to tell you we were going to time travel, but you wouldn’t have believed me. This is how we know so much about what’s in the dig. Well, part of how we know, anyway. We didn’t mean for Seumas to join us. Now do you see why we have to pretend like you’ve never been away from home before and this is your first time in the big city?”
Big city? This wasn’t even a town, really, just a bunch of houses and a huge castle.
A castle.
There hadn’t been a castle on this site since…
Kelsey pulled away a bit, looking at Sasha with caution in her eyes.
Sasha sat dazed, blown away by what had happened. As far-fetched as what Kelsey said was, it was the only explanation for what Sasha saw around her. Mostly the castle. It was … huge and very real. People were going in and out of it, or she might have thought it was a movie set. But that was far from the only convincing detail. There was not a mechanical sound to be heard, nor the smell of any exhaust. And the distinct scent of manure lingered where these had been.
She’d traveled back in time! She couldn’t even form words, her mind was exploding with so many implications.
But she quietly nodded her agreement to the farce.
Once she wrapped her mind around the situation, she couldn’t help getting a big smile on her face. This was so cool. Already she understood a thousand times as much about the dig site as she had when she woke up this morning, and she hadn’t even walked around yet.
Kelsey smiled big as well, switching back to Gaelic and speaking aloud once more, leading Sasha down the street.
“Sae this is the toon that has sprung up aroond Laird Malcomb’s castle. We hae all the shops: blacksmith, fletcher, weaver, cobbler, ye name it. It's a marketplace for the surrounding area, and as ye see, folk bring their crops in tae sell, as wull as prepared food and other crafts.”
Sasha could feel Seumas close behind her once more, almost burning her backside with his warm presence. Just to make sure it wasn’t her imagination, she turned and looked.
He was in the middle of conversation with Tavish, but his eyes met hers, and he gave her a tentative smile. It made his face light up so that he was even more handsome.
She smiled back at him, aware that she was flirting with a man she had nothing in common with and too buzzed on mimosas to care whether it was a good idea. Tavish and Kelsey seemed to trust him, and that was good enough for her.
Kelsey was talking still.
“And this is Captain Donnell. Captain, this is our clanswoman Sasha. 'Tis her foremaist time tae market, and we’re showing her aroond.”
This woke Sasha up from her stare at Seumas. Some part of her buzzed brain knew she’d best show her manners when being introduced to someone, especially a captain. She turned back around to see a man she could only describe as a pirate — minus the eye patch, the peg leg, and the parrot.
He had his thumbs hooked into his jerkin and he was rocking back on his heels, smiling at her even though he was addressing Tavish.
“Wull now, another braw keekin lass ye hae brought intae toon, eh Tavish?”
Sasha felt Seumas coming up close behind her.
Captain Donnell must’ve noticed that, because he addressed the man.
“Och, and it seems this one is taken as wull, eh Seumas?”
But Seumas surprised her with his smoothness, ignoring the comment and changing the subject.
“Wull met, Captain. Where are ye off tae next? Must be someplace pure special, for we are na in line tae guard ye this time.”
Captain Donnell threw back his head and laughed.
“Aye, 'tis off up and aroond tae Norway I am a few days hence, muckle tae craking a steid for the likes o ye. Nah, for real sure, the laird telt me tae keep ye back from it this time. I dinna ken why.”
He gave both Tavish and Seumas hearty pats on the back and headed off down the street past them.
They looked at each other for a moment of deep questioning, but eventually shrugged it off.
Kelsey was pointing out this shop and that vendor cart, but Sasha wasn’t paying much attention. Seumas had insinuated himself alongside her somehow, and the backs of their hands brushed every now and then, thoroughly distracting her.
Kelsey’s tour guide routine only intruded on Sasha’s distraction when introductions were in order — but the introductions came all too often for Sasha’s liking.
“Och, and there are the guards I telt ye aboot. Dubh 'n' Luthais, this is our clanswoman Sasha. It's her foremaist time tae any castle, and we’re showing her aroond.”
These two merely nodded and smiled as they passed by, thank goodness. Because Seumas was making small talk with her.
“Is the castle toon as grand as ye thought it would be, lass?”
She turned on her charm a little, answering as truthfully as she dared.
