“Damn shame, leannain, I want to see ye,” he smirked as he sat on the edge of the bed. He kissed her softly, tenderly, and smiled at her nearly inaudible sigh when he pulled away. “I’ve to go soon. Tarrant came through and sent me the mind-healer for me Faither.”
She nodded and her loosed hair spilled over her shoulder. Her teeth worried her lip. ‘They’re going to know, Leith.”
“Let them,” he replied as pushed her to rest against him, “I’m nay ashamed of ye.”
“But…” she trailed off, “I don’t think it’s time yet. Remember, your Mother spoke to you about me. If she does want to get rid of me, this will be the best time for her to do so.”
“Over me dead body she will,” Leith growled.
“Think of it, you sleeping with me, a mute washing woman, will call for them to think less of you,” Mary said, as she clutched the sheets tighter. “And they will see me in a very…indecent way.”
“If anyone dares insult ye, I’ll have their head on a platter,” Leith’s eyes gone dark with his emotion. “Lass—”
Another knock came at the door and Leith huffed a curse under his breath. He kissed her forehead and went to answer it. He slid the deadlock back and yanked it open, ready to tell whoever it was to go away but shut his mouth quickly when he saw Rinalda there.
“Rinalda, why are ye here?”
She gave him an exasperated look, “For Mary, of course. She dinnae come to the house last night, and she wasnae in the infirmary, so the only conclusion was ye. If I kent of it, many others will too. Let me be yer cover, Sir.”
Shaking his head, Leith allowed her in, Mary was already dressed and was trying to finger comb her hair into some sort of neatness. Beyond her, he spotted the dark stain of blood, proof of Mary’s innocence, on the sheets and he knew Rinalda saw it too. Mercifully, she did not say a word but hugged her.
“Let’s get ye to yer station,” Rinalda said kindly.
Leith knew that it was not going to end there. Rinalda was going to grill Mary about her experience with him but he was not worried. She had lost her virginity and that was important to every woman, literally a life-defining moment, but if anything, he knew his life had spun on its head.
She was passing by him but he was not going to let her go that way. He snagged her arm and tugged her right into him and kissed her right in front of Rinalda. He had told her that he was not ashamed of her and he was ready to prove it. Pulling away he said, “I’ll see ye later.”
“I’ll be counting down the moments,” she replied, then she was gone. He lingered in the doorway seeing Rinalda whispering in her ear as they disappeared around the corner.
Rubbing his face, he went to clean up and go meet the mind-healer. He slipped a kilt on this time and a linen shirt with a vest over it. With his boots on, he left the room and hurried to see the man.
He found him in the great hall, sitting at a table and drinking something, but at first notice, he would have never realized it was him. The man was short, clad in nondescript brown clothes with a dark grey cloak over his shoulder. The only thing that stood out for him was his head of pure silver hair.
Striding over to him, he stuck out his hand, “Ye must be the man from Laird Robasdan, welcome to Lenichton, Mister Magrath. Have ye traveled far?”
“Fairly,” he replied. “I hail from Kildrummy, Young Lenichton, but I travel as a part of me profession. I had just set out from Dunblane heading to Perth when Laird Robasdan found me.”
“Come to me meeting room where I’ll tell ye all ye need to ken before ye go see me Faither,” Leith said. “Ye should ken what happened and why we need ye.”
Taking the cloak from his shoulder, Leith spotted a leather satchel strapped to his side. As they moved off from the room, it clinked as he moved and Leith assumed there were instruments or potions inside it.
“Leith?” his mother’s voice came from the bottom of the main stairs. “Who is this?”
“Luag Magrath, mother, the mind-healer Laird Robasdan sent to me. He’s going to look after Father,” Leith said. He expected a happy expression from his mother but she only looked concerned. “Dinnae ye worry, Mother, Faither will be set right.”
His mother only gave him a thin smile. “Oh…tell me how it goes.”
It was only days later that Leith began to carefully analyze his mother’s look, but for now, he ushered Mister Magrath up to the stairs and to his meeting room. He opened the door and gestured for the man to sit. Magrath unlatched the satchel first, resting in carefully on the table before he sat.
Leaning a hip on his table, Leith rubbed his eyes, wondering how to proceed. “Me Faither, Aaron Balloch, was not ill a day of his life. The man could swim Loch Ness in winter and nae contract a sniffle. But six months ago, he suddenly became manic. It came out of naywhere. Looking back on it now, he had started off getting a little suspicious of those around him, but we kent that was who he was. He always had that temperament to nay trust many, but when he turned on me mother, we kent he was ill.”
“What did he do?” Magrath asked.
“He nearly broke her arm when she tried to touch him, yelling that she was going to kill him,” Leith said darkly. “My mother would never hurt a fly, she doesnae have a mean bone in her body. Ye saw her a while ago. And furthermore,” he
