by Fiona Faris
After Kyla had cut his hair, she had washed it in the root-water, rinsed it out, and then combed it. As such, Daividh sported a shorter and neater cut that brought out the color of his eyes.
He had then taken his horse and ridden to the cottage where Kyla had told him that Lorraine lived with her mother and brother. The cottage was located not too far from the castle itself. However, it was outside the castle grounds. It was small, modest, and neat. Daividh could imagine little children running around and playing on those grounds. Several chickens roamed around and he could hear the bleating of several goats coming from the back of the house. The walls of the house, though made from stone too, weren’t as grand as those of the castles and it wasn’t for lack of skill. From what Kyla had told him of the family, their father had been a man skilled with the stone craft. It was why, despite the obviously low quality of the items used in building the house, it was very pleasant to look at.
Once again, he knocked on the door and moments later, it was thrown open by a man close to Daividh’s own age.
His eyes widened with surprise. “Milord,” he said with a bow. “What brings ye to our humble abode?” His eyes were slightly tinged with worry.
“I may have stepped onto the wrong lands,” Daividh said. Who was the man? he wondered. Was Lorraine married? Or was she betrothed? Was that why she had given him no attention?
“May I inquire of whom milord seeks?” the man asked kindly.
“Lorraine,” he said finally, thinking of how he would explain to the man that he came to see his wife – if she was indeed his wife.
“Me sister only just returned, milord,” he informed, “She was tending to a sick lad. Will ye step into our home? She will be out soon.”
Sister. The fellow was her brother. Feeling more confident, Daividh decided to turn down the offer. “Nay, I do nae mean to impose. I shall wait outside if she would see me here,” he said.
“As ye wish.” The door was closed and Daividh walked to his horse, paces afar.
The door opened again, moments later. This time, it was only Lorraine who stepped out. She was dressed in the same breeches that she had worn on the market. Briskly, she walked up to him.
“’Tis ye, again,” Lorraine said in exasperation. The afternoon meet had been too brief and sudden for her to get a good look at him. All she had noted was his height; his huge and imposing height.
Now standing closer to him, she was able to get a good look at him. He was tall – just as tall as she remembered. He reminded her of the warriors that she and her brother had tried to imitate as young children. He had a hard face that carried a clear amount of arrogance embedded in its strong features.
His nose was straight and she liked straight noses. Her father had had one and he had been the most caring of men. Perhaps, Lorraine thought as she stood before the young heir, she had been giving too much credit to straight noses.
He had the body of a warrior; the broad shoulders and tough arms even as he stood, arms crossed before her. However, it was his face that caught her attention. His eyes were grey, a cool grey that reminded her of ice – begging to be underestimated so it could give the most fatal of blows. No one would dare underestimate a man that stood a good head above men of his age. His skin was smooth, tanned – evidence of hours spent outside the castle grounds. His hair was black, a rich thick black that managed to glow even without the light of the sun. He had the slightest of scars above his left eye. It was diagonal and cut into his brow but only slightly. She wondered what had caused it. Yes, the warrior looked as annoyingly strong as he had looked in the morning at the market. Yet, something was different.
Lorraine cocked her head to the side. There was something different about him and she could not put a finger to it.
“Will ye say naught?” she asked, when she grew tired of looking at him.
“I thought to allow ye to enjoy the view,” he said proudly, with a grin exposing his immaculate teeth.
Lorraine scowled. What on earth did he want? Running into him at the market could have been a coincidence but this was intentional. “Ah, I see. Ye are still as exasperating as ye were in the morn. I shall be takin’ my leave.” She turned to leave.
“Wait,” he said and grabbed her hand. Then, remembering the happenings of the morning, he dropped it.
“What is it ye want, milord?” she asked.
“I want to speak to ye,” he said. Daividh began to feel the situation slip out of his grasp once more. He saw the end all too soon; she would walk away again and the next time he tried to approach her, she would not give him here.
“On what subject, if I may ask?” she asked, a bored look filling her eyes.
Daividh paused and observed the woman in front of him. “Ye dae nae like me,” he said in shock. A woman had never not liked him.
“I dae nae ken ye,” she corrected, “How can I like or hate ye if I dae nae ken ye.”
“If ye were to make a choice of the two, however…” he prodded.
“I would lean towards the negative side, milord.”
“Then ye dae nae like me,” he surmised, finally happy to have the last winning word even if it was to his detriment.
“Aye,” Lorraine nodded with amusement. “And I have good reasons too. Now if this is all milord came to inquire, I must take me leave.”
Daividh watched her walk away. She would not turn back and he would not grab her hand again. Perhaps, it was time to listen to Kyla. “I offer my apologies, for the noon,” he called to her.
Lorraine stooped in her step and turned around. It was one of the reasons that she was most grateful for her breeches, The process would have taken longer with full skirts on.
