Alex caught the boy by the arm before he could go far. “I know you’ve been staying with Walter, these past few nights. Has he been treating you well?”
The boy gave a single nod, looking nervous at the question.
“And what of your father? Has Eoin bothered you since that night?”
Ramsay clutched his arms but shook his head. The boy’s hollowed posture and broken spirit made Alex wish he’d known of the abuse long before this. The guilt weighed upon him, but he promised himself that nothing would happen to Laren’s apprentice again.
“If it’s your wish, you needn’t return to your father’s house. I’ll see to it.”
The boy stared at him as if he didn’t know how to respond. Then, with a quick nod, he fled the cavern and started on the path toward Walter’s.
“Thank you for looking after him,” came Laren’s voice. She sent him a quiet smile before she turned back to the fires, stoking them higher. He watched as she examined a clay container that held a melt. The color had started to shift from saffron to a pink tone.
“Not too much longer,” she said, sliding it back into the furnace with an iron rod. “An hour, perhaps.”
When she turned back to him, Alex spread his cloak upon the ground. Laren hesitated, her face flushed as she held her hands out before the furnace, warming them. He saw the way her gaze was intent upon the fire and wondered if it hadn’t been such a good idea to bring her here. She seemed distracted by the glass.
When he came up behind her, she stiffened. “I didn’t like what Nairna did tonight. Being in front of so many people…” Her voice trailed off, her eyes upon the floor. “I know she meant nothing by it, but I felt so awkward.”
“You haven’t been around the clan very often in the past fortnight.”
She turned to him, discontent rising in her eyes. “I know it. But I have to stay with the glass, if I want to finish it for the kirk windows.”
Alex said nothing, for it was her decision to leave them, seeking out her work to give her comfort. His mood shifted into one of frustration. By giving her the freedom to complete the commission, it seemed that she’d slipped even further away from him.
“How much longer will it take?” He moved to the far end of the cavern, near the pipes that were preheating.
“Months,” she admitted. “Ramsay is learning to blow the glass, but he needs another year before his pieces will be good enough.”
It meant another few months when he would hardly see her at all. He turned back and she was sitting at the stone table, arranging pieces of colored glass. “I don’t like living this way,” he admitted.
Her hands stilled and she raised questioning eyes to him.
“I don’t like seeing you only at night. And when I do, you’re already asleep.”
She remained seated, watching him. “The work is exhausting.”
He crossed back to stand before her. “I wanted to bring us back to the way things were, before David died. But that can’t happen, can it?”
Her face grew pale, knowing what he meant. “What do you want from me, Alex?”
“I don’t think it’s something you can give.” Her glassmaking required her to spend hours away from them. And it wasn’t possible for him to see her throughout the day, not when she had to stay with the furnaces.
“I’m not giving up the glass.” She stood up, facing him.
“I didn’t demand that, did I?” He fought back the resentment, the frustration building up inside. “But what kind of a marriage is this, if we’re always apart?”
She stared at him in distress. He felt as though he’d struck her down, but he didn’t know how else to say it.
“What would you have me do?” she whispered.
“I don’t know.” He raked a hand through his hair and strode away. “There’s nothing you can do, is there?”
She remained silent. For long moments, he heard nothing. Then her footsteps approached and he felt her hand upon his shoulder. When he turned to her, he saw that she’d unbound her hair. The long red strands held a slight wave to them from the earlier braid. Then she reached back and loosened her gown.
His mouth went dry when he saw her lower the sleeves and the bodice, baring her breasts. She lifted his hands to touch the warm weight of them and he understood. She was trying to offer herself to pacify him by giving him her body.
But the act was meaningless without her heart. He didn’t want her like this. Lowering his hands, he faced her. “This won’t fix what’s broken between us.”
