“You?” She gave a soft laugh that flowed like warm honey through his veins. “I can imagine a tiny Kenneth glowering at the sky and refusing to admit he was afraid.”
He scoffed lightly. “Aye, well. Dinnae spread it around.”
The rain still deluged the thatched roof but the thunder was slowly moving further off. The worst of it seemed to have passed,and they sat back against the wall wrapped in plaid, the silence between them oddly comfortable. Selene turned the necklace at her throat, fingering each tiny pearl individually.
Kenneth’s eyes dipped to focus on it. “Ye always hold that necklace when ye’re unsettled.”
She hesitated. The cottage was dark and quiet, the firelight making a safe, warm cocoon around them.
“It’s the only thing I have from my mother.” Her voice was small, almost childlike. “She died when I was young, right after my sister was born. I have very few memories of her. Mainly… the stories my father told me. This necklace is the only piece of her I’ve ever held.” Her voice cracked with sadness.
Kenneth’s jaw shifted, a muscle tightening. “Me maither died when I was young too.” He did not meet her eyes, but stared fixedly into the fire. “Maureen barely remembers her. So, I endeavored… I did what I could tae keep her memory alive fer me wee sister. I tried tae give her the care a mother would. I ensured she was always warm. I told her stories. Made sure she had something gentler than our faither.” He exhaled through his nose in a huff. “He wasnae cruel. Just… cold.”
Selene turned toward him and their eyes met. “You’re a good brother, Kenneth.”
He stiffened. Her words did not sit well. Compliments were not a language he spoke fluently.
“I was simply daeing me duty,” he muttered.
“No,” she insisted. “Duty is one thing. Kindness is another.”
He had no idea what to do with that. His shoulders shifted, awkward and uncertain, before he cleared his throat and nodded.
They drifted closer as the fire burned lower. Not intentionally. Not obviously. But the gap between them narrowed until her knee brushed his and neither of them pulled away. At some point – he did not notice when it was – her head rested near his shoulder, and his arm was almost around her.
Sleep came in pieces, warm and drowsy.
When he woke in the pre-dawn light, she was snuggled against him. His arm was around her waist. Her chin tucked on his shoulder. Their legs were scandalously intertwined.
His movements caused her to wake suddenly. Jerking back, she almost lost her balance, flailing to remain upright. “Saints?—”
Kenneth caught her by the wrist before she could topple to the floor and hauled her back to their makeshift seat. He squinted at her with bleary eyes.
“Good morning, Lady Selene.” His voice was rough with sleep and he cleared he throat before continuing mockingly. “D’ye always greet the new day with such grace?”
“Oh, be quiet,” she muttered, her cheeks turning a most bonnie pink at his teasing.
He grinned and ruffled his fingers through his hair.
Selene threw him an appraising glance. “When you smile like that, you are almost like a young boy – soaked in mischief and wickedness.”
Her smile all but robbed the breath from his lungs.
The ride back to the castle was filled with a new warmth between them, the air charged with a strange, humming awareness that Kenneth was at a loss to understand.
When Arvak finally clattered into the courtyard and they dismounted and walked up the steps to the keep, Callum was waiting. He took one look at them – disheveled, damp, standing far too close to each other – and smirked.
“Good trip, then? Ye took so long in coming I was about tae send lads out in search of ye.”
Kenneth glared. “Bide yer tongue, lad.”
Callum’s grin widened. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
Before they could walk off, Callum’s grin faded and he raised a hand. “The scouts from Aidan’s lands have returned, me laird. I’ve arranged fer us tae meet with them in an hour.”
Kenneth’s voice turned cold and gruff. “Good. I pray they will bring news that will help us discover what is going on. Aidan’s hand is behind everything. I ken it. But I’ll need proof before I take this to the king. I willnae start a war without cause and give King George the excuse he needs tae take our lands.”
“There’s nae proof yet,” Callum confirmed. “But we’ll find it.”
