Page 64 of The Laird’s Wrong Wife

Paisley wiped her cheek. “I have heard Mairi speak of courses. She never said there would be so much blood.”

Ceana nodded. “Well, most girls begin to bleed as their bodies grow. It’s just that blood looks worse on white linen.”

Fear flashed in Paisley’s wide eyes. “Does it mean I am a woman now? Because I daenae want to be a woman yet.”

Ceana sat beside her. “Ye are still twelve. Ye still have lessons, games, and years before anyone would call ye grown. Yer first courses willnae change that.”

Paisley looked down at her bare feet. “Will it stop?”

“It should stop after a few days. The first courses may be irregular, so ye must tell me if anythin’ frightens ye.”

A quiet knock sounded at the door. Ceana rose and lifted the latch.

Mairi stood outside with warm water and folded linen. Oscar waited near the window across from the door, holding himself as Ceana would imagine he did before an armed threat. It was the same way he had held himself in the tent where they had first met.

Their gazes met. She remembered waking alone, the sheet cold where he should have been. He had withdrawn before dawn. At least he kept watch within calling distance.

Ceana stepped aside to let Mairi in and then closed the door.

Mairi placed the water near the fireplace, drew the curtains partway around the bed, and folded the stained sheet inward.

“I shall see to this meself,” she said. “If I require help, I ken who I can call. Daenae worry.”

“Will Tommy ken?” Paisley asked.

“Nay one will tell him.” Mairi wrapped the sheet into a compact bundle. “I shall put clean linen in the bottom of yer chest. If ye’re embarrassed, I promise that only Lady MacKane and I will touch it.”

She handed Ceana the clean linen and looked at Paisley as calmly as she would have probably looked at a torn hem before carrying the stained bundle away.

Ceana sat beside the basin and opened the clean linen across her lap. She folded a strip into several layers and showed Paisley how to place it where it would catch the blood.

“Change it when it grows damp or begins to trouble ye. Ye can also wrap the used cloths in linen for washing and keep a clean one nearby.”

Paisley touched the folded edge. “Must ye help me put it on?”

“Only if ye wish it. Ye may wash and change in private. I can wait beyond the curtain, or stay here with me back turned.”

“Stay.”

Ceana turned toward the fireplace as Paisley carried the basin behind the bed curtains. The girl let out a small hiss, and Ceana resisted the urge to go to her.

“Is the ache worse?” she asked.

“A little.”

Ceana nodded, her mind briefly flashing to her first period when she had been thirteen years old. Daphne had gotten hers earlier, and Ceana remembered listening to their mother advise her on steps to take.

She couldn’t imagine what the poor girl would have done if she wasn’t here. Relying solely on Oscar sounded like a nightmare.

“Warmth against yer lower belly may ease that ache ye feel,” she advised, straining her ears. “Also, rest if ye need to. If the pain grows severe or the blood frightens ye again, ye come to Mairi or me at once.”

Paisley emerged in a clean shift, holding the empty basin. Ceana took it and set it aside. The girl’s attention returned to the new folded sheet on the bed.

“If a maid had found it, she might have told everyone.” Her voice dropped. “Tommy would have heard. What if someone laughs?”

“Mairi will have it washed without naming its owner. If anyone mocks ye, I will deal with them in person.”

Paisley nodded, looking around the room. “Will it happen again on the sheets?”