A hardness clenched his throat and his gaze shifted toward the loch and the site upon the hill, marked with a white stone. He couldn’t forget his son’s death. Not even after nearly three years had passed. He blinked, forcing his gaze away. He knew what his grieving kinsmen were feeling right now with their family members gone. Work was what they needed, to take their minds off the suffering and go on.
It was what he had done. Because the moment he allowed himself to stop and think, the numbing grief would close in.
Work was the answer. The only answer he’d found for himself, when Laren had shut him out.
“We’llleaveforInveristonin another day,” Nairna said. “I’ll speak to Bram and he’ll arrange it.”
“I can’t finish the glasswork by then!” The very idea was appalling. It took a full day and a half simply to make one color, much less create a flat pane of glass.
Nairna’s mouth curved in a sly smile. “Oh, I don’t expect you to finish. We’re going to get you a commission. Bring one of your smaller pieces and a sketch of the design you want to do. We’ll get the window measurements and they’ll pay one-third of the cost up front, plus all of your supplies.”
Laren stopped arguing. She’d never thought about a commission. But the idea of having enough supplies and the chance to craft a window for one of the kirks… Her mind flooded with ideas.
“What if they try to cheat us again?” she asked, thinking of the time before when they’d sent Dougal to sell a piece of glass.
“Dougal sold the glass to a merchant, not an abbot. And what does a lad of four-and-ten know about silver coins?” Nairna moved to the back of the cavern, sorting through pieces. “We’ll use this one.”
She held up a frame that portrayed the rising sun over the loch. Laren had spent days trying to perfect the orange and yellow shades of glass and she’d experimented with the lead lines to create the effect of ripples in the water.
It was one of the first pieces that she’d been pleased with, a puzzle of glasswork that reminded her of the simple beauty around them.
“You’ll tell them that it represents holy baptism,” Nairna went on.
Laren gaped at her. “But it’s just the loch at sunrise.”
Nairna gently set down the glass. “Not to monks, it isn’t. The sun represents the holy resurrection, while the water of baptism washes us clean of our sins.”
“It’s the loch,” Laren repeated. She saw no reason to lie, not when the glass was pretty enough as it was.
Nairna put an arm around her and let out a sigh. “You see, that’s why you need me, Laren. We tell them what they want to hear and they will pay us a great deal for the honor.”
“Even if it’s not the truth?”
“Itisthe truth,“ Nairna insisted. “Theirs, not yours.”
She still wasn’t convinced, but Nairna had more experience with handling merchants and selling items. With a shrug, Laren acceded, “I suppose.”
“Leave all of the bargaining to me. You simply measure for the windows and talk about what colors they want. And do not, under any circumstances, tell them that it’s simply a loch.”
Laren smiled and Adaira came forward, crawling into her lap. Her daughter snuggled her face against her chest, and Laren held her close. There was a slight shadow of wistfulness upon Nairna’s face and Laren knew her sister-in-law wanted a child of her own.
“I’m glad you’re here, Nairna,” she said. “And I hope we can profit from the glass, however slight it may be.”
“It won’t be slight. I promise you that.” Nairna took Adaira from her, lifting the child into her arms. She murmured sweet words to the bairn, nestling Adaira’s cheek against her own.
“How is Bram?” Laren asked as they walked around the far side of the loch.
“He hasn’t forgotten the years he spent imprisoned.” Nairna shifted the child’s weight to her opposite hip. “And he’s angry that Lord Harkirk still holds some of our countrymen captive. He talks of trying to free them.”
Laren shuddered at the thought of the men going off to fight again. She didn’t want Alex endangering himself, not so soon after this battle. “We have to keep our men here,” she insisted. Though she was afraid of the hardships ahead, it would be easier to manage if they stood together. “They can’t go off to fight. Not until we’ve rebuilt Glen Arrin.”
Nairna squeezed her hand and there was a silent promise between them. They would find a way to earn coins from the glass and pray to God it would be enough.
Themenwereworkingtogether, unloading stones from the wagons. Laren watched as they began forming a foundation while others built up walls around the outer perimeter of the fortress.
She went to join the other women, and they worked with the smaller stones, placing them into a dry stone wall. Her side ached, but her girls were eager to join in. They gathered pebbles, tucking them into crevices, believing they were helping.
Laren wiped her brow and cast a glance at the other men. Her husband was directing the construction and he wore nothing from the waist up. Neither did his brothers or their kinsmen. They were sweating from the hard labor and none appeared to notice the cool weather.
