“Why’re ye cowering against the wall? Do ye not know what kind of man ah am? Ah won’t beat a woman for disobeying. Never once hit my wife or my children. Why do ye think ah’d start with ye?” His voice was softer and held no hint of malice.
Mazey looked up at him, the acute fear ebbed away. She looked him straight in the eyes. They weren’t the dark brown eyes of her husband. Something glimmered that caught her attention and made her want to grab hold of him. The light that glowed looked like something she saw when she was young.
Her mother brushed her hair, down slowly to her waist. She untangled her hair while they talked about the day. Today her mother was pale and tired. Ever since her father died on a raid, her pallor increased. “Now sweet girl, tell me about yer day.”
Mazey prattled on about the boy who put a frog on her head and the flowers she gathered in the meadow. Her mother coughed once and stopped brushing. “Maither, ye only brushed twenty and five strokes and ye promised me fifty!”
Her mother laughed aloud and stroked her hair again. Mazey picked up the story right where she left off. She glanced back at the sweet woman and saw the smile still on her face. Safety and warmth wrapped around her like a blanket and she saw a sparkle in her mother’s eyes.
Mazey had a habit of staring off into space when she was daydreaming. Apparently Baile asked her a question.
“Ah’m sorry.” She ventured—the best response for any situation.
“Sorry for what lass?” He sighed, probably already aware she hadn’t been listening to whatever he said.
“For disobeying ye.”
“Ah asked ye if ye were hungry.”
Her stomach rumbled in response.
Bailed laughed a good hearty laugh. “Well, that answers my question.”
She nodded and folded her arms across her stomach.
Baile put his hand between her shoulder blades and guided her towards the kitchens. “Let’s get ye some food.”
She attempted to slow her racing heart. She was safe. He would not hurt her. No matter how many times she told herself these things, the fear continued to seep through her body. It felt as if she were falling into an icy lake and the freezing dread pierced every part of her skin. Food might help with the nausea. The fear would ease up. It always did.
Chapter 2
Balloch promptly returned with everything she owned. Her belongings were meager. He retrieved her winter clothes and chest her mother left her. Everything else in the house belonged to her husband. She waited with Lara next to the gate and watched as Balloch unloaded her things and servants hauled them inside. Lara kept her arm around Mazey. Hume would know for sure she left him, and she knew deep down he wouldn’t allow it. She was doomed to be with that man forever and there was nothing anyone else could do about it.
She followed Lara into the keep. They gave her permanent quarters in the servant wing near Mae’s room. “Do ye need anything else for now?” Lara asked in a soft voice.
“Nay, Lara, ye’ve helped me so much already. I feel as if ah owe ye something, but ah don’t know what ah would even offer ye.”
“Ye don’t owe me anything. Ah’m glad to help.”
Mazey was about to go into her room, but paused. “Lara?”
“Aye?”
“What am ah supposed to be doing in the keep? Everyone here has a job or position. Ah don’t want to be useless.” She looked down at the floor. It was not her place to ask for work.
“Baile will have something for ye soon. He told me he was finding something for ye to do. Just be patient. Ye don’t owe us anything. We care for our kin.”
Mazey closed the door to her room and fell onto the bed. She wasn’t tired, but she didn’t want to bother anyone, so she would stay in her room until supper. They set the chest from her mother at the base of her bed. She got up and scurried over. Inside were many things her mother collected over the years. She wanted Mazey to have them for her children. She took a cursory glance of the inventory before she found what she was looking for. Inside a fabric bag she found a small white dress. It appeared to be no bigger than the smaller portion of her arm and not much wider. She couldn’t imagine any bairn that small. The door creaked open, and she threw the dress back in the chest with haste and jumped up. She didn’t know who would walk in without knocking but her heart was already racing.
Baile smiled at her sheepishly. “Ah didn’t knock. Ah’m so sorry.”
He stepped outside the door and shut it, so Mazey sat back down on the edge of the bed, but jumped back up when she heard a rap on the door.
“Enter,” she squeaked out.
Baile stuck his head through the door and smiled. She tried to smile back, but it was halfhearted. Even frightened, she could appreciate the humor and kindness he showed.
“Ah wanted to let ye know ah thought of something ye could do around the keep that would be useful, and also something ye might enjoy.” He stared right at her with his piercing gaze.
