“Perhaps. I dinnae take anyone fer free, though,” the captain said.
“Aye, we wouldnae be asking fer charity,” Nathan said on Freya’s behalf. “We will be passengers same as any. I’ll work if ye need it.”
“I might be headed to Castlebay and Oban, but I’m nae leaving fer another three dawns. Have tae finish up repairs on the ship as well as restocking. Unless ye both are in some sort of rush, ye’ll just have tae wait.”
Freya couldn’t imagine the amount of coin that it would take to hurry the captain, but she knew she didn’t have it in the little purse of hers. Even after selling the horses, they couldn’t afford to spend so much on one trip. It would be cheaper to find a room in town and wait out the two days it would take the man to leave.
Nathan turned to Freya, looking for confirmation she would wait, and she nodded.
“And ye’ll pay up front.” The captain added almost as an afterthought. Nathan took half a step toward the man, his face stern.
“And if we dae, what guarantee dae we have that ye will honor our passage?” Nathan asked.
“What dae ye want, a bill of sale? I’m a man of me word, but if ye are doubting me honor…” The man reached for his sword, his expression stern.
Freya stepped between the two, fishing out the coins for their passage and shaking her head. “Nay, we will be here at dawn in three days.”
The captain smirked. It certainly wasn’t the most favorable of situations, but they didn’t have an abundance of options either.
Nathan placed a gentle hand on the small of her back and turned the pair of them away from the docks and back toward the keep. They would need to find lodging, and she didn’t like how light her purse was starting to feel. She certainly did not have enough for two separate rooms.
It didn’t take too long before they located an inn near the port, which seemed clean and decent enough for a couple of nights. As they entered the squat building, Nathan slipped the coin from her hand, and confidently strolled up toward counter. “Me wife and I need lodging fer the night. Dae ye have an available room?”
The lass behind the counter nodded, smiling far too large for a man who had just announced himself as married. He hadn’t even warned Freya before he did it, but she understood why he had. The title didn’t offend her. She had to remember her purpose. And she had to remind herself to not yank him away from the counter as he leaned over and grinned at the woman while he ordered their dinner to be sent up to the room.
When he finally turned back toward her with an iron key in hand, he was still grinning—and she certainly was not.
“Why the sour face, lass?”
Freya couldn’t answer. It wasn’t like she was actually his wife. It wasn’t like she had any right to tell him he was embarrassing her by flirting with another woman right in front of her. So she snatched the key from his hand, turned and headed up the stairs to their room.
She was sorely tempted to slam the door in his face.
“I can tell I have offended ye, but I cannae figure out why,” Nathan said.
It was foolish, but she couldn’t bring herself to answer.
“Ye can have the bed, and I’ll sleep on the floor then,” he offered.
“Dinnae be foolish. I dinnae mean tae make yer condition even worse on account of sleeping on a floor. It’s bad enough ye’ve had tae exhaust yerself,” she huffed softly as she moved to check the fire and make space for them to put their boots to dry. “I’m sure that flirting with the barmaid took a lot out of ye.”
Nathan chuckled, and she could have throttled him for it.
“Is that what ye’re on about?”
Freya didn’t answer but pulled the wool sleeves from her arms and laid them to warm and dry before she started to slip off her boots, not in the mood to talk to him at all.
But he had something else in mind as he grabbed her by the elbow and yanked her back towards him. It was the closest they had been to one another in days, and it stole her breath from her chest. She struggled, attempting to pull away from him because she felt foolish enough without him calling her out on it.
“Lass, I was only getting us a discount fer the room,” Nathan said with a smile too large for her liking.
“I wasnae aware that ye remembered yerself tae be so charming.” Freya pouted, attempting to pull away from him once more. The close proximity to him was getting her flustered, and she knew better.
There was a knock on the door and it was their dinner, so she had no choice but to drop the subject.
But, that night, Nathan lay sleeping in the bed while Freya sat beside him, unable to sleep a wink. All those nights in her house she had slept beside him as it had been too cold for her to sleep in her chair. But now that he wasn’t constantly sleeping day and night, she couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that she was lying next to him—tall and strong.
The room was still plenty warm, but she didn’t dare undress lest he start to think the wrong thing about her. Did it even matter? She noticed that he was warm and clammy as well. Her brow furrowed, turning up the lamp so that she could see the pained look on his face just a touch better. She held the back of her hand against his forehead. How long had he had a fever? Could she check him over as she had before?
