As Annaleigh dipped her head politely and quickly turned to leave the room, War set his cup down. “Wait,” he said. “Would it be possible to direct me to your facilities?”
Annaleigh cocked her head curiously. “M’lord?”
It was clear she had no idea what he meant, so he looked at William. “We have been riding since before dawn,” he said. “And now with this drink…”
He trailed off, but the hint was obvious. William immediately set his cup down, too. “I will show you.”
“Nay,” War said. “You are the lord of the castle. It is not your duty to show me where to go to… well, where to go, and you have guests here to attend to. I am certain Lady Annaleigh can direct me quite capably. A finger in the right direction will do.”
William conceded the point as he looked to any number of men in the room who could show the man where to empty his bladder. He wasn’t sure it was proper for a young lady to do so, but everyone seemed engaged in conversation, so he relented just this once.
He turned to Annaleigh.
“The garderobe, lass,” he said. “Show him.”
Annaleigh nodded quickly and scurried to the door. “This way, m’lord.”
War followed.
The keep of Castle Questing was quite vast. It had been built two centuries before as a single building but somehow, over the years, it grew in scope. Another wing was added and at some point, a third and fourth floor were added. The result was an enormous keep with forty or more rooms, chambers, and alcoves. Given that two families had raised their children there– the de Wolfe and Hage families– it had served a greater purpose.
But War was positive he was about to become lost.
“How do you know where you’re going?” he asked Annaleigh. “I’ve never seen such a vast place.”
“’Tis not far, I promise.”
“I lied.”
She didn’t stop walking. “M’lord?”
“I lied. I do not need a moment of privacy.”
They’d crossed over into an area where there was a large common room, seemingly a small hall of some kind, and Annaleigh came to a halt and turned to him.
“You dunna need a moment of–?”
He shook his head, his eyes glimmering in the light of the torches on the walls. “Are we going to continue to pretend that we have never met before?” he asked softly. “I do not need you to show me to the garderobe. I simply wanted to speak with you alone.”
Her expression was guarded. “Why?”
He could see that she had no interest in speaking with him alone, and probably anything else, and he immediately felt embarrassed. Ridiculous, even. He didn’t even know why he wanted to speak with her alone, only that something was compelling him to.
There was one thing he very much wanted to say to her.
“Because I wanted to thank you for saving my life those months ago,” he said, rather formally. “The physic told me that if you had not stitched me up, I would have either died of blood loss or of poison. Whatever you did saved my life and I am grateful. That is all I wanted to say.”
With that, he dipped his head at her politely to beg his leave and turned away, heading back the direction they had come. He hadn’t taken three steps when she called to him.
“Wait,” she said, watching him stop and turn to her. This time, he was guarded and she struggled for words. “I… I dunna even know what tae say. I never expected tae see ye here. I dinna expect tae ever see ye again.”
He nodded. “I know,” he said. “The same can be said for me. I am glad that I was able to thank you for what you did.”
“Ye dinna want me touching ye at the time.”
He grunted in agreement. “I was wounded,” he said. “I was not thinking clearly.”
Her eyes trailed up and down his enormous body. “But ye survived,” she said. “No ill effects?”
