by Mary Wine
“Men are pigs.”
Tavia made a soft clicking sound with her tongue. “Now, sister, be just. I know many well-mannered hogs.”
The pair laughed gently, their voices almost musical. Daracha carried the lit candle around the room, touching the flame to several other wicks. The chamber became cheerful with all four walls holding lit candles. The yellow and gold light revealed two overly large slipper tubs made of copper; one was large enough for two full-grown people. Her face colored with a blush as she considered what two naked people might do besides bathe. Elspeth stared at the expensive items and back at the damask dresses worn by the women.
“Yer brother is a pirate.” There was no other way to explain such finery.
Tavia had donned an apron as well, and had set a log on the fire.
“Our brother is an uncivilized brute and for that we apologize.” She pulled a chain set above one tub and water began falling from a missing stone in the face of the wall. It splattered into the tub, drawing a shiver from Elspeth. Just the sound of rushing water yanked her mind back to that moment when the white frothy water had clamped her in its jaws.
“But Pherson considers himself a patriot for keeping the sea safe. Calling him a pirate is a sure way to gain his disdain.”
Elspeth stared Tavia straight in the eye. “He’s a pirate.”
Both girls suddenly laughed.
“Oh, ye are going to be wonderful fun to have about. Every girl that comes here to meet our brother is always so dull and proper. Of course they are mostly English-born ones.” Daracha’s eyes sparkled with merriment. She pushed two kettles of water over the fire and the small amount that was clinging to the outside sputtered and hissed when the heat connected with it.
“I am not here to provide amusement.”
“Of course not and you must think us quite horrible to be so happy.” Tavia sighed. “It’s simply that our brother is by far the most arrogant creature ever born and we are weary of suffering his whims.”
Daracha began pulling at the tie holding Elspeth’s braid. Elspeth worked at the buttons on the front of her gown, eager to wash the grim off her skin. Pirated goods or not, she was going to enjoy that slipper tub.
“You certainly do nothing to sober him, what with yer stately entrance and lowering fit for a king.”
Maybe she was foolish to taunt them, but Elspeth had never been one for polishing egos. She didn’t know how to do anything but speak her mind.
To her surprise both girls laughed again.
“We continue to perfect it, just because he ordered us to learn courtly conduct.” Tavia moved across the chamber on light steps that resembled dancing more than walking. “The smoother we walk, the more it annoys Pherson.”
“Which he deserves for ordering us to learn to walk as if the only value we have is our appearance.” Daracha pressed her lips into a tight line of disapproval. “That brother of ours never wonders what we have been doing to expand our minds. Instead he orders us to learn to glide when we walk.”
“Men are so shortsighted. Concerned with things that mean nothing at all in a wife.”
Hayden liked her courage.
Her simple and practical wool dress met with his approval also. Elspeth looked at the pile of her clothing now that she was pulling it off her body. There was nothing refined about it, but that had not kept Hayden from pulling her against him for a kiss.
Pherson Dalry watched Elspeth at her bath and raised a finger to his lips while staring at the girl sitting in the tub with her breasts exposed. Young, firm breasts that made his mouth water to taste them. The last bride prospect he’d welcomed had sniffled as she drew her inner robe off to show her body to him. Elspeth’s eyes were not glassy with unshed tears but her cheeks were bright and her nipples hard with anticipation. Something stirred in him he’d not felt in a long time. It was warm and sliced through the years of duty his life had become. A laird had to keep his mind on so many things that he had lost track of the simple joy of affection. Elspeth Leask was thinking of the man she cared for and no mistake. He could see it in her eyes and it had the power to make him turn his back on her. He’d taken what he wanted when it came to goods and gold, but never when it came to a woman’s embrace. But he’d negotiated it too many times to suit him. He was envious of Hayden Monroe, almost bitterly so.
For love was the only thing in life that no man could steal, even a pirate like himself.
“There now, sit by the fire and brush out yer hair. We’ll have to find something pretty for ye to wear.”
“Something sturdy will do just fine. I’ve no desire to impress yer brother.” Elspeth made sure her tone was tart enough to cut through the way both sisters had of just doing what they pleased without waiting to see if she wanted it.
“Ah, but ye should be interested in blinding him. There lies the secret to dealing with men.” Tavia offered her a knowing look. It was far different from the amused one the girl had worn until now. The façade was suddenly gone and Elspeth discovered that behind the pretty girl was a very confident woman.
“Be pleasing in all ways and men will never suspect that ye are also thinking.”
Daracha brought her a chemise that was almost transparent. “This is silk and hemp from Egypt. I hear Cleopatra wore the same cloth. It does make one feel like a queen.”
“She killed herself.”
“But she loved and was loved in return.” Daracha sighed. “I believe that once ye have loved, ye cannot live without it. That’s why she killed herself.”
The garment slithered down her body once Daracha released it. The fabric was a whisper against her skin. It was like the oldest chemise she had, translucent, and the candles flickers turned it into liquid gold.
Hayden would like it …
“Who are you thinking of?” Tavia was watching her from the other side of the room. A shiver crossed her neck when she realized that these sisters worked as a team. Tavia tapped her lips with one fingertip, drawing attention to them with the tiniest of motions.
