Page 18 of Laird of Steel
She caught her lip under her teeth and placed the cut stems in the basket.
It might not be her affair. But the truth was she liked Gellir. Maybe she couldn’t have him as a husband. But she remembered how decent and honorable he’d been, even as a young lad. He’d looked after her. Maybe it was right that she look after him.
She couldn’t let him marry so carelessly. With so little forethought.
Her own parents had made that mistake. One reckless roll in the straw had sealed their fate. They’d wedded in a rush when her mother’s belly had grown too large to conceal. But theirs had never been a happy marriage. Her ma had driven her da away and then drunk herself to death.
Merraid couldn’t let that happen to Gellir.
Gellir needed a wife who appreciated his good qualities. Who loved and admired his gallantry. His devotion. His generosity.
“So who’s the first prospect?” Swannoc asked Ede. “Did ye hear?”
“Lady Forveleth,” Ede said.
Swannoc’s brows shot up. “The daughter o’ Laird Aengus?”
“Aye.”
Merraid tensed her jaw.
Lady Forveleth was young and attractive. She had lovely brown hair. Fair skin. Big brown eyes. But she was as vapid as a cow.
Surely Gellir would prefer someone with whom he could have meaningful conversation.
Would he be fooled by her looks? Would he be blinded by her beauty? Was he so eager to be wed that he’d overlook her shortcomings?
Merraid furrowed her brow.
As Gellir’s friend, she couldn’t let him make such a mistake. She couldn’t let him be baited into a loveless marriage by a pretty face. She had to warn him.
“Is this enough?” Ede asked abruptly.
Merraid’s eyes widened. She hadn’t paid heed. The basket was overflowing with herbs. “Och! Aye.”
When she stood up, Tom the kitchen lad was loping through the garden toward her. “Are ye finished? The cook is losin’ patience.”
“Aye,” she said, handing him the basket, “here.”
“And Merraid,” he added over his shoulder as he hurried away with the basket, “Lady Feiyan said ye’re to bring bath linens to the solar.”
“Fine,” she said, handing Swannoc her shears. “Ye two see what ye can find in the way o’ berries and boughs to deck the tables.”
The lasses scrambled down the garden path. Merraid dusted the dirt from her palms and headed toward the keep.
Ordinarily, Lady Feiyan bathed in the firth. She said the cool sea water was healing and invigorating. Merraid had grown accustomed to dips in the firth as well. But in spring, the water was icy cold. So the lady indulged in warm tub baths in her solar at least twice a sennight. No doubt she wanted to be freshly scrubbed for this evening’s feast.
Merraid gathered a stack of linens and three vials of scented oil from the storeroom. Then she rushed upstairs to the lady’s solar.
Backing through the solar door, she called out, “Which would ye prefer today, m’lady? Lavender? Rose? Or—”
As she turned toward the tub, the steam rising off the hot water swirled into an obscuring mist. But it wasn’t enough to obscure the figure standing by the tub in linen undergarments. Who was definitelynotLady Feiyan.
Chapter 3
Gellir expected Will at the door. The burly servant had already made a dozen trips to the solar to bring up buckets of water.
But when he heard Merraid’s voice, he turned. She stopped in her tracks. Her eyes went as round as her mouth. The stack of linens teetered, shifting in her arms. Despite her best juggling efforts, they tumbled to the floor. The sound of shattering glass made him grimace. A pungent floral scent permeated the air.
