Vivienne sat up straighter on the settee. A wicked grin lit up her face. “Why, thank ye, Mother Sinclair. Lilia is the sister I never had.”
“You’re avoiding the subject. Why did you send Graham and Angus?” Lilia leaned forward and blew on the coals. The connection through the portal was wavering. She needed to hurry and nail Granny down.
“To watch over you, gal. Just to watch over you.” Granny leaned closer to her side of the portal, so close that Lilia swore if she reached out she could touch the wrinkled silk of Granny’s cheek. “I swear to you, Lilia. I didn’t send them to bring you back or trick you into anything. Those two brutes are just a pair of plaid-wearing guardian angels sent to watch over you.” Granny’s smile wavered as she blew Lilia a kiss. “Let go of your pain, Lilia. You are not meant to walk this world alone and bear the weight of your gifts by yourself. Channel your empathy, my sweet child. Remember your lessons.”
The portal darkened and Granny’s face faded from view. “I love you, gal. Never forget that. You are much loved by us all.”
CHAPTER6
Graham shoved aside the flimsy material hanging over the window and stared up into the ever-lightening night sky. Just as he thought. Dawn soon. Time to be about the day—especially since his days here could very well be short and numbered if he didn’t win Mistress Lilia’s heart and convince her to marry him.
He rubbed his thumb across his fingertips, remembering the eerie tingle when she had slid her tiny hand into his. Saint’s bones, he’d hardened as soon as they touched and been filled with the urge to grab her up into his arms and never let her go.Mine,his heart had cried out.Mine, forevermore.
Scrubbing his fingertips through the beard curling along his jaw, Graham turned from the window. He had never felt such before. It was quite unsettling and he was not so sure he liked it. An arranged marriage to keep his head from the pike and atone for his sins was one thing. But love? He shuddered the thought away, stomped across the room, and kicked Angus’s booted foot. “Up wi’ ye now. ’Twill be dawn soon.”
Angus barely twitched from his sprawled position across a pile of pillows scattered across the floor. Without opening his eyes, he unconsciously scratched his belly, then his hand slowly slid back down to his side as a high-pitched snore whined free of his slack-jawed mouth.
“Angus!” Graham kicked the bottom of the man’s boot again, hard enough to jolt his entire body.
Angus rolled to a crouched position, unsheathed both daggers, and flashed them back and forth. He jerked around, glancing around the room. “Who attacks?”
Graham blew out a weary sigh. Why the hell Mother Sinclair had saddled him with this great numpty was beyond reasoning. “No one attacks.” He headed toward the closed double doors at the end of the room, waving for Angus to follow. “It will be dawn soon. We must be about the day.”
Angus straightened from battle readiness, returned the daggers to their sheaths, then stretched with a bone-cracking yawn. He glanced around the room, absentmindedly scratching his arse as he waded free of his pillowed nest. “Reckon they have any food in the house? I’ve not eaten since we left the keep.”
“I dinna ken.” Graham pulled open one of the double doors and looked up and down the hallway. “I’m not even certain where the kitchens might be in this place.”
Angus lifted his nose and sniffed. “I dinna smell any food.” He pushed past Graham and stepped out into the hall, looking both ways as he rubbed at his crotch. “Where did he say the garderobe was? I need to piss.”
Graham meandered down the hallway, scowling at the row of pristine white doors all firmly closed. “We came in there.” He pointed at a set of burgundy double doors with ornate ovals of what looked like plates of colored jewels centered in each panel. The wood floors of the hallway gleamed beneath the yellow light of the strange orbs that looked as though someone had sliced a cannonball in two and magically stuck it on the wall then magically lit it from within. “Alberti and the man called Thomas went up there last night.” Graham nodded toward the staircase with the rich mahogany railing. “Perhaps the garderobe is up there?”
Angus shook his head and yanked open one of the narrow doors lining the hallway. “Nah. Last night he pointed to one of these doors. I’m certain of it.” He shook his head, closed the door, and moved to the next one. “Nothing but clothes in that one.” He pulled open the next door then tilted his head to one side and scratched his jaw. “Reckon this is it?”
Graham peered over Angus’s shoulder. “Lore a’mighty. That there be the biggest chamber pot I do believe I’ve ever seen.” He shoved past Angus, stepping into the tiny, tiled room. Easing forward, he leaned over the great white porcelain bowl half filled with water. “This must be it but I daresay whoever went here last must not have been verra healthy. Look how clear their piss be.”
“What be that silver handle for?” Angus tapped a finger on another white porcelain bowl, this one waist-high and built into a cabinet with silver knobs and spouts to boot.
“I dinna ken.” Graham tapped the cool bit of metal behind the oversized chamber pot with one finger. Nothing happened.
“Hit it harder.” Angus nodded toward the porcelain bowl on the floor. “It wiggled a wee bit. I think ye need to hit it harder.”
“Harder, ye say?” Graham squatted down beside the bowl, studying the silver handle from every angle. He hooked two fingers atop the metal piece and pushed down hard.
The huge chamber pot came to life. Water whooshed and gurgled, swirling in a tempest until it disappeared with a hollowglug glug glug. Graham quickly rose and stepped back. “Saint’s bones, did ye see that?”
“Aye,” Angus replied, his voice filled with awe. “And look. The water returns. It rises as we speak.”
Graham leaned over the pot, watching the slowly rising water. “Amazing.”
“I am not pissing in that thing.” Angus hiked up his kilt, stood on tiptoes, and leaned over the waist-high porcelain bowl built into the cabinet. “I’ll piss here—looks to be much safer.”
“I dinna blame ye, lad.” Graham clapped a hand on Angus’s shoulder. Any magic that sucked away water with such a fury could very well be a danger to a man’s cock.
The thumping of footsteps overhead and down the stairway caught Graham’s attention. He left Angus to his business, squeezing behind the man to step back out into the hallway. Strange place, this future. It would take him a lifetime to discover all that had changed.
Hair disheveled and still buttoning his shirt, Alberti emerged from the stairwell. “Good morning, Graham. You’re up bright and early today.” He padded barefoot down the hallway, motioning for Graham to follow. “Come with me, my good man. I’ll have a spot of coffee ready in no time. Or do you prefer tea?” Alberti turned, a dark brow arched, waiting for Graham’s response.
“Ale, if ye dinna mind.” He had no idea what coffee was and the only time a man drank tea was when he was ailing. Graham squared his shoulders and lifted his chin. Surely the man didn’t think he looked unwell.
