by Fiona Faris
"I promise ye that this is nae a betrayal. In fact, ye will be doing Lilia a favor by gettin' her to make the right choice. I will nae disturb her, and I will compensate her with as much gold as she wishes,” he said, pleading with his eyes.
Flora sat down again, and Osgar grinned as he knew that they had succeeded.
Chapter Six
It was the next morning, and Lilia had just finished her breakfast of bread and leftover goats cheese and was cooking some meat for lunch when a knock on her door made her jump.
The night before had been filled with sinful dreams of Uielam, and she had been thinking of his visit the day before since she had awoken. Now her heart was thumping at the sound of a knock.
Could it be them? Did they come back again?
It was with this thought that she ran to answer the door. However, it was not Uielam and Osgar at her door, but Flora Abernathy. Lilia was not sure if she was relieved or disappointed.
"Flora, well met,” she greeted. The noblewoman did not look happy as she stepped into the house and removed her cloak.
"Daenae greet me, me friend, I am here to dae the devil's biddin', and I daenae deserve yer welcome," Flora said. Lilia only raised her brows as she shut the door. She was already used to her friend's dramatic antics.
Flora had situated herself on a stool and was tapping the table rapidly with her fingers.
"What happened?" Lilia asked, going to get her jar of ale to serve her friend.
"That mongrel of a brother of mine bribed me, that's what," Flora thundered. Lilia raised her brows again. She was already used to her friend's colorful tongue, and it was not the worst thing she had called her brother.
Lilia calmly poured two mugs of ale and went to join her friend at the table, sliding one cup to her while sipping from her own.
"Osgar bribed ye?" she asked while Flora was taking a sip of tea. The noblewoman nodded, putting her cup down before she spoke again.
"Ye ken that I have been plannin' to ask me faither for me own estate," Flora began, and Lilia nodded.
After seeing the way that Lilia lived, owning her own cottage, Flora had decided that she no longer wanted to live in her parent's estate and wanted an estate of her own just as her brother did. Lilia understood her reasons as, despite being a noblewoman, she did not own anything but her clothes and jewelry.
Flora's father was more interested in marrying her off and did not think that she will need to own anything since she lived in affluence on his estate and would live in wealth on her husband's estate. He only ever listened to what Flora had to say when she went through her brother.
"Me brother believes that I should have me own estate as well, but yesterday he came to bribe me, claimin' that he will refuse to help me talk to me faither if I daenae help him convince ye to allow Uielam to stay in yer house," Flora explained.
Lilia froze mid-sip of ale. So that was what the bribe was? She should have known when Flora said not to greet her as she was doing the devil's bidding.
"Oh, that is downright despicable," Lilia murmured, putting down her mug. Flora nodded enthusiastically.
"Aye, I said that too! Ye ken how much I want to live like ye," Flora said.
Lilia pursed her lips at that. She still found it funny that, to Flora, living like her meant owning an entire estate complete with a household staff and a stable full of horses. It was times like these that the difference in their status showed. Flora put her hand over hers on the table.
"I ken that right now, we are all being selfish at yer expense. I am truly sorry, but ye see, this is nae bad for ye either. Uielam and me brother will pay ye handsomely. The time will fly by, and it will be over before ye even ken. Also, ye will get to set up rules. If Uielam violates any, ye can kick him out. I truly believe that this would be good for ye too,” she said.
Lilia sighed. The gold was indeed a tempting offer. If she could get enough to stop working as a servant, then it would be worth it. The only real problem was her heart. She was not sure she would be able to resist Uielam if he lived with her. She did not want her heart toyed with.
"Ye ken, if it is ye, I am sure that ye will be able to keep him in check and even whip him into shape," Flora added.
Lilia snorted, that was a dangerous way to think. If she felt like she could change him, then she would begin to have hope.
"Alright, I will dae it. They had better give me enough gold to fund a small army,” Lilia muttered, agreeing. Deep down, she had already wanted to say yes. After all, she had already been dreaming of it.
This is for the gold.
She told herself even as Flora got to her feet and smiled.
"Alright then, let me go inform the devils. I will be right back,” she said. Lilia frowned, angling her head to the side in confusion.
"Ye mean to go back to the castle and return?" she asked. Flora looked slightly surprised.
"Oh, goodness nay, I am simply goin' to the carriage. They are both waitin' there for me to return with the verdict before they see ye themselves," Flora announced.
Lilia froze again. She should not have been surprised as it should have been expected that they would be waiting, but she was not sure if she could handle seeing Uielam again so quickly. Flora opened the door and left with a yell,
"I will return in a moment," she said before shutting the door on Lilia's grunt of acknowledgment.
