Chapter 8
Hannah spent the rest of the ride back to her home largely dumbstruck by the simplicity of the large man at her back, making it clear she was to use his name, not his title.
She could sense that something had shifted between them, though whether it was the shared experience on the road or the way they’d nearly kissed, she wasn’t entirely sure.
Either way, he didn’t seem overly keen on conversation either, so she didn’t speak again until they’d reached the familiar outskirts of her village.
It was simple enough to guide him through the central gathering of cottages and up the path to the cluster of her distillery, the stable, and finally the cottage she shared with Violet.
Hannah frowned when she noticed light shining through the shutters. Her sister should have been long abed by now.
“And ye’ve seen me home,” she announced as they came to a stop in front of the familiar building.
“I’ll see ye inside, as well,” Aiden rumbled at her back, catching her up by the waist and lifting her just as effortlessly as he had before.
She grabbed his forearms reflexively and swung her leg over, her feet finding the ground easily. He followed her down with a thud of heavy boots and the rattle of his sword in the scabbard at his hip.
“If ye insist,” she replied belatedly.
She led him to the front door and pushed it open with her shoulder with familiar ease.
They found Violet sitting at the small table to the left of the door, in the midst of a staring contest with a half-eaten bannock that was resting before her on a pewter plate slathered in butter and jam.
Hannah was so surprised to see food in front of her sister that she was barely able to react fast enough when Violet leapt to her feet.
Her sister’s blue eyes darted over her head to the large man ducking through the entryway behind her and widened almost comically before what color was in her face vanished.
Familiar with her sister’s propensity to stand too quickly and then drop to the floor, Hannah managed to cross the four feet to the table and caught her as her knees buckled, lowering her right back into her chair and bracing her shoulders while she came back around.
“What are ye doin’ up this late, mo cridhe? Ye’ll do naught but make yerself ill again.”
“I was hungry,” Violet muttered defensively and gestured pointedly to the bannock.
“Nae that I’m anythin’ less than thrilled to see ye actually eating.” Hannah stepped back slowly when she was sure her sister wasn’t about to fall off the chair. “I expected ye to be long asleep by now.”
“And I expected ye to be gone until tomorrow,” Violet returned, glancing past her at Aiden, who had finally moved away from the door and was scanning the modest main room. “And unaccompanied.”
Hannah glanced over her shoulder at him and took a deep breath. “Violet, this is Laird MacBain.”
“Aiden,” he reminded her swiftly.
“Aiden,” she echoed.
“What?” Violet’s voice cracked. “Ye brought him here? The whole village will be in an uproar by lunch, Hannah! We’ll be lucky if there’s nay riot in our field!
” She took a moment to collect herself and cleared her throat, glancing toward Aiden again, who was watching her with a startled expression.
“Please, me Laird, daenae take offense.”
“Why would there be a riot?” His voice was a growl.
Violet quickly lost what little color had come back to her cheeks. “B-Because everyone’s afraid of ye.”
“Och!” Hannah stepped between the two. “That’ll be quite enough of that. Violet, take yer snack and go back to bed.”
Her younger sister gave her a thinned-lip look that suggested she was about to argue, then seemed to think better of it, glancing around her toward Aiden again.
With a sigh, she stood—cautiously this time—before picking up the plate and leaving the room without further comment, the door to her small bedchamber thudding shut behind her.
Hannah sighed and turned to Aiden, forcing a polite smile. “Thank ye, for seein’ me home safe. Now, ye can be on yer way.”
“On me way?” Aiden raised his eyebrows at her. “Lass, I have nay mind to be goin’ anywhere.”
Hannah blinked twice. “Pardon?”
“I’ve every intention of stayin’ here, havin’ a look around, and seein’ what me council hasnae been tellin’ me. If ye’ll point me to the nearest inn, I’ll see meself there.”
“The nearest inn I ken is the one we were just at,” she admitted.
She hesitated for a moment and then nodded her head, decision made.
“So ye’ll stay here. I’ll ask me apprentices to see to Liath.
” Gesturing to the only other door, she added, “I’ve only the one bed, me Lair—Aiden. Ye should make yerself comfortable.”
Without waiting for him to respond, Hannah ducked back out through the entryway and approached the mare. The gray beast eyed her suspiciously but didn’t become quarrelsome, letting her grasp the reins and lead her to the stable next door. She knocked a few times before swinging the door open.
“Oy, lads!”
There was a moment of silence, and then the apprentices’ tawny heads popped into view over the ledge of the loft where they stayed, mussed from sleep. Hannah peered up at them in the dim lamplight as nearby chickens clucked their dismay at her rude intrusion into their evening.
“This horse needs to be rubbed down, fed, and watered. See to her. Also, we’ll be distilling on the morrow. See to it the still is hot by mid-morn.”
The two apprentices scrambled to tug breeches on and climb down the ladder, murmuring their understanding of the instructions.
“Whose horse is this?” Samuel asked as he peered up at the mare and collected the reins from Hannah’s hands, while Thomas began readying grain.
