"We don't have antibiotics, but we sure do have Maggie," Anna said with a grin. "It's so good to meet you, Kay. I'm sure we'll all get more time with you later. But for now — welcome to the castle and let us know if you need anything. Oh! And we brought you some clothes."
She gestured at a pile that had appeared on the table — Kay's eyes widened. "I — wow. Thank you."
"Don't mention it," Nancy said brightly. "Look after yourself, okay?"
And then they were gone, leaving Kay with a pile of clothes to look at and a feeling of solidarity from the other women that almost — but not quite — put her fears of losing her mind to rest.
Chapter 21
It must have been late morning — she could tell from how high the sun had reached in the sky, and by the hustle and bustle of the castle. There must have been a few hundred people living here at least, including all the guards and all the servants — idly she wondered who else was here. Scholars, perhaps? She'd seen a handful of people in long robes carrying books. Did they study the Faerie world, all the different horrible creatures who could find their way into their world? She took a few deep breaths when her mind started to panic about that, mindful of what Nancy had said about taking it slowly. It helped a little, and she smiled to herself as she set about examining the new clothes she'd been brought.
Most of them were long skirts, she realized with some dismay. It wasn't that she was opposed to a nice dress or two — quite the opposite, she found a swishy skirt quite delightful — but if she was going to be riding horses on the regular, how was she meant to wear a huge skirt? Still, they were beautiful things, and though it took her a while to figure out how to clamber inside the strange, bulky garments, by the time she'd figured it out, she was feeling surprisingly good about the figure she cut in her new clothes.
But first, she decided, it was time for that bath she'd been putting off. Some servants had wandered by while she was examining the clothing, tapping timidly on the door and asking if she needed anything. It felt strange, to be waited on like that. She asked for a bowl of warm water to bathe in, and maybe some lunch — she wasn't sure she could handle going down to that enormous bustling hall again. Not by herself, at any rate. The servants were more than happy to oblige, both clearly very interested in her accent, and it wasn't long before they were back with a meal for her and a big bowl of warm water and washcloths to bathe with.
It was no hot shower, but it certainly felt good to soak the dirt from her skin, and by the time she'd had a good wash and gotten dressed in the least cumbersome of the outfits, she was feeling almost like herself again. And that was when there was a gentle tap on the door and none other than Liam Grant himself appeared, still wearing the full tartan kilt he'd been wearing the day before when they'd met.
"How are you feeling?"
"Better today," she said with a grin, gesturing down to her new dress. "The other women brought me a few changes of clothes."
"That's good of them." Liam smiled. "The look suits you."
"You think? I have no idea how I'm meant to ride a horse in these," she added, plucking at the fabric discontentedly.
Liam shrugged. "A lot of ladies make do. I mean, a lot of ladies also ride sidesaddle…"
Kay snorted her disgust at that idea, and he raised his hands in surrender, chuckling.
"Okay. You don't have to ride sidesaddle."
"You're damn right."
"I've got the afternoon free, actually. If you'd like to come down to the stables and get a little bit of practice in with the skirts?"
Was this a date? Was he asking her on a date? What a stupid thing to think, she thought with a roll of her eyes she did her best to suppress. Of course he wasn't. He was just being friendly — she was new to the castle, new to the area, new to the time period for that matter — deep breaths, Kay — he was either being polite, or… a shiver ran down her spine. It was medieval times. Was he trying to… seduce her? To get something out of her with his kindness? She didn't know how it worked these days… what if she was accused of leading him on by spending time with him?
No, she decided, looking at his merry eyes and handsome face. She couldn't believe that a man like him would be so unpleasant — even if she didn't know anything about the time period, she couldn't imagine him being such a pig. So she nodded, smiling as she accepted his offer, and he grinned, leading her out the door and down the corridor before she could second-guess herself.
"That's a nice room you've gotten yourself," Liam informed her as they headed down the spiral staircase. "Nice and roomy — and with a fireplace, too. That'll keep you nice and warm when winter comes."
"When's that?" she asked, realizing she had no idea what time of year it was. "God, I can't believe how little I know about this place."
"You've got plenty of time to learn," he told her softly, and she couldn't help but smile, feeling reassured. "There's no rush."
It felt unbelievably good to be back in a stable. Yesterday had been so chaotic that she'd barely gotten a chance to get a sense of the layout of these stables. Now, with Liam at her side, she felt free to wander up and down the aisles, counting the stalls, greeting each horse that lay within. There were two stable buildings, each with about a dozen stalls — she was impressed by the size of the operation.
"I guess you guys use horses a lot, huh?" She shrugged as she stroked the nose of a jet black mare, who seemed convinced she had treats she was hiding.
"Aye, we do." He tilted his head, looking curious. "How else would we get around? On foot?"
"I'm used to cars, that's all." She grinned. "But I suppose you'll have to wait a few hundred years for those. Can I ride this girl?" she added, stroking the mare's soft nose. "I think she likes me."
"Aye, she does. You're welcome to. I'll get a groom to get her ready for you —"
"No, let me. Please. It'll be good for my brain, I think," she said softly.
