The Outcast by Glynnis Campbell

Author:Glynnis Campbell
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Glynnis Campbell
Published: 2015-02-04T05:00:00+00:00

Alisoune opened her eyes, and then frowned in discouragement. If she didn’t know better, she’d think Lachlan didn’t care for kissing. But his body certainly responded to it. So why did he deny himself what was so pleasurable?

’Twas only a wee kiss, after all.

Aye, she understood what he’d said about saving herself for her husband. She wasn’t a fool. She knew that men preferred their brides to be unbedded. But at the moment they were nowhere near a bed.

She sighed in resignation and wrapped her cloak tighter about her, trying to take joy in the way Lachlan was experimenting with his new toy.

“Come on, lad,” he called to Campbell after he’d dropped his ax into the sled. “Let’s try out this new device.”

He waved his hand and gave her a lopsided grin of gratitude before he set off with Campbell toward the woods, disappearing in the quiet fall of snowflakes.

At least she’d managed to coax a smile from him, she thought, if not a kiss.

He was gone for a long while. Alisoune cleaned up breakfast and straightened the bed linens. She washed her face and hands and rinsed her teeth. She even took out her disheveled braid, combed her hair, and replaited it. But still he didn’t return.

Bored, she began investigating the cottage more thoroughly.

He had a small store of spices, and she uncorked each of the tiny vials and sniffed at them, identifying them by name.

The trunk at the foot of his bed was unlocked, and she dug through his clothing, which was mostly linen shirts, woolen trews, and one rich black velvet doublet, for special occasions, she supposed.

She more closely examined each piece of armor, forgetting that he must have been wearing it when he lost his leg, shocked by the dark bloodstains that peppered the dull steel and by the notable absence of one of his greaves.

Then, because for Alisoune, curiosity always outweighed horror, she began to wonder, since the greave was missing, what had become of the leg inside it. Had he left it on the battlefield? Had he buried it? Had he brought it home for Campbell to gnaw on?

Silently scolding herself for such irreverent and grotesque thoughts, she put the armor back where she found it and picked up the round crystal on the mantel.

’Twas a beautiful thing. She’d never actually seen a rainbow crystal before, and she discovered that as she rolled it back and forth between her fingers in the firelight, it did seem to shine in different colors. At the moment ’twas a bright green, but when she turned it in just the right way, it flashed violet.

What had Lachlan said—that the stone was meant for her? Why would he think that? After all, she’d only appeared in his cottage yesterday.

Still, it felt soothing in her hand, the perfect size, almost as if ’twere made for her palm. It shimmered blue as she replaced it.

Then, impatient, she decided to keep a vigil at the door. Lachlan had told her to latch it, but she was sure nobody would bother coming for her in this weather.

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