Chapter 5 #2
A tear in the corner of his eye leaked down his cheek. He didn’t bother to wipe it away. " She smiled at me while she picked the flowers and ah thought my heart would melt. She was my love. If we had a girl, ah promised we would name her Siusan. Because she would be pretty as the flowers.”
He looked off into the distance with a sad longing in his eyes.
“Ah’m sorry ye lost her,” Mazey offered.
“My heart mended after so many years. My sweet Siusan reminds me of her.”
“Do ye think ye’ll ever wed again?” She didn’t know why she asked.
Baile shook his head. “Ah dunno. Ah guess if ah found the right woman. What about ye?”
The question surprised Mazey. She answered honestly. “Ah don’t think so. With how much pain ah went through with Hume, ah don’t know ah will ever want to go through it again. Stories like ye and Moire are unusual and ah think ah wouldn’t risk it. Ah can care for my bairn alone.”
Baile patted her hand. “Ye need not worry. Ye’ll always have a place here. Siusan loves ye. Not all men are like Hume, Mazey. Ye could find someone who would love ye. There are men like that.”
Mazey laughed. She couldn’t help it. “Aye, and ah’m the Queen.
Really, who would want a widowed woman who quakes in fear every time a man looks at her funny?
And besides, ah’m plain to look at. Ah’ve got no dowry or anything to offer.
Ah’m an orphaned widow, with child, and ah get distracted by everything. ”
“Well, when ye put it like that, ye’d convince anyone,” Baile said with a smile. The ridiculousness of her situation seemed funny for a moment.
“In all seriousness though, lass, ye are beautiful and have a kind heart. Ye have a lot of fear, but that’ll go away with time.”
She doubted anyone would want her. She stood. “Ah’d best go. Siusan will be back soon. Can we stop by later today for ye to tell Siusan some stories?”
Baile nodded and a warm look crossed his face. “Thank ye for caring for her. She loves ye, ye know.”
Mazey felt a warmth spread through her. “Aye, and ah love her too.”
“Let’s go, Siusan. Yer faither’s in his study and ye have to get to bed soon.”
Siusan put down the doll she played with and followed Mazey to the hall.
Mazey’s arm throbbed dully, reminding her she needed to take her tonic when they got back.
Cohlm left extra tonic and instructed her to take it in the morning and an hour before bed.
Siusan walked into the study without knocking and ran over to her father’s desk.
He strewed papers out across the desk and was deep in thought.
“Siusan, it’s good to see ye Nguyen. How has yer day been?”
“Ah played with my doll and then ah helped in the kitchen. Ah made a hand pie today with some dough.”
“Sounds like a very productive day. Are ye headed off to bed?”
Siusan nodded and put her arms out for a hug. Baile picked her up and set her on his lap. Mazey cleared her throat. Baile looked up at her and then nodded, remembering why they were visiting this evening.
“Mazey tells me ye want to hear some stories about yer maither?”
Siusan’s eyes lit up, and she nodded eagerly.
“All right then, ah’ll tell ye about her, but then ye have to promise to go to bed without fuss.”
“Ah promise, Faither.”
Mazey sat in a chair near the fireplace. She was as curious as Siusan to hear about the beautiful Moire. Malmuira spoke highly of her mother and told her how much she loved and missed her. That was something Malmuira and Mazey had in common. Both missed their mothers.
“Ye’re maither looked a lot like ye—beautiful green eyes the color of the grass in the springtime.
She liked to help people. Ah fell in love with her when we were both young.
‘Ye’re too young to be in love,’ everyone told us.
Ah met her on a trip with my faither to a neighboring clan and ah couldn’t keep my eyes off of her.
Her faither was a blacksmith with little to his name.
Ah was the son of a chief and set to be the next clan chief.
They expected me to marry a wealthy woman of my faither’s choosing.
But ah fell in love with Moire. She’d cook extra food and take it to the old woman who lived in the streets.
She made clothes for children who needed it.
She had a kind heart. My faither was less than enthusiastic to have me wed such a poor woman. ”
Siusan listened with rapt attention as her father wove a story of times past. It was the longest Mazey saw her pay attention to anything.
“Her faither had a plan though. He knew how much ah cared for her and wanted his daughter to have a good life. So he worked for months on a sword of the finest workmanship. He folded the steel repeatedly. The edge of the blade cut through anything as if it were nothing more than a slab of butter. Then he formed a hilt. There were no jewels to encrust it with, being a poor man, so he designed it with delicate engravings. A dragon wove its tail around the hilt of the sword. He dipped the sword after he finished. Ah asked him years later what it was, but that man took it to his grave. When he dipped it in the vat of liquid and pulled it out again, the sword looked as though it were on fire whenever it moved. ’Twas the most beautiful sword ah have ever seen in my life.
He offered the sword to my faither as a dowry. ” Baile paused dramatically.
Siusan put her hand on his arm. “What did grandfaither say?”
“He looked at the mighty sword and couldn’t take his eyes off it.
Never had he seen a sword so fine as the one being offered.
He accepted the union, also happy to oblige what ah wanted.