Liam, to his credit, didn't argue with her — he just let her take the mare out of her stall, showed her where the tack was, and waited patiently for her to ready the horse to be ridden.
This was more like it, she thought with a broad grin as she led the black mare out into the courtyard. Maybe if she could spend every day with horses, she'd be able to kid herself a little that this place felt like home.
Chapter 22
They spent the rest of the afternoon on horseback. Time always flew when she was riding, and even though the somewhat cumbersome skirts got in the way at first, by the end of the afternoon she was feeling a lot more comfortable in them. She even took the mare for a quick gallop up and down the road outside the castle, sensing the horse's restlessness, and by the time she walked her in for dinner, she was feeling a lot more like herself again.
So the first few days of her stay at Castle Grant passed happily enough. She got used to the rhythms of the castle, to the timing of mealtimes, the hustle and bustle and ebb and flow of servants around the place. Liam showed her around — she had a suspicion he was slacking at his duties more than a little, he was spending so much time by her side. They went on long walks around the castle, him explaining the various paintings and tapestries they chanced upon, all artifacts from the Clan's long history of operating as a kind of diplomatic service between the Fae and the human worlds.
And when Liam did have to go back to work, she'd just wander by herself. True, she spent a lot of her time in the stables, helping here and there — you could take the girl out of the ranch, but you couldn't take the ranch out of the girl. She'd muck out stalls, rub down tired horses who'd been ridden this way and that, even tack up horses for people who were coming and going, to their surprise. She quickly made friends among the grooms, most of whom had regarded her with a mixture of suspicion and distrust when she'd first arrived — but who liked her well enough now that they'd seen a kindred spirit in her.
The black mare became her special favorite. Her name, it turned out, was Shadow, not for her color but for her unfortunate habit of jumping a
t shadows. She spooked incredibly easy, and as a result was considered a bad choice of mount. That meant she was often under-exercised… which, to Kay's exasperation, made her even more likely to spook from her abundance of energy. Kay decided early on that Shadow would be her special project — she'd work with the mare every day until she was as calm and placid as the chestnut gelding that was Liam's favorite mount.
She was heading back in from a long ride with Shadow a few days after she'd arrived at the castle. They were both breathing hard — they'd been galloping up and down outside the castle, Kay really giving the mare her head and letting her wear herself out. She had an incredible turn of speed, this mare, and a lot of stamina too — she was a difficult horse to tire out, that was for sure, but Kay was doing her best. Already, they were bonding. It helped that she snuck her pieces of fruit and vegetable from the kitchen, of course… but more than that, she knew it was that the horse sensed her love and compassion for her. That was usually all it took to turn a horse from a problem into a dream — a bit of love, and a bit of patience.
But something was odd in the stable — there was a hushed atmosphere, and she quickly realized why as her eyes adjusted and she realized all the grooms were standing around in the back, talking in low voices. Curious, she took Shadow's bridle off and left her to cool down a little in the grooming area before she gave her a thorough rubdown and brush, heading down to where all the grooms were gathered. They beckoned her closer, their eyes serious.
"Have you heard what's going on in the village?" asked Harris, the first groom she'd made friends with. He was about nineteen, a scrawny lad with a gift for calming spooked horses, but his expression now suggested that he was more spooked than most.
"No? What's wrong?"
"They've been losing cattle," said George, another of the grooms — an older man with broad shoulders who was never short of stories about his rather theatrical wife. He was usually grinning, though — today, he wore a serious expression. "Cattle and sheep. They'll probably be taking horses next —"
"They don't take horses," Harris corrected him, his eyes narrowed. "They've never taken a horse."
"Not yet! They've been bold enough to take a herdsman now, it's only a matter of time before they're taking anything that wanders through —"
"What's taking people?" Kay demanded, ice in her gut.
Harris sighed. "The wisps, so the rumors say. Out by the bog. They've been getting worse and worse these last few months… it's so bad now that everyone's frightened to even go looking for iron in the bog in broad daylight. So we're running low," he added. "Which is bad news for when a horse throws a shoe."
"I heard there wasn't any iron left in the bog at all," George said in a low voice. "I heard the wisps ate it all up and that's why they're turning to cattle and sheep and horses —"
"Not horses! Why are you more worried about horses than the man who went missing?"
"We don't know that the wisps got him," George pointed out with a frown. "Could've been anything. Maybe he'd just had enough and decided to walk off."
"And leave his whole herd unattended? You're joking. It's only lucky his neighbor stumbled upon the whole herd or they'd have walked straight into the bog themselves, the lot of them. The wisps would've made short work of them, too."
"What is it about the wisps that makes them so strong?" Kay wanted to know, thinking of the investigation that Liam was running and frowning to herself. He hadn't mentioned these developments to her at all — and with a person missing, they were quite serious developments. Why not? Hadn't he agreed that he wanted her to help figure out what was happening with the wisps? It seemed a bit rude to keep such important information from her when it was possible that she could help figure it out.
"They're hard to kill, from what I hear," Harris said with a shrug. "They're just lights in the darkness, right? Can't hit that, can't stab it with a sword… not that anyone's tried."
