As she made her way to Gawain's chambers, a large tray in her hands, she returned some of the greetings of the guards as she went past. Her mind wandered to the dinner table and how they must be doing without her, but she shook them out of her head. Gawain was right, Emer had simply gotten used to Davinia being in the background, she forgot all about Davinia.
There were times when Emer would personally seek her out for a chat or simply to check up on her, but it was never like before Emer married Caillen, and her status was boosted. Davinia knew her sister was someone who did not dwell much on things, preferring to reach her own decisions. Even though they were seldom accurate, she knew Emer cared. She just did not know how to portray it as well as Davinia did.
Stopping in front of Gawain's chambers, she tapped on it lightly with her foot as her hands were occupied, and soon the door opened to the sight of Gawain's maid, Ida if Davinia could remedy properly. She had been the one to relay Lady Flora's message in the morning. Why was Gawain surrounded by so many women? Had he become so much of a rake during his exile?
Ida pushed the door open, allowing Davinia in after she had tried to take the tray, but Davinia sent her off with a hard stare. She caught sight of Gawain loosely dressed and leaning over his desk, face scrunched up in a troubled expression when he looked at her. "Did everyone retire early?"
"Nae, I only brought ye something to eat. If I recall, ye said ye did nae have breakfast." Davinia set down the tray on the desk before walking up to him, allowing him to wrap her in his arms. "What is troubling ye?"
Gawain looked down at her before shaking his head, turning to Ida, who he waved off. He waited until his door was shut before he let go of Davinia to attach a lock to the door.
"Why was she here?"
"Before I set out, I took the risk of telling Ida about the pot incident. I told her yer key was still missing and that I feel like whoever tossed down that pot might be involved in whatever is going on now. She promised to look around fer me, and she came to go me now saying she might ken who it was."
"Well, what did she say?" Davinia reached out for his hand, feeling a little guilty that she had thought about something else when she saw Ida with Gawain. Of course, Gawain had proved his loyalty to her, she had no reason to doubt him.
"Yesterday before the feast, when Caillen and I got back from the village, a maid came up to me. She said her name was Erica, do ye ken her?"
"I do nae think I recall anyone by that name. The keep has so many servants, I cannae keep track at all times. Perhaps if I see her?"
"Aye, I might need to fish her out meself by the marrow. She approached me and offered to warm me bed, but I refused. She did nae take the rejection too well."
"Why did ye nae tell me?"
"At that point, I was certain ye were after Hector like the rest of the people at the keep, so I kept it to meself, and to be honest, I forgot about it. Ida said on her way here, she found the store door open and Erica stepped out of it, but when Ida questioned her, she claimed she only wanted to take a pot fer her poor family in the village as their old one had torn and she could nae afford one as proper as they used in the keep. When asked how she got the key, she claimed she found it lying around, and when she found out that it opened the old storeroom, she set about to take a pot fer herself."
"Did Ida see this pot?" Gawain nodded.
"Ida said Erica had already kept the pot in a corner far from the others. It had been cleaned in and out. What baffles me is that, Erica did tell me I would regret turning her down, but this was after the incident itself. Perhaps it is possible that whoever had done it had left the key somewhere to hide their tracks?"
"Did Ida collect the key?" Davinia asked, and Gawain nodded, reaching into his pocket to pull out the old key before handing it over to Davinia. Aye, it is the same one, but this leaves us with nothing. We cannae hold on to Erica because she might be telling the truth. Maids stealing from the keep is nae uncommon. These things, pots and pans, utensils and cutlery, they are normal things that go missing over time."
"Aye, she could be. Even if she was the one who tossed the pot, why would she be roaming about the store when everyone was still awake. But we can bother about that later. When I returned from the village today, I went to see Caillen. He was concerned about the upcoming good shortage, and I proposed a way to solve that fer him."
"To buy food?"
"Aye. I’ve me connections in the lowlands that will enable us to get enough food here safely, but unfortunately, me brother did nae think about that and instead went ahead to start planning fer a battle."
"Did he want to raid another clan fer food?" Gawain shook his head, finally falling down on his bed, and Davinia took a seat next to him, her hand placed reassuringly on his shoulder while the other rubbed down his back. "He just decided to make battle plans?"
"Aye. Fer some sick reason, Scott aided him. I’ve to keep an eye out fer that man as well. The horrible part is now that the plans are missing! If they get into the wrong hands—"
"Wait." Davinia sat straight, her hand going to brush away stray strands of hair from her face. "How did they get into the laird's study, or where did he keep the plans?"
"In his study and it turns out, our key thief had struck again. Hector's key to the laird's study was missing. Which is why I said the person who threw the pot must also be the person who started the fires."
"As a distraction to take Hector's keys. But how would they have kent that yer brother would make battle plans? Perhaps they were after something else?"
"Aye but what could it be?"
"I do nae ken, but it has to be something that will nae be noticed on time, and even if it was, the fuss about the plans would cover it up. It has to be something very important, the plans were just a cover-up. I bet those plans have turned into kindling fer a fire right about now." They went silent, with Davinia playing with her fingers until Gawain's hand came to cover hers.
"I do nae ken what it is that the person wanted but fer now, can we nae think much about it. I already feel a headache on its way, and I would hate fer ye to feel the same. Let us just enjoy each other's company until the marrow." Cracking a small smile, Davinia reached out to cup his face, running her thumb over the light stubble that had started to grow on his face. "And do nae tell me ye cannae spend the night here. ‘Tis just one night, let me hold ye while I sleep."
"Alright then, but only after ye’ve eaten something. I cannae have ye starve to death."
“Why eat food when I can eat ye?” Gawain teased, causing Davinia to flush before she burst out laughing with a small chuckle coming from him as well.
