“Sire.”
We all turned to find Eaon standing there. He wore a solemn expression on his face. It was the first time I’d seen that.
Duncan said something too fast to his son for me to understand. Then again, the bits I’d heard didn’t sound English. They headed off to the side without a glance my way. I heard Eaon say, “We found her carriage—” before they were too far away to hear.
I turned to Cin, and he looked disappointed his father had been called away. I picked up the sword Duncan had set down and turned to Cin.
“Would you teach me to fight?” I asked.
“Yer a lass,” he said like that explained it all.
“And shouldn’t I know how to protect myself?”
He seemed to brighten and bobbed his head furiously. Then he got into a position with his legs spread some, bent his knee a little with his sword hand forward. “Ye should hold yer sword like this.” He raised it up like I’d seen in enough movies to recognize. And so it began.
After a time, he was done with teaching and ready for more fighting.
“En garde,” I said, only realizing after that that was more of a French term.
Cin paused with a grin. “You sound funny,” he said. I distracted him by charging forward. Then we were swiping swords at each other. Though he was far superior in skill to me, I held back from hard blows. It was actually quite fun until my foot caught the hem of my dress at the back, and I went down.
I lay there a second with my eyes closed as Cin asked about my well-being. As the saying went, the wind had been knocked out of me and I took a second to regain my breath.
When I opened my eyes, bright-blue ones were way too close, and my pulse raced.
“She’s fine,” Duncan announced, holding out a hand, which I took.
The spark created between us wasn’t as shocking as it had been the first time. Still, Duncan quickly let go. I hid my disappointment.
Cin asked his dad, “Can we play still?”
“It will have to wait. I must leave henceforth.”
Like any petulant child not getting their way, Cin poked out a lip and turned his back on his father. Duncan sighed before turning his attention to me. “I need ye to keep Cin inside, especially when the sun sets, until my return. I suspect ye know why?”
Though I didn’t really know the why of it, I asked, “And will I get answers?”
“It might be late when I return, but I will come to yer bedchamber.”
That sent a thrill through me. “You promise?”
“As long as ye keep him safe—and yerself.”
“I promise.”
Before he stalked off, he whispered, “Don’t disappear on me.” Then he was gone.
Something had changed in him. He wasn’t as brusque as he had been. A zing of excitement fluttered my belly that he was coming to my room tonight.
“Cin,” I said, and the boy turned with a hopeful expression. “Have you ever played hide-and-go-seek?”
When he shook his head, I explained how the game worked. “Now when you hear me say, ‘Ready or not, here I come,’ I’m coming for you. The only rule is you have to hide somewhere in the castle, not outside of it. Are you ready?” He nodded. “I’ll count to ten.” He giggled and took off.
Kids were resilient. Cin had mentioned my accent, but all that was forgotten for a game. “Ten,” I began and counted backward to one. “Ready or not, here I come,” I yelled and remembered why I hadn’t spoken.
Oh, well, I couldn’t be mute forever. Besides, Duncan knew, and he was fine with it. It was his judgment that ruled here. I ran into the castle with a huge smile on my face. I hadn’t played this game with another child before, only my mother. And though I was a mother figure to Cin, I was as eager for the game as he was.
My pace slowed as I checked room by room. There was an added benefit for choosing this game. I was seeing parts of the castle I hadn’t explored, like a vast library I stepped into, one I could get lost in given enough time. Bookshelves higher than ten feet were bursting with volumes a historian would die over. Another time, I thought to myself as I moved to the next room, calling out for Cin on the way.
Luckily, the servants didn’t pay me much mind unless I had to pass them in the halls. Saying Cin’s name didn’t give me away, not yet anyway.
The kitchen staff wasn’t happy when I burst into the room and ducked to look under prep tables. But they didn’t stop me.
Then I found the laundry room. That was different. No GE appliances here, just large buckets and women holding the hems of their dresses up as they danced around in them. So odd was the sight, I might have asked what they were doing if other women weren’t hanging the cleaned clothes on lines. A large door to the outside stood open, letting in fresh air. I turned back and left them to it.