Chapter 12
Nora and Callan were both sullen the following day.
They awoke in silence, had breakfast in silence, and then traveled in silence. Neither of them had anything to say to each other, and Nora felt sour because she still needed him. Why Callan was still helping her after everything that had transpired between them, she could not say.
Was he hoping for a grand reward from Laird MacPherson? That was the only thing that made sense to her. She no longer believed he was escorting her out of the kindness of his heart.
In the afternoon they arrived at a village.
It was market day, although it was hardly a grand affair.
The stalls were sorry things,looking on the verge of collapse.
Most of the merchants looked the same. They trotted through, casting curious gazes just in case there was anything of interest. Nora’s attention was stolen by an interaction between an old merchant with a hunched back and straggly beard and a traveler wearing a thick cloak with glossy hair and broad shoulders.
“Please, sir, surely ye can spare a wee bit more? I hae a family tae feed and this grain… it’s the best in the area,” the merchant said.
The traveler sneered. “I hae told ye how much I’m willing tae pay. Either ye will accept it or nae. It’s only grain. Ye should be grateful I’m sparing it at all. It’s nae as though ye need any real skill tae produce it.”
“Labor, my lord, labor, and time. We work from dawn until—”
“Aye, aye, I’m sure ye dae,” the traveler sighed, clearly bored and not interested in hearing the man’s stories at all. “I grow tired of this. Will ye take the coin, or nae?”
The merchant sighed and seemed to shrivel up with disappointment. “Aye, it is most generous of ye,” he said, and held out his hands. But the coins did not arrive. A dark smirk appeared on the traveler’s face.
“Since ye hae delayed me with yer prattle, I think I shall demand more than that. I want… a dance. Aye. A dance. Dance for yer coin, man,” he said.
“Dance?” the merchant said, a bewildered look coming upon his face.
“Aye. Ye will dance or there shall be nae coin at all,” the traveler threatened, and clearly the merchant was desperate enough to debase himself because he did indeed start dancing.
He moved from side to side and lifted his hands in the air. It was an awkward, humiliating thing to watch. Nora’s skin crawled and she couldn’t take it any longer.
“Dae something,” she whispered.
“And offend yer sensibilities again? I would never dare dream of daeing such a thing. Och nae, the straight and narrow it is for me. I shall never raise a hand in anger, nae even tae someone who deserves it, like that fool,” Callan spat.
Nora turned and glared at him. “Ye would allow him tae humiliate that man?”
Callan’s eyes were cold. “As far as I can tell there are two of us here. What makes ye any better than me? If ye want tae stop this, gae and stop it.”
“But I cannae! Ye can fight. Ye can intimidate that man. I cannae…”
Callan sighed. “And there’s yer first problem, lass. Ye are sae concerned with what ye cannae dae that ye never think about what ye can dae. I’d wager ye stand a better chance of distracting that man than I would.”
“And how would I gae about daeing that?” Nora asked. Callan simply arched an eyebrow and his cold eyes became mischievous.
“Think about what men want and what ye hae,” he said, gesturing to her body.
Nora felt her skin crawl and her cheeks redden. What he suggested was beyond the pale and it was met with an instant wave of revulsion. She shook her head and looked disgusted.
Callan shrugged. “Well, lass, if ye are nae gaeing tae dae anything then I dinnae see why I should. I suppose that man is just gaeing tae hae tae keep dancing.”
Nora glanced over at the merchant, who was still moving in an awkward manner.
The traveler was laughing with glee and tossing coins at the merchant’s feet, encouraging him to dance more and more.
How anyone could be cruel enough to take such enjoyment from another’s suffering was beyond her, and she could not stand by and let it continue.
She slipped off the horse, smoothed down her dress, and flicked her hair back. While she wasn’t sure how exactly the situation was going to play out, her first intention was to get the traveler to stop humiliating the merchant. Nora walked up to him and gently bumped into the traveler’s arm.
“Och, I’m terribly sorry, I must nae hae looked where I was gaeing,” Nora said softly.
The traveler turned with a nasty look on his face and spiteful words loaded in his mouth, but as soon as he laid eyes on Nora that all went away and was replaced by something warm and soft. He changed in an instant. Did all men know how to wear masks?
“‘Tis my mistake, I should nae hae blocked the path. Please, come this way. Ye dinnae need tae see such a sight,” the traveler said, gesturing to the merchant.
As soon as the traveler’s attention was diverted, the merchant stopped dancing and quickly gathered up the coins at his feet, just in case anything dared take them away.
The traveler had his hand against Nora’s arm and was leaning close to her. He made no attempt to hide his roving gaze, which eagerly traveled along her body.
“I hope ye are nae hurt?” he asked with an inquisitive look on his face, fishing for her name.
“Nora.”
“A lovely name. I’m Edgar. Perhaps I can make up for this inconvenience by buying ye a meal. It’s rare tae find a woman of yer beauty in a place like this,” he said.
Nora’s throat tightened and she wasn’t entirely sure what to say to this. Silence filled the air and Edgar’s impatience grew. She feared he might well go and launch his wrath at another moment. To keep him nearby, she brushed her fingers lightly against his arm. It felt all kinds of wrong.
