Highland Intrigue - A Prequel

He nodded again.

“Sit at the table while I gather some things,” she said with a pleasant smile and she was glad she had a reason to leave the cottage for a moment and escape his intense eyes that intimidated far too easily. She stepped outside and took a deep breath, though the image of his green eyes she feared were forever branded in her mind. She shook her head at the foolish thought and filled a bucket from the rain barrel and entered the cottage.

She placed the bucket on the table in front of him and almost gasped. The swath of cloth that had covered part of his face lay at his neck and Elysia was shocked by his exceptional features. They were as handsome and intense as his green eyes and just as intimidating.

“You need to soak your finger in the water,” she instructed, after scooping up some water in a wooden bowl and placing it in front of him. Then she hurried to turn away without seeing if he did what she asked, but she caught his movement out of the corner of her eye and assumed he did.

She gathered what she needed and placed them on the table, then placed two candles she lit from the hearth’s flames and placed them on the table to have better light.

Elysia gasped when she looked at him, her hand going to her own neck after seeing the angry scar that ran along his neck. “Is that scar how you lost your voice?” she asked softly.

He did not acknowledge her. He did not have to, his eyes were answer enough and their forceful scrutiny warned her not to pursue it. She turned away and silently cautioned herself to hold her tongue. What happened to him was no concern of hers, but she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

She took his hand out of the water and patted it dry. She held it near the candle’s flame so she could see the wound better and smiled. “Just as I thought, a splinter. I can mend this for you.”

He nodded.

She retrieved her bone needle and held it in front of him. “This may hurt a bit.”

He nodded again, accepting his fate.

She tried to find the right position to work on his finger, the closer the better, but she found none that would work the best. Until she was suddenly settled on his leg, his arm around her waist and her legs left to dangle just above the floor. She looked up at him and he raised his brow as if challenging her to object.

“I suppose this is the best position,” she said, his action not at all proper, but feeling it better that she did not object.

He nodded and she went to work, trying to ignore his size and recalled how she had felt lost in his embrace when he had hidden her from those two men. But she had also felt safe as she did now, a surprising thought.

She brought the needle to his finger and focused on nothing else but retrieving the splinter. He did not move once, though she knew it had to have hurt, the splinter deep. She cleaned the wound with a wet cloth when done, dried it, then smeared honey over it before tying a cloth around it.

She realized she hadn’t needed to remain sitting on his leg to finish the task. But then he hadn’t let go of her waist, which had her moving to slip off his leg. His arm locked on her waist as if he didn’t intend to let her go, then after a few moments he eased her off his leg.

He was strong yet gentle and the thought sent a flutter through her stomach.

She turned a smile on him. “It should stay covered for a few days. If the cloth comes off, come back and I will apply a fresh one and also more honey if needed.”

He nodded and stood, and she had to crane her neck back to look up at him since he stood so close. His familiar, pleasant woodsy scent drifted around her and he stared at her a moment. She wondered what he thought, what he would say if he could speak. Then he went to the door, opened it, turned back and sent her a firm nod, and was gone.

Elysia sat, feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all and realized she was smiling. He might be a big man but he was a quiet and calming man and she liked that about him. She wished she knew his name—it struck her then, what Annis had said about the large man occupying one of the crofts.

Saber.

Annis had said his name was Saber. She smiled knowing his name and got the feeling he’d be back.

She laughed lightly at herself. “Or is it that you want him to return, Elysia?”