God help them both for they were bound to pay for this night. But he would make sure he paid the lion’s share of it. No one would ever hurt the lady for what she had given him.
He would make sure of it.
Catarina rose just after dawn.
Everyone was still abed and she didn’t notice that Nora wasn’t in her pallet until she grabbed her bucket and headed for the stream for fresh water.
Whistling the lullaby her mother had taught her, she found Ewan and Nora lying entwined underneath a plaid. Though they were mostly covered, it was still apparent they were both naked.
And it didn’t take a genius to figure out why the two of them were lying naked in the woods underneath a plaid.
She smiled, then tiptoed silently backwards so as not to disturb them.
Against all of Nora’s protestations, the lady was enamored of the man.
Catarina felt a momentary stab of jealousy. How she wished she could find a man of her own to love.
Still, she wouldn’t let that destroy the happiness she felt for Nora. Love was a beautiful thing and everyone deserved to find their perfect mate.
She believed in love at first sight. More than that, Cat believed in pre-destiny. There was someone out there for everyone, one day she would find a love of her own.
But that would wait.
Right now Ewan and Nora needed her help.
“Oh not that look.”
She turned to see Viktor sitting up in his pallet, looking at her.
“What look is that?” she asked.
“You’ve got mischief on your mind, cherie. Just please tell me it doesn’t involve me this time.”
She laughed. “Nay, Viktor, you are safe.”
He let out a relieved breath. “Thanks be for that small favor. So who is the fish about to be snared by your hook?”
“‘Tis no worry of yours.”
Viktor groaned. “You’re planning on putting the two of them together, aren’t you?”
“And if I were?”
“I think Ewan would rather we have poisoned him than drugged him.”
“Viktor! He loves the lady.”
“Cat,” he said, his voice gruff. “I know you’ve got your mother in you. She let her heart lead her astray and what did it get her? Other than you, all she’s gotten for her wayward love is a broken heart. To this day, she waits for your father’s notice. Is that what you’d have for them?”
“My father had no choice on whom he married, but he loved my mother, you know that. Had he been anyone else, he would have married her.”
“And Nora is promised to another. Did you know that? She is as bound to him as your father was?—”
“Nay. Ewan won’t allow her to marry another. I know it.”
He shook his head. “Don’t play with their lives, Cat. I beg you. I’m doing this only because I was told to, but you know I never agreed with it. Leave them in peace.”
Cat understood his warning. He was right. In spite of her parents’ love, they had been forced to live their lives apart. But it wasn’t her starry eyes that had put Ewan and Nora together. It was their own actions.