“A meal would be lovely. I apologize for my shyness. I’m nae used tae speaking with such handsome men,” she said.
Edgar seemed mollified by this and he stood a little taller. He put a hand on the small of her back. It was sliding down and she was about to twist away from him because she feared how low it might go as he directed her to the nearest inn when suddenly she heard Callan coming up behind them.
“Och, what are ye daeing? Get ye hands off my sister. What on earth hae gotten intae ye? Were ye trying tae take advantage of her?” The words peppered the air in a thunderous burst as Callan pushed Edgar away from Nora. Edgar looked entirely flustered.
“I… I was just gaing tae buy her a meal.”
“Och, I’m sure ye were. Well I’m her brother and I’ll buy her meals, unless ye want a black eye.
Dae ye? Is that what ye want? Because I’ll fight ye for her honor.
Nae man will touch her as long as I’m breathing!
” Callan curled a hand into a fist and started rocking on the balls of his heels.
He looked quite mad, and Edgar was terrified. He backed away holding up his hands.
“There’s nae need for that, just stay away from me, ye lunatic.”
Callan grunted loudly and jabbed his fist in the air.
Even though his reach was not long enough to strike Edgar, the man flinched and screamed in a high-pitched, feminine tone.
All the people around looked at him and scoffed.
He stumbled, losing his balance, and almost fell on his rump.
The quick retreat was marked with a scowl, but Edgar did not dare make any motion to retaliate against Callan.
Callan stood in front of Nora, smug and strong. He turned around, a slanting smirk resting upon his face.
“There ye gae, lass, now the matter is dealt with,” he said, winking at her. As he passed, he leaned in, the air suddenly tinged with his heat. “By the way, I thought ye gave a fetching performance.”
Her cheeks blazed with heat and she clenched her jaw. At that moment she noticed something large pressing against her. Glancing down, she saw that it was a pouch filled with coin.
Callan was incorrigible!
There was no deed that was truly altruistic.
There was always an opportunity for theft.
Did he even think about it, or did it just come naturally to him?
She was about to lambast him for stealing when Callan returned to the merchant.
The poor man was on his hands and knees, scraping up the coins from the ground.
He looked up as Callan towered above him.
“For yer troubles and for yer dancing. If ye ever want tae give up selling grain then ye should find a court and dance for a Laird.” Callan chuckled and handed the man the coin.
The merchant took it in both hands, as though he was receiving a blessing from the gods. As soon as he felt the weight of the pouch his face transformed. The deep lines of humiliation were replaced by gratefulness. Then he peered inside. His eyes widened.
“Thank ye,” he gasped in disbelief, while Callan turned back.
Nora’s emotions swung like an extreme pendulum.
Callan was infuriating. First he’d made her flirt with sin in the name of teaching, then he’d entered the scene with aggression, and just when she thought he was completely beyond redemption he gave the coin to a man he didn’t know.
She hadn’t needed to convince him. For all his sharp edges there were parts of him that were soft, and Nora honestly didn’t know what to do with this information.
Desire and attraction warred with fury. It roiled like an angry sea and as he stood before her, waiting for her to come along. She did the only thing that made sense to her in that moment.
Nora kissed him.
Even as she was closing the distance between them she knew it was wrong inside, but she couldn’t help herself.
It was as though some invisible force was pushing her towards him.
She murmured with frustration as she pressed her lips against his.
Nora gripped his arm tightly, feeling the shape of his bicep.
The taste of him invaded her mouth. It was warm, hot, and intoxicating.
And yet it was fleeting.
Sense returned to Nora’s mind and she pushed him away. She drew her sleeve along her mouth in the hope of wiping the stain away. It was too deep for that, though. It was in the core of her being.
What had she done?
All her life she had practiced virtue, and in a moment of madness she had kissed Callan. She couldn’t even pretend that he had forced her. Nora’s head was swimming and she stared at him, looking so satisfied.
“Lass, what took ye sae long?” Callan asked, putting one hand on his hip.
The other reached for her hand. Nora knew what was going to happen next. He was going to draw her into his body and she wasn’t going to be strong enough to resist. All the walls of innocence were going to crumble as some evil seed of desire he had planted bloomed.
Nora clung to whatever resolve remained within her and pressed her hand against his chest, pushing him back.
“Dinnae come any closer.”
Callan cocked his head. “Was that nae an invitation?”
“That was… a game. Aye… Ye want me tae act? Well I’ll show ye how well I can act. I could hae slipped a dagger between yer ribs,” she scoffed, the words thick in her throat because she wasn’t used to lying.
Callan regarded her with a cool stare.
“Aye, lass, well played. Ye hae me fooled,” he said, but he didn’t seem perturbed at all.
He turned slowly and continued walking through the village.
Nora followed closely behind, touching her lips.
The warmth lingered, as did the confusion.
In all the sense of the world she shouldn’t feel anything like desire for this man, but now that she kissed him there was a deep part of her that wanted to do it again; that wanted to tear asunder all thoughts of virtue and proper behavior and give in to this raw pressure that gripped her heart.
How wretched were emotions. Nora wished she could rip them all out of her and leave them in a tangled mess upon the ground.