We lead the horses out of their stalls and into the open air. Major Kilkenny gestures for me to mount Mirren, and I can’t help but pout.
I am not afraid of heights. I amnotafraid of heights.
I’mterrifiedof heights.
Recalling the way Major Kilkenny had taught me to mount the mare the first time, I swing myself up into her saddle. My heart lodges in my throat as I settle atop her back. I breathe in through my nostrils and out through pursed lips.
Kilkenny rests his hand on my knee and tilts his head, regarding me. “All good?”
“Never better,” I grit out as a dull throb starts at the back of my head.
“No fear, right?”
I want to believe that he’s trying to be encouraging or to show a modicum of concern. “Right.” I rub the back of my head.
Major Kilkenny gets onto Ghendor with annoying ease. “We’re going to just take a lap around the grounds, stairs included. Mirren will follow along, but I need you to steer the reins like I showed you when we traveled to Barr na Cahar.”
I nod wordlessly.
Major Kilkenny clicks his tongue and nudges Ghendor’s sides with his heels. I follow suit. My stomach lurches as Mirren sets off at a walk alongside Ghendor.
Major Kilkenny studies me. “You’re not going to faint on me, are you, Garrick?”
“Not if I can help it, Kilkenny.” The words slip out before I can filter them. “I mean,MajorKilkenny.”
To my surprise, Kilkenny only smirks at me. It’s so brief that, had I blinked at that moment, I would’ve missed it. “Good,” he says, his face neutral once more.
We set off around the castle grounds, walking the winding pathways that overlook the cliffside down to the striking loch below. It’s breathtaking.Literally. Beneath me, Mirren is the picture of perfection. She’s as good-natured as Kilkenny has bragged. We keep a steady pace, even as the temperature begins to drop, and a gentle breeze sweeps across the bluffs, blowing through Mirren’s cream-colored mane and tugging curls from my braids. I lift my hand to push back the coils and the damaged skin around my forearm brand pulls. It’s not as painful anymore, but incredibly uncomfortable.
Kilkenny catches my wince. “Everything alright?”
“Yes.” There isn’t much point in complaining about something that cannot be changed. When I’m deep in my work on Carys’s dress, I’m able to ignore this newest bodily nuisance, just as well as I can ignore my frequent headaches.
By the time we return to the stables, I’m a lot more comfortable on horseback. I still have no clue what it has to do with my dressmaking position, but I suppose if ever I need to make another trip to Barr na Cahar, I can do so with greater ease.
“You can use some more practice,” Kilkenny says after I dismount.
My chest deflates along with my confidence.
A little muscle in his cheek tics. “But you at least stayed on the path this time and didn’t fall into the loch.”
My lips tug up in a small smile. “That’s something.”
He gestures somewhere over his shoulder and the stableboy appears out of nowhere. They exchange a few words too quickly for me to make out before the stableboy leads the horses away.
Kilkenny begins the trek back to the castle and I jog to catch up with him. His angular eyes narrow as he turns to me again, his forehead creased. “Do you have any experience with weapons?”
“Weapons? Like…?” I motion to his sword, and he nods. “No, not really. I went hunting with my father as a child, but I was never good.”
Kilkenny doesn’t speak again until we’re standing outside of my door. “Well…” His throat bobs as he swallows, and I catch another glimpse of the scar up the left side of his neck before I focus on his lips again. “Have a good day, Garrick,” he says.
He leaves before I can even respond.
CHAPTER 22
Carys
Early the next morning,my alternate guard, Ren, marches alongside me as I make my way to my mother’s bedchamber. He doesn’t speak much, and while he doesn’t resemble Tiernan, with his close-cropped hair that blends into his warm brown skin, and the fine wrinkles across his forehead, he’s equally stern. As we enter my mother’s room, the bloody apprentice girl—what’s her name? Bailey?—is sitting on the bed again.
