Highlander's Trials of Fire

“All right.” Matthew turned back to the pool, reclining back on his hands like she had done. “I have a few questions for ye. Do ye promise to answer every one of them?”

“Nay,” she said instantly and they both laughed.

“That’s fair. I shall start simple then. What is yer favorite ballad?”

Jonet answered him, and she answered the next one, and the next. He kept asking her questions, simple ones. She kept giving him the right answer every time, without a sliver of hesitation.

She was unsure how much time passed while they sat there and talked, conversations sparking from the questions and answers that were given, but Jonet felt a sharp pang of disappointment when Matthew moved to his feet and said, “I think it’s time for us to leave now. I daenae think it’s a good idea for us to let sundown catch us.”

She tried to hide the disappointment, climbing to her feet too. “Very well. Thank ye for bringin’ me here, Matthew. It was really lovely.”

“Ye’re welcome, Jonet. Ye need only say the word and I shall carry ye whenever ye like.”

“Maybe ye should have blindfolded me,” she responded. “Because I daenae need ye to bring me now that I ken the way.”

“Or do ye?” He tossed the question into the air and walked away, leaving Jonet staring after him. She rolled her eyes at first, but then, when the question settled, she chased after him.

“What do you mean by that?” she demanded to know.

Matthew only tilted his head back and laughed.

Jonet rushed straight to her mother’s room the moment she returned home. She had left Matthew behind when she did. She was sure he would be able to find his way around well enough, considering how close he had already become with her father.

There were just a few things she needed to speak of, which she couldn’t possibly say to him.

When she burst into her mother’s room, she was sitting upright, sipping what Jonet instantly assumed was soup. She looked surprised at Jonet’s sudden entrance, but she didn’t say anything until she finished swallowing and set the steaming bowl aside.

“Did somethin’ happen?” Rinalda asked instantly.

Jonet was happy her mother’s health seemed to have improved for today. It would make telling her everything much easier. “Matthew may nae be as bad as I thought he was.”

Rinalda’s eyes brows shot up at that. “Are ye serious? So suddenly? What happened to yer plan to get rid of him?”

“A terrible plan, Ma,” Jonet smiled. “Because he simply cannae be gotten rid of. Nae matter what I say or do, he always says the right things. At first, I was wary of it because I thought he was sayin’ what I wanted to hear. He seemed a little too smooth, a little too charmin’. But I daenae think it’s all an act anymore.”

“What changed yer mind?” Rinalda asked curiously.

“I daenae ken, honestly,” Jonet said. “It may be the sincerity in his words. I tried to ignore it before, wantin’ to find any reason I could to get him to leave, but I think he may truly have an interest in me, Ma.”

“Now, what did I tell ye? Ye are a beautiful lass. It is silly to let a little rumor get in between ye and happiness.”

Jonet sighed. “Is it a silly rumor, Ma?”

“Does Matthew ken?”

“Of course, he does. But he thinks it’s a silly rumor as well. He thinks I shouldnae believe it so much.”

“Well, then, I think I am beginning’ to like him more and more. Ye should bring him to see me.”

“So soon?”

“Do ye have a problem with that?”

“I daenae,” Jonet was surprised by how comfortable she was with the idea. “I daenae want anythin’ to make yer health any worse.”

Rinalda waved a terrifyingly thin hand. “I hardly think havin’ a handsome gentleman pay me a visit is goin’ to affect me in any way. Rather, it might help lift me spirits some. Ye might see me up and walkin’ the very next day.”

“Daenae let Faither hear ye,” J