Liam grunted, turning his attention back to the fork. He scrubbed his thumbnail over the rust, knocking loose the red dust. It fell to the table, collecting in a small pile below the silver. Even if they had missed this, they hadn’t had any reports of bandits through the area.
Salt air ruins silver.
“I’d like to see the rest of yer findings,” Liam said, rising to his feet. “If there is anyone we didnae authorize to be on these lands, I want them found and driven out.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Ye’ll ask him, aye?” Agnes said as she and Katherine walked toward the great hall. Her tone was so serious that she sounded as though she were guiding the two of them into battle. “And tell him ye’ll be with me the entire time?
“Of course,” Katherine confirmed, her hand tightening on the girl’s smaller one. “I’d like to visit the sea as well. I think that the air would do both of us good.”
Katherine hadn’t been to the sea in years. She was around Agnes’s age the last time she’d laid eyes on it. Now that she was so close, she couldn’t help the nagging desire to go and smell the salt air and dip her toes in the water.
“I’ve never been allowed to see it,” Agnes admitted, lowering her voice. She looked up at Katherine seriously. “Father has never offered to take me.”
Katherine’s brow furrowed, trying to understand why. She’d seen that he was protective of Agnes, strict in a way that she didn’t fully understand even if she didn’t fault him for it. Not offering to take his child to the sea when it was only a few hours away on horseback felt as though it were a step too far.
Though perhaps she doesnae ken how to swim.
“He’s a busy man,” Katherine said as they stepped through the doors of the great hall, deciding this wasn’t an issue she should parse out with the girl. She scanned the people already there, her heart skipping a beat when she spotted Liam. It had been days since she’d seen him, and somehow that made his devastating handsomeness even more world-stopping. “Perhaps he’ll allow ye to go if he kens that there’s someone else there with ye.”
“Ye’re a good swimmer, aye?” Agnes asked, lowering her voice and slowing their pace as they approached the table. “Ye would be fine in the water?”
“I am,” Katherine confirmed. “And I could help someone that doesnae ken how to swim as well.”
“Make sure to tell him,” the girl instructed, low and conspiratorial. Her little mind was scheming, and it delighted Katherine to see it. She seemed her age, and Katherine felt as though it were a treat to experience her in such rare form. “Ye can tell him ye’re goin’ to teach me to swim.”
“Ye’ve thought this all out, have ye nae?” Katherine responded, glancing from Agnes to Liam. They were quickly approachinghim, and she could tell that he was already watching them with that unsettling, unreadable expression. “Makin’ this suggestion seem like it’s all me idea.”
“I have,” Agnes said, incredibly serious. Then, with the gravity of a commander issuing his final instruction, she said, “And itisyer idea.”
She withdrew her hand from Katherine. Then, with her shoulders straight and a serious look on her face, she took her seat. Her eyes met Katherine’s, clearly urging her to ask now. Breaking eye contact, she began to serve herself, her movements delicate.
With a short nod, Katherine settled in next to Liam. He didn’t look at her, his sharp gaze focused on the plates of food in front of them. It was almost as if he were completely ignoring her presence. She tried not to let his distance bother her, but she had hoped that he’d at least acknowledge her presence.
He must regret our kiss, then, if he cannae look at me…
She swallowed hard, shaking her head as she began to serve herself. When her plate was loaded, as casually as she could, she asked, “I trust that there werenae any issues while ye were out? The matter seemed quite pressin’.”
Liam went stiff beside her, almost like he’d expected her to keep quiet. Then, as if he were reading a particularly boring story aloud, he replied, “There were nay immediate threats to our lands.”
Katherine waited, hoping he’d say something else. He didn’t need to ask about her well-being or how she’d spent her days, but it would have been a nice gesture to inquire about Agnes’s lessons. Children are more observant than most give them credit for.
He needs to be encouraged. I daenae think he kens just how important little things like that are for children.
“That’s good to hear,” Katherine said, delicately picking up her fork. When she looked over at him once more, his eyes were fixed on the utensil, as if he were trying to puzzle out the secrets of the universe. Carefully, she adjusted her grip. “Agnes has been makin’ great progress with her letters. And she’s begun knittin’ her first pair of mittens.”
“Are ye ensurin’ she’s makin’ them big enough to accommodate her hands?” he said, irritatingly latching onto a logistical matter rather than praising her efforts as Katherine had intended. “She will have grown by the time winter arrives.”
“Of course,” Katherine said, glancing at Agnes, pride swelling in her chest. Her foresight was most definitely a result of Liam’s oversight, but that didn’t discount the girl’s efforts. “She’s makin’ them large enough that she should be able to wear them for several years to come.”
“Very good,” Liam grunted, finally seeming to realize that Katherine was encouraging him to praise the girl. He turned toward her, a hint of true pride in his eyes. It was one of the firsttimes that she’d seen it, and it warmed her heart. “I would like ye to show me yer work tonight.”
“Aye, Father,” Agnes said, the corners of her mouth twitching. She was struggling to keep herself humble, her carefully constructed mask wavered but held. “Perhaps I can make ye a pair of mittens as well.”
“That is thoughtful of ye,” he said, still not quite as enthusiastic as Katherine would have liked. She certainly wouldn’t correct him, though.
They’re learnin’. They’re doin’ it for one another.
