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“If I’m not a lady to your liking, then perhaps you’d like to find another to wed. I’ll collect my things and be on my way immediately.”
“Nay. The earl and your father have made an alliance with me and you’ll not be going anywhere,” said the man. His eyes fell to her waist and his face froze. “Where did you get that jeweled dagger?” He took two steps toward her and reached out for it, but she covered the hilt of it with her hand and stepped back.
“It’s mine,” she answered. “I got it . . . from a friend.”
“That’s a lie,” he grunted. “That dagger used to be my wife’s.”
“I don’t know who you mean and I assure you the blade is mine.”
“Lady Catherine was my wife. She died six months ago.”
“Oh. I’m sorry to hear of her passing, High Sheriff. But once again, this couldn’t be her dagger, because it’s mine.”
“It was stolen from her years ago. I never thought I’d see it again.”
“I could use a cup of warm, mulled spiced cider and so could my cousin,” said Maira, trying to take attention away from her dagger. “We would like to warm up at the fire.” Maira took Morag by the arm and led her to the great hall.
“Maira, ye walked away before we were dismissed,” whispered Morag as they entered the great hall and headed over to the fire.
“I don’t care.” Maira reached over her shoulder and sheathed her sword as she walked. “I told you, I don’t want to marry the man so I am not going to listen to a word he says.”
“Nay, put that down,” came the High Sheriff’s bellow.
Maira turned around to see the woman and the toddler standing by the High Sheriff. The little boy had something in his hand and was bringing it to his mouth.
“You’ll not put the rushes in your mouth again.” The High Sheriff reached out and slapped the boy’s hand and then spanked him. The little boy wailed loudly, which only earned him another spanking from the lord of the castle.
“Wait here, Morag,” said Maira, hurrying across the great hall and stopping right in front of them. “Do not hurt that boy again,” she told Sir Gregory.
The look of surprise on his face told her he was appalled by her action. “You will not tell me how to treat my son,” snapped the High Sheriff.
“Your son?” Maira asked, surprised to hear this. A man like him didn’t deserve children, and especially not a little boy as cute as this one. “No one told me I was to be a stepmother. I would like to get to know the boy.” While Maira didn’t plan on marrying the man, if she pretended like she was going to, she might be able to protect the child.
“It’s all right,” she told the boy, getting down on her knees and holding him to her chest. She rubbed his back as he cried into her wet clothes.
“Get up,” commanded Sir Gregory. “You are making a spectacle of yourself. Nursemaid, take the boy above stairs and put him to bed without any dinner.”
“Aye, High Sheriff,” said the woman, holding out her arms for the boy. Maira didn’t want to let the child go. Something inside her made her want to protect him although she had no ties to him at all. But then she saw the fear in the nursemaid’s eyes. While Maira didn’t want the boy to be punished, neither did she want the servant to suffer for her interference. She released the boy and got to her feet. With a slight nod of her head she told the woman to take him.
“You’ll not interfere with the discipline of my son again.” Sir Gregory took her by the arm tightly and headed toward the fire in the great hall.
“I don’t feel as if the boy deserved a slap and a spanking just for putting the rushes in his mouth.”
“I don’t care what you think. I will not let a stranger interfere with how I raise my son.”
“Stranger?” she asked, feeling her blood boil. “If we’re to be married, then that would make the boy my stepson.”
“Perhaps so, but that doesn’t change a thing. I’ll not have a boy who cannot obey my orders.”
“I can’t sit by and watch a defenseless child be hurt by the hand of a full grown man.”
His eyes bore fire and she knew she’d angered him even more. “Page, escort Ladies Maira and Morag to their chamber,” called out the man.
“I thought it wasn’t yet prepared,” she answered snidely.
“I will not be questioned again. Now, you’ll go to your chamber and no food will be sent tonight. Tomorrow, perhaps, you’ll see things differently and learn your place as my betrothed.”
Tomorrow, Maira thought, she would be long gone from here if she could help it.
