Laird of the Mist by Paula Quinn

Author:Paula Quinn
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, Fiction
ISBN: 9780446503716
Publisher: Forever
Published: 2007-01-02T10:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

THE MORNING SUN BLAZED like a dragon’s breath through the wide, unshuttered windows of Kate’s room. Golden light splashed over her hair while Maggie brushed it until Kate’s scalp began to ache. Callum’s sister had insisted on bathing her new friend after they shared a hearty meal of cooked oats. Kate’s skin still tingled from the scrubbing she received at Maggie’s strong hands, but it felt wonderful to finally smell better than a fortnight’s worth of dirt.

She had so wanted to brush Maggie’s hair, but the lass refused. But after Kate commented on how Jamie might be tempted to plant a kiss on her cheek if it was clean, she did agree to wash her face.

At Callum’s request, a handmaiden named Aileen had delivered an earasaid and an armful of kirtles and shifts to Kate’s room earlier, all of which were tried on until Kate finally chose one with a sleeveless bodice of sapphire wool. The cut was low, the laces ending just beneath her breasts. She wore a cream-colored shift beneath with long bloused sleeves. Maggie had helped her don her earasaid of patterned scarlet and saffron, pleating it around her waist with a belt and wrapping the spare material around her shoulders. She’d secured the plaid with a round brooch of hammered bronze.

“Kate?” Maggie asked now, brushing one of Kate’s curls around her finger. “Is yer uncle very skilled with a blade?”

Kate heard the distress in her voice and knew what Maggie was really asking her. “I’ve never seen him in battle, but he often boasted of his skill.” When Maggie expelled a little groan, Kate hastily continued. “Whereas I have seen Callum wield a sword, and I do not believe any man could stand against him.”

“Are ye verra frightened for yer uncle, then?”

Kate shifted in her seat. She was not worried for him at all. In fact, she did her best not to even think of him. But she couldn’t tell that to Maggie without the girl thinking she was as coldhearted as her grandfather. “I don’t want Callum to kill him,” she finally said, leaving it at that.

“Nor do I.”

Kate turned to her, surprised. “How is it that you suffered with your brother at the hands of my kin and you don’t wish them dead, as Callum does?”

Maggie’s huge eyes shimmered with tears when they settled on Kate. “How much longer will my brother live if he keeps killing them? Sooner or later they will come for him. Just like they did at Kildun.”

Kate nodded slowly and turned back around. Her heart beat madly in her chest. She knew Maggie was right. She had even tried to tell him at the inn. This war would never end if the killing continued, and Callum would surely die. “We must stop him.”

“How?” Maggie asked. A dash of hope tinged her voice. “D’ye think he will listen to ye? He did say he would give ye tulips.”

“Tulips?” Kate turned to her again with a befuddled look. The lass had the most peculiar way of switching topics right in the middle of a conversation.

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