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“It’s too easy.” Agnes shook her head.
“Sit down, get started on your brekkie. We’ve got a big day ahead of us,” Archie surprised me by saying as he put his tackle box aside and stood. His words held an air of authority that everyone instantly acknowledged, and soon I was nibbling on a buttered piece of crusty toast while Archie took the chair at the head of the table.
“I’ve brought along everything that I could find about the Order.” Agnes nodded to a stack of books and notebooks on a small table by the fireplace. “Between all of us, I think we can make some real headway this morning.”
“No need,” Archie said, his voice gruff, though I noticed he dropped a bit of scrambled eggs on the floor for Sir Buster. The dog gobbled it up and then raced around the table three times, a blur of excitement, and Archie shook his head. “Settle yourself.” The dog skidded to a stop back at Archie’s chair, his eyes hopeful.
“Why’s that?” Hilda asked, pausing at the kitchen door with her hand on her hip and teapot in her hand. “You’ve got us sorted then?”
“Aye, I do,” Archie said, continuing to steadfastly make his way through his breakfast. “Have a seat then and we’ll get to it.”
I worked up the courage to look at Lachlan and found him staring at me, well, my mouth, and heat flashed through me again. My skin felt charged up, like I’d touched a live wire or something, and I found myself barely able to sit still in my seat. I tried to tell myself it was nerves about learning to be a knight, but even I knew that was partially a lie.
Lachlan’s kiss had shaken me, rattling my bones, so to speak, and woken me up. His kiss had been like what it was like to learn to read for the first time. An entire new world had awoken inside me, something I hadn’t known I’d been missing, and now I craved more of it. Not just his kisses, but him. I was hyperaware of his presence, and now I tried to subtly study him to see what else I could learn. He’d drawn his gaze from my mouth back to his mug of coffee, and his shoulders were hunched, his face drawn, as he waited for Archie to speak.
While this may be a bit of a lark for me, it was Lachlan’s whole life. There was some very real and very serious history here, particularly when it came to the death of his mother, and I needed to tread carefully as we proceeded so as not to hurt Lachlan’s feelings.
Not that he’d let me know, the prickly man that he was. Despite myself, my lips quirked, and I buried my face in my mug of tea as I remembered Hilda calling Lachlan a crabbit hedgehog the first night we’d arrived. She wasn’t far wrong.
Luckily, I thought hedgehogs were cute.
Hilda returned from the kitchen and sat, patting Lachlan’s arm, before fixing her attention on Archie.
“Well then? Go on.”
“Right, here’s the way I see it,” Archie said, his terse voice jolting me from my thoughts about Lachlan, and I turned to give him my full attention. He wore his usual uniform of faded denim and a worn flannel shirt and, for the first time, I noticed a glint of gold at his wrist. Leaning a bit closer, I realized it was an ID bracelet of sorts with something inscribed. “What?”
I jumped as I realized Archie had stopped and was staring at me. Gosh, I was on edge this morning.
“I was just looking at your bracelet. I hadn’t noticed it before,” I said.
“It’s passed down to the Keeper of the Order. That would be me.” Archie angled his wrist so I could better see the inscription. Two swords met in an inverted V, under which a Celtic-style horse, or dragon, was etched. Words that I couldn’t decipher were beneath the emblem.
“Is this the crest?” I asked, looking up to meet Archie’s eyes.
“Aye, lass. That’s the Kelpie in the middle there. The phrase means pure of heart. Only those with the purest of intentions are deemed worthy of protecting the Clach na Fìrinn.”
“It’s beautiful,” I murmured. The gold had a rich buttery sheen to it, and the etchings were blackened, showing their age, and I imagined this piece had been passed through the years.
“I think, given the state of things, it’s best if we crack on with the teaching and the initiation,” Archie said, turning to look at Hilda. “We could spend hours going through those books, or I can just be telling you what’s needed done. Do you have a preference?” The last bit he directed at me, and I realized that everyone at the table was waiting for me to make the call.
For some reason, the way they all waited on me to make a decision, shook me. A tumble of emotions backlogged in my throat, and I swallowed, overcome.
“I need a moment,” I said, shoving back from the table and racing down the hall. Sir Buster skidded after me, abandoning his campaign for more scrambled eggs, and followed me out the large arched door we’d first arrived through. Once I was outside, I sat on the steps, gulping for air as I tried to sort through my convoluted thoughts.
Sir Buster, normally so crochety, seemed to sense my mood. Two little paws landed on my thigh, and then he licked my arm with his tiny tongue, his body vibrating as he waited on me. With a sigh, I scooped his trembling body onto my lap, and he curled up, propping his chin on my arm, and I was instantly soothed.
“Therapy doggo,” I muttered, stroking his fur, lightly though, in case he’d growl at me like he usually did. It was like cradling a landmine and brought equal parts anxiety and enjoyment. Much like life, I realized, finding the metaphor of a loveable rageball of a chihuahua somewhat apt to describe myself as well.
“Are you all right then?” Lachlan’s voice sent a delicious shiver over my skin, and Sir Buster raised his head in annoyance.
“I apologize for my dramatics. I just needed a moment I guess.” I looked out across the gravel parking lot and over the battlement to where Loch Mirren lay resplendent in the morning light. From here, I could just see the island, and I wondered if the Stone of Truth could possibly know that I was here.
ThatIwas the one sent to protect it.
A hysterical giggle escaped me, and Lachlan dropped to sit next to me, not touching, but my skin warmed at his nearness.
“Tell me,” Lachlan, man of many words, said.
