Highlander's Trials of Fire

“Oh, I daenae. I think ye will hate to ken what me favorite song is.”

Jonet looked up at him, her eyes glittering with slight curiosity.

Or is that confusion?

“Ye are quite persistent, ye ken,” she told him.

“I could say the same of ye,” Matthew challanged. A soft wind tussled his hair. It stung Jonet’s eyes and she cringed slightly away from it. “Though it only makes me more eager to ken more about ye. There is somethin’ I’m really curious about.”

Jonet sighed. She sounded slightly defeated when she asked, “What would ye like to ken?”

Matthew paused. He could sense that she was a little tense, on edge about what he wanted to know. He let a few seconds go by before he said, “What are yer favorite things to eat?”

Jonet stopped walking. Matthew slowed to a stop and faced her, blinking in fake surprise.

“Is somethin’ the matter?”

She frowned deeply at him. Again, she was studying him, as if she were trying to find the lie in his words. “That is all ye wish to ask me? Nothin’ else?”

“Is there somethin’ ye were expectin’?”

She looked both confused and annoyed, but she took a deep breath and shook her head. “Nothin’. And if ye must ken, me favorite things to eat are sweet cakes.”

“Ah, I see. Do ye ken how to make them?”

When he glanced at her, he saw a blush stain her cheek. “Of course!”

“That sounds like a nay.”

“That’s nae what I said!” she insisted. “I’ve made them many times before.”

“And are they good?”

Her blush deepened. Matthew almost let out a genuine laugh. She was very adorable when she was trying to convince him through what was clearly a lie. “I… well… that is subjective, isnae it?”

“Ah, very true ye are. I suppose I have nay choice but to try them meself then.”

“I never said that—”

“Aye, ye dinnae, but how could ye nae? I want to try them meself since I ken yer sweet cakes are truly as good as ye think they are.”

“Ye can just take me word for it,” she lifted her chin.

Matthew almost sighed. Getting through to her was proving more difficult than he had expected it to be. He fell silent, racking his brain for another conversation starter to make up for the huge failure that the conversation had turned into when she mumbled something under her breath.

“Excuse me?” he asked.

She glanced at him and then quickly looked to the side. Again, her cheeks went pink. “I suppose I can make ye some,” she murmured. “If ye are so insistent.”

Well, then. I see she isnae as cold as she pretends to be.

They had walked quite some distance by now. He did not know where they were headed, since he had no knowledge of the area around the Laird’s Castle, but she walked along with confidence, clearly leading the way. She was barefooted, at ease in her surroundings. With the very slight tan on her skin, Matthew would not be surprised to learn that she spent more of her time outdoors than in.

“There is something I want to ken, Matthew,” she spoke suddenly. Her serious tone had him straightening.

“What’s that?”

“Ye say ye came to me faither because ye heard of me beauty. Is that all ye heard?”