"Are ye mad?"He sounded genuinely curious.
"I might be,"Maia admitted. "Six years locked away from everythin'. It would drive anyone mad, wouldnae it?"
"I suppose."
They crested a hill,and suddenly the view opened up before them. The sun was just breaking over the horizon, painting the sky in shades of pink and gold and pale blue. The light spilled across the landscape like liquid honey, illuminating everything it touched.
Maia's breathstopped in her throat.
"Bonnie,"she whispered. "It's so bonnie."
The man said nothing,but she felt his gaze on the side of her face rather than on the sunrise.
"When I was a girl,"Maia said softly, "me da used to wake me before dawn sometimes. We'd ride out to watch the sun come up, just the two of us. He said it was important to remember that every day was a gift, that each sunrise was a second chance."
"Sounds like a wise man."
"He was."Maia's eyes burned with tears she refused to let fall. "He died when I was fourteen. Him and me ma both. Fever took them within a week of each other."
"And that'swhen yer uncle took over."
"Aye.That's when Uncle Callen took over." She wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly cold despite the warmth of the man's body behind her. "At first, I thought things would stay the same. But they dinnae. He had his own ideas about how things should be run." Her voice went quiet. "And I dinnae fit into those plans."
They rodein silence for a while after that, but it was a different kind of silence. Less hostile. Almost comfortable.
"Oh!"Maia sat up straighter as something else caught her eye. "Is that a rabbit? The brown thing near that rock?"
An audible groan."Aye, lass. It's a rabbit."
"It's so fat!Look at it, it's practically round. Do ye think it's pregnant? Or maybe it's just well-fed. Are there a lot of rabbits in these parts? I used to see them in the castle gardens sometimes, through me window, but they were always so far away."
"Maia."
It wasthe first time he'd used her name, and it stopped her mid-sentence.
"Aye?"
"If I answer one question,just one, will ye give me ten minutes of peace? Ten minutes without commentary on every bloody creature or plant we pass?"
Maia considered this. "Five minutes."
"Eight."
"Done."She twisted to look up at him, trying to make out his features in the growing light. "So? What's yer name?"
She heard him sigh,a long, weary sound. Then, finally: "Ewan. Me name is Ewan Byrne."
"Ewan,"Maia repeated, testing the name on her tongue. "Ewan Byrne. And ye're the Laird of?"
"That's two questions,lass. Ye only paid for one."
"But."
"Eight minutes of silence. Startin'now."
Maia openedher mouth to protest, then closed it again. A deal was a deal, after all.
But as shesettled back against Ewan's chest, as the sun climbed higher and the world woke around them, she couldn't quite suppress the small smile that curved her lips.
