His calm words dispelled the fury that had begun to rise in Frida’s belly. She had been within moments of throwing her ale in Jonah’s face.
What a spectacle I am making of myself.
Her father had made her mistress of Ember Hall. It was time to assert her authority.
“I have made my position clear,” she began, drawing surprised gazes from both of the men. “I do not wish to have more soldiers at Ember Hall.”
Jonah chuckled and made to speak, but Callum silenced him with a sharp look.
A look that almost silenced Frida as well.
“This is my home and I shall decide who stays and who goes.” She paused. “But I cannot ignore my brother’s wishes.” She glared at Jonah. “It seems I am cursed with two brothers who are equally impossible to ignore, however much I might wish it.”
Callum smiled, relief radiating from him. “You will allow us to stay?”
His smile was almost her undoing.
Frida sat straighter in the chair, frantically marshalling her thoughts. “Mayhap I spoke too rashly before. We can always find a use for strong men. As Mirrie said, the barn roof is in need of repair. And the orchard crop must be gathered before the first frost.” She forced herself to meet his eye. Forced herself to remain composed, even as her heartrate steadily increased. “You may stay, Sir Callum. Not as men-at-arms, but as labourers.”
It was an impertinent speech. Even Jonah floundered for words. Callum should have been affronted, but instead he seemed to be considering her proposition carefully.
“You would like us to surrender our weapons?” he suggested.
Frida nodded. “At once.” She continued before her courage failed her. “I’m afraid we have no grand chamber to offer you.We were not anticipating visitors. You and your men will have to share quarters with the guards, above the stables.”
This would also mean that she did not have to sleep under the same roof as him.
Frida doubted she would sleep a wink knowing that Callum slumbered so near.
“One question, Lady Frida.” He hesitated. “Will our weapons be close at hand, should we need them?”
She nodded. “They will be locked in the armoury, alongside our supplies.”
For a long moment, he held her gaze. “Then I am pleased to accept your offer.”
Frida released the breath she did not know she had been holding. “Welcome to Ember Hall.”
Chapter Four
Callum stood inthe cobbled courtyard, his gaze fixed on the patchwork vista of rolling hills visible beyond the outer wall. The afternoon sun had finally burned away the last of the mist, bringing the beauty of his surroundings into sharp relief. Birdsong floated up from the trees nearby, but there was no other sound save the slight whisper of wind.
What on earth should I do now?
Callum’s instincts usually served him well, but right now he had no clear sense which path he should take through the maze that had sprung up before him. Holy hell, he was not even certain which direction to face. Just hours earlier, he had thought himself the commander of a tangible mission. Now he saw that the mission was as unclear as his ability to execute it.
“I’m damned whatever I do,” he muttered to himself.
Marching footsteps broke him out of his reverie, and he straightened up in time to nod to two guards changing shift on the wall. They barely acknowledged him as they passed, green cloaks swaying around their booted legs. But he knew how they watched him. Him and his men.
Ember Hall was better defended than they had anticipated. But the presence of so many trained guards was by far the least of his problems. His head reeled with what he had learned.
Firstly, that Ember Hall was owned by the de Nevilles, the family he had baulked at betraying two years earlier.
Secondly, and most importantly, that Frida de Neville lived.
When he first beheld her, he had believed her to be an apparition, come mayhap to reprimand him for his planned assault. Come to haunt him for his past misdeeds. Either way, he wanted only to gaze at her familiar, beautiful face.
And then came the tumult of realisation. Frida was not only alive, she was also well. And she was standing right in front of him.
