Page 31 of Captured By the Highland Devil
She shook her head, and sighed, reluctantly letting go of the issue. “Well, I suppose ye should ken I… I think I have made some progress with me husband earlier.”
A remarkable change showed on her mother’s face. Happily, Daisy asked. “How so?”
“He kissed me.”
Her mother’s face went alight with happiness. Clasping Paige’s hands, Daisy gasped in delight, “But that’s wonderful, me daughter. It means?—”
“Nothin’,” Paige shook her head, then slumped into a seat. “It means nothin’, Maither. Well, nothin’ important. He doesnae care for me beyond the fact that he was ordered by the King to marry me and nae harm me.”
Her mother’s face fell. “Do ye nae feel anythin’ good for Ruben?”
Let out a breath, Paige said, “I—I cannae tell ye, Maither because I daenae ken what I should be feelin’ for him.”
That evening, Ruben headed to the castle’s smithy, he quickly crossed the grassy distance between the outhouses. The smithy was separate from the other buildings as any rogue spark could tinder a wildfire in the peat houses.
Bypassing the blacksmith’s cottage, a simple house with a chicken coop and pasture for a milk cow, he came to the smithy. Made with dark brick, the smithy had a wide furnace and chimney. Around the smithy, there was no yard, only dirt - another failsafe to keep fire from sparking.
He heard the hard, rhythmic pound of a hammer on iron. As Ruben rounded the corner, he saw the smith, Eli, as he stood at his anvil, shaping a horseshoe.
“Eli,” Ruben called out, holding up a hand. “I need yer help.”
The smith straightened and ran a forearm across his forehead. “Of course, me laird,” Eli nodded, his gray eyes sharp. “What do ye need?”
“A pair of daggers fit for a woman,” Ruben said. “It’s for me wife.”
Eli smoothed a hand over his shortly cropped brown hair. “With iron, copper or brass, me laird?”
“Use yer best judgment,” Ruben said. Even though Eli was a young smith, only with the castle for four years, he was a dedicated, hard worker and Ruben trusted him implicitly.
“I’ll get it done, me laird,” Eli replied, reaching for his apron. “Ye’ll have it a sennight.”
“Thank ye,” Ruben said.
“And me felicitations, me laird,” Eli said. “I’ve heard Lady Paige is a sweet soul.”
“She is,” Ruben said, sighing to himself. “Besides being stubborn, I ken she is too trustin’ and I fear that might be her undoing.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
“That is why I need those daggers.”
Eli frowned, “What do ye mean, me laird?”
Pivoting, Ruben said, “I need her armed in case she is on her own and trusts the wrong person.”
“Aye, me laird.”
After taking the horseshoe into smithy, Eli returned with two blocks of metal in hand. “I’ve a bit of steel, me Laird. Nae enough for a man’s blade, but for a pair of lady’s daggers, ye cannae get finer than good steel.”
“I think so too,” Ruben said. “Her father sheltered her so much she is a bit blind to the many deceptions people can play on others. She has compassion, aye but I think she is gullible too. Hence, the daggers.”
Eli nodded then sat the metals on the stone. “Pardon me if this is too bold, me laird, but has her faither shielded her so much she does nae know about the truth of the war?”
Ruben’s brows dropped. “Aye. How did ye suspect that?”
“Simply from how he stated it,” Eli said, “Ye ken, I was a part of that war, me laird. If ye want me to speak with her to give her another perspective, I will be happy to do so.”
“Thank ye, but nae. That is a discussion for me and the lady to have alone.” Ruben said, rubbing his face. “Get on those daggers for me, will ye?”
