Abi dragged the bench round to the other side of the table so she could face him. “Would you be offended if I said yes, I’m surprised you play chess?”
A small, amused smile quirked his lips. “Because I’m such an unmannered brute, ye mean?” He laughed softly. “Aye, ye wouldnae be far wrong. But I used to play chess a lot as a child. My brother and me—” He cut off abruptly and a shadow of pain flared in his eyes. “Never mind.”
His brother? Reid had never mentioned his family and Abi was again reminded how little she knew about this man. She wanted to ask him about it, probe a little deeper, but knew that the moment had passed. Instead, she concentrated on the board, determined to win. So he thought he could order her around in front of his men, did he? Well, she would put him in his place! Starting with thrashing him at chess.
She didn’t. It turned out that Reid was as skilled a player as Clyde and she guessed part of it might be that there would be precious little else to do during the long, dark winter months shut up in a place like this.
“Again!” she said irritably, rearranging the pieces.
The evening meal arrived. The men ate, talked and drank and a group of them broke into a bawdy song that set everyone to laughing. Clyde and Thomas began an arm wrestling contest, and she sat at the head table playing chess with the lord of the keep. It felt...comradely. Friendly. Normal, even.
She had no idea what time it was, but the candles had burned down and the hall had all but emptied by the time she finally beat Reid.
“Checkmate!” she cried. “Yes!” She punched the air and Reid leaned back in his chair, giving her a wide grin.
“Well played, lass. Another game?”
Abi shook her head. “Haven’t you ever heard the expression ‘quit while you’re ahead’?” She yawned hugely. “I think it’s past my bed time.” She scraped back the bench and stood. “Well. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, lass.”
She made her way to the door but paused on the threshold and glanced back. Reid was watching her, a hungry look in his eye. Her stomach flipped. With her pulse racing a little, she turned on her heel and fled.
Chapter 10
As usual, Reid couldn’tsleep. He laid on his back, staring up at the ceiling, a cascade of thoughts running through his head. Today had been a bad day. One of those days that he’d rather expunge from his memory if he could. One of those days that he never would, and would haunt him for a long time.
Subdue the countryside, his lord had ordered him, and that’s exactly what he’d been doing.
It had not been hard. After years of war, the common folk round about were beaten down, all defiance leached out of them. The women had screamed and the children had cried as Reid’s soldiers had bullied their men folk, beating those that didn’t immediately submit, torching the barns and byres of those that had foolishly once thought to fight for the Muir cause. It had taken all of Reid’s skill as a commander to keep his men in check, to stop them killing the men and raping the women and it was only the threat of what he would do to them if they defied his orders that had stopped them going further.
Even so, he knew they were not happy about it. With men like those under his command, once violence was unleashed it was difficult to rein it in. He’d had to break more than one nose to keep them in line.
He punched the pillow. Ah, damn it. He would get no sleep tonight.
He sat up in bed, threw back the covers, and grabbed his plaid from where he’d dropped it on the floor. He buckled on his sword belt, pulled on his boots and whistled to the dogs.
