The Last Rose

Ochd

The second I stepped into the castle that morning I was hit by the stench of stale alcohol and beef.  The festivities of last night had continued well into the early morning, with some men still up and drinking when I arrived as the sun was rising.

Seonag was tired and irritable, scolding Deirdre not a minute after I arrived.  I stayed far out of my way.  If I was going to slink off later I needed to keep my profile low.

Maili was in a suspiciously good mood.  A ghost of a smile hasn't left my face and I kept catching her humming dancing tunes as I worked.  Finally, I couldn't take not knowing any longer.

'What's got you in such high spirits?' I asked.  Maili's large blue eyes locked on to mine and she bit her lip.

'It's nothing really.  I'm probably overreacting,' she replied.

'You have to tell me what it is now!'

'Shh,' Maili hushed.  Deirdre's nosy face had snapped into our direction.  'Last night,' she began lowly, 'I bumped into Cameron Anderson.'

I waited for her to continue.  Maili looked at me expectantly. 

'That's it?'

She giggled, 'He was flattering me no end.  He wants to meet me again.  In private.'

I was struck by a sudden anxiety.  Now would be the perfect time to tell Maili about my talk with Alasdair, but he had mentioned that no one should find out about what we were doing.  Surely I could trust Maili?  Maybe not with Deirdre obviously listening in on our conversation a few feet away. I would have to tell her later. 

'Are you going to go?' I asked. I had heard rumors of Cameron's bad behavior in the village tavern from Màthair and Flora's daily gossips.  He was said to not be able to handle his drink and always ended up in some compromising situations.

'I think so.'

I grimaced and Maili noticed.  'Don't be like that, Peigi,' she sighed.

'I'm not, I just- are you sure about this?' I replied.  I sounded like my màthair and instantly wanted to take it back.

'I...well, yes.'

'Okay, then,' I said, 'I won't tell anyone if you cover for me this afternoon.'

Maili looked at me incredulously.  'What are you doing this afternoon?'

Try as I might, I was a horrendous liar, and Maili knew.  'I've got some work to do,' I tried.

'Aye, I'm sure you have,' she replied.

'Will you do it?'

'Just tell me: is it a man you're working on?'

'Maili!' I gasped, feigning absolute disgust.

'That answers that!  I'll be keeping an eye on you, Miss MacDonald.'

Sneaking out of the kitchen was harder than I anticipated.    The clean-up of last night's party meant all hands were on deck in the hall and the kitchen to get everything back to normal.  Thankfully, the servant's halls were slightly quieter than usual; the men of the castle had gone out hunting in the morning and were even joined the Laird himself.   He had made a surprise appearance at the party the night before looking much better and drinking like a young man.

So it was impossible to creep out to the bothan while Seonag was barking orders at everyone, watching out work like an animal watches its prey.  It wasn't until the majority of the work had been done and it went two o'clock that Seonag finally went off to do some work away from me and opened the chance I needed.