Page 16 of Alec

After banking the coals in the hearth Alec escorted her to the great hall. Every guard they passed gave him a respectful nod and then smiled at Olivia. He could also sense their stares on her back, doubtless as they tried to fathom why he walked beside her. He didn’t think she was aware of the same until she spoke.

“I’m not a dwarf,” she said, glancing up at him. “In case you were wondering. I’m just small. I mean, I was small. Now I guess I’m like ordinary women.”

Alec noted the worry in her eyes. “No one should call you ordinary, lass,” he assured her.

“Actually, that is one thing I’ve never been called. Dwarf, midget, runt—there are so many unkind words for little people.” She looked down at herself. “I’d better find out if I can borrow some clothes. These don’t fit me anymore, and everyone is staring at me.”

She must have grown accustomed to being gawked at in her time, something he’d had to tolerate since boyhood. “’Tis of no consequence.”

“In my time people judge others on their appearance. It’s always bothered me to be stared at because I knew what others thought of me.” She didn’t sound resentful, only resigned. “Before this happened, when I met them for the first time they mistook me for a child, or assumed I had a medical or genetic condition. They found it awkward to talk to me, too.”

Alec recalled how he’d instantly assumed her to be a child. “Why? Your size truly matters naught.”

“Says a man who is at least six-foot-four.” She gave him a rueful look. “I never minded being different, you know. I just wished people wouldn’t judge me by my appearance. Being small didn’t make me less of a person.” She held out her arms. “And having the body of an average woman doesn’t make me better than I was, either.”

“Many make similar judgements of me, only they say too much within my hearing.” Alec gestured at his face. “How can a man have such girlish features? None among the McKeran share the same. He’s too beauteous. ’Tis unnatural. Must be a lass attempting to pass as a lad.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Olivia said. “You’re very attractive, of course, but you don’t look like a woman at all.”

“My thanks.” His heart swelled so much in that moment he would have hugged her, only they had reached the archway leading into the great hall. “Here are some of my brothers.”

Instead of leading her inside he halted and gave her a moment to survey the cavernous room, in which hundreds of clansmen had gathered to have their first meal of the day. Beyond them the laird, his lady and some of the clan’s senior chieftains occupied the great table on the raised dais.

“You certainly have a lot of them,” Olivia murmured.

Alec folded his hand over hers. “They’re good lads.” When she didn’t move he wondered if he had rushed her too quickly into this. “If you wish I’d be glad to fetch a tray for us, so we may break our fast in a quieter spot.”

“Do I look that scared?” She took a deep breath and squeezed his hand. “It’s okay. I’m still not used to being around a lot of people. All the voices are hard to get used to.”

Before he could ask why, she led him into the hall, her hand trembling slightly in his as she made her way through the crowded trestle tables. His brothers collectively regarded her with a little more attention than they usually gave a newly arrived outsider, but as he glared at them they returned their attention to their meals. It reminded him, however, that Olivia would soon be able to take her pick of the men at Dun Talamh.

She thinks me attractive, Alec told himself. Very attractive, she said. Perhaps he could endear himself to her; she had shown some attachment to him already. Then he realized what he was thinking and wanted to swear at himself. I’ve no time to trifle with a female, even one who suits me so well.

“Good morning, Miz Gibson.” Ava gestured to the laird. “This is Tasgall McKeran, my husband and head of the clan. Next to him is Darro, his younger brother and our senior chieftain.”

As the laird’s wife continued making introductions, Alec saw Farlan coming out of the kitchens with Rory, the clan’s armorer. The latter took one look at Olivia, turned on his heel and departed, while the seneschal came over with more platters of food and a frown.

“Why did Rory go?” Alec muttered to him.

“Fack if I ken. He’s in another mood.” Farlan put the platters on the table, smiling as Ava introduced him, and then made a subtle hand signal to Alec indicating he’d speak to him later before striding out of the hall.

Something was amiss with their armorer, and had been since the time cycle of the trap had restarted this year.

Alec suspected it might have something to do with Rory being caught and cocooned by the enchanted creatures that someone had sent into the trap. According to Farlan the armorer had been even more silent and reclusive since being freed by the laird. Darro claimed Rory had stopped sleeping and spent much of his time pacing along the outer curtain wall as would a restless, caged animal—similar to what Alec had been doing since the clan had been cursed.

He could have told his younger brother not to bother, for he had tried every method he could fathom to force his way out through the stone wall. What little damage Alec managed to do to the ten-foot-thick structure reverted in a few seconds back to its original state. Ava believed the perimeter of the trap, as she called it, contained the perennial magic that kept Dun Talamh separated from the mortal realm and trapped in a time loop that replayed the events of the terrible year before the clan had been cursed.

A hand touched his sleeve. “Do you need to leave?”

Alec looked down at Olivia’s solemn face. Before he broke his fast he’d made it his habit to hear reports from the night watch commanders and the patrols that encircled the stronghold after dark. He also needed to speak with Farlan about Rory, and in the garrison hall a dozen tasks awaited him. The laird would wish to hear how preparations for the next visit by the MacBren and his thugs had progressed, and issue orders for the day.

None of that meant anything to him when he saw the dread in her eyes. She’d drawn on all her courage to come and join him and his brothers for the meal. He also needed to work on further endearing himself to her, so she would come to depend on him. It was supremely selfish, since he couldn’t take her to his bed. Yet, he couldn’t abide the notion of her in another man’s arms.

“No’ now, lass,” Alec told her, keeping his tone mild. “Do you favor a hot or cold drink with your morning meals?”