She looked over her house again, it was still spotless, and the only difference was that there was a fire going in her stone firepit. She finished her ale quickly and went to wash it out, hoping that her movements would help her calm her nerves.
The door opened again and the nobles filed into her little cottage
"Well met Lilia," Osgar said, and she bowed, greeting The Younger then doing the same to Osgar. "Enough gold to fund a small army ey? That can be arranged."
Lilia blinked. It seemed like Flora had taken her words seriously and given them that as a condition. She had been joking, but it looked like they did not have any qualms with it.
"I also have rules, and he must follow them while in me home,” she said, trying to keep her voice from shaking.
"I will dae me best to follow yer rules," Uielam said. Osgar stepped forward and hefted the sizeable bag he was holding unto her table.
Noticing the glint through the small opening, she approached the bag full of wonderment. Her fingers closed around one of the heavy coins, and her heart sped up.
"This is the first part of yer payment. I hope it is to yer satisfaction," he said.
The first part… they will still bring more… This is genuinely a good deal.
She nodded in response. "Aye.. " she said. Happy that everyone now had what they wanted, Osgar smiled triumphantly.
"It is wonderful workin' with ye two. Uielam will be joinin' ye a week to the tournament. It would be best if ye are here, so perhaps ye should inform them at the castle that ye will nae be able to work on that day. Before then, I will stop by to bring a few things that Uielam might need while he stays here," Osgar said.
Lilia nodded absently, astounded by how easily such wealth had made it into her hands.
"That would be all, we will be on our way now,” he announced. The two men showed themselves out, and only Flora stayed back to hug Lilia goodbye.
"I told ye this was good for ye too,” she said, patting Lila's shoulder once before leaving as well.
Flora knew of her plans to stop being a servant, so she knew how much the gold meant to her, although the men did not. Flora would probably have given her enough gold to achieve her dreams if she had that much, but then Flora did not own anything of her own.
She could not believe how easily Uielam had parted with that much gold. Only to achieve something as shallow as proving himself at jousting. He truly was spoiled beyond belief. She had to admit that fact regardless of how she was benefiting from his shallowness.
She pulled the bag of gold off the table, struggling as she carried it into her bedroom and hid it beneath
her floorboards as she had done with the rest of her savings. She kept one gold coin in her hand just to assure her that it was real.
As she sat on her bed, she could not help but consider all she could do with the money she was receiving. She could get a nicer house, and she could even afford one maid, although it would have to be a young girl. She could also get a horse and a cart.
She would be able to stop being a maid, although it would be tough trying to find her footing doing something else, and if her first attempt failed, she would be struggling for food. She raised the coin, looking at it in the light. It was not yet enough to take her out of servitude, but it would probably be enough when she got the second part.
Full of hope, she returned to the meat she had been boiling for lunch and continued her cooking with a smile on her face.
Chapter Seven
The day had finally come, and Uielam was full of excitement. It was a week till the tournament began, and he had donned his battle attire and was riding out of the castle with his trusted men behind him. He waved goodbye to his father, who had come out just to see them off, and he could not help feeling slightly guilty.
Osgar had perfected his plan to the point where absolutely nothing could possibly go wrong. It was simple. Once Uielam was far enough, he would duck into the woods and exchange places with another one of his men who would be waiting in the bushes and then sneak on foot to Lilia's house where he will remain in hiding.
The rest of the plan had also been perfected as Osgar had once again used his connections. This time he had bribed the nephew of the Laird of clan Duffie. The poor young man had fallen in love with Flora at first sight but was too shy to let her know so Osgar promised that he would put in a good word for him in the ears of his sister if the young man would simply not attend the tournament and allow him to use his name.
No one quite knew what the man looked like either since he was only noble due to his relations with the Laird of the Duffie clan, and he was also a shy recluse. Uielam was impressed by how well Osgar had chosen his character.
Osgar had also employed the acting skills of a lonely middle-aged farmer who lived alone in the woods after returning to the clan penniless, with most of his youth wasted away in France. He was a little worse for wear but was of a very similar build to Uielam. All the farmer had to do was to play the role of the nephew of the Duffie clan's Laird when riding out to greet the audience. After that, he would enter a tent and be replaced by Uielam wearing a helmet for the duration of the matches.
The farmer had agreed wholeheartedly as he did not need to do much, the only thing required of him was to smile at a crowd while riding a horse. Uielam could not help but wonder why Lilia had not been as thankful. He waved to his father one last time before kicking his horse, taking the lead as he and his men galloped away.
They rode for five minutes and finally reached the rendezvous point. Uielam dismounted and nodded at his men. They already knew of his plans and had sworn to silence.
"Good luck, men, although ye will nae need it. Go crush the enemies and return victorious,” he said. They all saluted, and he hurried off into the woods. He found the commanding soldier waiting for him in regular civilian clothes.