"They could try with me," George boasted, thumping himself in the chest. "I'd soon show 'em what was what."
She chuckled to herself as she left the men behind, but there was worry brewing in her belly. Time to talk to Liam, it seemed. She'd had enough time to settle in… it was time to try to do something useful.
Chapter 23
It didn't take long to find him. The afternoon was late, and by the time she'd given Shadow a thorough rubdown and grooming, the sun was already setting. That meant dinner — and she'd worked up quite the appetite with Shadow that afternoon. Kay headed inside then lingered in the entrance hall, waiting for Liam to turn up so they could eat together, and she could interrogate him about just what was going on with this wisp mystery they'd agreed to investigate together. How dare he keep her out of it, she thought with a mixture of amusement and annoyance. He'd better be apologetic when she confronted him… not that she was truly angry. He was a hard man to stay angry with for too long. Something about that rueful grin he had, or the merry way his eyes danced when he smiled at her and said he was sorry… she ducked her head, a little annoyed by how charming she found him.
It wasn't long before he headed in from outside, his long blond hair tousled by the early evening wind and a broad smile breaking out over his face when he saw her. She tried to look as though it was a coincidence that she'd been there when he was — as opposed to a carefully arranged meeting — and they fell into step together, heading into the dining hall to find a space in the crowded hall to eat together. She'd been alternating meals with the three other time-lost women and with Liam — either way, it was nice to have a friend to share a meal with.
Tonight's meal was roast beef, and she couldn't help but think of the wisps as she bit into the deliciously roasted meat. Something must have shown on her face with the thought, because Liam blinked at her, looking concerned.
"Everything alright, Kay? You look worried."
"I heard a few rumors today in the stables," she said, pinning him with a thoughtful look.
"Is that so? You have to be careful how much credit you give my grooms," he warned her. "That George is an exaggerator and no mistake. I've met his wife, she's nowhere near that dramatic —"
"Not about George's wife. About the wisps. Why would I care about George's ridiculous wife?"
"I don't know, the stories are pretty funny —" He sobered a little when she narrowed her eyes, making it clear she wasn't joking around right now. "Sorry. The wisps, you said?"
"Yeah. George and Harris were saying that there are rumors going around that the wisps are taking more and more cattle and sheep. They even said a herdsman is missing."
"Aye, I did hear that yesterday," Liam said thoughtfully, a frown on his face. "From the villagers, which means it's probably not idle gossip. They don't tend to let false rumors about things like that spread. Not with everything that's gone on here over the last few years."
Kay nodded. The village and castle had been through a lot recently. There had been goblin attacks when Nancy arrived, Unseelie monsters breaking through the Burgh since before Anna had arrived… and not long ago, a frightening Unseelie vampire-like creature who had preyed on the men of the Keep and the village, causing several deaths before she'd been defeated by the clever work of Elena and her husband Brendan. No wonder they had no time for idle gossip about death — not when it stalked them so regularly.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, trying not to sound petulant. "I saw you last night. I thought we were investigating the wisp stuff together."
"Aye, we can be," he said, looking guarded. "But I wanted to give you enough time to settle in, Kay. After all, you said it yourself — it's a big change."
She heaved a sigh; torn between her own petulance and the knowledge that he was right — she was under a lot of stress as she struggled to adjust to all this chaos. Still, she bit her lip, not willing to let go of her annoyance. "You don't have to protect me, you know. I can take care of myself. Just — don't hide things from me, okay?"
"I won't," he said simply. "I'm sorry
. I thought I was doing the right thing." He sighed. "I don't want you riding out to scour the bog for clues, or anything, but I'd be happy to take suggestions on how to proceed with the investigation. I think you were right when you said the wisps are breeding this much because of the lack of iron in the bog — do you have any other insights?"
"I do, actually," she said smugly, thinking back to the night when she'd climbed to the top of the castle by herself and been hypnotized by the distant, dancing lights. "It's not a permanent solution, but it might help the farmers keep their flocks a little safer, at least for the time being."
"Oh? How's that?" Liam leaned forward, clearly interested in what she was saying, his meal forgotten, and she felt a secret thrill at having engaged his attention so thoroughly.
Don't be silly, Kay, she told herself with irritation. He's just interested in what you have to say about the investigation, about the wisps, about keeping his people safe…
"The light is what's hypnotic, right?" She didn't bother explaining how she knew that — let him assume she'd figured it out third-hand, as opposed to nearly being hypnotized on the roof by the distant, dancing lights… "A cow, or a sheep, or a person — they stare into the light, they're mesmerized, drawn toward it. So why don't the farmers simply blindfold their cattle at night? A piece of cloth would do it — they might be a little uneasy about it, but with any luck they'll just go to sleep."
Liam was nodding, his eyes bright with enthusiasm about the idea. "That's definitely worth a shot. There's an old rumor that if you turn your back on a wisp it has no power — that might have something to do with the light needing to be seen to exercise its power."
Distracted By The Highlander: A Scottish Time Travel Romance (Highlander Forever Book 4) Page 8