My faither wasn’t like other men. He really cared for my happiness.
’Tis one reason ah teach ye to read and write.
My faither did that for me and ah want that for ye.
If ah was born amongst sisters, ah believe my faither would have taught them to read and write. ”
Siusan yawned and laid her tiny head on Baile’s shoulder. It did her heart good to see a father care so much for his daughter. For a moment, her heart ached in her chest. Her child would never know the love of a father.
He glanced up and a sad smile crossed his face. “Siusan, ah think Mazey should take ye to bed now. Mazey, will ye visit with me again after ye get her tucked into bed, please?”
Mazey nodded and took little Siusan by the hand.
“Thank ye,” Siusan murmured in a sleepy voice after Mazey put her in bed.
“For what wee’un?”
“For getting Faither to tell me stories. He seemed happy.”
Mazey kissed the girl's forehead and smoothed her hair back away from her face. “G’night.”
“Will ye sing me a song again?” Siusan whispered before Mazey could get up.
“What would ye like me to sing ye?” Mazey felt a lump in her throat at the request. This child had her heart and it would be hers forever.
“Sing me the one yer maither sang to ye when ye were small.” She snuggled closer and placed her hand on Mazey’s belly.
“All right, but then ye go to sleep.” Mazey sang quietly and as sweetly as she could muster for the tired girl.
“Upon the darkest night of summer,
Ah am sleeping under a starless night.
Wild one called up of cloudless thunder,
Ferry me safely to the joy of the light.”
Mazey tiptoed over to Baile’s study and knocked quietly.
“Enter.”
She slunk into the room and waited for him to speak.
He rifled through parchment and made notes with a beautiful quill.
It was a black and silver feather that would have been from the most breathtaking bird.
He stopped and turned his chair toward her.
“Ah wanted to talk to ye about something important.” He ran his hand through his silver touched hair.
“Ah wanted to thank ye. It scared me to speak to Siusan about her maither. She asked a few times about her maither, but ah thought it was a mere curiosity. Now ah know, ah can tell her about Moire and have conversation about loss and love. Ye opened up that subject for me. For that, ah’ll forever be grateful. ”
It wasn’t what Mazey expected to hear from him at all. “It was nothing. She mentioned she was sad sometimes, and she missed Malmuira. Ah shared my stories about my maither.”
Baile’s eyes turned down. “Yes, Malmuira. She looked after Siusan as a maither would. Loved that child like her own even though they were sisters. Ah’ve missed her a great deal since she left. Ah’ve received word now and then about her wellbeing.”
Mazey nodded, sure that was the reason. “Aye, Siusan trusts me because ah’m so close to Malmuira.”
Baile shook his head and his eyes lit up.
“Ah think there’s more to it. Ye’re good with wee children.
Ah see it when ye speak to her. Ye’re kind and treat her well.
Ye speak to her like an equal. Few people are kind to a child the size of Siusan.
” Mazey turned her head away, embarrassed.
“Why do ye look away when ah compliment ye?” Baile asked. His voice sounded more serious.
Mazey’s eyes flew up to his. “Ah guess ah don’t think ah deserve the compliments ye give.”
Baile stood and took a step toward Mazey, putting his hand out for her to take.
He helped her to her feet. His steady eyes were grey in the firelight.
“Ah don’t give out compliments that are not due.
Ah only speak truth how ah see it. And ah see a kind heart in ye, Mazey.
A lot of bravery as well. Ye’re more than ye give yerself credit for. Let no one tell ye differently.”
He gently wiped away a tear that snuck its way down her cheek. Tender. “Aye, ah’ll work on accepting yer compliments.”
He used his thumb to rub the side of her cheek and stepped in even closer.
His body radiated a raw masculine energy that immediately excited Mazey in a way she wasn’t used to.
His eyes were hooded and his dark eyebrows arched over his beautiful steely eyes.
He put one arm around her waist, encircling her with the comfort of his strength.
She sucked in a breath of anticipation. Baile just looked in her eyes.
His hand moved in circles around her lower back, then up and down her side.
She felt pleasure in a wave through her body and then his hand swiped just to the side of her breast, brushing the sensitive skin.
She shivered and sighed. He moved in and kissed her with fervor.
He was a man who starved and suddenly presented with a feast. The kiss took her breath away.
When he parted her lips and thrust his tongue inside her mouth, she let out a moan.
When he pushed her against the wall, she winced in pain.
Her arm throbbed. Baile backed away, sitting down at his desk.
“Ah can’t do this to ye.” He said, his voice cracking.
Mazey felt confused. “But, ah want it.”
“Aye, but ye’re not ready. Ye need time to heal.”
“My arm is fine. It’s just a wee bit sore,” she argued.
Baile’s eyes looked kindly on her. “It’s not yer arm ah’m worried about. It’s yer heart. Ye need time.”
Mazey frowned and cast her eyes to the ground. “Ah’m sorry.” She didn’t even know what she was apologizing for.
Baile stood again and kissed her gently on the lips. The sweet kiss left her with warmth, rather than passion. “Don’t apologize, lass.”