"We have to push it closed," Alpin whispered once they were both inside.
Saidh nodded and turned to press both hands to the large stone door, surprised when it took the lightest push to make it close. Large as it was she'd expected it would be a harder task. It must have some kind of weight and pulley system, she supposed.
"This way," Alpin said, turning to head up the dark, narrow corridor.
"I am surprised ye're willing to show me the passage," Saidh commented quietly as she followed him. "I thought ye did no' approve o' me fer yer laird's wife."
" 'S truth, I did no'," Alpin admitted in a wry little voice. "But I've change me mind."
"Ha'e ye?" she asked with interest. "Why? I'm still no much o' a lady. I curse and carry a sword and ha'e a filthy temper."
"Aye, but so does me laird," he said on a sigh, and then added, "But I think me laird loves ye."
Saidh stopped walking at this news and stared at the boy's back as he continued forward, the torch leaving him in silhouette. His words had knocked the wind from her. Greer? Love her?
The boy said he thought Greer loved her, Saidh's common sense pointed out. It wasn't as if Greer had confessed it to the lad or something and it was a certainty. Still . . . what if he did? For her husband to love her would be . . . well, she thought that would be just fine. Wonderful in fact. Because she suspected she was coming to love the big, stupid stubborn man herself. How could she not? He'd done nothing but fuss over her the last three days since she'd woken from her long sleep.
While she and Alpin occupied the bed, Greer had taken to sleeping on a pallet on the floor next to her to remain close. He was usually awake and gone by the time she woke in the morning, but always returned to share the nooning meal with them, and then again at sup. Afterward, Greer didn't retire below to drink with the men, but sat and played chess or nine-men's morris, or any number of other games to entertain them.
The first night, Saidh had been too tired to play and left it to him and Alpin while she dozed in the bed, listening to their quiet voices. The second day she'd managed to stay awake and play a game or two against him. Much to her amazement he'd won more games than her. He had a fine strategic mind. She'd also asked him questions about his time as a mercenary and he'd regaled her with tales of battle and life as a soldier until she'd begun to nod off. Then he'd urged her to lie down and had tucked the linens and furs around her, pressing a kiss to her forehead before settling into his furs on the floor next to her. Saidh had lain silently for a bit, then turned onto her side. She'd been just drifting off to sleep when she'd felt his hand clasp hers where it rested on the edge of the bed.
Last night the three of them had played games, laughed and chatted for hours before exhaustion had again made her settle in bed and snuggle down to sleep. He had again tucked the furs about her and settled onto his pallet. He'd also taken her hand again and Saidh had drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face.
"Besides," Alpin continued, unaware of how his comment had affected her. "I've been thinking."
Forcing herself to start forward again, Saidh murmured, "Oh? And what ha'e ye been thinking?"
"Well, me ma and da are both very proper. Ye'd ne'er catch me ma cussing or wearing braies under her gown," he assured her in a dry voice as he led her around a corner to the left. "As fer me da, he ne'er loses his temper or swears either. But . . ."
"But?" she prompted curiously.
"Well, they are me parents, so 'tis probably a sin fer me to say this, but they're no' good nobles."
Saidh remained silent, not sure what to say to encourage the boy to continue. Sharing a sickbed with the boy, she'd seen the scars on Alpin's back and knew someone had whipped him viciously and repeatedly. She was positive Greer would never do it, so could only think it must have been his parents.
"Me mother seems sweet. She simpers and keeps her eyes lowered. She is always proper in company. But she lies near every time she opens her mouth and she's definitely less than proper when she raises her skirts for me da's first."
Saidh stopped walking again, her jaw dropping in shock.
"As fer me da, I ha'e ne'er e'er heard a cuss slip from his lips, and he ne'er loses his temper, e'en the time I accidentally broke his favorite inkwell, which was a gift from the king and one o' his most prized possessions. He just smiled coldly, grabbed his whip and punished me, the whole time just smiling that cold smile. Then he ordered one o' the maids to clean the blood away and put some salve on me back and walked away."
Saidh's mouth tightened at this and she continued walking again, thinking that if she ever met the boy's father--
"And I ken he lies too. He has made deals with others and not held up his side o' the bargain. He cheats our villeins all the time and there is naught they can do about it." He sighed unhappily and shook his head. "Laird Greer would ne'er do that, and these last six months since me father convinced him to take me on as squire he's ne'er raised a hand or whip to me either. Not e'en the time I near killed his horse by feeding him green apples. And he loves his horse," he assured her, glancing over his shoulder to meet her gaze for emphasis.
