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“Aye, but that’s the choice ye made,” he said.

His voice was flat, uncaring, and Hilda was just about ready to explode with anger. Furious tremors rippled through her body, and her cheeks turned crimson. Her fists were clenched into tight balls, and tears began to form in her eyes. She was about to rebuke him in a strong tirade. Her tongue was ready to lash him, but at the last moment, she stopped herself, took a breath, and remembered why she was here.

“I apologize for speaking out of turn. I dinnae mean any offense,” she forced herself to say.

“I accept yer apology, but it still doesnae change the fact that I dinnae work with women.”

“But why?” she asked.

For a moment, emotion shone through those cold eyes, and she could actually believe there was a tender heart inside.

“It’s just the way I dae business,” he replied.

That wasn’t good enough for Hilda, and she thought she showed great self-control to not draw her sword then and there to prove that she was more than capable of going on this quest with him. Swallowing her pride, she tried to approach the problem from a different angle.

“I know that ye hae yer ways, but perhaps ye could make an exception for me this time. I already told ye that it was my ma who died, but that’s nae the whole story. An arrow from their men might hae killed her, but it was because of me that she was out there in the first place. We’d haed a fight, and I haed stormed off. She came chasing after me. It could hae easily been me shot with the arrow if I haed been a slower rider, but instead, it was her. She died because she haed wanted tae talk tae me. If it haed nae been for me, then she would nae hae been there. I heard her scream, and I ran tae her, but I was tae late. By the time I haed arrived, she was already covered in blood. I haed tae hold her, and I didnae even get tae sae goodbye because she was already dead.”

Emotions welled up inside her, and she was unable to prevent the tears from flowing ever more readily. For a moment, she was ashamed to show such vulnerable emotion in front of this man, for she didn’t want to be like a typical woman. However, if there was a chance that a kind heart resided in that expansive chest, then she wanted to reach it.

Maxwell listened to her story quietly and remained motionless as he did so. He stopped cleaning his blade. A thoughtful look came upon his face, and for a moment, she thought she saw genuine sorrow in his eyes, but perhaps that was just her seeing a reflection of her own feelings. She waited with bated breath for his response. So much had gone so wrong for her in recent days that all she wanted was for something to go right.

“Fine, lass. Ye hae yer wish. Ye can come along if ye really want, and I’ll help ye,” he said.

Hilda was overjoyed, although she hid the excitement upon her face because she didn’t want to make Maxwell think she needed him as much as she did.

“Thank ye, Maxwell. Will ye return tae camp by evening? Ye can feast with us, and we can plan what we’re gaeing tae dae next.”

“Aye, I’ll be there,” he said, and then returned to his sword.

It seemed as though that was the only thing that mattered to him—that and gold, anyway. Not that Hilda minded. As long as he was willing to help them, that was all that mattered. Now she had the opportunity to help as well and make up for the sins she had committed. It wouldn’t be enough to bring her mother back, but she hoped that it would go some way to soothing her father’s ire. She didn’t know what she’d do if Varrik spent the rest of his life being angry with her.