“I am sorry we were not here waiting for you, my Lady. We were just about to return from the kitchens when you rang for us.” The two bobbed their curtsey together again.
“No matter, girls. I only returned a few moments ago,” she replied, trying to keep her face from betraying her jumbled emotions.
“How was your ride, my Lady?” Helen asked, seeming to be genuinely interested.
Vivien felt herself flush, damning herself for being unable to keep her emotions under control. She turned away from the maids as if to let them begin lacing her up, to hide her face from them. They obliged, beginning the process of laboriously tying each and every lace up.
“It was exhilarating,” Vivien finally said, after a couple of minutes had passed, “I find the countryside here to be quite spectacular. It has a certain… wildness to it we don’t have back in England.” She put her hand to her mouth, hiding the smile that inevitably appeared on her face.
“Oh, yes, most definitely, my Lady,” Helen said, as the other two maids nodded in unison.
“I am afraid that I destroyed my riding dress though,” Vivien continued, as though it was no big issue. “I snagged it on a tree branch on the way back. I have left it in the wardrobe. If you could please discard of it, I would appreciate it, ladies. That’s all for now, thank you,” she said, turning back to face the girls, who curtseyed a final time and left her presence.
Vivien couldn’t help the gigantic sigh of relief as she settled into her window chair, looking out at the countryside without really seeing anything at all.
She couldn’t help but let her mind drift back to everything that had happened that day, her fingers against her lips again. She could still feel Kieran’s lips against hers, taste his kiss, and feel his hand holding hers. She shuddered at the spike of heat that unfurled deep within her. It was such a tiny thought, a tiny moment, but her body was reacting so strongly that it almost scared her.
She could recall every single moment of their encounter and let it replay in her head, over and over again while she sat there. Vivien didn’t notice the sun setting, her back to the wall, staring out at the beauty around her, a smile tugging at her lips. She felt the most like herself than she had in such a long time that she refused to let go of that feeling. Even if it were scandalous and improper, she could not deny the way her body and mind had reacted to Kieran. Every part of her wanted to return to his arms, to relive that kiss for the rest of her life.
A knock at the door startled her out of her daydreams.
Reginald entered the room without waiting for an answer, his cold gaze raking over her before settling on the banked fire in her hearth.
“I have been waiting for you to join me for supper for at least ten minutes now,” he sniffed, not looking in her direction, “You do know how much I like to wait for you, don’t you, Vivien?”
She flinched; she had been so lost in thought that supper had been the last thing on her mind. Vivien knew just how much Reginald liked to be kept waiting, especially by her, so she always made a conscious effort to be anywhere he might require her presence well in advance. She cursed herself for her stupidity, knowing that the backlash would not be worth the few minutes extra she had been sitting there.
“I am sorry, Lord. I must have lost track of time completely. It is very kind of you to wait for me. More so to fetch me,” she said demurely, standing up with her hands clasped in front of her.
“Oh, kindness, is it?” he sneered, his eyes coming to rest on her, the coldness in them as evident as ever, “I think as a show ofkindness,I’ll let you stay in your rooms without supper tonight then. If you want to act like a wanton child, showing an inability to be where you should be, on time, then you should be punished as one.”
“Yes, Lord,” Vivien murmured, hanging her head in mock shame. There were worse things Reginald could do to her; a night without supper was the least of it. It also hopefully meant that his anger and cruelty would keep him from visiting her bedchambers for the next few nights. She could only hope so. The thought of his hands on her made her want to vomit at the best of times; now that she had felt the stirrings of desire throughout her body, she couldn’t imagine a worse punishment if she tried.
Reginald harrumphed and turned on his heel, leaving her chambers stiffly. Vivien was blissfully alone with her thoughts once more.
* * *
Kieran returned to his castle later that afternoon. He had found that his encounter with the Sassenach had shaken him so deeply to his core that it was all he could think about. His mind was stuck on her and had verged on the point of total distraction the entire day. Kieran had almost forgotten that he had a duty to the families of the men they had lost, so he returned to the site of the altercation and fire once more.
The forest no longer held the peace it had before – he felt nothing but rage and despair at the site of the altercation. His conscience was heavy with the loss, and he struggled to reconcile the pain he felt for his men with the thrill of the kiss. His emotions were running rampant, and he was helpless at trying to control them.
He found himself at a total loss when finding any clues as to who was responsible or why they had done what they had done. There was no logical explanation that he could think of.
But then, things were not always logical in times of war.
The sun was setting when Kieran finally made his way into the castle grounds. His first stop was to order the retrieval and burial of the men who had given their lives for a senseless cause. He made sure that the priest and his fellows of the church were prepared to carry out the task at hand and were aware of the necessity of bringing peace to his people. As much as they could, at any rate.
Kieran requested that the priest give a special sermon that coming Sunday to honor the dead and give them time to set a proper burial site up so that the families could grieve together.
The weight of his friends’ deaths crawled back onto his shoulders, and he could feel himself slumping over with it. That morning spent with the nameless beauty had given him a brief respite from his worries and fears, something he thought would have been impossible to do if he had been asked by someone earlier that morning.
Kieran inhaled deeply after leaving the chapel, closing his eyes briefly as the wind blew through the chapel grounds around him. The air was fresh, with a slight chill to it – winter’s touch still lingered in the air on most mornings. The grounds were well-kept, in keeping with Kieran’s strict rules about maintenance and presentation being important within the castle grounds. He required that the castle be kept in as decent a shape as it was possible to maintain. He took pride in his name, in his bloodline, his people, and his castle. He expected them to do the same.
He tried to square his shoulders, knowing he needed to face the families of those they had lost again that evening. He returned to his chambers and called for his valet to call a meeting with them. Kieran couldn’t face seeing them individually again; the night before had nearly driven him to distraction with each and every family’s devastation being so obvious. He needed to give them all the same news; it only made sense to see them in one go and save himself some heartache and trauma.
Kieran was a wreck by the time the gathering was about to begin. His nerves were frayed, his stomach roiling with nausea. As he sat in his chair of state in his council chambers, awaiting the families, Kieran further contemplated the events that had transpired and brought them to this point. He decided that he needed to consult with Tilly to gain some perspective on the mess of thoughts and ideas he had on what might have actually happened. Tilly often proved useful to Kieran when he couldn’t set his mind at ease. She listened quietly, and he often found that was just what he needed – someone to listen while he tried to make sense of his thoughts.
A knock at the door broke his thoughts as his valet poked his head around the door to inform him that the families were waiting outside the chamber. Kieran nodded at him, and the family members shuffled into the room, one by one.