“Ye apologize?” she asked, arching her brow.
“Aye, I do,” he repeated, “I wanted to speak to ye and I didnae go ’bout it the right way.”
Suddenly, Lorraine smiled and Daividh was shocked. She had a beautiful smile.
“Ye are forgiven. A sin is only a sin as long as ’tis unacknowledged in my books.” She smiled again and Daividh found it hard not to comment.
“That is very noble of ye. Ye have a beautiful smile. I do nae see it often.”
“Ye have nae known me for a lengthy time. There is much ye will nae ken.”
Daividh saw the opportunity and took it. “But I would love to ken these things about ye.”
“Why?” she arched her brow.
“Because ye are different,” he said honestly. Irrespective of the bet with Glenn, he had never known anyone like her. What he didn’t know was if it was good or bad. “Up until now, I didnae realize how refreshing that could be.”
Daividh had been through many women. He liked women, appreciated them, but wasn’t one to stick with one woman for long. He was nae ready to be bound and put too much stock in his freedom. But perhaps he needed a new challenge, one that didn’t make it too easy for him. It would make Glenn’s bet actually enjoyable for him.
Daividh grinned at her. “Aye, I am sorry.”
“’Tis is a thing of the past,” she said with a shrug, but he could see that his apology pleased her.
A thing to remember about her, Daividh, he said to himself, an apology will earn a smile.
“The sun is almost gone,” Lorraine said to him after a brief silence.
“Aye. I would love to see ye again,” he said quickly. He was finally making headway. It was best to take all opportunities. He hoped it was not too soon but he was pressed for time. The bet allowed for six weeks and she was a hard nut.
“I am a busy woman, as ye, milord,” she said quickly.
It wasn’t a yea but it wasn’t a no, either. Daividh decided to count his blessings. He would not push anymore for fear of an outright no.
“Then perhaps there would be a time when we are both not encumbered by tasks,” he said with a smile.
Lorraine returned his smile. “Perhaps. But I must go now,” she said.
“I understand that. May I walk ye to yer door?”
Lorraine rolled her eyes. “Do nae be silly, ye have a long way before home. Start your journey, I will be just fine.”
The request of an escort would have seemed chivalrous to any other woman he knew but not her. She was interesting.
“Aye, then. Sleep kindly.”
“Aye, and ye too,” she turned to walk away. Suddenly, she turned back. “There is a difference about ye, milord. I have been trying to put a finger to ye. Yer different from the morn at the market.” She squinted her eyes.
“Ah, ’tis me hair,” he said absently.
“Yer hair?” she asked with interest.
“Aye,” he said with a bit of an embarrassed smile. He wondered if he should come clean. With a sigh, he decided to do so. It was probably obvious already. “Me sister thinks ye did nae take kindly to me because I didnae have my hair in the latest fashion.”
“Fashions come and go. A while ago, yer hair was in full rave.”
“Well, perhaps I care little about the rest of people. Does it come to yer liking?” he teased.
“Ye pass, but barely,” she said with a voice of indifference, but she was smiling. “Good night, milord.”
“Good night, Lorraine,” he said as she walked away, even though he doubted she heard him.
Chapter Four
“Well, well, sister, at least, somethin’ other than plants and animals can steal yer time,” Maxwell said with a cheeky grin as she walked inside their sparsely furnished house.
“Do nae be silly. I tend to the plants to get medicines to treat humans.”
“If yer nae busy treating, do ye speak to anyone?”
“Nay, because I have nay need to.”
Maxwell grinned. Unlike Lorraine, he favored his mother’s look. He had her brown hair, her wide blue eyes, and her thin lips. Lorraine had her father’s rich black hair, his honey brown eyes, and his full lips.
“Well, ’tis nay longer a problem, is it? Ye have managed to attract the attentions of Laird Daividh.”
Lorraine rolled her eyes as though it was normal and she had not been puzzled over it all day. She was nae one who believed in wearing one’s heart one one’s sleeve. The fastest way to get hurt, her father had told her, was to let your vulnerability show. She had been perplexed then.
“How does one nae be vulnerable?” she had inquired, eyes wide with curiosity.
“Ah, ah, me pet,” he had said and lightly thumped her nose, “I didnae say ye shouldnae be vulnerable. I said ye should nae let it show, nae to everyone. ’Tis the fastest way to get hurt. Ye have to be sure a person is worth being vulnerable to.”
“Well, how would I ken?” It was rather confusing.
“Ye will, trust me.” His kindly eyes had smiled at her.
“Where has yer mind gone to?” Maxwell asked, bringing her back to the present.
“What was it ye said?”
“I asked what he wanted with ye?” he asked in a way that showed that he already had an answer that he would believe.
