by Fiona Faris
“We’ll need ginger, honey, garlic,” she said to the first one, “Ye can get this easily.”
“Yes, milady,” the servant replied, then exited to do her bidding. The owner of the lands stood by and watched her anxiously as she turned to the second man.
“I will need ye to go deeper into the market. There is a root seller by the name of Pete. Tell him Lorraine sent ye. Tell him I need some roots for sleep and numbing for animals, for a horse. He will give ye the right ones. He will ask for size. Tell him adult male, slightly underweight due to lack of food for days.”
“Yes, milady,” the servant repeated, and left. He had not dawdled and this pleased Lorraine greatly.
“And ye, I will need items from you. You will get me a mortal, pestle, bowls, and some knives – but we hope we do nae need them.”
Alone, Lorraine turned to the man. “I will need to get back to my home. There are items I need. ’Twill be a battle to save him, sire.”
“Please, me name is Anton.”
Lorraine nodded, further suppressing feelings of discomfort.
“Ye have nae given me yer bill,” Anton said to her.
“Aye,” Lorraine nodded, and told him an amount.
Anton laughed and shook his head. “Mi lady, if ye will save me horse, I will give ye times ten of that and me son to wed if ye will have him!” he laughed.
Lorraine said nothing but gave strained smile. Her head was spinning.
“Er…Anton, I will be leaving now. I will not tarry.”
“Shall I send me guards to ride out with ye?”
“Nay,” she shook her head, “Ye do nae need to. I will be gone only a while. Have the servants lay out my items here. I will be back soon.”
It took several heavy breaths to be calm enough to mount her horse again. Lorraine did and rode faster than she had ever had. She passed the gossiping clan members and wished she could block out her ears but she couldn’t.
When she finally got to the path leading to her home, she slowed down and allowed herself some more heavy breaths. Then, the thoughts she had pushed away came back in full swing.
Did people think that she and Daividh had something going on? Did they think they were betrothed? What would Daividh think if he heard the whispers? Would he blame her? Would he be angry with her?
Her heart sunk at the possibility of Daividh’s anger. She didn’t want him angry. She wanted him as happy as he had been when he had seen her in her feast gown the previous night. She wanted the same confident and cocky smile that had been on his lips after he had kissed her lips. A shiver ran through her spine as she replayed the occurrences of the previous day.
Suddenly, she was reminded of Lady Alison’s acts towards her. It had all faded away due to the incidents that had followed. Lorraine sighed once more. It had been heavenly, enveloped in his arms. Never had she allowed a man to touch her as intimately as he had. Even worse – she wanted no one else but him to touch her.
But that was all beside the point, she reminded herself. Had the rumors gotten to him? How did he feel about them? Was he angry with her?
Lorraine pulled her horse to a stop and got down once she was close enough to her home. She would walk the rest of the distance into her home. She needed a bag where she kept tools she would need if she ever had to amputate an animal. She hoped it wouldn’t be necessary, but it was much better to be prepared.
When Lorraine lifted her head after tying her beloved horse down, Daividh’s eyes were the ones she saw.
“Lorraine,” he said.
“Daividh?” she said with a gasp. What was he doing there?
She rushed to him and he took her in his arms. It had been a simple gesture for them both. They hadn’t had to think or analyze. All they had done was feel.
Lorraine pulled away from him with a shy smile on her face. “Ye are here?”
“Aye,” he said.
She could hardly believe it. Just when she had been needing him, he showed up. “Why?”
“Are ye nae happy to see me?”
“Oh no,” she said quickly, but stopped her explanation when she noticed the teasing smile on his face. “Ye are a rogue,” she shook her head.
“Perhaps,” he said, then his face turned serious, “How far out have you been?”
“Far out?”
“Aye, have you gone to the markets or around people?”
“Aye,” she said and bit her lips.
“Shite,” he curse, “Ye must have heard. I need ye to understand that there will be rumors flying around for quite a while. I have never been with a woman publicly as I was with you yesterday.” Daividh held her hands in his and pulled her closer to himself.
“I heard them,” she nodded with a sigh and looked away, “They seem to think I am your betrothed.”
Daividh arched a brow. “Was that all ye heard?”
“The worst of it. People have been acting as though I was a lady. ’Tis all too uncomfortable for me.”
Daividh blinked and let out a sigh of relief. “That is nae bad at all.”
“There’s worse?” she asked, panicked.
Daividh looked as though he regretted hinting anything else.
“Daividh!” she pressed.
“’Tis nae for ye to worry about. If all they speak about is an engagement, you do nae need to worry yer head.”
“I would thank ye kindly nae to tell me how to use me head. Tell me!”
“Fine,” he shrugged, “but ye are stubborn.”
