“This is becoming quite ridiculous, Blay. I’ve asked you time and time again to entertain your brother when I am as busy as this.”
Blay let the rock she’d been smoothing her thumb over clatter amongst the rest as her mother came up behind her. Cool, gentle rivets of water flowed over her feet, making her wish that she had chosen to swim instead of gaze that day.
“And I also do not like that you would rather sit around the creek than do your duties in the keep. You are completely aware that your father will lose his head at the slightest mishap—and what is going on right now, and has been going on for the past sennights? Unacceptable, my love. Completely unacceptable. And you know this.”
Her mother sat on the ground with a hmph, picking up the same stone she’d been holding and making the same swirling motion with her thumb.
“Also,” her mother said with a small smile, “our dear lad Leith has been asking after you.”
Blay’s eyes flipped to her mothers. “Nay, mother!”
“Oh, yes. You would know this if you had not been shirking your duties and putting Alan into poor Sada’s hands.”
Sada was the cook of the castle, but with her old age, her daughter had taken over most of the preparations; which gave her more time to coddle Alan—while making it perfectly acceptable for Blay to give him to the woman.
Blay loved her brother. She really did—he was the sweetest little boy with a toothless smile that made her heart leap. It was just…sometimes, she needed a break—a very nice, long break by the creek, where nothing could bother her. She hated to be bothered. Bad things seemed to happen when she was—like right now, with news of Leith.
Her mother reached over, sliding an arm around Blay’s shoulders. As if she were reading Blay’s mind, her mother said, “Sometimes I worry about you, my love. You’re one and twenty, and you’ve shown interest in only wasting your days by the creek.”
“That is no’ something to worry about,” Blay said uneasily. She moved away from her mother, getting a better look at the woman’s face. Saeran Shaw was a renowned beauty—her eyes, which she had passed onto Blay, were crystal blue and fringed with thick, ashy lashes. Her face, even after all of the work as the laird’s wife, had been showing signs of wear, though she did not appear as aged as she should, compared to the other clanswomen.
Her golden locks were threaded with grey. It was terrifying and beautiful at the same time. It gave her a certain look, a powerful image that even Blay had a hard time defying.
But, Blay was her mother’s daughter. And Saeran had a personality as strong as iron and as fiery as hell—which was another thing Blay had been given, though it was more subdued; passive, almost. ‘Lying in wait like a sleeping dragon,’ her father would proudly say.
“Do you know how fortunate we are that Leith wishes to court you?” Saeran said, her eyes twinkling with happiness, hope. “All these years, ever since you turned ten and six, I feared that you would never again find a husband—and now…now he is waiting for you at the castle. Come, my love!” Her mother brought them both to their feet, her body practically vibrating with excitement.
“Come!” Her tiny mother began striding in the direction of the castle. The light blue dress she wore swayed over the grass, kicking up fluff from weeds in her alacrity. “Walk faster, dear! You’re taking quite some time.”
Blay sighed, giving the creek one last look. The ground she’d been sitting on was covered with bright, healthy grass, pebbles and weeds creating a relaxing shore. The waters sang in delicate notes as they ran over the smooth stones and partially-submerged plants.
The talk her mother had attempted to give her was a subtle warning that she was not going to be coming here again—that is, if Blay actually listened to her mother for once. With a small smile, she gathered her skirts in her hands, and followed after the elderly woman.
When the castle was within hearing distance, the smile sank from her face.
Leith.
He was the man her parents were going to force her to wed, if she did not willingly accept his proposal. The excitement in her mother told her that this was more than just a little visit.
Nay, he was going to propose to her.
And Blay did not want to be married, under any circumstances, to anyone.
Ever. Again.