could not breathe filled his heart and soul.
His horse must have sensed the tension, for it began to shift and become skittish beneath him. When he gathered the reins to try to calm it, he dropped one and cursed at his stupidity. Sliding from his seat, he collected the reins and prepared to mount again when he noticed the silence around him. Glancing toward the garden, he did not hear the two any longer. Had they seen him and gone inside?
‘Twould be untoward for him to deliberately approach the woman, so he decided it was time to leave. Duncan chose to walk the horse back to the keep and he was just about to when he saw the blond little head peek over the stone wall that surrounded the garden. He could not help the smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth. Some whispering followed and then he spied her pale hair again. Finally he settled on a new approach, damn it all.
“Good day,” he called out, as he hobbled the horse near the path.
Silence followed his call. Tempted to give up but not willing to, he tried once more. “Good day.”
“Good day, my lord,” the woman said as she rose from her hunched-over position and stood at the gate.
“I am not your lord,” he said, shaking his head. “My name is Duncan.”
Marian knew both of those things, but fought not to reply with the sarcasm she felt. If the truth be told, she was higher in precedence than he and could rightly be called “my lady.” But that life was so far away that she dared not even think of it. “The Peacemaker,” she said instead.
“Just Duncan,” he answered as he walked toward the gate. “And you are called…?” he asked her.
She hesitated for a moment, dreading and anticipating the sound of her name on his lips, but she answered in spite of her fears. “I am called Mara.”
The gate opened and Ciara ran out. She stopped a few steps from Marian and her eyes widened as she caught sight of his horse. Her mouth dropped open in awe and although she tried to say something, no words could be heard. Then only one.
“Pretty,” she whispered on a sigh.
“Ciara,” Marian called. “Come away now with mama.”
Ignored because of the animal, Marian grew nervous and held out her hand to her daughter. “Ciara, my sweet, come to mama now.” She took a step, but Ciara was faster and bolted in the direction of the horse. Marian froze in fear.
Luckily the man called the Peacemaker did not. With little effort, he leaned down and intercepted her daughter before she could pass. And, in an effort that was made apurpose, he lifted her up and swung her around to make it seem a game. By the time he’d circled her around once, Marian reached his side.
“My thanks, sir,” she said, reaching out to take her from him. Instead he gathered Ciara in his arms and took a step toward his horse. “Sir, please!”
“Fear not, Mara. I would but show her the horse. If you would permit it?” he asked before taking another step.
Marian watched as Ciara settled into his arms, leaning against his chest and examining everything in her world from this new height. Pointing to the horse, she uttered that word again. “Pretty.”
Then, the daughter who never talked to strangers and never strayed more than a step from her side abandoned her completely.
“What is his name?” she asked the man, even as she leaned toward the horse, forcing Duncan to move or risk dropping her on the ground. With a quick nod of consent Marian freed him and then followed right behind as they approached the horse.
“He has no name. I call him ‘horse’,” he answered.
Ciara laughed then and for a moment Marian could not decipher the expression in his eyes when he watched her daughter laugh aloud. The same ones she thought were so hard and ungiving melted, and yet now she witnessed a longing there so strong it made her knees almost buckle beneath her. And then it was gone as quickly as it happened. He carried her closer, but stopped a few paces away.
“We must let him learn us or he will try to run,” he explained in a calm voice. “Let him learn your smell.”
Ciara giggled then as though that was the funniest thing she’d ever heard. The horse’s ears pricked up and he snorted once and then again, watching them get closer now.
“‘Tis true, lass. We all smell funny to horses and you have to let them learn what you smell like before you get close.”
She watched as he took her daughter’s hand and held it out to the horse. Whether it was her daughter’s scent or its master’s that it recognized, the horse calmed and gently nudged both of them. Ciara turned back to her with the greatest smile on her face.
“He would become your friend if you gave him something to eat,” Duncan said seriously. “Horses like food.”
“I have none to give him,” Ciara said.
Shaking her head, she looked around as though she would find something on the ground. Before she could answer, Duncan reached beneath his cloak and took out the stub of a carrot.
“Ah,” he said, “here’s just the thing.”
Under his guidance, Ciara took hold of it and held it out to the horse, who first sniffed it and then pulled it into its mouth. Ciara laughed again, claiming it tickled.
In that moment, Marian’s world tilted before her.
No man had ever held her daughter so. No man had made her laugh this way. No man.
Now, there she sat in the arms of a stranger, feeding his horse and giggling over the way its wet tongue felt against her palm. Marian stumbled then, just a step or two, but enough that he noticed it and he reached his free hand out to steady her.
“Are you ill, mistress?”
“Nay, sir. Not ill, just a bit dizzy,” she said. Marian reached up to take Ciara from him, but he shook his head and stepped back.
“You cannot carry her if you are unbalanced.” He noticed Ciara staring at her, the enthusiasm of the horse now waning as she must have picked up on Marian’s concern. “Your mama is worried about us being so close to such a big horse. Come, let’s look at him from a bit further away then.”
He walked toward the cottage and crouched down to lower Ciara to her feet. Instead of letting her go, he spoke softly to her, telling her about how old the horse was, and how many teeth it had and its favorite foods. Marian felt as though she’d regained her balance by the time he stood and smiled at her.
“I am sorry if it made you worry. I meant no harm,” he said.
Looking at Ciara’s face and the pure joy that shone there, she knew he had not. “My thanks for such kindness to my daughter.”
“‘Twas nothing, Mara.” His voice poured through her and he turned his attention to her as he had to her daughter just minutes ago. “‘Tis not often I find a woman, although she is a wee bit younger than most I speak with, who likes my brute of a horse as much as I do.”
She laughed, for she doubted he ever had trouble finding women to talk to…or
