Lady Maria looked at her hand for a moment, before tentatively reaching out and taking it. Anna shook it with a firm grip.
“Anna is a guest staying with us for a little while. She is on her way to Edinburgh,” Hildie said.
“Ah, Edinburgh. A fine city indeed, full of life and charm,” Lady Maria said, releasing Anna’s hand. “And what brings ye to our humble lands before ye journey there, Anna?”
“I was on my way to see a friend,” Anna replied, snagging a piece of bread from a basket placed on the table. “I got lost on the way and Emeric came to my rescue.”
Maria’s bright blue eyes lit up. “Really? It sounds like ye have quite the tale to tell. Have ye come a long way?”
Anna swallowed a mouthful of bread.You don’t know the half of it,she thought.
Instinctively she sensed she had to tread carefully here. From the way Hildie and Aislinn sat stiff-backed and rigid, she guessed that Lady Maria wielded considerable power and it would not do to put her foot in it. But how could she answer the woman’s questions without revealing too much or seeming rude?
She decided on something near to the truth. “I started out from Glasgow. I think I underestimated the difficulties of the journey.” She gave a self-deprecating laugh. “I got lost and then stuck in a bog. Emeric had to haul me out.”
Maria let out a trill of laughter. “A Glasgow lass, in a bog? Ye must have been a sight to behold!”
“Yes, it wasn’t my finest moment.”
From the corner of her eye, Anna noticed Hildie giving a slight nod of approval. Lady Maria, she noticed, had a way of controlling the table without appearing overtly domineering. She was a masterful conversationalist, easy in her charm, querying just enough to keep them talking but not so much as to put them on the defensive.
“Is yer husband not traveling with ye?” Lady Maria asked Anna.
Anna, who had a mouthful of porridge, had to swallow quickly. “Husband?”
“Aye,” Maria said. “Surely a woman of yer age is married? And I’ll bet ye have a brood of healthy bairns waiting at home for ye as well?”
“No, actually,” Anna replied. “I have neither and I’m more than happy with that, thank you very much.”
Maria said nothing but Anna didn’t miss the expression of surprise that flashed through her eyes. She glanced at Hildie and Aislinn who wore the same expression.
Anna pressed her lips together. In the twenty-first century an unmarried woman in her twenties was nothing out of the ordinary. But here? She guessed it must be a bit of an oddity and for the first time since she’d arrived here she truly felt the difference between herself and her hosts.
She tried to think of a way to steer the conversation to safer topics. “Um...so, are you looking forward to the games?”
“Ah, the games!” Lady Maria exclaimed as a smile brightened her face. “It’s always such a spectacle. Brave lads giving their all to win. There’s nothing quite like it. I know my grandson is looking forward to the blade work.” Sheglanced at Aislinn, who was keeping unusually quiet. “And ye, Aislinn,” Lady Maria continued. “Are ye excited to see yer future husband compete?”
There was a slight edge to Maria’s voice that hadn’t been there before. Hildie and Aislinn paled slightly and that undercurrent of tension Anna had sensed previously was back.
“Of course, Lady Maria,” Aislinn said, her voice barely more than a whisper.
“Indeed,” Lady Maria said, taking a sip from her goblet. “Nothing speaks more of a man’s strength and character than his actions on the field. “
Anna looked between the three women. Nobody spoke and the tension in the air was palpable.
“Well,I’mlooking forward to the games,” she blurted, trying to break the tension. “Thought I might try my hand at the ax throwing.”
The three of them turned to stare at her in surprise.
“Ye?” Maria asked.
“Sure. Why not?”
“Because ye are a woman,” Maria said, as though Anna might have forgotten this fact. “Only men compete in the games.”
“What? Why?”
The three women looked at each other.
