Page 112 of Laird of Steel
By then, Lady Carenza would be wed to her lover. Hew would congratulate himself for having rescued another maiden in distress. Maybe Feiyan would assemble another round of marriageable noblewomen for Gellir’s consideration.
Not that he was in a rush to resume courting.
He was sick of romance.
That so much sacrifice and heartache could come from a loveless alliance made him less than eager to swim in those waters again.
He expelled the last of his hope on a sigh of surrender.
“What are we goin’ to do?” Merraid ventured.
He gave her a rueful smile.“We’renot going to do anything.”
As much mischief as the maidservant had caused, none of this was her fault. Hell, she’d even tried to stop Hew with the combat tactics she’d learned from Feiyan. In skirts. And a shackle. She’d acted like a friend. He believed she truly meant to see him happy.
“We’ve got to do somethin’, she insisted. “Ye can’t let your bride just…run off.”
“I don’t have a choice.”
“Well,” she said, biting the corner of her lip. “Actually, ye do.”
He arched a dubious brow. “Do I?”
She worried her bottom lip under her teeth. “Ye promise ye won’t be angry?”
He frowned. “About what?”
“Ye have to promise.”
What was she up to? “You know I can’t promise that.”
“Well then, at least promise ye won’t go chargin’ off to kill your cousin?”
“Hew? I might beat the holy hell out of him, but I won’t kill him. What’s this about?”
“There may be a way…”
She lowered her eyes to the ground, lifted her skirts, and moved her boot aside. Under it was a key.
“Is that…?”
“The key to the shackles.”
“How did you…?”
“I kicked it out of his belt.”
For one instant, he felt a surge of admiration for the crafty lass. Then the truth hit him. “That was an hour ago.”
“Ye were terribly angry.”
He felt steam rising in his ears. She’d had the key all this time and hadn’t said a word. If she thought he was angrythen…
She added, “I was afraid ye’d do somethin’ reckless. Somethin’ ye wouldn’t be able to undo.”
He managed to bite back the oath simmering on the tip of his tongue. But it took all his willpower to keep his ire from boiling over. To be reasonable.
Merraid had done what she thought best under the circumstances.
