Lady Eilean

Chapter 22

After a quick bath and a change of clothes, Alex met me in my office. A fire roared in the fireplace for the first time in over a year. I enjoyed warming my toes and fingers by the blaze. Calum's men could have supplied firewood for the office, but I had prioritized their efforts on hunting and keeping the great hall dormitory warm instead.

The room sweltered with heat; it was cozy. The addition of my friend's presence made me drunk on joy. I gave Alex a detailed rundown of the last three years and what I had salvaged of Stormway's prestige. My efforts were hardly worth boasting about.

Granaries and pantries depleted. The fields were a marshy, mismanaged disaster. Account books were rife with unpaid debts and taxes. My father had diverted most of the money from legitimate responsibilities to warmongering. Or, that is what the scribbled pages in my father's ledgers suggested. Tenants' rents were overdue by two years. Children hadn't been in school since the previous spring. It was harrowing to lay the entire mess out in front of him, to expose my incompetence to his scrutiny. To his credit, Alex listened sympathetically, nodding along with my tale of woe and asking pertinent questions. He did not judge, and he did not scold. I would have welcomed either and felt I deserved both.

Over dinner, at the end of what had become an eternal day, I regaled Alex with the tale of Calum's arrival, vow, and subsequent departure. He listened enraptured, his mouth open in a half-cocked grin. His fork was frozen in mid-air, laden with food.

And the food, oh, the food. I stuffed myself silly on the first full plate I had enjoyed in nearly a lifetime. Roasted chicken, buttery potatoes. Thick, warm brown bread drizzled with golden honey and topped with goat cheese, nuts, and seeds. Aspiring for gluttony, I mixed an extra dollop of goat cheese into my potatoes. A bowl of fresh apples, bright and tempting, their red flesh glided by the firelight, sat between us. A towering plate of cinnamon buns made the air smell sticky and sweet. Even better was the large jug of mulled wine, heady with spices and fragrance.

"And he just fell to his knees mid-meal and swore his men and arms to you?" Alex questioned.

"That's precisely what happened," I said with a still-baffled raise of my eyebrows. It had been a month since Calum's pledge, and the moment still amazed and beguiled me.

"What in the world did you do to him, Eilean?" Alex laughed, finally eating his suspended forkful.

"Nothing!" I squealed in amusement. "I'm sure there are strategic advantages to being my sworn man. The Mainland could still invade, of course. Even I would want to be friends with the person immediately in the line of fire. Calum claims he wants to build a 'new world', to seize the opportunity from the ashes of this war." I rolled my eyes good-naturedly. With a shrug, I sipped my wine. "The folly of a young man new to his power, I guess."

Alex eyed me warily, then lifted his eyes to the ceiling and thought it through. "I wouldn't be so quick to discount someone with a new vision. Who says the world we inhabit has to be the one we live in or leave behind?"

Considering that, I said, "I think you'd like him. He's a bit of a pirate... very smooth and self-assured, but entertaining to have around."

"Then I look forward to making his acquaintance," Alex said, offering me a cheer with his goblet. "Aside from his dashing nature, what made you accept his pledge?"

With a dry laugh, I looked down. Buying time, I swirled my fork through the remnants of my potatoes. Drew a few cross hatches in the soft mush before scraping it up and cleaning my plate. When I had my answer, I raised my eyes and found Alex waiting patiently — his eyes watchful.

"I wanted more." I declared.

Thinking back, I recalled the bright, beautiful day of Walther's wedding. A day that shimmered in my memory, a vision of a world that no longer seemed real. Had I once lived in such peace and comfort? Alex had asked me a question, sizing me up over a bed full of wriggling frogs.