Andrew almost laughed. Then he saw the look in Rory’s eyes. “You are jesting, are you not?”
“Nay, my laird. She may be a woman but she knows more about building methods than any man I have ever met. Every question I asked, she could answer. I tested her well but she knows far more than me. Some of her ideas are...well, they're quite revolutionary. She said the walls were on the verge of collapse and I had no reason to doubt her. I thought you would want us to set to work fixing them at once especially if your talk with MacLeish fared ill.”
“She said they were on the verge of collapse?”
“Aye.”
“And you believed her just like that? A woman with no apprenticeship behind her and no tools of the trade brought with her?”
“Aye, my laird.”
“Rory. I am going to wash and you are going to send her to me for a wee chat about this. And go find Derek while you’re at it, I need a word with him too.”
He walked across the courtyard. More scaffolding had been set up against the wall of the keep. Of course. Why not? Even the chapel had sounds of wood sawing coming from it. He thought about ordering all to cease but knew at once it would make him look weak, as if he were not in charge of his own people.
She would have some explaining to do when she came in. First, he needed to wipe the dirt of the trail from his face. He walked up the stairs and into the keep, passing into the great hall, the rushes rustling as he kicked through them. Few were asleep in there. It seemed as if most of the castle were working. How was he expected to pay for their labor?
He felt suddenly very tired and the last climb up the few steps to his solar above the great hall was hard work.
Once there he poured water from the ewer into the bowl beside it. All he could hear was the sound of hammering and talking outside.
Pulling his baldric from his body, he folded it and laid it on the bed. Kicking off his shoes, he stood on the rug and leaned on the table for a moment, gripping it in his fists.
How dare she tell them to pull down his walls and how dare they just do it as if he didn’t matter anymore.
He felt furious with her in that moment. Splashing water onto his face, he rubbed his skin, scraping away the dirt from his chest with a strigil.
He heard a knock behind him and turned to find her standing in the doorway. The fury left him in an instant, replaced by a warmth that spread from his heart to his very fingertips, sweeping away the tiredness and making him feel very awake indeed.
“You sent for me,” she said. “I expect you have a few questions.”
“Aye lass,” he said, beckoning her inside. “More than a few.”