The young man saluted at the sight of him, and they both changed quickly, Uielam donning the civilian clothes and the soldier taking on his armor. With the switch complete, Uielam patted the young man's shoulders and took off in the cover of the woods, heading for Lilia's cottage.
Walking back took him thirty minutes despite the quick steps he was taking, and he could not help but wish he had taken a horse instead. By the time he arrived at Lilia's cottage, he was tired and thirsty.
Lilia was outside, dusting what appeared to be ash from her firepit onto the bare earth. The sun was shining on her head, making her glow as though she had a halo surrounding her, or perhaps he was just so thirsty that he had begun to see things. She visibly froze when she heard him approach, his footsteps loud as he stepped on twigs, and turned slowly to look at him.
"Well, met Uielam Younger, ye made it,” she said, getting to her feet to greet him. Uielam crossed the distance between them quickly and sat on her doorstep.
"Dae ye have any water? I am rather thirsty,” he said, breathing heavily. He regretted power-walking all the way and wished he had taken breaks on his walk instead. However, he had wanted to reach the cottage as quickly as possible.
Putting down her basket Lilia went into the house and returned quickly with a large wooden cup full of water. Uielam downed half of it quickly, quenching his thirst, and then poured the rest over his head, relishing the coolness of the water.
Satisfied, he turned to Lilia with a grin, holding out the cup.
"Thank ye, I truly needed that,” he said. For a moment, Lilia looked as though struck by lightning, but recovered quickly, taking the cup from him and heading inside.
"Ye may come in when ye are ready,” she said. Uielam could not help the grin that tugged at his lips. Lilia. She had been refusing him and escaping his charms for so long, but now that he would be in her house, she would have no escape.
She was definitely attracted to him, it was an attraction that he saw in her eyes when he smiled at her. He just had no idea why she continued to refuse him. Whatever the reason was, he would make sure to get rid of it during his stay.
…
Lilia had been steeling herself from the moment she woke up that morning, trying to prepare herself for when Uielam showed up. Instead of helping, however, all that did for her was make her twice as nervous as she usually was. It didn’t help that the past few days, her nights had been filled with illicit dreams starring her and Uielam.
It had gotten so bad that she could not look at any inch of her house without blushing in embarrassment from the vivid pictures she had seen in her dreams. She was worried, all the while that she had been in love with Uielam, it was easy to manage as he was far away.
She barely spent any time with him and only saw him briefly in the hallways or while she performed her duties in the castle. In those instances, she always had the option of walking away when her resistance began to crack.
Now she was going to be living with him, in the enclosed space of her little cottage. She would see him in the morning and sleep with him only a few feet away at night if she left her bedroom. It was no wonder that her imaginations were running wild.
Her heart was pounding in her chest as she dropped the cup he had used on the table and went to drop her broom. He had smiled at her when he handed her the cup, and she was still losing her mind. His hair was slicked back from the water, and sparkling droplets hung from his lashes and lips in the sunlight.
Something sparked in her belly and rendered her dumbstruck. Her knees were weak, and all she wanted was to lean down and press her lips to his. He was decidedly too dangerous to be around him too long. Osgar had promised to visit to make sure that they were settling in properly. She could not wait for him to show up.
The door opened, letting her know that Uielam had stepped in. She did not turn around because she was sure that if she did, he would see her weakness.
Just be strong, Lilia, ye are doin’ this for the gold. If ye survive this, then ye will be livin’ a life that would make yer maither proud.
She closed her eyes for a moment, taking deep breaths to calm herself. Her eyes snapped open a second later, however, as she felt Uielam standing behind her.
Way too close! Way too close!
Alarms went off in her head as he looked over her shoulder innocently, his breath on her ear as he spoke. He kept a foot of space between them, only bending forward by the waist with his hands held behind his back.
“Tomatoes? What are ye goin’ to dae with those?” he asked. Her ear tingled as his breath touched her, and she shuddered visibly. Instinctively she tried to escape. She spun around, and Uielam reacted just as quickly, his hands going to hold the platform on either side of her, effectively trapping her body between him and the plat
form.
“Why are ye so jumpy? I didnae touch ye,” he said. She dared a glance up and found his blue eyes laughing. He was teasing her! She pressed her palms to his chest, causing him to lift his brows.
“Ah, ye touched me first,” he said.
“That is because ye are too close!” She thundered.
“Am I? There is a foot between us. Am I that bothersome that a foot is nae enough space between us? It will be problematic if ye think so as yer home is rather small… there is nae much space, so we will brush past each other rather often,” he said, his voice an octave lower for some reason.
Is he tryin’ to seduce me on the first day he comes here?! Just what does he think of me self control?