Page 7 of Scot of Deception
Upon closer inspection, she noticed that her cloak had not been torn, but rather cut, along with her sleeve and the skin under all those layers. The bleeding had long since stopped, but the blood had dried off all over her clothes and Kathleen couldn’t stop herself from cursing again. It was far from ladylike, especially in front of another person, but she couldn’t show up to Castle Stalker like that. She was hardly presentable!
Only moments later and as Kathleen was still inspecting the wound, a small, wet cloth landed in her lap. Across from her, Blaine stared at her for a moment, before he resumed his task, sharpening his blade without a single word.
Kathleen said nothing as well, as she grabbed the cloth and pressed it to the small wound, dabbing up the blood. She did give him a grateful smile, though, small and shy.
She didn’t know if he noticed.
For a long while, silence stretched between them. Kathleen busied herself with the cloth, trying to get as much of the blood off her clothes as she could before finally giving up. A wet cloth would do nothing to help with the stain and even if she managed to remove the blood, the rip would still be there.
In the end, she simply held out the rag for Blaine to take, but he shook his head.
“Dinnae make me stand,” he said. “I’m an old man.”
“Hardly old,” said Kathleen, laughing, as she found the mere notion ridiculous. Her father was old; Blaine was simplyolder.
“Older than ye,” said Blaine.
That much was true, at least. She realized just how different their lives had to be. They were in such different stages, after all—he, a man wrought and tested in battle, with all the responsibilities that came with being, if not the head of hishousehold, then a senior member; and she, a young woman who knew little of the world outside the curtain walls of the castle.
It occurred to her then that, even though she had been thinking of Blaine as someone much like her cousins, that stage of his life was already far behind him.
“Dae ye have a wife?” she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
Blaine barked out a surprised laugh, his eyes widening ever so slightly. “Quite forward o’ ye, dinnae ye think?”
Heat flooded Kathleen’s face, from the base of her neck to the tips of her ears. For a few moments, all she could do was stare at him in horror, her embarrassment too great for anything else.
It had been an innocent question. Kathleen had never even imagined Blaine would take it as anything else and now she didn’t know what to think. Was that where his mind strayed? Could it be that he had taken her innocent question as permission to take more liberties with her?
“That’s… that isnae what I meant at all!” Kathleen said, her protest coming out as a shriek rather than the dignified tone she was aiming for. “I was only curious! I never meant… I would never… how dare ye assume a lady like meself would ever suggest such a thing? I hope ye’re nae deluded about me…me intentions!”
For all her protest, Blaine only laughed, shaking his head. “I dinnae have a wife,” he said, still shaking with mirth. “I travel too often fer me duties tae have a wife. Me long absences would only be cruel tae her. An’ dinnae fash. Ye shouldnae fear I’ll dae anythin’ o’ the sort tae ye.”
Those last words reassured Kathleen a little, though she didn’t put her guard down entirely. She still eyed Blaine a little warily and kept her distance from him, fearing what he would do if she got too close.
Fearing whatshewould do if he got too close.
Instead of dwelling on it, she scrambled for something to say to ease the tension, asking the first thing that popped in her mind. “What are yer duties then, that keep ye away from home fer so long?”
Blaine frowned to himself, idly scratching his chin. He seemed to be in deep thought for several moments, which they spent staring at each other in silence, until he finally spoke.
“I’m afraid I cannae share that with ye,” he said, much to Kathleen’s disappointment. After all that time he had taken to think, she had expected to hear something much more exciting than this. “It is confidential. I’m workin’ close tae some very important members o’ the clan.”
The secrecy itself seemed exciting to Kathleen, at least. It gave Blaine an even more mysterious air, which added to the mystery of his scars and his quiet demeanor. He didn’t seem to like sharing things about himself. Everything Kathleen had learned about him so far had been through specific, targeted questions she had asked him, and he never shared more than he absolutely had to.
She couldn’t decide whether this was something she liked about him. On the one hand, it gave him an almost irresistible allure. Kathleen itched to learn more about him, to figure out what she could about that strange man. On the other, it frightened her somewhat. She was traveling with a man about whom she knew very little. And the little he had offered, had hardly been enough to allow her to form a rounded opinion about him.
Kathleen wanted to believe that he was good. After all, he had saved her from the Campbell soldiers and she owed him her life. But she was still a woman travelling alone.
He hasnae tried anythin’ so far. If anythin’, he’s been the perfect gentleman.
Surely, he wouldn’t risk his or Clan Farquharson’s reputation by acting less than honorably towards her.
Once again, silence fell over the clearing as Kathleen didn’t know what else to ask him and Blaine didn’t seem to be in any hurry to speak. The only sounds were those of the flames in the pit, the birdsong, and the rhythmic scrape of the sharpening stone against Blaine’s blade, all of them working together to lull Kathleen into a half-sleep.
She didn’t know how much time had passed when she felt a nudge against her shoulder. At first, she couldn’t help but jump away from it, startled; but then she saw it was only Blaine, trying to wake her.
“We should continue,” he said, frowning as he gazed into the distance. “It’s gettin’ late. We dinnae wish tae be out here when it’s dark.”
