Chapter 3 #2
“He will not say a word about it. Not to me. I doubt he will even notice.”
A roar erupted from the Great Hall and echoed down the corridor, furthering the point Brandon was trying to make.
“Ye underestimate what the Baron sees,” she told him.
“Laura,” Brandon pressed, inching closer to her.
The firelight made his brown eyes turn a rich hazelnut and streaked through his black hair with amber.
There was a light about him that was as wild and free as the horses he cared for.
It called to her, beckoning her into the same kind of freedom, unaware that she would never be given that opportunity.
“Every man in there is drunk. They are all so lost in their cups that if you step foot inside the hall, they will forget themselves. If they haven’t already,” he added darkly under his breath.
She huffed a dry laugh and brushed his worries away.
“Nay, they will nae. I am too plain for any of them to find me tempting, nay matter how deep in their cups they might be. Besides, if the Baron sees ye doing my job, he will be sure to make me pay for it later. I can already hear his rants about how I embarrassed him by having a stable master serve his table.”
Brandon opened his mouth to argue, the sun tanned skin crinkling from the movement, but Laura threw up a calloused hand to stop him.
“He will nae say anything to ye about it. The care of his precious beasts is far more important to him than putting ye in yer place. But he will be sure that I ken his displeasure. Honestly, Brandon,” she continued with a shake of her head, “‘twill be better for me to go.
Dinnae fash yerself. ‘Tis more likely they think me an old spinster than anything worth chasing after.”
“You must not be so harsh, Laura,” Brandon spoke through gritted teeth.
She shrugged.
“It has always been this way. The Baron invites men over to impress them or convince them to give him what he wants. He can nae help himself from plying them with rich food and even richer wine. I have seen many a rowdier night and have never come to harm. But I will if ye dinnae let me get in there and do my job…”
He sent her a pained expression that had her hand stretching across the few inches that separated them to squeeze his shoulder reassuringly.
“I am telling ye, Brandon, I am nae bonny enough to tempt any man, nae even a drunk one.”
She stepped back to the counter where her pitcher of ale waited for her, pleased to find that the rest of the kitchen had emptied out. It was easier to speak more freely with Brandon when no one else was around.
Propping the jug on her hip, she turned and caught the man muttering something to himself. When their eyes caught, she could have sworn that his cheeks flooded with color, but she brushed it off as heat from the fire he was still standing beside.
“I went down to the dungeons,” she told him, content to change the subject entirely, “to see the girl those guards caught trying to break in.”
“I tried to tell her to run, to get as far away from here as possible. But she wouldn’t listen.”
Laura’s eyes widened at his revelation.
“Ye spoke to her?”
“I found her by the servant’s entrance only a few moments before the guards did. She was determined to get inside. Something about rescuing a friend? Gave the guards quite a time when they finally caught her.”
Laura chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully. She had told Brandon nearly all of her secrets some time ago; all but one. If there was anyone in the world who might have a chance at understanding the riot of emotions happening within her, it would be him.
“She came for Taryn.”
“Your Taryn?”
“She’s nae my Taryn. Nae anymore. But aye, the same Taryn McGregor.
She said that Taryn escaped the Baron and has been living free all this time.
Apparently, she and Taryn joined with the Kincaid Clan.
At least, they were until Taryn disappeared again.
She came here thinking that the Baron finally caught up with Taryn. ”
Brandon considered her words. His eyes were warm, reassuring a fear that Laura hadn’t dared to speak, not even to herself. He stepped away from the fire and put his hands on her shoulders in the same comforting grasp she had just given him.
“I know of the Kincaids. They came here some time ago when I was not yet a stablemaster but merely a groom. They are good men—treat their horses and their women well. In fact, it is their stallion the Baron prizes himself on the most. If I remember correctly, it was the Kincaid heir who helped free the Baron’s first wife-to-be from her fate.
The poor girl had only been here a week and was already black and blue with no way to get help from anyone.
He stuck his neck out for her, a stranger. ”
Somehow, the insight into the Kincaids didn’t make Laura feel any better.
“It would be a good home for Taryn. She will be happy there. And if not happy, then at least safe.”
Laura let out a deep sigh then nodded, trying to accept the truth of his words.
“If I know anything about the kind of men the Kincaids are, then they will do anything to make sure Taryn stays safe. The fact that her friend came here, knowing the worst of what might have happened, to find her speaks volumes.”
She didn’t know how he always managed to know just what she was thinking, but he did.
She didn’t have to explain that the thought of Taryn kidnapped or trapped in a marriage to the Baron was nearly her undoing.
It would have made these last three years of suffering all for naught and Laura couldn’t bear the thought of that.
It was nearly as unimaginable as her friend being in grave danger.
“They are good people, Laura. Everything will turn out in the end. It always does.”
“Yes. I know. You are right.” Their eyes caught and neither moved for a long moment, not until the weight of the ale on her hip started to make her arm burn. “I need to get back. They will be waiting for me.”
Brandon let go of her shoulders and took a step back, eyes still locked on her. She turned to leave when Brandon called her back.
“Laura?”
She peered over her shoulder at him, his cheeks streaked with red once more, though the heat from the fire was little more than a soothing warmth.
“You are far from plain. You are beautiful.”
The spark that danced between them carried her back down to the Great Hall and on for the rest of the night.