Chapter 10 #4
That side of Siaspar, inflexible and harsh, took Katherine by surprise. What she had seen of him so far pointed to an open-minded, measured man and she suspected that anyone else would have been able to argue her case with him. The only problem was, his wife seemed to bring out the worst in him.
“You look a bit pale, my lady. Should I call for some wine or wafers to be brought up?” he asked with a sinister grin. “You will forgive me if I don’t join you. I have recently gone off them myself.”
The attack was blunt. Katherine could not blame Lady Malpas for paling further.
Apparently satisfied with this conversation, Siaspar strode over to the door.
“Out, girl,” he told Katherine with unwonted curtness. “Go tell the cook about my orders. Then come back here to get cleaned and dressed. You will start your new assignment later today. The tailors are due to arrive after sext.”
“Very well, my lord.”
After one last glance at Lady Malpas, Katherine curtsied and left, her heart overflowing with joy.
She was to leave the hot, noisy kitchen where she had never felt at home to come and be dressed up like a lady, spend her days sewing in comfortable, airy rooms. It was almost too extraordinary to be believed.
Knowing that Siaspar would not be long in coming down, she waited at the bottom of the stairs to express her gratitude. He appeared only a moment later, as she had expected, and did not seem surprised to see her.
“My lord.”
He stopped her with a raised hand when she made to curtsy. “No. I told you, not when we are alone.”
She straightened back up, heat invading her chest at the favor he was showing her. Gone was the intractable man who had told his wife he could not stand her dresses.
“I wanted to thank you for what you did. It will be good to leave the kitchen.”
“I thought it would. I know you are not used to working in a castle and only agreed to come here to help your family. So think nothing of it. You will find everything you need to transform yourself into Lady Malpas in the antechamber next to her room. As you well know.”
“Yes,” she breathed, thinking of the blue gown awaiting her next to a tub filled with, hopefully, warm water this time.
“Although I know for a fact that you resemble her best in the dark, when you are naked,” he whispered, leaning closer to place his lips at her ear.
Katherine’s legs went liquid at the words. He was all but telling her that he could not forget the feel of her naked body against his. She could not forget it either. They looked at each other for a long moment, totally lost in remembrance.
Was he about to kiss her? Everything seemed to indicate it. He was bent over her, their gazes were locked, and there was a storm brewing in his eyes—and in her loins.
In the space of a few weeks, she had gone from stranger and servant to potential enemy, before being redeemed and accepted as the woman who had saved his life.
And now…now it felt different again. Something else had changed.
She wasn’t quite sure what or if she should spend too much time wondering about it. Probably not.
“I… I should go and speak to the cook,” she croaked, cursing herself for a fool.
What was she doing? If Siaspar wanted to kiss her, why shouldn’t she let him?
In truth, she wanted that kiss. In just a few days, and despite an inauspicious beginning, she and this man had forged a bond that was as strong as it was inexplicable.
He had bedded her twice. She then had saved his life.
No one she knew could make either of these claims.
The moment Siaspar took a step back, Katherine knew she would regret all her life not having allowed him to kiss her. But it was too late now. Having made her choice, she could not throw herself into his arms.
“Of course. I should go. Forgive me for keeping you.”
Remembering the way he had barked at his wife earlier, showing her nothing but contempt and impatience, she marveled that he should apologize to a servant for doing nothing more than speaking to her as he would to a lover.
She made to go but Siaspar caught her by the wrist before she could leave. There was such tenderness in that touch that her chest constricted.
“On second thought…” he said with a frown. “I will go speak to the cook myself. I don’t want to create problems for you. She will not question the unusual instruction if it comes from me. Besides, Nest only speaks Welsh. I assume the two of you cannot converse?”
Indeed, they could not. “The basic instructions are clear enough with a mime, and Mel usually helps, but yes, it would be hard to make her understand what I have to tell her today.”
Not least because it barely made sense. Siaspar was ordering her do something no one had ever done; for her he had created a position that didn’t exist. All to spare her the discomfort of the kitchen. She didn’t know what to say—or think.
“Go now, Catrin.”
Katherine didn’t miss the way he said her name. He had used the Welsh equivalent, which Mel had taught her only the other day.
Catrin.
Something warmed in her chest. No one else had called her that. And, in all likelihood, no one else ever would.