Chapter Three #2
“How many do ye see?” Annaleigh called to her.
“Many!” Penelope said. She didn’t really know how to count, for she was too young to have been taught her sums, but she excitedly held up a hand with splayed fingers. “This many!”
She was squirming so much that Talus had to quickly lower her because she was in danger of falling out of his grip. Once her feet hit the ground, she rushed to Annaleigh and tugged on her hand.
“Please, Annie,” she said. “I want to see the kittens!”
Annaleigh squeezed her hand. “We must ask yer mother if it is all right for ye to go intae the loft,” she said, pointing up to the slats, which were about six inches apart. “’Tis dangerous for a wee lass, so let us ask her first.”
Penelope wasn’t happy with that response. “What if she says we cannot?”
Annaleigh was already turning for the stables’ exit. “Then we shall go intae the kitchens, find the sweets, and eat them all.”
That was an idea that Penelope could agree with, even more than the lure of the kittens. She pulled from Annaleigh’s grip and began to run, no doubt running to Castle Questing’s enormous keep in search of her mother. Annaleigh laughed softly as she watched her go.
“She is either going tae ask Cousin Jordan if she can go intae the loft or she is simply running straight tae the kitchens tae feed,” she said. “’Tis difficult tae know with that one.”
Shaking her head with mirth, she started to follow Penelope but Talus caught up to her. They walked out of the stables together.
“I think that is a trait most women share,” he said.
“What’s that?”
“They are difficult to predict.”
“God made us that way, lad.”
Talus snorted. “God is a cruel jester sometimes,” he said, but quickly sobered. “May I ask you something, my lady?”
“Of course.”
“Would you allow me to sit with you at the feast this evening?”
He’d asked that before and Annaleigh had given him permission, but with the caveat that it was simply to be friendly.
There was no romance involved. Talus understood it; she knew he understood it.
But that still didn’t prevent him from asking again and again, hoping that, at some point, she would change her mind. But she never had.
She never would.
She sighed faintly.
“Talus,” she said quietly, pausing to look at him.
“I dunna mind if ye sit next tae me at the evening’s feast, but I’ve told ye many times before that I’m not looking for a husband.
If ye wish tae sit next tae me so we can speak as friends, then I welcome it.
But if ye have a mind tae woo me, I canna have ye impose upon me when ye know I am not interested. Do we understand one another?”
The warm expression faded from his face.
“Unfortunately,” he said. His jaw ticked faintly as he struggled for courage to say what he wanted to say.
“May… may I ask if you find something unappealing about me? Something you simply do not like? I can change, my lady. I can change whatever it is you do not seem to care for.”
She put up her hands to stop his rambling. “There is nothing about ye that I would change,” she said. “I simply dunna want a husband right now.”
“But someday?”
“Of course,” she said. “I want a husband and family, like all lasses.”
“But not now.”
“Not now.”
“And that goes for Anthony as well?”
“It goes for every man.”
He wasn’t happy about it, but he didn’t want to be unchivalrous. It was obvious that he’d been hoping for a different answer. However, he took comfort in the fact that it wasn’t only him – it applied to everyone.
Especially his archrival, Anthony.
“I suppose I cannot fault you for your conviction,” he said after a moment.
“But I simply do not understand a woman of your age that does not want to marry. I could understand if you faulted me the fact that I am English and you are Scots, but I’m starting to think there is something wrong with me. ”
He believed that, too. Annaleigh could see it in his eyes. Sighing heavily, she reached out and looped her arm through his, tugging him along with her as she resumed her walk towards the keep.
“Talus, there is nothing wrong with ye,” she said. “Ye’re a fine young knight.”
“From a good family, do not forget.”
She laughed softly. “From a fine family,” she said. “Yer father is the Earl of East Anglia.”
“He is.”
“And that’s another thing,” she said, looking at him. “How do ye think the man would react tae ye marrying a Scots lass? He’d want ye tae marry a fine English lass with lots of money.”
Talus was greatly enjoying the feel of her arm through his, this astonishing creature that seemed to radiate her own special kind of light.
He was torn between being greatly disappointed in her rejection yet again but wholly excited that she was moving beyond the formalities and addressing him more informally.
More than that, she was holding his arm.
