So much more.
“Ye’re an idiot, Ferra,” she grumbled to herself, wishing her sisters were here to give her advice on her current situation. What would Garia say, or even Breta? They would likely tell her to fight for what she wanted, the future she never thought she needed.
Did her husband wish for the same? Or was she nothing more than the lass that had saved his life, to forever be in her debt for what she had given back to him?
Perhaps that was all he wished for. Ferra knew that wasn’t all she wished for. She wanted to belong to him as his wife and not just...well, just a healer, as he was seeing her. All her life, Ferra wished to be seen as a great healer and not just a laird’s daughter.
Now she wanted to be seen as a laird’s wife.
9
“Careful now. There are a few holes up ahead.”
Kaiden smirked as he navigated down the dirt path. “Lass, I have been walking this path since I was a young lad. I think I know it.”
Ferra snorted, her hand on his arm, just in case, as they moved past the holes in the path. “And I’ve been walking it for nearly the last month. One of these days, ye will listen tae me.”
Kaiden hid his smile. He had gotten used to Ferra’s demeanor whenever he chose to argue with her, and now he looked forward to her thoughts.
Bloody hell...he looked forward to a great deal of things with Ferra. Whenever she wasn’t around, Kaiden noticed her absence. She had become an extension of him. She was the reason he was walking slowly through the village and not still laying in the bed in his chamber.
She was the reason he was starting to feel more like himself.
“Where are we going?” he asked, wondering what Ferra would do if he slipped his arm around her waist.
“I’ve heard of an ailing clansman,” she stated, patting the satchel draped over her shoulder. “I want tae offer mah services tae him.”
Kaiden’s heart swelled at the thought of his wife, a woman who had never planned to be married to him, tending to his clan.
She really did have a heart of gold. “Och, lass, ye dinnae have tae.”
Ferra looked up at him, worry creasing her brow. “Should I not? ’Tis mah clan too, now.”
“Aye,” he stated. “It is, lass.”
She gave him a little nod and continued on to the hut, causing Kaiden to walk slowly behind her. More and more, it was harder to ignore his wife, including the way that her body swayed when she walked or how her eyes lit up with every person they passed. It seemed that Erik’s observations had been correct about what Ferra had done in the short time she was with their clan.
His people respected her.
She knocked politely on the door, and it opened nearly immediately, a weathered face peering out the crack. “Aye?”
“Ian McGregor?” Ferra asked, a smile on her face.
“Aye. Wot do ye want, lass?”
“She is yer lady,” Kaiden growled, not realizing that it was the ornery old Scot they were visiting. The aged warrior had enough venom in him to scare even the biggest Scot. He had been one of the greats in his time, and Kaiden had looked up to him in his youth. “Show some respect, old man.”
“Wot he means tae say,” Ferra quickly interjected, shooting a glare at Kaiden, “is that I am visiting all of mah new clansmen, and ye were next on mah list.”
Kaiden crossed his arms over his chest as the warrior eyed his wife, his gaze narrowed. “And I see that ye have risen from the dead, McGregor. Found ye a wife, eh?”
The older man cackled with laughter before Kaiden could respond, and opened the door wider. “Come in. I got nothing tae offer ye.”
Ferra and Kaiden exchanged glances before she walked in. Kaiden followed her, the hut reeking of burned fires and unwashed bodies. He watched as Ferra set her satchel on the worn table, extracting a small pot along with some linen and a flask. “From the laird,” she offered to Ian. “He sends his regards.”
Ian snatched the flask from her and took a hefty swallow, smacking his lips as he did so. “Scots whiskey, the best in the land.”
“Aye,” Kaiden offered as Ferra pushed her small lot toward the warrior. “If ye would come tae the keep every once in a while, ye could enjoy more of it.”
