As soon as Luag saw Katherine tacking up Golden Foot in the stable, memory kicked in, so vivid it was like yesterday instead of most of a year hence. He got Steam’s tack and went about preparing his own horse for the ride to Aberdeen while the memory played in his mind like one of those TV shows.

Shortly after Leif and Jessica’s wedding, they had all been in this tavern. Leif had been up to some fun.

"Luag," said Leif with a mischievous smile on his face, "show Katherine how tae get on Golden Foot."

With a knowing look at Leif, Luag drained his tankard of ale and got up to leave the inn, not even looking to see if Katherine would follow. "The things we dae for the love o’ oor friends," he said casually, but on the word ‘friends,’ he stared Leif down until the man laughed.

Luag smirked at Katherine when he found her standing outside the stable with her arms crossed, waiting for him to come and protect her on her way into the stable, of all places.

Katherine had made quite a name for herself in town as the one person who could match Luag in a battle of wits, and Luag wasn't going to waste this opportunity to get some revenge on her for that.

As loudly as he reasonably could, he called her out for her cowardice of horses. "Ye canna take the heat, and sae ye are staying out o’ the kitchen. Wise, that is.”

Her eyes grew intense with anger. “I merely wait for the help I was promised, is all.”

He puffed up his chest to emphasize he was her help, lifting his chin in a proud way that made the onlookers laugh.

She moved her chin from side to side and crossed her arms, playing the impatient master waiting for her servant to comply.

He couldn’t allow her to think of him that way. “Are ye certain ye dinna want tae go in and tell Leif ye would rather na learn tae ride? Being a lass and all, there is na shame."

Seeing a small crowd gather, a pleasing red hue came to Katherine's cheeks.

Luag felt the rush of victory.

However, she recovered enough to riposte. "’Tis ye Leif put tae the task o’ seeing that I could ride, na I. Sae any shame at the incompletion o’ the task will be on ye, is it na sae?"

This froze him in his tracks, for she was right. He wasn't going to admit so to her, though.

But Aiden filled in for him. "She has the right o’ it, Luag. Ye had best complete the tasks set for ye by yer laird, or risk his wrath."

Leif never reacted with wrath. Even though he had only recently inherited the responsibilities of lairdship at the young age of twenty-three, he was like a loving father to his people, far more likely to show disappointment when you didn’t do your duty, and so everyone laughed at this.

Katherine laughed the loudest, and she stood up straighter now, even crossing her arms and raising her chin in direct challenge.

He had made this into a battle of wills between them. She would resist learning to ride and put all the blame on him!

Luag looked over at the lass, admiring the ease with which she now threw Golden Foot’s saddle over him, holding his reins to the side as if she'd been around horses her whole life.

As he passed by on his way to the tack room, he gave her his best apologetic look. "Katherine, ye were right tae ask that promise o’ me. I had na idea just how wrong I was tae take lightly yer discomfort with the ways o’ my time. 'Tis I who need tae ask yer forgiveness."

That pleasing redness came to her face again, and no doubt she was remembering how he'd taken his revenge on her for that victory there in the town.

Luag got up on Golden Foot himself and handed her up behind him, ignoring the feel of her front pressing against his back, gripping her legs around his, and the thrill that went up his spine at the feeling of her arms around his waist.

"Saddle up Steam for me," he said to Gil's younger son.

Leading the other horse behind them, he went off down the trail toward Aberdeen half an hour before stopping to give Katherine instruction in private, where no audience would give her the satisfaction of holding his obligation to teach her over his head. No, here it would just be her embarrassment and his superior skill. Just the way he liked it.

And she knew his intention, because her grip around his waist got tighter with every passing mile.

With great joy in what he was about to experience, he quickly dismounted and stepped away from Golden Foot.

"Verra well. Yer foremaist lesson will be dismounting on yer own. Ye need tae be able tae dae this with nary any men handing ye doon, ye ken, as the safety o’ yer life demands it. What is yer foremaist idea about how tae proceed?" Knowing she had absolutely no idea what to do, he stayed there imitating a calm wait for her answer, drumming his fingers on his crossed arm and smiling at her with mock patience and friendliness.

She made several attempts at an answer, but each time she thought better of what she'd been about to say. Instead, she sat the horse quietly for a good quarter hour, refusing to ask for help.

Giving Golden Foot credit, he behaved remarkably well during this time, only eating the weeds he could reach without taking a step.

When Luag saw that the horse had run out of weeds to eat, he patted Golden Foot's back, cooing, "There’s a good lad. How ye can stand for the likes o’ this lass I will never ken, but a good job ye are doing."

He led the horse a few steps away, where there was a large clump of grass. Only for the happiness of the horse did he do this, mind. It was no skin off his nose if Katherine was surprised and fell off his back. She was a thorn in his side. Had been from day one, and he would like nothing more than for her to learn a lesson the hard way.

No, he moved the horse for the horse's good.

Katherine was so stubborn, she sat on that horse for an hour, patiently allowing Luag to keep moving it to new clumps of grass rather than ask to be shown how to get down off the horse's back.

But Katherine had drunk several tankards of ale in the tavern.

The first telltale sign was the ever-so-pleasing red tone that came into her milky white face.

The second was a very brief grimace, before she covered it with her usual mask of self-control and contentment.

And third was the cunning that showed on her face briefly while she thought of a way to ask for what she wanted without seeming to do so —a skill of hers that he begrudgingly admired, so good was she.

"The grass is thicker over there across the water,” she said from atop the horse, “and unlike yer boots, my shoes canna take being wet." As if she were doing him a favor, she reached out her hand for him to help her down as he usually would any lass who asked it of him.

As if he wouldn't even realize what she was up to.

But he wasn't having it. "Sae ye wish tae get doon, then?"

She huffed. "Ye ken I dae."

"Well then?"

"Well then what?"

"Well then, ask me nicely tae show ye."

She gritted her teeth.

He chuckled.

Growling, she relented. "Will ye please show me how tae get doon off this horse."

It was a statement rather than a question, but he would take it.

Luag felt red coloring his own cheeks at how cruel he'd been to her compared to how kind she'd been to him in her time.

Katherine saw it and rode Golden Foot over.

He searched for a way to change the subject as he got on Steam.

But with genuine kindness in her face, she told him, "I forgive ye, Luag. Thank ye for teaching me tae ride. I mean it."

He didn’t want her to look away, so he said the first thing that came to his mind. “I did ye a favor that day, ye ken.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Aye? Pray tell.”

“Aye,” he said with his best mock-superior face. “The best way tae dae some aught difficult is as fast as ye can.”