“Ye’re blushing and yer eyes are shimmering. Are ye in love with him?”
“Love?” Elspeth shut her mouth too quickly and her teeth clicked against each other, but her tone had been too high, exposing her true feelings.
Daracha made a soft sound beneath her breath and carried over two stockings. She knelt in front of Elspeth, looking too demure for how well the pair of them were dissecting her every motion.
“Yes, love. Yer eyes are shimmering when ye think of him. What else except love?”
“Does it matter?”
Daracha was intent on pushing the stocking up her leg but Elspeth grabbed it and performed the task herself.
Both Daracha and Tavia smiled, the smallest curving of their lips. Elspeth felt their gazes ten times more than any Father Simon Peter had aimed at her.
“I don’t know what I feel, only that I detest yer brother for taking me away from Hayden.”
Both sisters seemed to hang on her words, absorbing them as if they were savoring the idea, because they were starving for affection. Considering how their brother treated them, maybe they were. She suddenly felt remorse for being so cross with them.
“I was wondering if Hayden would like me in this chemise, but I don’t even know if he still desires me. Considering that yer brother wants a ransom for me, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that he’s returned to Monroe land and washed his hands of the matter.”
“Ye doubt he will come to ransom ye?” Tavia sounded shocked. “If he fails to come after ye, he does not love ye, that is for certain.”
Elspeth tried to keep the despair from her voice. “He has no contract to bind him to me.” She looked around the room again, noting the fine things in it. “And it does not look as though yer brother will be content with any small amount.” There were many trunks in the room, over a dozen, telling her that Pherson liked to collect everything he could from his victims.
“Ye are correct. Pherson never wants anything less than
the best.”
There was a note of annoyance in Tavia’s voice. Elspeth considered the girl for a moment.
“Unless ye would care to help me out with yer brother … for the sake of proving that a woman can outthink a man.”
Daracha looked up from where she had been studying what was inside a trunk. She lifted a pair of dainty shoes with dancing heels on them.
“Outwit Pherson? Now that is something we are always interested in viewing, but it does not happen very often.”
Daracha brought the shoes to her and lifted a finger to her lips in caution.
“Keep yer voice low if yer intention is to scheme.” She lifted the shoe up so that the light shone off the polished leather. “Do ye like these? I believe they will fit ye.”
Now Daracha spoke in a normal tone but Elspeth was distracted by the shoes. They had heels on them and were a deep scarlet color. There was nothing practical at all about them but she adored them on sight.
Daracha smiled a wicked, knowing smile. “I hear Queen Catherine Howard had many pairs just like this.”
Elspeth felt her eyes widen. “And she also lost her head.”
Tavia waved a hand in the air. “She drew men’s attention everywhere she went. Her failing was that she was too foolish to understand the difference between love and lust. Try them on.”
They were a French fashion, something Anne Boleyn adored too. Yet another woman who had lost her head over being too free with her affections.
But it was only a pair of shoes and she didn’t have a husband to make jealous.
Elspeth slid her feet into the shoes and Daracha tied them closed.
“Now walk in them. They say the heels push yer bottom up, making it more attractive to the male eye. The English Queen Mary has forbidden them.”
The heels felt decadent. Coupled with the silk chemise, she felt more alluring than she ever had. The silk flowed over her breasts, teasing her nipples until they drew into hard points that poked through the delicate fabric. Tavia laughed in a low, sultry tone.
“I believe ye need just the correct set of stays to go with those heels.” Tavia opened another trunk and pulled something from it. Elspeth gasped when she saw it.
“Lovely, aren’t they? My brother brought this back from a countess who clearly doesn’t share the strict piety that her queen does.”
The stays were made of emerald green silk. The candlelight illuminated the fabric, making it look like emerald fire. Elspeth reached out to run a single fingertip over the costly fabric.
“To think that there are women wearing such things beneath their somber black velvet court dresses …”
Daracha snickered. “An interesting idea, is it not?” She began to lace the stays into place around Elspeth. They lifted her breasts up and the neckline was lower than her practical linen ones. Now her breasts looked in danger of spilling out if she leaned over too far. But it was a clever deception because the garment held just enough of her breasts when she put them to the test.
Now wouldn’t that be the way to shave Hayden …
The silk of the chemise only partially veiled her thighs, and the curls growing on her mons were a teasing hint behind the fabric.
“Now what are you thinking?” Tavia sounded almost hungry for the answer to her question.
“Hayden Monroe was set on me shaving his whiskers away and I was thinking …”
Daracha clapped her hands together, interrupting her with a gleeful laugh.
“Oh, you must wear this and do as he commands. What a punishment that will be for him to bear.”
“Does that mean ye agree to help me escape this fortress?” Elspeth lowered her voice so that it remained between them. Daracha cast a look at her sister, the pair of them gazing at each other for a long moment. It felt like an hour but Daracha finally sighed and nodded.
“Pherson will be horribly cross with me for near a month. Possibly longer.” Instead of sounding fearful, the girl’s voice held a great deal of merriment.
