A Promise to Be Kept: A Scottish Highlander Romance (Legacy of the Laird Book 1) by Darcy Armstrong

Author:Darcy Armstrong [Armstrong, Darcy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-02-14T18:00:00+00:00

21

Kenzie McPhee

Kenzie woke slowly and lounged in bed, pulling the covers up under her chin. She had another busy day ahead of her as Margaret attempted to give an understanding of the day-to-day life of the castle, or at least as much as one could absorb in the span of a few short days.

For now, though, she enjoyed the quiet. After a while she rose and walked the room, lifting blankets, inspecting furniture and imagining the room as it was when the Lady McCaskill was still alive. She opened the shutters on a few of the windows and was greeted with blue skies and snow sparkling on distant peaks.

Time passed, and then there was a knock on the door. She supposed Margaret had arrived at last.

“Aye,” she called.

“It’s Ismay, Miss McPhee. I have yer breakfast.”

Kenzie smiled before she could help herself and rushed to the door. It swung inwards and Ismay stood at the entrance, looking in with a smile of her own.

“Good morning, Ismay,” Kenzie said, pulling her inside and closing the door.

“Hello, Kenzie,” the girl said with a giggle, as if shocked at her own boldness. “Are ye hungry?”

“Ravenous,” Kenzie replied. “Yer timing couldnae be better.”

“Glad to be of service then, my lady,” Ismay said with an exaggerated curtsy.

“Stop that,” Kenzie said. “I dinnae know how things work up here, but I think I’d prefer to look at ye as a friend rather than a servant.”

“I’d… like that,” Ismay said, blushing and dropping her eyes.

“I was expecting the chamberlain, in fact,” Kenzie said.

Ismay nodded. “Aye, I passed her on the way. She had an urgent matter to attend to, but said she wouldnae be much longer.”

“I guess that means it’s just ye and me then.”

“It certainly looks like it. What have ye been doing?”

“Just looking around, amusing myself. It’s a lovely auld room.”

“It is,” Ismay agreed. “Before ye arrived, I helped the chamberlain clean it up. It’s funny, I’ve worked in the castle nearly my whole life, and I’d never been in here before. I didnae even have time to have a good look around.”

“Well, let’s remedy that, shall we?”

Together they explored the room, opening drawers, finding old jewellery and clothing, trying things on and laughing at each other. The more they spoke, the more Ismay relaxed, speaking freely and honestly.

Halfway down the room, Kenzie noticed a strange door in the wall. It was rather nondescript and curiously small; even she would have to bend to get through, and someone like Blaine would likely have to crawl on all fours. She stood at the door, looking at it with a frown, until Ismay joined her.

“Do ye know what this is?” She asked the girl.

“Aye,” Ismay said. “That leads to the servant’s passages.”

“What are they?”

“Just ways of moving around the castle, to keep the servants and maids out of sight. We still use them around the kitchen to get food into the dining hall, but not all the way out here.”

“Sounds interesting. Should we have a look?”

Ismay shook her head slowly.

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