“Ah see ye picked the purple flowers? Those are my favorite.” Baile sat on the edge of the bed and twirled a stem between his fingers.
Siusan giggled. “Ah know. That’s why we picked them. And Maze let me pick as many as ah wanted. We picked them all day.”
Baile laughed. “Did ye leave any flowers in the meadow or did ye bring them all inside? It seems ye have a garden in yer room. Did ye thank Mazey for helping ye?”
Siusan tried to turn around and thank Mazey, but Mazey couldn’t let go of her hair. “Thank ye, Maze.”
“Would ye join us for supper?” Mazey couldn’t see Baile’s face, but surely he wouldn’t want her at his table.
“Oh ah shouldn’t. Ah should eat with the servants and let ye eat in peace.”
“Nonsense,” Baile told her. “Ye’ll dine with us. Ah like to take supper after everyone else has finished that way ah get time with Siusan, without distraction.”
Siusan satin between Mazey and Baile and bounced in her seat while she waited for her food. Baile watched her and spoke in the quiet voice he reserved only for his daughter. Mazey fidgeted with her hands in her lap, trying to look anywhere but at Baile. She didn’t know what to say when she was around him, or what to do with her hands. What do I usually do with my hands?
“Would ye like a glass of whiskey, lass?” Baile asked her.
Nausea bubbled up in her stomach at the suggestion and her hand flew to her mouth. “Nay, ah’m all right. Just some bread for me.”
Baile laughed. “Ah remember that face. Moire used to make that face when ah offered her venison. Dunno why she was averse to it, but couldn’t stomach it the whole time she was with child. Also didn’t like the smellier fish.”
At the mention of smelly fish, Mazey grew lightheaded. She could almost smell the stench.
“Are ye all right? Ye’ve gone pale.” Baile stood up and came over to kneel next to her.
She waved a hand dismissively. “Aye, ah just thought about the sour smells and now ah feel all nauseated.”
Baile chuckled and moved back to his seat. “Ah understand. Ah’ll make sure not to mention anything offensive.”
Siusan bounced up and down on the chair between them, full of energy and eager for food. “Ah want sweets.”
Both Baile and Mazey looked at her with narrowed eyes. She baulked at the attention and rephrased. “Ah want sweets, please.”
Mazey looked over at Baile and grinned. “She did say please.”
Baile laughed. “Ye’re just as bad as ah am in giving her whatever she wants. She’ll have ye wrapped around her finger before long. Siusan, ye can have a sweet if the kitchen made any. Ye have to eat yer supper first though.”
Siusan stopped bouncing and looked down at her hands. Two people from the kitchen brought in plates of food and they all ate in silence. The room itself was devoid of the usual distractions associated with the dining hall. The silence felt uncomfortable to Mazey.
Baile spoke to Mazey over Siusan’s head. “Ah would like to move yer quarters to the room next to Siusan so ye can be available to her whenever she needs ye. That way if ah am meeting with another clan or ah’m working on things she can ask ye first for whatever she needs. Would that be all right with ye?”
Why would he ask her permission? He was well within his rights to do with her as he pleased—moving her quarters or throwing her out of the keep. “Aye.” She responded in a small voice.
She thought he would let her be now, but he seemed to want to continue the conversation. “If the quarters aren’t to yer liking just let me know and ah’ll have them adjusted however ye wish.”
“Ah’m sure they are fine, my laird.” She tried to put a tone of formality in her voice, to discourage him from feeling the need to speak to her anymore, but it didn’t help.
“Ye need not be so formal, Mazey. Ah’ll have ye know, those who watch my little Siusan are directly under my responsibility and care. Ah consider ye to be my family now, and ah’ll not have ye uncomfortable or wanting for anything. Now ye let me know if something isn’t right. Ah’ll take care.”
Mazey took a bite of the root vegetable on her plate. No one treated her so kindly in her life. “Thank ye for yer kindness. Ah don’t feel as though ah deserve it, but ah am grateful.”
Baile said nothing else for the rest of the meal until they got up to leave. “Ah’ll be in when it is time for her to go to bed. Ah like to kiss her goodnight.”
A warm feeling passed through Mazey’s heart. Baile was a good father. How sweet it would have been to have a father who liked to kiss her goodnight when she was a bairn. She took Siusan’s hand and led her to her room.
Mazey finished brushingSiusan’s hair and put the brush down. “Time for bed sweet girl.”
Siusan made a fuss. “Ah don’t want to go to bed yet.”