“Unless he admires your craftiness. Yer brother looks the type to enjoy being trumped in grand style.”
Tavia smothered a giggle behind a hand. “Maybe you should stay, Elspeth Leask. I believe it might be entertaining to watch ye twist our dear brother around yer whim.”
Elspeth felt her hope sputtering and threatening to die, but Tavia giggled once again behind her palm.
“Oh, look at you. I was but teasing. I wouldn’t be, mind you, if I didn’t think yer heart was already taken.” Tavia’s voice became deeper and more somber. “Pherson so very desperately needs a woman who will love him.”
“Ye would keep me here if ye didn’t think I was in love with another?”
“Of course.” Daracha laid a hand on her shoulder. “We may enjoy playing but we would never waste something he brought home unless there was love involved.”
Pirates.
The sisters were very much like the brother. They both offered her unrepentant smiles while they went to searching through the trunks for more clothing. Elspeth bit her lip because she didn’t need to chastise them when they were going to give her what she wanted.
What she wanted … Now that was what she truly needed to ponder. If she wanted Hayden Monroe, it was a sure bet that she would have to stop running from him.
And soon.
Other clans were willing to tie their female relations up in ribbons for him but all that idea did was make her more stubborn. She didn’t want him because he was Laird Monroe. That would make her as much a pirate as Pherson and his sisters.
But you do want him …
Her cheeks heated with a blush while the sisters brought her more common wool clothing to cover the decadent undergarments. But the silk was still there against her skin, reminding her of how much she could feel. It made her mind wander to the whispered tales she’d heard of lovers and the way they touched. Hayden’s hands left trails of fire across her neck and cheeks. How much more intense would it be to have those same strong hands beneath her skirts and against her bare thighs?
She had to bite her lip once again to contain a soft sound of need from escaping.
“There. Ye look … quite boring.”
Tavia smiled with her judgment. They had even brought her an arisaid, a length of fabric that was belted across the back of her waist and pulled up over her shoulder. At night it could be used to cover her head and provide warmth. It was a poor garment, for those who could not afford enough wool for a cloak.
“Come on before Pherson comes seeking ye.” Daracha reached out and clasped her hand. The girl began leading her down another flight of stairs. The light from the bath house diminished until it was pitch black all around them. Daracha kept pulling on her hand and Elspeth placed her other one on the stone wall to help her maintain her balance. She shivered and her hearing became more sensitive now that her sight was inhibited by the darkness. Every sound began to echo, bouncing between the thick stone walls that the stairs descended through. The sound of water began in the distance and grew stronger.
They finally emerged from the base of the tower. Even though it was dark outside, it wasn’t pitch black such as it had been in the stairway. The night was cloudy but there was a glow that seemed quite bright compared to where they had come from.
“Follow the river. There is a small gate down the hill that the servants use to return to the village when their service is finished. If luck is with ye, ye’ll meet yer love on the road as he’s seeking to reclaim ye.” Tavia pressed a single coin into her palm.
“Of course if ye meet someone else, ye shall just have to accept fate’s will.” Daracha’s voice sounded like an old woman did when the fire was banked for the night and there was no clergy about to keep the old Gaelic traditions from surfacing. That was when magic from years gone by was still toyed with.
“Fate’s will?”
Tavia nodded. “Indeed, the will that ye belong to another.”
Both sisters smiled and their eyes shone with excitement a
s though they wished her to be taken on the road by another marauder.
Pherson was one too many in her opinion.
“Go now. Someone will question us if we stay here.”
Elspeth turned without another word. The heeled shoes were not going to be comfortable on the road but she dare not quibble with how the sisters chose to set her free. Gratitude seemed rather misplaced considering the excitement shining in the girls’ eyes. They considered the unknown elements of the night to be things of fortune and not defeat.
Well, that suited them, she supposed. The river was rushing along at a good pace and she followed it to the gate the sisters had promised her. Hope filled her heart when the men guarding it didn’t even look up from their game of dice. She passed through without trouble and into the night. She refused to fear, taking the advice given to her by Tavia and Daracha.
She would rely on fate’s whim. But she added a prayer as well and pulled the arisaid up and over her head.
“Do ye truly think me so shallow?” Pherson Dalry emerged from the shadows. Tavia and Daracha stiffened but did not tremble. He tilted his head and watched the last traces of Elspeth in the distance.
“I have never thought ye two mindless creatures.”
That sent both sisters looking to one another. Confusion surfaced in their expressions. Pherson shook his head.
“What I craved was for ye to grow strong. There are plenty of men that believe women should be naught but ornaments to enhance their lives. The dangerous ones are the ones that think having yer own opinions is the devil’s work.”
Daracha’s eyes flashed with her temper. Pherson eyed her. “Always keep that hidden, Sister. That is the reason I’ve allowed ye to believe that I want nothing from ye but perfect poise. Why do ye think I allowed ye to have tutors that just happened to be able to school ye in things other than courtly manners when ye thought I was nae watching?”
“Ye wanted us to learn how to deceive ye.” It wasn’t really a question. Tavia knew she was correct; she was only unhappy about discovering she had been duped.
