The rich tang of blackcurrant preserve wafted up from the kitchen, immersing the whole tower in the delicious scent and making her mouth water. She quickened her steps, eager to taste it.
Entering the kitchen with its stone floor and vaulted ceiling, Cat sighed as she near drowned in the sweet, fruity scent.
"It smells so delicious!"
Aggie swung around from her task. "Oh, m'lady, you're up. Did you rest well?"
"Aye." Cat gauged her maid's expression. Did she suspect anything aboutwhereCat had slept?
"I did not wish to disturb you, for I knew not how many hours of sleep you would need."
Relief flooded Cat. "That's so kind of you. I slept well."
"You're eyeing the scones and preserves." Maude's lips quirked with suppressed amusement.
"Indeed, I'm starving. Could I have a wee taste?"
"Of a certainty." Maude grabbed a small wooden bowl.
"You're busy. I can do it." Cat took the bowl, then filched a warm scone from the baking tray. At the table, she broke it open and spread a generous portion of soft butter onto it. After placing the scone into the bowl, she ladled steaming hot preserve onto it from the pot.
"Mo chreach!" Abby exclaimed. "'Tis an enormous serving."
"I told you, I'm hungry."
"Careful, you'll burn yourself." Maude warned.
Cat shook her head. "I spent much of my childhood in the kitchens at home."
"'Tis unusual for a lady."
"'Haps, but I kept injuring myself doing needlework. And my mother wished to keep me occupied." After sitting at the maids' table in the corner, where she and Torr had shared breakfast that morn, she blew on the steaming blackish plum colored preserve. When it was no longer scorching hot, she used a wooden spoon to scoop out a bite. The sweet, warm, and tangy preserve on the buttery scone was heavenly.
"Mmm... nommmm. Sooooo delectable," she moaned.
"Och, m'lady, 'tis unseemly." Aggie eyed her with disapproval while Maude grinned. Clearly, she was proud of her excellent cookery skills.
"I promise not to do that in front of the men." Cat crammed another spoonful into her mouth, barely restraining herself from moaning in delight again. 'Haps she was indulging in too many delicious things in one day—first Torr, and now this sweet concoction.
"You will ruin your supper," Aggie scolded, treating Cat like a wee lass.
"Nonsense. I will eat like a horse."
Aggie gasped. "When did you become so unladylike?"
"Has it not always been so?"
Her maid looked heavenward, then shook her head, probably remembering all the scrapes Cat had gotten into over the years.
"I need all the food I can get," Cat said. "We're going on another quest this night."
Aggie's eyes flared wide. "What sort of quest?"
"An errand Finnian is sending us on to help break the curses."
"Is it dangerous?"
"Nay." It might be, but Cat didn't want her maid to know the truth of it.