“I hadna given any thought tae it, in truth, but there are far more folk here than I expected.”
He gave her a sympathetic smile and nodded as his sturdy legs carried him along the road, his kilt bouncing in step along with his long red hair. And then oddly, he stepped to the side of the road, pulling her along with him and bowing his head slightly.
Sasha looked up to see what the matter was, but all she saw was a rather well-dressed kilted Scot among a bunch of hangers on — looking right at her and coming their way.
Also off to the side and bowing slightly, tour guide Kelsey spoke up again right before the well-dressed man reached them.
“Laird Malcomb, may I present our clanswoman Sasha?”
The laird gave Sasha an appraising look, spending extra time looking at her Celtic University ring, and she found herself standing up as straight as she could. Should she have removed the ring when she put her phone away? She was pretty sure it would suit any period when handcrafted rings were possible.
Seumas moved in close beside her, while still leaving his sword arm free.
“Are ye wull, Uncle? Ye dinna seem at all yerself. Can Tavish get ye anything?”
The laird turned a displeased gaze on Seumas, and Sasha feared for his life. Other people had moved off to the side of the road too, also bowing their heads, and it reminded her of when cars pulled over because they heard a siren.
But then the laird gazed around at the crowd and seemed to remember himself.
“Thank ye for presenting yer … clanswoman,” he said to Kelsey. And then he turned to Sasha with a big jovial smile on his face that didn’t make it to his eyes. “Well come tae Caer Uchtred.”
Being American and having not watched local TV here at university, Sasha had never seen a lord before — let alone been introduced to one. She inclined her head the same way he had and then began to raise her face to his again in order to address him. She thought this was the polite thing to do. After all, her mother had always said, ‘look at me when I’m talking to you.’
But Seumas put his arm around her shoulders and gently pressed her forward a bit, until her face was lowered once more.
And all hell broke loose in her body. If the mimosas were giving her a warm feeling, that was nothing compared to the fire that blazed in her at having so much body contact with him. Did he feel it, too?
She had started fanning herself with her hand when a little girl no more than six years old appeared in front of Sasha’s face, looking her over with a skeptical and discerning eye. The girl had a proportionally sized marketing basket on her arm, and she was dressed in a small version
of adult clothes like Kelsey’s: plaid woolen overdress and solid linen blouse.
“Is this yer wife, Seumas? How come wasna she with ye afore? Dinna ye like her?”
Seumas smiled at the girl.
“I am na able tae speak tae ye just at the moment, Deirdre, seeing as how Laird Malcomb demands my attention, but I wull be with ye presently, if ye dinna mind.”
Deirdre stepped back a bit and put her hands on her hips, shaking her head no.
“Nay, I dinna mind at all. Go ahead and blether tae Laird Malcomb. I shall wait.”
But Laird Malcomb took one look at Deirdre and went away down the road past them, scowling at all of his sycophants. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
In the background, Sasha heard Kelsey and Tavish discussing him.
“He was sae kind when last I did see him.”
“Aye, he is normally verra kind. I dinna ken what’s come ower him. Mayhap a severe threat tae the castle militarily. ‘Tis the only thing I ken that would make him sae… unpleasant.”
But meanwhile, Sasha and Seumas were talking to Deirdre — or rather, she was talking to them.
“Ye shouldna leave yer wife oot in the land when ye come tae the castle, Seumas. Wives like it at the castle. When Da was aroond, Maw was always telling him how she liked it here at the castle and was sae glad they were na oot in the land anymore. And I ken when yer brother Alfred marries Maw, he will let her bide here at the castle, for he’s the laird’s nephew, and laird’s nephews bide at the castle. Aw, ye are the laird’s nephew tae, then. How come was he sae mean tae ye?”
Seumas stood and gave Sasha his arm to pull herself up with, which she gladly did, relishing the feel of his strong muscle under her hand just as much as the firm support he provided. Yum.
He reached out with his other hand to mess up the little girl’s hair, but she ducked, making him chuckle.
“I dinna ken how come Laird Malcomb is being sae mean this day, but I'm verra glad that ye came along and made him go away.”
Deirdre stood up straight and gave him a single nod.
“You’re verra wull come. I can dae that anytime.”