“There have been mutterings about ye.” He looked away with an embarrassing look creeping onto his face. “That ye are trying to trap me as one that kens nae of yer da.” He said the words with a rush. “Ye must nae think deeply of it, Lorraine. There will be gossip, especially if ye are by me side. A lot of women have courted me attentions. ’Tis easy to see why they will resent ye. I ken that ye do nae like yer da being spoken of and I will do all I can to quell such rumors.”
Lorraine said nothing but there was a small smile on her face. She lifted her hands and stroked his cheek. Daividh reached for her hand and held it where it was.
“Ye really are a wonderful man when ye are nae being an ass,” she said softly, “Ye came here because ye worried about me hearin’ the rumors, aye?”
“Only because they stemmed from me.” He let go of her hands and looked away, uncomfortable with the praise.
“’Tis rather funny,” she said going on, “I wondered if ye had heard of the rumors, meself. I feared that if ye did, ye would be angry.”
Daividh arched a brow. “Angry?”
“Aye.”
“What ye must ken is that as clan chief’s son, ye get used to rumors pretty early. Ye learn nae to pay them any mind.”
Lorraine nodded but the smile stayed on her face. It revealed the tiniest bits of how her heart felt. She doubted that she could show how happy she was through her face but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except the fact that he had cared enough about her to come to her house and look for her because he was worried about her.
Lorraine’s grin got bigger and larger.
“Why are ye smiling?”
“Nothin’,” she said with an even wider smile.
“Stop grinnin’,” he said in a grumpy voice.
“Why?” she asked. The grin was so wide that she felt her mouth would tear up.
Daividh shook his head but a smile was beginning to form on his own face too.
Soon, the pair stood in the warm afternoon sun smiling at each other for reasons they couldn’t understand.
Suddenly, Lorraine remembered Anton and his horse and sighed lightly.
“I have to go. A man named Anton came for me today. He claimed to have heard of me after the feast and wanted me to check his horse.”
A worried look crossed his face. “Ye went alone? ’Tis nae very safe.”
“Aye, but ’twas on open ground and Maxwell has taught me enough of defending meself if need be. Anton’s manor is on the castle grounds.”
“Oh,” he said, with a voice of recognition, “Anton is a friend of me father. Ye will be safe with him. In fact-”
Daividh’s sentence was cut short by a carriage rolling into their midst. It was a very familiar carriage.
The door opened and a pretty face popped out. “Well, brother dearest! Fancy seeing ye here!” Kyla said with a mischievous grin, and Daividh rolled his eyes.
“What are ye doing here, Kyla?”
The guard who had followed her dropped from the carriage and offered her a hand to help her step down. With a small envelope in her hands, she walked to the pair.
“’Tis so nice to see ye, Kyla,” Lorraine said wholeheartedly. She had enjoyed the lady’s company the previous day. “I meant to call and return yer dress.”
“Oh, keep it, ’tis yers. Me brother has paid for it.”
Lorraine glanced at Daividh who avoided her eyes.
“I am here bearing a message from the Laird MacDougall,” she said, and handed Lorraine an envelope, “He invites ye for the Laird’s Feast. ’Tis to be held in eleven days. The laird had extended the invitation personally seeing as ye are so important to us.” There was a naughty glint in her eyes.
“Kyla, I ken naught of this.”
“But now ye do,” she said simply. It was obvious how much she was enjoying the situation.
However, Lorraine wasn’t paying any attention to them. The Laird’s Feast was held every year. It was celebrated by nobles and commoners alike. The nobles celebrated with the laird in his castle while the commoners celebrated in the town square. She had never imagined being invited to celebrate with the laird in his castle. The events of the previous day seeped back to her and she remembered Lady Alison’s attack on her.
She never wanted to be anywhere near that woman again. But what could she do? Could she turn down the offer? No, her mother would kill her. Perhaps she could accept but feign an illness. Suddenly, Lorraine’s thoughts grounded to a halt.
Was she, Lorraine, refusing to attend a feast because of another person? Was she afraid of another person? And what was the worst that Lady Alison could do? There was not a thing that she was ashamed of. She was proud of her ma and her da. She was proud of Maxwell and she was definitely proud of herself.
“Lorraine?” Kyla called with a worried look on her face.
Lorraine realized that she had blanked out and that both of them had fixed their stares on her.
“Are you alright?” Kyla asked.
“Ye do nae need to accept-”
“Kindly thank me laird for his generous invite. I would be most delighted to attend.”
“Great!” Kyla beamed and handed her the little envelope. “See ye soon!”
Kyla got into her carriage and soon, she was off, leaving Lorraine and Daividh alone.
“I’m sorry, I had no idea they would invite ye. I would specially request that Alison isn’t given an invite.”
