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“Of course,” she replied. He walked inside and picked a book from a nearby shelf before coming to sit in front of her. She noticed how he maintained his distance but that his attention was certainly not on the book. It could simply have been because she was still staring at him.
“What are ye readin’?” she asked, not wishing to sit quietly. Keira had always been surrounded by the company back home, and she was used to being around people.
He raised the book towards her, “Commentary on Plato.”
“Ye are interested in Greek philosophy?” she asked.
“I am interested in whatever seems interesting to me at that particular moment. Ye see, I never had access to reading as a kid, and only now can I finally learn a few things here and there,” he replied to her with a smile, and it made sense to Keira. Josh had been with Christian in the gang the two of them had joined as children to survive. Christian came from a wealthy family, but she did not know if Josh was as privileged as he was.
“Who taught ye how to read?”
“Oh,” he said, his gaze suddenly turning hazy as if he was remembering the past. “Ye will be surprised to hear this. Christian did.”
“Truly?” Keira was not surprised. She had expected such an answer.
“Yes. When we first met and became friends at the gang, he was ten, and I was eight. I had been part of the gang for the last four years already, but he had been recently turned out of his house by his faither after he had found a mistress. Surviving on the streets of Edinburgh for a young kid was not easy, and he had been smart enough to ken that joining a gang was the best thing he could do. Hence, he had done that. We became close to each other rather quickly, and when one day he realized I could nae read, he taught me.”
“Ye both were very young,” Keira remarked, realizing that even Christian had never talked so much about himself in all the two weeks they had spent together.
“Very young,” he agreed, “but perhaps that was what cemented our brotherhood, and now I am his man at arms.”
“Ye two do seem like brothers truly,” she smiled at him. She had noticed the fraternal interactions between the two men.
“We are. Only in name, but perhaps that is better than blood brothers. I would lay down my life for him.”
“And he would do the same for ye,” Keira observed.
“In a heartbeat,” Josh nodded. “Christian might seem cold and distant, but the man kens how to love. He doesn’t love often, but when he does, it’s for life.”
That surprised Keira. She had sensed that Christian had feelings of affection for her, but she was certain that a man like him could not love. He was both feared and respected by his people, and his aura around them was entirely different from the way he was with her.
She had seen him turn into a true laird when she had once seen him in a council meeting. The clan masters feared him, but it was evident that no one was better at being a laird than he was. He had brought the MacPherson clan to a point where it was now one of the strongest clans in all of Scotland. They were almost as rich as her clan and the MacKie’s. It had all been possible because of Christian alone.
“Ye really think he kens how to love?” Keira asked Josh, unable to believe so.
“I ken he appears cold and brutal, a little rough around the edges, but I have known him since we were both lads. I have seen him live a hard life since he was very young, and I know how it has changed him. Although, despite every hardship that came his way, he never lost his ability to love. I ken he still loves truly and purely and cares for those he loves immensely,” Josh explained.
“Has he ever been in love?” Keira asked hesitantly.
Josh looked up at her, a curious smile playing on his lips. Keira wondered what he was thinking but stayed quiet, waiting for him to say something himself.
“Did he not tell that ye himself? Do ye two not have dinner together every day? Have ye nae asked him?” Josh asked, and Keira wished she could laugh at the question. Josh, out of all people, must know about Christian’s secretive nature and complete refusal to talk about himself.
“Do ye truly think he talks about himself with me?” she asked, not wishing to lie to Josh.
“He does nae?” Josh laughed. “What do ye two talk about then?”
“He only ever wishes to ken things about me, and whenever I ask him something about himself, he navigates the questions,” Keira told him honestly, “it is beginning to make me angrier with every passing day.”
“Well, that is not a surprise to me. Christian had never been one to talk about himself. He believes he is not interesting enough,” Josh replied, and Keira raised an eyebrow at him.
“That is the most absurd thing that I have ever heard,” she replied.
“Well, if there is someone in the entire castle who can make him open up, I believe that will be ye,” Josh said and Keira raised an eyebrow in surprise. She had not been expecting this.
“I doubt that. I told ye, he does nae talk about himself with me,” she said with a shrug.
“He will eventually. Right now, he is just allowing ye to adjust to the castle and feel at home. Ye have been through a lot already,” Josh assured her, and Keira did not know how she was supposed to feel about it.
