“From now on,” Baird said, nodding toward Davina, “ye’ll stay with me wife when she leaves the keep. Wherever she goes within the castle grounds, ye go.”
Davina blinked. “What?”
Baird held her gaze, trying to soften the bluntness of his tone and failing. “Ye heard me.”
“That isnae necessary,” she insisted. “I’ve been in the kitchens, the stores, the bailey?—”
“Aye, and all without proper protection.”
“I was safe,” she argued.
“Yethinkye were,” he snapped, harsher than intended. “But ye’re fergetting me braither was just murdered in this very castle.”
Her lips parted, with surprise flickering across her face.
He took a breath, leveling his voice. “I’ll nae take yer word fer whether it’s necessary. Nae now, when I’ve just seen what the Sinclairs are willing tae dae tae weaken us.”
Her brows knit. “What did they dae?”
“It’s clan business,” he said firmly. “I’ll handle it.”
Davina’s expression softened for a moment. He could see disappointment, hurt, or just simple concern, he couldn’t tell right.
“Baird…”
But he had already stepped past her.
“Escort her wherever she goes,” he said over his shoulder to the guards. “Nay exceptions.”
“Yes, me laird,” they replied.
Baird didn’t wait for Davina’s protest. He strode inside, feeling in each step the weight of responsibility and the knowledge that danger was far closer than anyone wanted to believe. But as he reached the stairwell, he paused, because behind him he heard her voice, quiet and confused, talking tae Ailis.
“He won’t even tell me what happened…”
Something in his chest pulled tight. He shoved it down and kept walking.
Duty first.Alwaysduty.
Davina stood rooted to the spot long after Baird disappeared into the keep. The two guards he’d assigned to her lingered discreetly several paces back, pretending they weren’t listening, but of course they were. Ailis remained at her side.
Ailis spoke. “He kens what he’s daeing, me lady. The laird always daes.”
Davina let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “I ken he daes. Truly, I dae.” Her fingers curled around the fabric of her skirt. “I only wish he would share things with me.”
Ailis gave her a small, sympathetic smile. “He will in time. He’s a guarded man, our laird. Always has been.”
Davina glanced toward the keep again. “I’m his wife. Should that nae count fer something?”
“It will,” Ailis said softly. “But the walls he built were set long before ye ever came. Give it time, me lady.”
Davina nodded, though uncertainty still curled within her. She forced a breath and steadied herself. “Let’s walk.”
“Where tae?” Ailis inquired.
Davina turned toward the narrow stone archway at the far end of the bailey. “The garden. Ye mentioned it yesterday, didnae ye? Ye said it had been some time since anyone tended it.”
Ailis hesitated, as though weighing whether this was a good idea. “Aye… it’s overgrown, me lady.Trulyovergrown.”
