Page 58 of Her Highland Prophecy
She closed the door again and hurried through her morning ablutions. If there was one thing she had learned while living in the seventeenth century was how unnecessary many of the things were she used to do to prepare to go out.
Back in her time, she would have spent hours bathing, drying her hair and arranging it just so, putting on makeup and choosing the perfect outfit and shoes. She would dither in her large closet, flitting from one outfit to another indecisively until Grace came into her room to help her, and she would inevitably leave the person expecting her waiting until she was ready.
Here is was different. Getting dressed still took some time, but that was more because she was not used to getting the heavy garments on and off. She still wanted to look nice, but it took little effort. A brush through her short hair and some water splashed on her face and hands and she was ready to go.
Scarcely fifteen minutes after Gordain knocked on her door she was opening it again, ready to leave.
He took her hand and together they walked to the stables. The smell assaulted her nose as they approached. It was a familiar scent from her family’s stables. Taranis peeked over the edge of his stall and nickered loudly when they approached. She chuckled.
“Your horse certainly has personality,” she commented with a smirk.
“He likes ye,” Gordain responded with an impish smile. “I dinnae blame the poor beast. We are both under yer spell.”
She slapped him gently on the shoulder with the back of her hand as they both chuckled. Gordain brought him out and set about preparing him for the ride.
The dark oranges and purples were turning into a clear-blue sky as Gordain helped her mount the horse and then settle in the saddle. She was sitting sideways again, but it couldn’t be helped. A least she was able to stay close to him while they rode like that.
The air was still cool, but Diana knew from experience that as the day lengthened it would get warmer, making the light shawl she had around her shoulders unnecessary.
“Where are we going?” she asked when they were out of the Castle.
“Ye’ll see. It is someplace I go when I want the quiet.”
She nodded and settled against him more comfortably. She could feel him surrounding her and it brought her comfort after the last few days of separation.
They soon cleared the small cottages that surrounded the Castle and rode into the forest. Diana couldn’t stop herself from staring, wide-eyed, at everything around them. She had come to appreciate the feral beauty of Scotland while on vacation with her sister, but somehow, in the here and now it was completely different, somehow more savage and untamed but just as beautiful.
It was a complete study in contradictions. Lush trees and green forests dotted with lochs both large and small, so beautifully clean that the sky above was mirrored in them perfectly. On the other hand it was tall wind-beaten mountains where only the hardiest of plants dared to grow. Wide expanses that almost seemed barren at first glance but revealed those small hardy plants at closer inspection.
In short it was a beautiful, wild place and Diana was falling more and more in love with it the longer she stayed in the past. Even when she returned to the future, she could easily see herself settling there to live rather than one of the bustling cities she was accustomed to.
“It’s just after that copse there,” Gordain said, interrupting her thoughts as he pointed it out.
They had mostly been silent on the ride aside from some small comments. Diana didn’t mind. Gordain was one of those people with whom she didn’t feel the need to fill the silence constantly. Just being near him was enough.
They rounded the small clump of trees that Gordain had shown her before and she gasped.
It was absolutely breathtaking. Hidden behind the dense foliage of the trees was a small loch, perhaps a hundred feet across and perfectly round. A small waterfall on the one side made a small burbling sound, the small ripples from the water falling echoing for a few feet before the water fell into utter stillness. All around the bank was a combination of grassy spots and sandy shores, surrounded with large trees on all sides.
“It’s so beautiful,” she breathed, still in awe of her surroundings. It looked like something out of a painting and she could see why so many people in Scotland believed in fairies. It was the sort of place where one might expect magic to happen.
Gordain chuckled at her as he dismounted from his horse, unloading the basket he had brought with them.
“I hope ye are hungry,” he said.
“Starving,” she responded. “I didn’t eat much yesterday. Or the day before in all honesty.”
He smiled at her and guided her to sit on one of the grassy areas shaded by one of the large trees in the area. She breathed in the clean air.
“You’re right. It is very peaceful here,” she said.
“Aye. And it isnae too far from the Castle, so when I need to get away from everything I come here.”
“It’s nice.”
He pulled out a small jar of berry jam, a few bannocks and a sweet pie to nibble on as they enjoyed the quiet atmosphere. Diana scrutinized the items before turning to him with a wide smile.
“You have been paying attention to what I was doing these past few days,” she said, laughter in her voice. He almost wanted to blush but only shrugged. He had brought those specific things because they were all something that Diana herself had had a hand in while helping his sisters in the kitchen over the last few days.
