Chapter Eight
Beth knew she would need to explain herself. When Rory called for her to go across to the solar above the great hall, she knew why at once. “Is he angry?” she asked, unable to read the steward’s expression.
“If he yells at you, send for me. I’ll soon talk some sense into him. Without you, we might be looking at many dead and crushed when the place collapsed and I thank the Lord you came when you did to prevent such a disaster.”
“I’ll be over in a minute,” she said, looking the endless queue of people, all with questions for her about the work. “I just need to set a few more things on the go.”
“You better be quick. Keeping a laird waiting is not advisable.”
She hurriedly called the queue together and then spoke to them all at once. “I shall be back as soon as I can. Hold for a short time.”
She left them by the tent and crossed the courtyard to her reckoning.
She had got the hang of the wooden soles of her shoes in the time she’d been supervising the rebuild. That was something at least.
The noise of work carried on behind her. It surprised her how pleasing a sound she found it. She hadn’t been expecting things to happen so quickly. It had been made abundantly clear when she began studying architecture that nothing in the building world happened fast. Here, she had shown the steward what needed doing and almost at once the demolition had begun.
Up the stairs, she paused, looking back at the work. The scaffolding next to her ran up to the unfinished towers. They needed pulling back and part of the wall taking down but no one was willing to get started on that yet without the laird’s say so.
The walls had been an easier sell although less at risk of collapse. People were working hard. Progress would be swift. She just hoped it would be worth it and that Andrew could be made to see the value of what they were doing beyond the cost in pence.
She headed inside, making her way into the great hall. Pulling back the curtain she stepped through, the smell not seeming as strong as before. Was she just getting used to it?
Everything here was more intense, the smells, the sights, the sounds, all so much stronger than she was used to.
Everyone seemed to know each other too which was hard to accept at first but then the population of the country was what? A couple of million? Certainly fewer than in a single city in her time.
At the far end of the great hall was an open door. She passed through that and up a short flight of stairs. Turning a corner she walked straight into the solar before she even knew she’d reached it.
She stopped dead at the sight before her. Andrew was running wet hands through his hair, his eyes closed. From where she was he seemed to be nothing but shoulders and chest. His hose was sitting just above his hips, giving her a hint of what lay hidden inside, the water soaking through the fabric made it cling to every part of him. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t speak, she couldn’t look away. All she could do was stare at the bulge.
“Beth,” he growled, wiping his eyes with a cloth. “Come in and sit down lassie. We need to talk.”
“Do we?” she replied.
“Please,” he added, pointing to the chair by the fireside. He took a cloth and wiped his face.
Forcing her feet to move, Beth made it over to the chair, willing her eyes to only look at his face, nowhere else.
He crossed in front of her to poke at the fire, bringing it back to life. From where she was sitting his bulge was right in front of her face.
She closed her eyes and kept them shut until he moved away, her body heating up uncontrollably. She told herself it was the fire that was causing it but as he looked at her, the churning feeling deep inside her spoke the truth.
“I hear you’ve been making a few changes to my castle?”
“Stopping it from falling down. Your masons have done poor work.” That wasn’t how this was supposed to be begin. What was to gain from criticizing him?
“Want to tell me why I shouldn’t have you chained up for bewitching my people into tearing down their own walls?”
“Feel free but I think they might have something to say to you about it.”
“Like what?”
“Like that I’m strengthening your walls so they don’t collapse. Or they might mention that the portcullis will stand up to a siege where it wouldn’t before. Or maybe they’ll tell you that you need a master mason who knows his stuff. No one will tell me who’s been in charge of the building work so far. Will you? Whoever it is, their incompetence has left lasting damage and I want a word with them.”
“Aye, maybe I’ll tell you who’s in charge.”
“So who was the idiot you hired?”
