Page 44 of Highlander the Conqueror

“Euniss!”

Slayer’s repeated shout gave Sky a start and she watched as a stout woman, her plump cheeks glowing red, a pleasant smile on her aged face, and a head full of short, gray curls entered the room and hurried toward Slayer.

“We need food and see that a bath is prepared and have clean garments made available for Sky,” Slayer ordered. “She is under the clan’s protection and will be staying with us indefinitely.”

“So, the battle was more a skirmish and victorious as usual, I hear,” Euniss said while staring at Sky. “Goodness gracious, your eyes don’t match in color. I have never seen the likes of that before now.”

“Will you never learn to hold your tongue,” Slayer admonished, the few servants in the room halting their tasks to glance at Sky.

Euniss turned a quick look on Slayer. “If I haven’t learned by now to hold my tongue, I never will. And why should it matter.? I say aloud what others will think but will not have the courage to say when they look upon her.” She glanced back at Sky. “Are you a witch?”

“Euniss!” Slayer snapped angrily.

The woman folded her arms over her ample breasts. “I promised your dear mum, God rest her soul, on her deathbed that I would look after you. That is a sacred vow I intend to keep.” She turned a squinting brow on Sky. “Well, are you a witch?”

Sky smiled at the blunt woman, though not without trepidation. “Nay, I know no witchcraft, nor do I know why I was born with two different colored eyes.”

“Well, if you’re not in cohorts with the devil then the good Lord must have given them to you for a good reason.” Euniss shooed her away. “Go sit by the fire. You look worn out and in need of a good soak in the tub. But first you will eat.” She shooed at her again and pointed. “Be off with you, over there.”

Shock had Sky not moving. No one had ever suggested her mismatched eye color came from good and not evil, though her mum had assured her that with her kind heart evil could never exist in her.

Slayer pressed his hand lightly on her back and got her moving to a table nearest to the fireplace.

“Euniss has her say more often than she should, and I tolerate her because of her word to my mum. She also oversees the keep and does an excellent job. She is a good soul, and you can trust her.”

“I appreciate you telling me that,” Sky said as he sat down beside her on the bench, pressing his leg against hers beneath the table. She kept a soft smile on her face as she spoke with a whisper to him. “I miss the intimacy of the cottage already.”

He missed it as well, yet he never had any intention of it turning out the way it did. It had simply been part of a plan conceived out of duty. But somehow that had changed, and he was not sure how to adjust to it.

He let her know he felt the same by pressing his leg firmer against hers and she graced him with a lovely smile and damn if it didn’t tug at his heart.

Bowls of food and jugs filled with ale and cider were placed on the table in front of them. Sky wasn’t sure she had an appetite. She had been so anxious about her arrival here that she feared her desire to eat had all but vanished. But the delicious aroma of the food made her think twice and she eagerly reached for a small meat pie.

As soon as Slayer speared a piece of meat with his knife, one of his warriors approached the table. “A few mercenaries survived, my lord, though for how long is questionable. They will be here soon, and there is no word on the archer yet.”

Slayer nodded. “Let me know when they arrive. I will question them.”

Sky hurried to swallow the little food in her mouth and looked anxiously at her husband as the warrior nodded and hurried off.

Slayer responded without Sky saying a word. “Nay, you cannot come with me.”

“It may concern me and my sisters, and perhaps he knows something about Leora’s whereabouts. I truly would like to hear what he says,” she said, hoping to change his mind, though knew the likelihood of that was bleak. He would not risk her safety.

He turned to her. “You will not want to see what I do to him to get those answers.” He raised his finger to silence her. “Not a word. It is done.”

She did not want to think about what the men would suffer, but she did want to know what they had to say. “Will you at least share with me what he reveals to you?”

Slayer was ready to deny her when he caught the concern in her eyes. She did not worry about herself. It was her sisters’ safety that concerned her.

“I will consider it,” he said.

Relieved that he did not completely refuse her, she smiled appreciatively though she would have preferred to lean against him and give his hand a squeeze. Instead, she simply said, “I am grateful, and I will gladly do my share of whatever chore you set for me while I am here.”

While I am here.

Those words irritated Slayer even though they were meant for the servants nearby to think she was nothing more than a guest willing to do her share.

Another warrior hurried to the table. “One prisoner has arrived, my lord, and I do not believe he has much time.”

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