Page 20 of Kilted Seduction
She preferred cold hands to cold feet. One could wrap numb fingers around a mug of mulled wine or a bowl of stew, or brace them in front of an open fire. Feet were harder to dispel the chill from, once it got into the bones.
A huff brought her attention around. Beside her, Aedan and Mac were grim, heavily cloaked figures in layers of cloth. Both men wore heavy leather breeches, a kilt, shirt, vest, sash, overcoat, and cloak, and the thick, muffling cloth made them both look several inches broader. So heavily wrapped were they, that their weapons scarcely clinked when they moved.
Thora envied them. She had her stockings, and a set of thick hose under her chemise, two underskirts, shirt and overshirt, along with a sash, scarf, and long cloak, and still she felt chilled.
The last of the packs was lashed into place, and Mac came to offer her his hands. “’Tis best we start now, m’lady. Laird Cameron doesnae like the look o’ the weather, and we must make haste, if we’re tae make any distance at all afore the snow fall forces us tae seek shelter.”
“I ken.” Thora knew she was quite capable of getting into the saddle without aid, but she let Mac help her anyway. It was the sort of thing a lady would do - or a lass trying to mimic a lady. “Dae ye think we’ll reach Ross Castle?”
“Nae if the weather worsens, but there’s good inns with decent food and rooms along the road.”
That was her thought as well, but it was somewhat disheartening to hear from another’s mouth. She’d hoped she might be wrong.
Once she was safe in the saddle, Mac and Aedan mounted their own horses. The rest of the guards were already waiting. One of the kitchen maids came forward and passed around fresh bannocks - deliberately over-baked in the fire, they would offer warmth for some time, and food when they were too cold to offer further warmth. Thora took hers with a sigh of gratitude and tucked them into her shirt.
The warmth was welcome, but even with the bannocks and her layers of warm clothing, the wind was biting, and there was no way to avoid being pelted by the frigid, slushy snow. Try as they might to keep the hoods of their cloaks around their faces, nothing could block the cold and wet. Within a candle-mark, all of them were dripping and shivering.
Thora felt miserable. She’d never been able to remain warm in the winter, and the bite of the wind, along with the cold droplets sneaking down the back of her collar, made it much worse. Even the waxed weight of her cloak and the bannocks in her shirt weren’t enough.
Weight thumped into her shoulders, wrapping around her in an extra layer of warmth that seemed to temporarily drive the cold away. Thora blinked, her gloved hands already tugging the fabricclose, even as her cold-numbed thoughts tried to understand what was happening.
“Yer shiverin’ so hard tis painful tae watch. If I’d kent ye were so sensitive tae the cold, I’d have had the guards or Rhiannon make sure ye had an extra wax-wool cloak, and a warm brick in a belt sash for ye.” Aedan said.
Aedan’s coat. Somehow, while she wasn’t looking, he’d managed to shrug it off from underneath his outer cloak. She blinked again, then burrowed as well as she could into the lingering warmth of his body heat. “Thank ye.”
Mac snickered from his horse. “Ye look like a wee nesting kitten, all wrapped up just after birth.”
Thora managed to deliver what she thought was a passable glare over the top of her scarf. “Better a kitten than an block o’ ice, which ‘tis what I feel like. Or a frost fey, which is what the two o’ ye look like.”
“If we were frost fey, we wouldnae feel the cold so deeply.” Mac muttered and shrugged his shoulders up in an effort to protect his face. Thora couldn’t help noticing that his nose and cheeks were bright red from the cold and wind. “And we’d have the ability tae send the weather elsewhere while we traveled, instead o’ enduring this miserable muck.”
“At least there’s nae lightning. Or thunder.” After trying to travel in a storm that was just on the edge of freezing, and yet warm enough for the wild flashes and booming claps of thunder tofrighten her horse, Thora was willing to admit this was at least a small improvement.
A very, very small improvement.
The warmth from Aedan’s coat disappeared quickly, but the weight of the extra layer helped. She still felt wretchedly cold, but at least she shivered slightly less, and it no longer felt as if her body were trying to shake itself apart.
Onward they plodded, through a world of endless gray skies, brown mud and white snow. Thora lost track of the time, and concentrated on keeping her horse moving forward. She was so focused on staying in the saddle and keeping Steadfast on course that she didn’t realize they’d stopped until Aedan’s horse stepped in front of hers and forced her to come to a halt.
She blinked, then looked around. They were in a small village, and Mac had guided them to a stop in front of a larger set of buildings that, on closer inspection, was an inn, tavern, and stable. “We’re stopping?”
“Fer a candle-mark or so. ‘Tis early afternoon, by me reckoning, and time for the midday meal. We’ll rest and warm ourselves and the horses for a bit, then press on the rest o’ the way tae Castle Ross. With a bit o’ luck, we’ll make it afore the storm on the horizon blows in and traps us fully.”
Thora nodded. A part of her wished to demand they press on, to avoid any chance that they would be stranded and fail to reach their destination. However, a larger part of her was awareof the cold, and the dull, hazy sleepiness that came in winter, just before one began to truly freeze to death. They needed to get warm, or they would risk falling asleep in their saddles and never waking up. Even if they avoided that fate, they were at risk of losing fingers to the cold.
That last thought was enough to propel her clumsily off the horse, to stagger into the doorway of the tavern while Mac, Aedan and the rest of them handed the horses over to the stable boys. Aedan smirked as he joined her at the door. “Need a hand?”
“Need me own tae nae be freezin’.” Thora scowled at him. “’Tis hard tae grip things.”
“Pity that never slowed ye down afore. But I would have thought a village lass would be used tae the cold.” Despite his teasing, Aedan did hold the door open so she could go inside first.
“Never stay out so long. And livestock pens and cottages arenae exactly open tae the weather.” She’d seen the inside of enough of them, including the healer’s cottage where her sister had done most of her training, to know that much. “’Tisnae exactly me habit tae stay out in the snow fer candle-marks.”
She glared at Aedan and Mac, who were both stripping out of their cloaks and outer garments to hang them by the fire. Neither of them looked anything near as stiff as she felt. “The two o’ ye, ye’re like me braithers - a furnace under yer skin tae keep ye warm.”
Mac grinned, and Aedan raised an eyebrow, before he leaned closer to help her out of her own damp outer gear. “If ye want, I could keep ye warm for the rest o’ the way.”
There was a low rumble in his voice, a seductive purr that went straight to her gut and sent heat blazing to her cheeks, so sharp it almost hurt. “I ken ye’re hot-blooded, me laird, but I hardly think a horse is the place fer that.”
