Not just any figure.
Struan.
He turned on his heel, walking briskly away down the length of the room.
“Struan!” she called, but he didn’t appear to hear her.
She saw his guards waiting at the bottom of the room, none of them appearing to pay much attention to him.
She stood there, frowning, and watched the four of them hurry away.
Why was he standing so close to the door?
Did he hear what we said?
It didn’t matter. It was too late for that. Putting Struan’s odd behavior out of her mind, Una concentrated on finding her friend.
Kyla was not in the feasting room. In the end, Una tracked her down in the hallways outside. She was curled up on a low, wide stone windowsill, her flushed forehead resting on the cool glass of the windowpane.
“Feeling better?” Una asked, approaching gingerly.
Kyla glanced up at her and offered a faint smile. “Aye, I feel better. I didn’t want to vomit where all the food was, ye see.”
“Very kind of ye.” Una settled herself gingerly on the edge of the windowsill. “Ye have been off lately. Ill, I’d say. Why not visit a healer?”
Kyla sniffed. “I have.”
“And?”
“Well, I can already tell ye what makes me so nauseous. It’s the smell of roasting meat.”
Una flinched, frowning. “Roasting meat?”
“Aye. The stuff every Keep is packed full of. The main ingredient in just about every meal. I hate the smell, and even imagining the taste makes me want to vomit. I eat vegetables and fruit now. And porridge.”
Una was conscious of a pang of worry. Leaning forward, she took Kyla’s hand.
“That… That sounds serious. What did the healer say?”
Kyla glanced at her, and for an instant, there was surprise in her eyes.
“Ye really cannot guess?”
Una frowned. “Should I guess?”
The other woman chuckled, shaking her head. “Una, I’m going to have a baby.”
It took a moment or two for the reality of those words to settle in. Una leaned back, baffled.
“A… A baby?”
“Aye,” Kyla laughed. “I’m pregnant. It’s early days, and I’m hoping I won’t vomit like this all the way through. The healer thinks not.”
Una gave an incredulous laugh, reaching out to take her friend’s hand. “I can’t believe it. So soon!”
“Aye, I thought I had a few years more of marriage before a baby came,” Kyla laughed, but there was an undercurrent of nerves in her voice.
“Does Thomas know?”
