Niamh’s eyes sparkled in the next second, and she latched onto Lily’s hands, shocking her. “Will ye teach me? My brothers never let me hold a sword growin’ up. I have always wanted to learn to fight and defend myself like ye.”
“I will be more than delighted to teach you,” Lily answered just before Fletcher cleared his throat by their side, making both of them face him.
“As the lady of the keep, ye shall have other duties, milady,” Fletcher said to Niamh, not sparing Lily a glance. “There is an order of things, milady. Ye shallnae endanger yerself by learnin’ to wield a sword.”
“Surely you must know, sir, that a woman wielding a sword is not dangerous. If anything, she can defend herself from unforeseen enemies and not be easily killed. That is a great responsibility.”
“It is the duty of a man to protect and a woman and care for her,” Fletcher countered.
“But—”
“I shall learn, Fletcher,” Niamh interrupted Lily and Fletcher’s growing argument. “It is not to be discussed.”
Lily pressed her lips together, and she did not miss Fletcher’s glare as he pretended to cough again.
Niamh rose to her feet, then took Lily’s hands, pulling her to her feet. “Come… I shall teach ye to dance.”
Niamh seemed excited as she led Lily towards the crowd of dancers circling the fire. Lily spotted Killian and some of his men drinking in a corner, and he laughed hard at something one of them had said.
Lily admired him a little, loving how the corners of his eyes crinkled as his lips broadened with a smile.
“Put one foot in front of the other, and take it slowly,” Niamh said, showing Lily the steps of the traditional Highland dance that had to do with foot movements in patterns.
Lily missed a step on her first try. “I am not good at dancing,” she said amidst her laugh. “I never learned.”
“Take my hand and trust me.”
She placed her hand in Niamh’s and began following her every move. Soon, Lily enjoyed every move, and she held hands with Niamh as they danced around with the rest of the crowd.
When the dance was over, Lily’s smile reached the sides of her ears. “Thank you,” she said when Niamh released her hand. “And I am sorry… for how I treated you when I first arrived at the keep,” she stuttered out.
Niamh only laughed, her riotous sound rippling through the air around them and making Lily smile some more.
“Already forgiven and forgotten,” she reassured. “I understand ye were scared and tense when ye first got here… But now, ye have realized we arenae terrible people. We arenae the enemy.”
Lily only nodded just before she caught Killian approaching them out of the corner of her eye. Seeing him instantly filled her with warmth.
Her pulse quickened, and Niamh definitely noticed the flush on her face because she asked, “Ye like him, dinnae ye?”
Lily scoffed and flushed harder. “What! No!” she denied hotly.
“Liar!” Niamh teased her with a laugh, just before Lily looked at Killian again and drew in a deep breath.
All right, yes, I do like Killian.
But she was never going to admit that out loud to anyone… especially Niamh, whom she knew would tease her.
The music picked up a faster beat again. Lily was about to join Niamh for another dance when Killian stopped beside them and took her hand.
“What are you doing?” Lily asked, her eyes widening in shock as her flush deepened and caused her skin to burn.
Killian drew her away from his sister, lifted her off the ground, and twirled her around in the air till she giggled out loud and tried to get him to put her down. Her hands stayed on his shoulders when he set her on the ground again. His hands did not leave her waist, and he drew her in and kept their pace.
Her ragged breaths took a lot of effort coming out of her lungs. Soon, Lily forgot all about her surroundings and focused on him. Killian made her feel alive in many ways. She burned for him now with much more intensity than the first time they had met.
Killian had to know this, right?
Kissing him last night had not been part of the plan. But he had taunted her, and she had failed to resist. Standing this close to him now, Lily wondered about his pleasure.
