Chapter 27
CHAPTER 27
“Aye,” Noah said with infuriating calm. “I have me men watchin’ him, and we’ll be ready when he comes.”
Keira crossed her arms over her chest and frowned at him.
“And did ye nae think it might be helpful to tell me of that? Considerin’ I am to be yer bride, and he wishes to see me dead?”
“Have ye accepted me proposal without tellin’ me, lass? I rather thought ye were displeased with me.”
“I deserved to ken!” she said furiously, stamping her foot.
“And what good would that have done for ye?” Noah asked, folding the note back up and walking toward her, holding it out for her to take.
“I dinnae ken,” she said stubbornly, “but I would have liked to ken that he was on his way.”
“This is why ye shouldnae wander alone in the woods,” he said with an amused smile.
“It isnae funny.”
“I ken lass, but ye are beautiful when ye're ragin’ at me.”
Keira stared at him, her mouth hanging open as she tried to find words to respond to that statement.
She felt absurdly pleased by what he had said. She knew he desired her—that much was obvious from how he treated her when they were alone—but she had never been called beautiful before.
“Now, if ye daenae have anythin’ else to tell me, I must go and change. Yer brother has covered me in fountain water, and I am pretty sure the dogs piss in it.”
Keira burst out laughing against her will and shook her head as his eyes twinkled at her.
As he moved to walk away, however, his hand absently rubbed at his chest, and she saw him wince. She stepped swiftly forward, gently taking hold of his wrist as he looked back at her in surprise.
“Come with me, please, me laird,” she said tugging at his wrist and smiling as he immediately complied. “I have somethin’ I wish to show ye.”
Noah followed her without comment, although he still seemed rather irritated by his léine, which he proceeded to squeeze out all over the castle floor as they made their way to her chambers.
“Ye realize someone is goin’ to have to clear up all these puddles ye are makin’,” she said reprovingly.
“Tell that to yer brother.”
“And why was me brother dunkin’ his head into a fountain, may I ask?”
Noah snorted. “Callum, me man-at-arms, does it before he goes into battle or a fight. Any body of water usually. He uses the fountain if he’s in the castle sparrin’ with me. He claims it helps him think, and he has a small brain. Perhaps it does.”
Keira found herself laughing, and something warm bloomed in her chest as she heard an answering chuckle from Noah.
She entered her chambers and indicated the seat by the fire. Before she went to get the tea, however, a gentle hand took hers, and she looked back at him.
“Let me see that note again, lass,” he muttered.
She handed it over, and he read it for a second time before looking at her pointedly and throwing it into the embers of the fire.
“Ye dinnae need to worry about him, lass; I’ll keep ye safe.”
She nodded but couldn’t help frowning at his words.
He has offered to marry me only to protect me. He might desire me, but he sees no real future for us. Why else would he want us to live separate lives?
Shaking off the feeling, she went to the small jar with the gauze over the top, which still held some residual warmth. The tea had turned to a clear yellow color, and she held it out for him.
Noah looked at it—deeply unimpressed.
“I said the dogs pissed in the fountain; I daenae wish to drink it.”
She giggled. “Away with ye, it is a tea .”
Noah tried his best to keep his gaze on the urine-colored glass in her hands rather than the light in her eyes. If it had been possible to bottle a sound, he would have done so when she giggled. It was the sweetest music to his ears.
“And why are ye givin’ me tea?” he asked.
“Because,” she said irritably, thrusting it at him so he had to take it as she grabbed a book from the side. “It helps with chest pain.”
She held out the well-worn page , and he squinted to see through the dark green blotches across it.
He eyed the bottle again, deeply suspicious of the color.
“I think I’ll take me chances,” he said, rising to his feet.
In truth, it was mainly to rile her, which was exactly what his movement did. Her hands came up to his shoulders, pushing him back into his seat as she made an exasperated sound.
He laughed gently at her angry gaze, “I dinnae think a tea is goin’ to help.”
“And what would ye ken about it, me laird?”
He frowned at her. “I thought ye called me Noah, now,” he said reproachfully.
She cleared her throat. “That was different.”
Noah cocked his head at her, watching her eyes flicker to his and back to the fire.
