Gilla laughed and held her head to the side, examining Mazey. “Ah don’t care where ye slept to be honest. Baile is good and provides me a job. He’s also one of the kindest men ah’ve ever met and ah’ll never speak ill of him. He ought to have told ye that.”
Mazey flushed in embarrassment. “He did. But ah don’t want to sully his reputation.”
“Ah’m glad ye worry about such things. It’s good for him to be around people who care about him as much as he does.”
That put Mazey’s worry at ease and she stared off into waves.
“He likes ye, ye know.” Gilla said abruptly. “Just thought ah would speak plainly in case ye missed what ah was saying earlier.”
Her words startled Mazey. This woman knew no end to her blunt honesty, but she must be mistaken. “Ah dunno. Ah’m just a maid.”
Gilla laughed again. “If ye can’t see it, ye’re blind or worse. The way he looks at ye is how he used to look at Moire, rest her soul. Ye’d do well to remember.” Gilla got up and left to finish up the chores.
Baile and the other men arrived. They hauled a net with a variety of fish and things Mazey had never seen before.
“We got a good haul,” Gohrich said with a grin.
“Aye, a good haul for the day, but ah bet we can do better tomorrow. Ah have a good feeling about that little inlet just past the cliff.” The other guard that came along was unknown to Mazey, but she was too shy to ask his name.
“Mazey said earlier she would cook us the dinner. Ah’ll help her out, but ye’ll have to get out of our hair.” Baile announced to the men.
They pulled off their tops and headed towards the water. “We’ll be swimming till ye need us. Probably over near that inlet Dahrin was talking about.”
“Aye, but ah’ll not be seeking ye out. What do ye think ah am? Yer nanny? Nay, ye get yer arses back here on yer own or ye don’t get the food. Same as any other day.” Baile was smiling while he said this, so Mazey assumed he was teasing.
The men grumbled, but they too were smiling as if taking part in a game Mazey wasn’t privy to. Baile cleaned some fish and told her what they were. Some of them would be dried on nets. Some of them were so alien looking, she dare not touch them. Her favorite was a large long creature that seemed to grow out of its shell. “they call this a conch, but some men have other names for it if ye catch my drift.”
Mazey rolled her eyes and sighed. Of course they would have other names for it. The limited interactions she had with the other guardsmen told her most men were crude and insufferable. She had to admit, it was a strange animal.
“It’s good to eat. We can stew it up and serve it for supper tonight. Ye’ll want to cook it fresh. The flesh is sweet, salty and melts in yer mouth.”
“Well, do ye know how to cook it right? Ah don’t.” The sheer variety of the catch intimidated Mazey. Most of the fish she bought in the market, when she could afford it, were the same every time.
“Ah do, but ah’m not great at it, so ah’ll talk ye through it and ye can see if it turns out or not.”
He cleaned and cut the conch. She had a pot already on the fire and added the ingredients as Baile told her how to cook the meal. “Ye have to cook it like this.” He grabbed the handle of the pot and moved it back and forth so the food inside flipped and stirred. She tried to do that herself and almost spilled it out the side.
“It takes some practice.” He tried to help her, but it was hopeless. She ended up using a spoon to stir the food instead. She scooped up a bite and tasted it. It was light, creamy and refreshing.
“Is it any good?” Baile asked.
She scooped up another spoonful and held it out for him to try. Just before he took a bite, her hand shook, and a drop landed on her wrist.
“Mmmm…” he said with a smile savoring the flavors. He took her hand held it to his lips. While he watched her reaction, he licked the food off of her and then kissed the inside of her wrist.
A shudder tore through her and a warmth spread from her hand.
“Delicious,” he said in a low voice.
Even his voice was intoxicating. He stirred the food again and took the pot off the heat, ladling a scoop for each of them. They sat together around the fire staring out at the sea in contented silence.
“Ye’re pretty when ye are thinking about something. What is yer mind on now, lass?” Baile asked her, twirling his spoon in his fingers over and over.
Mazey wasn’t used to anyone asking her about what she was thinking. It always seemed to catch her off guard no matter how many times he asked it. “Just thinking about today and how much fun we all had together. Siusan was a joy and ah think she had more fun than ah’ve ever seen her have. Thank ye for bringing me along.”
Baile reached over and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. She dropped her gaze bashfully before she realized what she was doing. He was looking at her. Mazey saw it then. That look Gilla had pointed out. His lips pressed against hers. Then his tongue parted her lips, hesitantly. She sighed into the kiss. It was gentle and sweet and left her craving more.
He pulled her against him and ran his fingers through her hair. She breathed faster and her heart pound out a rhythm in her chest she wasn’t used to. She didn’t know her hands were on him until she had run them through his hair and then tucked them around his back. She pulled back from him, startled at her response. She didn’t mean to be so forward. She wasn’t the girl to get gushy over a kiss. She lost control of her senses as soon as his lips touched hers. Fear coursed through her. She couldn’t stand having her heart broken again. If he could make her feel this way with just one kiss—she shuddered to think what he could do with more.
