“People like us,” War confirmed. Realizing that he really didn’t want her to get away, he gestured to the garden. “Would you like to come into this magnificent garden? I’m sure you have seen it many times, but I haven’t. There are no gardens at Bamburgh.”
Annaleigh hesitated a moment before stepping in. War watched every move, every expression. She was clad in a dark blue gown, long sleeves and form-fitting, and he could see that she had an exquisite curvy figure. Even with the shawl around her, there was no mistaking that she was a tasty morsel and, frankly, if she were his wife or daughter, he wouldn’t let her wear such clothing. He’d never seen Scottish lasses wear what she had on, so he could only imagine that she must have gotten it from her English relatives.
But… God’s Bones, she looked good enough to eat.
“Jordan spends much of her time in the gardens,” Annaleigh said, distracting him from what were clearly lustful thoughts.“She forces her younger children tae tend the gardens with her. She says that working in the dirt builds character and she’ll not have her bairns raised like spoiled Sassenach children.”
A smile tugged on War’s lips. “That sounds like a Scotswoman,” he said. “They are some of the most industrious people I know.”
“And ye know many?”
He shook his head. “Not too many,” he said. “But the ones I do know are very hard working. Very pragmatic people.”
Annaleigh thought that was a nice compliment. “Then ye dunna hate the Scots?”
“Should I?”
“Ye’re an English knight. That’s reason enough, I should think.”
“Do you know many English knights?”
She shrugged, looking over to one of the many stone benches in the garden and moving to take a seat. “I have many cousins who are English knights,” she said. “They have friends who are English knights. And there are English knights here at Castle Questing. Tae be truthful, when I first came here, I was afraid of them. I thought they would hate me simply because I’m Scots.”
“Did they?”
“It’s difficult tae hate a woman who is the cousin of England’s greatest knight.”
He snorted. “That is true,” he said. “But hate is a strong word, my lady. I would not say English knights hate Scots as something inherent, like it was there when they were born. That’s something that develops over time, as it does with any enemy. One must be wronged, usually, in order to have an aversion against a race of people.”
She watched him in the torchlight as he stood over her, a positively enormous man. His biceps were as big in circumference as her waist, she thought, but in spite of his sizeand obvious strength, she was coming to see that the curt, rude man she’d met upon the field of battle wasn’t curt or rude at all.
There was a wisdom about him.
And a gentleness.
“Yewerewronged by my clan,” she said quietly. “In the battle at Etal, ye were badly wounded.”
“True.”
“And that is not enough for ye tae hate?”
He held up a finger to get her attention. “But I was also saved by a Scots,” he said. “You saved my life, my lady. I am forever in your debt.”
She smiled weakly. “There are things about me that are not necessarily true tae a Scots way of thinking,” she said. “As a people, we fight tae survive. The land is harsh, invaders are harsh… ’tis the way of thinking we all have, but there are things I dunna agree with. Killing the wounded enemy on the field of battle is one of those things but if my family ever knew what I did, that I saved yer life, they’d never welcome me home again. As it is, I more than likely willna go back.”
“Why not?”
She sighed faintly, pulling her shawl around her more tightly in a gesture of self-protection. “I told ye that the battle at Etal was because of me,” she said quietly. “But what I dinna tell ye, and the entire reason I’m at Castle Questing, is because my clan began tae blame me for the deaths of sons and fathers. Those who perished in the fight at Etal. They began tae point fingers and whisper. They began tae say terrible things tae me. It was my father’s decision tae attack Etal, not mine, but I’m still a target for their anger. That’s why my da sent me here. So I would be safe from my own clan. ’Tis a difficult way tae live, knowing yer family hates ye and ye’re safe only in the land of yer enemies.”
He shifted on his enormous legs, folding his big arms across his chest. “But it was not your fault.”
“I know. And so do they. But people in pain need something tae lash out at.”
“And that is you.”
“Aye.”
He thought on that a moment. “I am not entirely sure that is fair to you,” he said. “What does de Wolfe say about it?”