“Nay,” Lorraine shook her head, “Let her come. She can do nothin’ to me. If gossip travels fast, everyone kens of me da and ma. I am nae ashamed of them. They didnae raise me to be ashamed of them.”
Daividh nodded his head. “Alright, then.”
“Aye. I must leave now, Daividh.”
“Aye. Ye will take care of yerself?”
“I will. Ye too.”
Lorraine turned to sprint into her home when Daividh called to her. “Will ye be occupied tomorrow?”
Lorraine paused and looked back. “Nay,” she said, “Nay, I will nae.”
“I will see ye tomorrow, then? At the loch?”
“By noon,” she said to him.
“Aye, by noon.”
Chapter Sixteen
When Lorraine arrived at Anton’s manor, the items were ready and waiting and so, she got to work. Anton and all the servants had left her on her own to enable her concentration. He had instructed her to ring a bell if she needed any help from them.
She mixed the ingredients gently and force fed them to the weak horse, something to keep it alive so that starvation wouldn’t kill it before the infection did. Then, when she was done, she moved on to the next batch of ingredients and pounded them. She would treat the horse orally first, and then, she would work on the infected leg from the outside.
There were many hours gone before she was done. When she noticed the time, it was well into the evening. Lorraine stretched her body and rang the bell. Anton bustled into the room just before a servant did.
Lorraine realized that it meant he had stayed at the door since, in wait of her call. It was apparent just how much Ash meant to Anton. She felt more determined than ever to save the poor animal.
“I would like to request that a message be sent to me home. They ken naught of me whereabouts. ’Twould worry them greatly if an hour more passes.”
“Say no more,” Anton replied eagerly. He turned to the servant. “Have the cook prepare a basket of our freshest foods as a gift. Ride to her home and inform them that she will tarry a while longer.”
“Ye do nae have to do that, sir,” she said, forgetting his request to call him Anton.
“Dear lady, ’tis the least I can do. Money cannae buy me this horse. Ye are saving him. I owe ye.”
Lorraine said no more. The servant shuffled out of the room and was about to be followed by Anton.
“Anton?” she called.
He turned back to her.
“Animals recover faster when they are beside their beloved owners. If ye stay with him, ’twill be for the best.”
Anton beamed and nodded his head.
After the mixing was done, Lorraine reached for a sharp knife. “I will shave his leg now. I will need ye to hold him so he is calm.”
Anton nodded his head and bent to Ash. Gently, he stroked the animal’s head and Lorraine got to work. Gently, she shaved the affected limb. When it was bare, she soaked a rag in warm water and wiped it clean as gently as she could.
Then, she coated the limb in the first mixture and covered it with cloth. Next, she reached for the feeder she had brought from home. As gently as she could, she stuck it down his throat. Then, she poured the liquid mixture down his throat gently and slowly. It was only half a cup but it took minutes for the horse to drink it all.
“I’ll be here tomorrow morning and night,” she promised Anton, “I will see to it that Ash gets better.”
“Thank ye,” he said to her, and took her hands in his. They were rough and calloused but they were warm.
“’Tis me pleasure.”
When Lorraine was ready to leave, it was already late. It took minutes of argument to convince Anton that she didn’t need a servant to escort her home.
Just as Lorraine was about to walk out the gates of the manor, Anton handed her a sack. “This contains yer original fee. I stand by me word. If ye keep Ash alive, I will give ye nine times this.”
Lorraine nodded. It had little to do with money for her. Saving an animal was the most important thing. However, she knew that it would mean a lot to Anton. He could afford it as well. She would put a good amount towards buying new tools. That way, she would help her animals better.
“I thought ye would ne’er come out,” Maxwell said with a yawn. He was dressed in the guard wear he had began to wear since working with Daividh.
“Max!” she exclaimed, and enveloped him in a small hug. “What are ye doin’ here?”
“Ensuring ye get home safe. The lands aren’t so safe.” Max said.
“Whatever do ye mean?” she asked and rolled her eyes, “It is safe and ye ken it, but I am so happy to see ye that I will say little.”
The pair got on their horses and began the slow ride home. The cool night breeze was beautiful for Lorraine. Though dark, the paths were illuminated by street lanterns that the people of the MacDougall clans had fitted in themselves.
“Tell me,” he said to his sister, “What did ye do all day?”
“I ask ye instead! Ye were out before I was up,” Lorraine replied.
&nbs
p; “Aye, I missed yer presence. The feast was nae so kind to ye,” Max said with an apology in his voice.
Lorraine looked away. She wanted to forget about Lady Alison’s awful behavior but it seemed everywhere that she turned, reminders were thrust in her face.
“Lady Alison was mean.”
“More than mean,” her brother fumed, “she was evil.”