“Never ye mind,” Hannah responded, after briefly debating whether it was wise to alarm them with the truth. “Good lads, thank ye.”
She patted Samuel on the shoulder and then left the stable, sure they would see Liath properly relieved of her tack and put abed in the stall her own pony usually occupied.
Satisfied with the solution, Hannah strode back to the cottage and ducked through the front door, only to find herself face-to-face with Aiden.
“Oh.” She hesitated for a moment, not sure why she’d assumed he’d just do as he was told and go to bed. After a moment, she skirted around him and opened the door to her room, gesturing. “In here.”
“I figured that when ye pointed at the door,” Aiden drawled, but followed her into the room.
It was nearly identical to Violet’s. When they’d been younger, both sisters had shared the bedroom Violet now slept in alone. A few months after their parents’ death, Hannah had decided it was silly to waste the space and had moved into their room.
The space held a modest box bed built into the wall, a small table beside it, and a trunk along the wall. It was warm from the ambient heat of the hearth and the thick walls her father had seen to when the cottage was being built.
“It’s nae over large,” she said sheepishly as she approached the sleeping alcove. “But it should hold ye fine, and it’s warm.”
She turned back the blankets, thanking her stars she’d been of a mind to make up her bedclothes nicely before she’d left that morning, and then turned to Aiden.
“What are ye doing?” He had removed his belt and placed it and his sword against the wall, and was unwinding his plaid, leaving him in his tunic and trews, before spreading the wool on the floor.
He glanced up as he rolled a portion of it into a pillow and sat down on it to remove his boots. “I’ll nae be takin’ a lady’s bed.”
“I’m nay lady.”
“Lass, if anyone hears that I let a woman sleep on the floor in her own home, I’ll be quartered. Now, get yerself in bed. It’s late, and I’m nae arguin’ with ye.”
Hannah hesitated, watching as he very pointedly draped his plaid over himself, making it clear he had no intention to move again until morning.
Finally, she shook her head and removed her boots, placing them tidily beside the small table. She hesitated for a moment, glancing at Aiden and his closed eyes, and then turned her back and unlaced her kirtle, before carefully hanging the heavy garment on the peg beside her bed.
Now wearing only her stockings and shift, she glanced over her shoulder, saw Aiden’s eyes were still closed, and clambered into the bed, tugging the blankets up to her chin.
A long silence ensued, before she asked as conversationally and as calmly as she could, “Are ye comfortable?”
The silence stretched for a moment more, then she heard a rustle.
Aiden lifted his head, glancing toward her in the dim light still coming from the nearby hearth that she’d purposely neglected to bank for the night. “Why do ye care, lassie?”
“I’m being a good host!” Hannah retorted defensively. “At least, I’m tryin’. Ye seem intent on making it difficult for me. If I’m a poor host, who kens what ye might do? I’d rather ye nae kill me.”
He pushed up onto his elbow and stared at her. “Come again? Why would I do that?” He frowned at her and shook his head. “What exactly do ye and yer neighbors think I am?”
Hannah pushed up onto her elbow as well, studying him while considering her response. After a moment, she chose to speak bluntly. “Ye’re a man who doesnae mind killing. Ye risked the lives of those around ye to wrest power for yerself, so ye could rule the clan.”
The silence stretched again, this time far less companionable. She could feel the tension in the air, and she swallowed hard against a dry throat, beginning to question the wisdom of speaking quite so freely.
“Is that untrue?” she ventured.
“Aye, lass. That is patently untrue.” His voice was rough.
“Then tell me. What is the truth? Why do ye nae tell people the truth?” She could feel her heart thudding in her throat again.
Aiden sighed and dropped onto his back once more.
Her heart returned to her chest, and she slowly lay back down, still watching him as she rested her cheek against the roll of fabric that served as her pillow.
“Folks believe what they choose to believe, lass. The truth of me story matters little more than what those same folks whisper behind me back.”
“It matters if yer story is the truth and their whispers are false!” she argued, pushing herself up onto her elbow again with a flush of righteous indignation.
“Me reputation is that important to ye, lass?”
She stammered for a moment, trying to find the right words. Finding it hard to choose them when she didn’t know exactly the point she was trying to make. “I-I just—I mean—”
“Just sleep, lass,” Aiden interrupted, voice gentle but firm. “We’ll nae fix how I’m perceived tonight.”
After opening her mouth a few more times, Hannah finally let out a long breath, realizing he was right. No matter how indignant she might be on his behalf, she also didn’t know the true story, and for all she knew, he was lying to her.
She barely knew the man. He was handsome, had caused her no harm, and in fact had been kind to her, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a risk that he wasn’t showing her his true face.
She let herself drop from her elbow onto her back again, closing her eyes and sighing. She listened to the rustling as Aiden resettled himself. She chose not to speak again as his steady breathing filled the room and tried her best to sleep.
As he’d said, she wasn’t going to solve the problems in either of their lives in the middle of the night.