Lords of Eire: An Irish Medieval Romance Bundle by Le Veque Kathryn

Author:Le Veque, Kathryn
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2020-02-07T16:00:00+00:00

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Glenteige Castle

“He keeps staring at me,” Emllyn said. Then she grunted in frustration and turned her attention to the oriel window that overlooked the east portion of Glenteige’s complex. “I know you do not understand a word I am saying, but I do not want to complain of this to Elyse. It is her father, after all. I just wish he would not stare at me. I cannot even eat my meal at sup because the man watches every chew I make!”

In her quiet, comfortable, and cramped chamber, Emllyn was spending a rare afternoon by herself. Elyse was off somewhere with Connaught and, whenever that happened, Emllyn would shut herself up in her chamber because she wanted to stay away from de Noble. So far, he’d been completely polite and considerate, but she didn’t want to give the man the opportunity to talk to her alone.

But she wasn’t exactly alone. Eefha was with her, seated over at the small table near the bed, working with some kind of mortar and pestle, grinding and grinding something that Emllyn couldn’t really see and couldn’t really ask about because Eefha had no way of answering her. It was just like old times back at Black Castle, frustrating as those times were. But it also brought her some comfort.

The old woman spent most of her time in Emllyn’s chamber, sleeping in the corner and leaving only in the morning to wander the keep and sometimes work in the kitchens. Oddly enough, no one ever stopped her or questioned her. They assumed she was a servant and that’s exactly what she was posing as. As Devlin once said, no one gave notice to a mad old woman, and he had been right. Eefha was able to move freely anywhere in the keep.

With a heavy sigh, Emllyn peeled back the curtains that were blowing softly in the wind. It was a wet day, as a violent storm had passed over the night before, leaving the landscaped whipped. She could see more angry dark clouds in the distance, hovering over the sea. As she leaned against the windowsill and inspected the wet grounds below, she began to smell something awful.

Scrunching up her nose, she looked around to see where the smell might be coming from but she saw no smoke or hint of stench. It smelled heavily of shite. Her eyes widened as a thought occurred to her and she turned in time to see Eefha puffing great clouds of smoke into the air. Emllyn pinched her nose.

“Eefha!” she exclaimed softly. “What in heaven’s name are you smoking?”

The old woman didn’t say a word; she simply continued to puff on that awful pipe. Emllyn couldn’t stand it; she climbed off the window and went to the old woman.

“Please, Eefha,” she begged. “Do not smoke that pipe in my chamber. It is too small and the room fills up with that terrible smell. Please?”

Eefha puffed a few more times defiantly before easing up considerably. It was the first time that Emllyn could remember that Eefha actually understood what she had said.

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