“Somethin’ about plants,” she lied. It was not a lie, she reasoned. It was a guess. Even she didn’t know what he wanted with her.
“So he is nae a suitor?”
Lorraine would have choked, had she water in her mouth. “Goodness, nay. Get yer head out of the clouds. Ye are too much of a romantic. It does ye great disservice.” She shook her head fondly.
“One would think ye older.” Her brother laughed.
“I still cannae believe yer older than me.”
“By a good three years, Sister.” He reached to pat her hair but she sidestepped him and made a face at him.
“Let me be, ye oaf.” She laughed and walked away from him. “I want to check on the goat. She is due to birth soon.”
“Ye ken that ye need love, Sister.”
Lorraine rolled her eyes. He said that always. “I ken that. ’Tis why I still keep ye around, Brother.”
“Real love!” he shouted after her, “Ye need a man.”
Lorraine shook her head and ignored him. Their barn was located behind their house. It was a small structure that Maxwell had kindly put together for her. They hadn’t many animals but she wasn’t happy with the idea of the few that they had sleeping outside. When Maxwell had built it, they had Bill and Nan; the two goats. But with the structure in place, Lorraine had begun to bring home the many animals that they saved. There were two dogs, a cat that now had five kittens, several chickens, and even a cute rabbit. It was also where they kept their horses. She had spent her own time partitioning the small room so each animal had their own space. Lorraine felt at home among the animals and frequently spent her time with them.
As soon as she stepped into the barn, Jack’s excited barks rang out from his small enclosure. “I will be with ye, soon,” she said to him as though he could hear.
“Hello, Nan,” she said, and stroked the goat’s head affectionately, “Has Bill been nice to ye?”
She bent and examined the goats protruding stomach. After a moment of silent exams, she patted Nan’s head again. “Aught is amiss. Ye have been doing a great job, Nan.” She patted the goat’s head and moved on to her puppy.
“Hello, good boy.” She let Jack out of his little room. The puppy, excited to see her, allowed her to dote on him.
Finally away from people, she allowed her mind to wander. What on earth had happened? She was not one to believe that people said everything that they meant. Perhaps, Daividh wanted something else that time would reveal. She didn’t believe for one minute that he wanted to get to know her. She had visited the castle grounds even as a little girl and their paths had never crossed.
Besides, the man had quite a reputation. Didn’t he have a betrothed? For the first time, Lorraine wished she was one to listen to gossip. She would know if indeed he had a betrothed.
“But what does it matter if he has a betrothed?” she asked Jack, who was in a blissful world of his own, “He didnae approach me for any romantic reasons. His betrothed is nae my concern.”
Her thoughts went to his hair. Had he really trimmed up his hair for her? Probably not. It had been an easy excuse. Why would a man of his station have trimmed his hair to come see her, especially when he had looked handsome as sin in the market?
“Not that it mattered,” she said out loud.
Jack cocked his head at her.
“Oh, do nae look at me that way. It is rather hard to ignore how good looking he is.”
Perhaps he wanted to be friends. Lorraine didn’t know how she would feel about that. She didn’t have many friends, intentionally so. Friends required trust and she was not ready to give that. Trusting the wrong people had taken her precious pa from her, and she knew without a doubt that he expected her to learn from it as she had learned from his words while he lived.
Maxwell had always been closer to their mother and it was probably because he had a large share of her outgoing nature. However, she knew that even he would not trust so easily.
Daividh had never approached her before. He wanted something from her – that much was obvious, although she could not fathom what it was.
“He’s rather fake, isnae he?” she asked Jack absentmindedly, “Aye, he is. He is fake. I bet he would do terribly among commoners.” She gave Jack one last pat and turned to leave the room. “We shall watch him very carefully,” were her final words to Jack.
Lorraine stood and left the barn, but not before checking on her rabbit.
The next morning was filled with a rush of activity. Lorraine had a few chores in the morning before it would be time for the puppet show. She had to check up on Sarah’s young boy to ascertain if the treatment had begun to take effect. Then she had to make a stop at the market to take Tommy with her to the puppet show.
The young children adored puppet shows and Lorraine had found herself dragged in to volunteer. Then, she had found that she loved it more than she thought she would. It had become a custom for her. At every show, she put her talents up for display. It excited the kids and m
ade her happy.
Her father had taught her how to control the puppets. It was a talent that she cherished.
Children were easy to be around. With them, there was no pretense or hidden agenda. A child’s heart was pure and Lorraine often found herself thinking back upon her childhood fondly.
“I am off, Maxwell,” she called to her brother, as she hurried out of the house that morning after all chores had been done.
“Give me best to ma if ye happen upon her,” he called back, “If ye do nae see her and ye have the time, check on her!” If a child was to be born overnight, their mother spent the night at the expectant mother’s house.