“If we are to be married—” he began.
“That is hardly certain?—”
“ If we are to be married, ye will call me by me name, woman.”
Keira sighed heavily and shook her head, putting down the book.
“Fine. Noah. What would ye ken about whether or nae a tea would help? Yer Deindre never gave ye tea?”
Noah’s heart soared at the obvious jealousy in her voice and couldn’t hold back a smile. “ Me Deindre? She was hardly mine, lass. I’ve had a lot more of ye than I had of her.” Her eyes narrowed at him, and he chuckled. “By which I mean, I have had none of her. She was a good healer, but she had a great many patients and dinnae give me much attention.”
Keira snatched the jar from his fingers and went to the pot over the fire, which was steaming gently. She filled it to the brim, mixing the new tea with the old, and turned back to him.
“Now,” she said, all business, “ye will need to drink it down and see if it takes effect. If ye think it has helped, ye should take this three times per day.”
She handed it over. Noah looked at the jar and then up at Keira, who raised her eyebrows expectantly. Without further ado, he swallowed it all in one go.
The liquid was lukewarm, bitter, and rather jarring to the senses, but overall, not too unpleasant.
“Clever,” he said as he placed the glass beside the fire.
“What is clever?” Keira asked.
“If the mushrooms were poisonous, now they willnae be able to tell which thing it was that killed me. The terrible tea, or the Penny Bun.”
Keira was smirking at him. “Ye are fixated on me endin’ yer life,” she muttered.
“Aye, well, I ken I vex ye enough to try it.”
But she frowned at his words, worrying her lip with her teeth again.
“I’d never use me gift for that,” she said sternly, her easy manner evaporating. “Not for anyone in the world, not even me enemies. I was jestin’ when I said such a thing.”
“I ken, lass,” he said, raising his hands defensively, “I would never have thought otherwise.”
After a few moments, she relaxed, peering at him with interest now.
“Do ye feel anythin’ yet?” she asked.
He made a show of considering her questions. “There’s a strange naggin’ in me ears; is that normal?” Keira’s lips quirked into a smile. “Nae,” he continued. “I cannae feel much yet. It dinnae taste as bad as it looked. What’s in it?”
“Will ye remember if I tell ye?”
“Probably nae,” he admitted.
He stood up to leave, feeling pleasantly warm from the tea, but when he looked back at Keira, her hands were hovering in front of her stomach, and she was ringing her fingers together in a strange way that suggested she had something on her mind.
“What is it, lass?” he asked.
She flicked a lock of that raven hair over her shoulder and looked at him with a determination in her gaze that reminded him very much of her brother before he took a swing at him.
“I have a question to put to ye.”
Noah frowned, watching her carefully. “Aye lass?”
“Ye promise nae to laugh?”
“Nay,” he said immediately, receiving a beautiful scowl in return.
“I kenned ye would say that?—”
“Well then why did ye ask?—?"
“Will ye let me speak or nay?”
He gave a low, exaggerated bow. “I do apologize, M’Lady, do continue.”
She rolled her eyes expressively but put her hands on her hips with renewed determination. “Scott is much stronger since we arrived here. He is learnin’ to fight like a man, and he has improved a great deal in a matter of days.”
“He’s a strong warrior, there’s nae doubt about that. He listens too, which isnae a trait I thought ran in yer family.”
She huffed and then shrugged one shoulder as she seemed to pluck up the courage to ask her question.
“I ken it is nae a woman’s place, but I want ye to teach me to fight,” she said firmly.
He frowned at her. The mere idea that Keira would need to learn to fight made him uncomfortable. He didn’t want to imagine another scenario where she would have to be fighting for her life.
“I thought ye were a healer,” he said dubiously, “what business have ye in learnin’ to fight?”
He regretted the words as soon as he said them as a fresh scowl curled across her expressive mouth.
“The same business as any woman hounded through the woods by a mob. Perhaps when they captured me, if I’d learned to defend meself, I might have escaped.”
Who are ye foolin’ man? Noah thought with resignation. Ye arenae able to refuse this woman anythin’, ye just drank an unknown vial of yellow liquid at her sayso.
“Now, will ye help me or nae?” she asked.