That had never happened before.
“He would understand once he met you,” he said, trying not to sound adoring. “You are a very special woman, my lady. Surely you know that.”
Annaleigh’s smile faded. “It would be purely arrogant tae assume so,” she said. “And ye dunna know where I came from, Talus. Ye dunna know what my own people even think of me, so much so that my da sent me tae Castle Questing tae get me away from those… things.”
“What things?”
She shrugged. “People can be bitter sometimes, even towards those who dunna deserve it. They like tae cast blame when there is a tragedy.”
He paused, looking at her seriously as her hand came away from his elbow. “I’ve not heard why you came here,” he said. “I never asked anyone because it was none of my business, but since you’ve brought it up, did something happen in Scotland? Is that why you were sent here?”
The wind was beginning to pick up now that the afternoon was waning and Annaleigh brushed the wind-blown hair from her eyes.
She debated whether or not to say anything about it, because she was a private person by nature, but she’d already touched on it.
Perhaps if he knew she had left some trouble behind, he might not look at her as such a pristine marital prospect.
“My clan has a name for me, lad,” she said quietly.
“What?”
“Fear-dèanamh trioblaid.”
He frowned. “What does that mean?”
She didn’t want to translate those words aloud. Troublemaker. “Do ye not know the Gaelic?”
He shook his head. “I was raised in Suffolk and fostered in the south,” he said. “I never learned.”
“But ye’ve been with de Wolfe for a few years now.”
He lifted his big shoulders. “I know two phrases,” he said. “Càite bheil an taigh-òsta and Tha mi a’ dol a mharbhadh thu.”
Annaleigh burst out laughing. “Do ye know what they mean?”
“I think so.”
She wasn’t so sure. “Ye said ‘Where is the tavern’ and ‘I’m going tae kill ye’,” she said. “Is that what ye meant tae say?”
He fought off a grin. “Not exactly,” he said. “Patrick and James told me that it means you’re a beautiful woman and I’m an English knight.”
Annaleigh nearly doubled over with laughter. “God’s Bones,” she gasped. “I’m surprised ye havena gotten yerself killed with those phrases. They played a terrible trick on ye, Talus.”
He grunted, though he did see the humor in it.
“I am not surprised,” he said. “That is the story of my entire life since I have arrived at Castle Questing. Women who do not wish to be married and knights tricking me into starting a war with Scotland. I should go home to Thunderbey Castle and stay there.”
He was feeling sorry for himself, but in a humorous way. She was coming to like Talus, but still not in the romantic sense. He would have made a fine brother. She genuinely hoped they could be friends someday.
“Nay,” she said, leaning in the direction of the keep. “Dunna go home. Sit with me at the feast tonight and I’ll teach ye enough Gaelic that ye’ll be turning the tables on that pair. Atty and James are terrible jokesters.”
The allure of sitting with her was too good to pass up, even if she didn’t want anything romantic to do with him. “I would be in your debt,” he said. “In fact, the army is supposed to…”
He was cut off by a shout from the massive walls of Castle Questing.
Looking to the sand-colored walls that reached into the blue expanse of sky, he shielded his eyes from the sun to see what the excitement was about.
It didn’t take him long to figure out that the sentries were excited about something in the distance and since the de Wolfe armies were set to return today, he had an idea what it was.
He began to head towards the walls.
“You may want to tell Lady de Wolfe that I suspect her husband’s army has been sighted,” he said. Then, he came to an abrupt pause. “And I thank you very kindly for the conversation. I hope… I hope it will be the first of many, my lady.”
Annaleigh smiled, revealing lovely, white teeth. “I would be honored.”
He smiled in a way that suggested he was pleased if that was all he could get from her at the moment and, with a dip of his head, trotted off towards the gatehouse.
Annaleigh watched him go for a moment, her smile fading. They’d had a few varied conversations like this one in the past, though not so deep, so she knew he’d forget about it the next time he saw her. Perhaps not forget about it so much as ignore it. The man had a sharp mind and not a bad memory.
He was simply choosing to ignore her wishes.
But she wouldn’t change her mind.
Turning on her heel, Annaleigh headed towards the keep to tell her cousin that her husband, the great Wolfe of the Border, was on her doorstep.