Page 19 of Highlander's Wild Lass
He fingered the gentle lip of the glass, unable to get the image of Celestia leaning into him when they kissed. He downed the rest of the whisky and made his way to his bed chambers.
5
Celestia sat in her bed unable to sleep, the feeling of Anthony’s lips lingered, and the thought of marriage consumed her. She was sitting against her headboard, illuminated only by a few beeswax candles, staring at the blank wall in front of her.
“Marry the chief?” she mumbled to herself. “Marry Anthony...”
She tried to imagine what life would look like and mostly images of them fighting, never being able to agree on a single thing, came to mind. Her parents’ marriage had been one of mutual love and respect, and there was no love between her and Anthony.
She leaned over to the bedside table, cupping her hands around the candles to blow them out. In the dark, her thoughts were louder, echoing the words of Anthony’s proposal.
The rooster woke her up from a dead sleep. As she woke, she felt her nightdress clinging uncomfortably to her body, slick with sweat. She threw off the covers, thinking it was from sleeping with closed windows and a roaring fire, but her cheeks felt hot to the touch, as did her forehand.
The bland porridge for breakfast did nothing to help the way she felt, her body would go warm and then cold, sweating one minute and then shivering as if she were standing in the middle of a snowstorm.
She wrapped her plaid around her body like a shawl and fastened it with a small brooch to keep it in place as she worked. Outside, she was taking the laundry from the line.
Maybe it was because she felt ill, but she was feeling guilty for how rude she had been to Anthony since that morning he showed up on her doorstep. He was, after all, her chief and deserved kindness and respect for that.
He had been such a pretentious child growing up, and even as a young girl she had been endlessly annoyed by him. She vaguely remembered the time when he stopped his teasing and started complimenting her instead. Instead of fighting with her, he started giving her wildflowers whenever she would visit the castle with her father.
She blinked, focusing on the clothesline, pulling one of Hugo’s linen shirts from it. Her fingers ached as she folded and placed it in the woven basket at her feet. She must be coming down with the flu, and hopefully nothing worse than that.
Celestia pulled more clothes down, folding them despite the aching muscles in her arms, the chills and heat alternating through her body. She wanted nothing more than to crawl back into bed and sleep.
But who would do her chores?
Who would seed the garden?
And she needed to stay awake so she could have her daily meeting with her father, they were going to go over the finances today, how to collect a payment, and schedule whisky deliveries.
“Mornin’ to ye, lass.”
Celestia placed the last piece of clothing in the basket and turned toward the voice that she was becoming more familiar with by the day.
“What are ye doin’ here?” she said, turning to see Anthony leaning against the fence that traced the entire perimeter of her family’s property.
Celestia grabbed up the laundry basket and tucked it under her arm.
“I came by to see if ye wanted to go ridin’.”
“With ye?”
Anthony nodded, the grin on his face faltering a bit. “Aye, with me.”
“Not today,” she said, as she came closer to the back door, closer to where Anthony stood. He had a bonnet on and a simple wool coat over a linen shirt.
He was staring at her, eyes squinting a bit. “Och, lass, ye dinnae look well. Are ye feelin’ okay?” Anthony asked, his brows furrowing together.
“I ken ye aren’t a charmin’ sort of man, but to tell a woman she doesnae look well…”
Anthony grumbled. “Ye ken what I mean, Celestia. Ye are all wrapped up like yer standin’ at the top of a mountain in winter and yer flushed like ye have been slavin’ over a hot fire all day.”
“I appreciate yer colorful assessment, but I’m fine,” Celestia told him. She readjusted the basket. “I cannae go ridin’ with ye today, there’s lots to do around here.”
Anthony nodded. “Do ye want help?”
“I would have ye finish the stables since ye were the one that offered to clean them, but Chester and Hugo have been keepin’ up with it,” she said, shaking her head. A blur had sprung around the edge of her vision.