Saidh nodded in acknowledgment. She wasn't surprised to hear that Greer was fond of his stallion. She had had her mare for several years now and loved her dearly.
"So, after thinking on it," Alpin continued, "it occurs to me that proper behavior does no' make a good laird or lady. It does no' make them kind or brave or good to their people, and it does seem to me that being good is more important than no' wearing braies or cussing."
"I see," Saidh murmured with a faint smile. "So ye've decided to forgive me me lack as a lady."
"That's just it," Alpin paused and turned to face her in the narrow space to say earnestly, "Ye are a fine lady, m'lady."
Saidh snorted at the suggestion and waved at him to continue, but he stayed stubbornly where he was and told her, "Yer brothers and m'laird all stayed at our bedside the first two nights, refusing to leave ye."
Saidh nodded. Greer had mentioned something about that the morn she'd woken up. He'd also said they'd talked so she wasn't surprised when he continued.
"And yer brothers spent a lot o' time talking about ye, telling tales about the things ye'd done and such. How ye nursed yer mother during the illness that took her life, tending her yerself rather than let her maid do it. How ye whipped the smithy at Buchanan when ye found out he was beating his wife and children. How ye jumped in the moat after a village girl who had tumbled in, and saved her life. How ye snuck food and coin to a young villager with child when ye learned her husband had died leaving her with naught." He paused and shook his head. "And I could tell ye did no' like the gown Lady MacDonnell insisted ye wear to the wedding, but ye wore it anyway, just to please her."
Uncomfortable under his admiration, Saidh shrugged. " 'Twas the right thing to do."
"Aye. But no' e'ery so-called lady would think so. Me own mother once fired a new maid because she decided she was too ugly to ha'e to look at. And she is mean as can be to me gran. I ken she would ne'er nurse her were she to fall ill." He nodded firmly. "Ye may curse and wear braies under yer gown, and ye may carry a sword and fight like a man, but ye've a noble heart, and are a true lady fer all that."
Saidh grimaced and turned her head away, embarrassed to find herself having to blink away a sudden welling of liquid in her eyes. Good Lord, she could take an arrow to the chest without shedding a tear, but a pain-in-the-arse boy gives her a compliment and she turns into a weeping female. Disgusting, she thought with a little irritation.
Sighing, she glanced back to Alpin and gestured for him to continue. "We'd best keep moving, else me brothers'll wake ere we even make it out o' the castle."
Nodding, Alpin turned and started forward again. Saidh followed, but after a moment of silence said, "I'm glad ye no longer think I'll be a poor wife to yer laird, Alpin. And I think ye're a fine squire to him as well."
"I try m'lady," he assured her. "Although I think me lecturing him on h
ow to be a proper laird most like annoys him."
"Nay, he likes it," Saidh said with amusement.
"Really?" he asked glancing back again.
Saidh nodded, and then realizing the light from the torch didn't reach her and he probably couldn't see her nodding her head, she said, "Aye. Think on it, Alpin. Did he no' like it, do ye think ye'd still be his squire?" She smiled faintly, and added, "Besides, 'tis probably good fer us. We could both use a little polishing."
"Oh," Alpin breathed and turned to continue walking again, moving more quickly now. "Then I shall continue to endeavor to help."
Saidh merely smiled to herself. She suspected the boy would have continued to endeavor to help anyway. She doubted he could help himself. Fortunately, she was growing fond of the boy and didn't mind the idea of his nattering at her. They reached the stairs quickly and moved cautiously down them.
"There is an entrance here to the kitchens," Alpin whispered as they reached level ground again. Raising his torch, he pointed to a wooden lever in the wall. "See that lever there?"
"Aye," Saidh whispered leaning back against the wall of the passage. She was relieved to be done with the stairs. While she'd felt fine and fit lying and sitting about in bed, she found the small walk and traversing the stairs had wearied her.
"If ye pull on it, the wall slides in and ye can slip into the kitchens."
"Good to ken," Saidh murmured. "How much further is the entrance to the gardens?"
"This way," Alpin said, which wasn't really an answer to the question, Saidh thought but didn't say so, and merely followed when he continued forward. However, she was nearly ready to call a halt and request that they rest when he finally stopped several minutes later. Sighing with relief, she leaned against the wall again and watched as he set the torch in a sconce in the wall.
"Are ye feeling all right?" she asked with concern when she noted that he had to use both hands to lift the torch and that they were trembling a little.
"Aye. Just tired," he admitted and then added with irritation, " 'Tis a ridiculously long passage."
Saidh gave a small laugh. "I suspect it did no' seem so long when me husband showed ye through it the first time?"