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This was nice. Jenny sighed deeply, melting into his heat. Had she really agreed to sleep with him last night? Was she crazy?

She must have fallen asleep when he’d gone, and he hadn’t woken her up when he’d returned.

This was a mistake. Yes, the man looked like Scottish Zeus—or whatever the equivalent of Zeus would be in Scotland. MacZeus? So of course, it was hard for a mortal woman to resist him.

But she had to. She needed to pretend like that conversation had never happened. Like his hands massaging her in the hot bath hadn’t almost made her come. Like she didn’t want those hands to massage her…everywhere.

Her lady parts started simmering again, especially given that her behind was comfortably tucked right into his crotch, and she could feel something big and hot pressing against her butt cheeks…

Enough. She needed to leave before he woke up. Slowly, she crawled out from under his arms and stood up next to the bed. He sighed a long, deep breath out and went back to sleep. She was cold without his embrace…and sort of lonely. But thankfully, she was still in her undertunic or whatever it was called. As quietly as she could, she put on her dress, her stockings and her shoes and left the room.

When she walked out of the main keep, the first rays of sun shone behind the curtain walls. She breathed in the fresh air that smelled like wet earth and morning dew. Coffee and a croissant…what wouldn’t she give for a cappuccino right now.

She missed her warm, soft bed. She missed wearing underwear. She missed shoes without pointy toes. She missed brushing her teeth with a good toothbrush, and she even missed the taste of a toothpaste. She hadn’t shaved the hair on her legs and under her armpits since she’d left her hotel in Glasgow. Soon, her graying roots would need a touch-up at her favorite hair salon. She missed modern toilets. The tiny closet in the castle with a chair and a hole that led all the way down into the sea wasn’t the most hygienic or convenient. And, oh dear God, she didn’t even want to think about when her period would come. How did women manage without tampons? And the pain…good grief. She might need to beg Bhatair for some herbal pain relief. All she wanted on those days was to lie in her bed curled into a ball and binge-watch soap operas.

And she missed her clinic. The kids…the morning ritual she and Amanda had of drinking a coffee together and chatting about complicated cases they wanted each other’s opinion on.

Medieval life was hard. Everything needed to be done by hand: grinding flour, baking bread, cleaning fish and poultry, cutting firewood. It seemed people in the village provided the castle and the village with produce, wood, and any work that was necessary. The church bell tolled every three hours, starting from Matins—which was, Jenny thought, around 6 a.m. —and finishing with Compline, which was after sunset, probably around 9 p.m.

But most importantly… Eight days until her appointment. She needed at least one day to get to Edinburgh and get on a flight and fly back.

Unconcerned about her struggles, birds chirped cheerfully from behind the walls. Seagulls squawked above. The sea behind the castle murmured. And then it was all drowned out by children’s joyful cries. The little crowd of them spilled out of the orphanage and ran around, swinging their wooden swords. Artur waved to her, and Jenny’s chest lightened. She hurried to the children.

“How is everyone?” she asked as they gathered in a circle around her.

“Good!” came a distorted chorus of voices.

She beamed. “Great! Let me see how your skin is.”

She examined them one by one. The sores were better. Not completely gone, but they looked drier, smaller, and the redness reduced. Of course, a modern-day antibiotic would be stronger, but the garlic was working.

“We’ll do another round,” she said. “Come on, everyone, let’s go and get your sores treated.”

As they went into the orphanage, she noticed the scent was earthy and clean. The kids slept two or three in one bed, so it was especially important to maintain good hygiene.

“Ah, Jenny,” said Mhairi as she lifted a blanket to make a bed. “The children look better, aye?”

Jenny picked up the rest of the antibiotic salve. “Yes, definitely on the right track.”

Mhairi frowned. “Forgive me? Track?”

“Um…” Jenny laughed uncomfortably as she sank to her knees and spread the salve over Artur’s sores with a spoon. “I mean, on the mend.”

She worked the salve into the children’s sores one by one, talking cheerfully to them and to Mhairi.

When she finished, Mhairi said, “I was going to take the children to gather raspberries. Would ye come with us, Jenny?”

Jenny nodded. The thought of scurvy in Dunyvaig village and the castle worried her, though she hadn’t seen any signs yet. She wondered if it was because people had a supply of fresh fruit and veggies in the summer. “Raspberries would be very good for them. I’d love to come, but the laird commanded the guards not to let me out.”

“Ah, ’tis all right. I’ll tell them ye’re with me. What nonsense, to keep ye within the walls.”

Hope bloomed in Jenny’s chest. If she could just leave these walls, she might be able to go to another part of the island, and maybe find a boat to take her to Achleith. Of course, if she escaped on Mhairi’s watch, the woman might get in trouble with Aulay. But she knew he would not be harsh with Seoras’s pregnant wife.

As they walked down the slope towards the gate, she looked over her shoulder at the keep. The tower was a dark, rectangular mass of rocks, as menacing against the blue sky as its commander. She may never see him again if she got away today. A sense of loss and sadness weighed heavily in her chest instead of relief. For a moment, she wished she could stay.

To her surprise, the guard let her pass. Maybe they feared Mhairi as much as Aulay. Or maybe the guards didn’t think that Jenny would dare to escape under Mhairi’s watch. But a moment later, she was walking down the steep road leading to the village of Dunyvaig.

There was a brook coming out of a collection of rocks. It pooled first in an oval and then kept flowing down the slope and into the sea. The oval pool was next to what looked like a waste pit with carcasses of rats and bones floating in the dirty brown water.