Nodding, Alpin turned and led the way back to the master bedchamber. When he reached to open the door, she stopped him and urged him aside to do it herself. Easing it open, she peered inside and saw that both Niels and Conran were still snoring fit to wake the dead. She relaxed and urged Alpin in. Saidh was about to follow when the sound of a door clicking closed up the hall caught her ear. Turning sharply, she peered in that direction, but there was no one in the hall.
Frowning, she hesitated, but then shrugged and slipped into the master bedchamber. She eased the door closed, then glanced around for Alpin. The boy had grabbed one of the torches from the wall and now held it over the low burning flames in the fireplace to light it.
“ ’Tis dark in there,” Alpin whispered for explanation as she joined him.
Saidh merely nodded, not surprised. The secret passage at Buchanan was dark as a pit as well. She supposed all secret passages were.
Straightening with his now lit torch, he turned to peer at the wall next to the fireplace, then reached up and pressed on a smaller stone at his chest level. There was a grumble of sound as a portion of the wall slid inward and Saidh glanced nervously toward her brothers, but both remained soundly sleeping.
Letting her breath out with relief, she gestured for Alpin to lead the way, then followed him into the narrow passage.
“We have to push it closed,” Alpin whispered once they were both inside.
Saidh nodded and turned to press both hands to the large stone door, surprised when it took the lightest push to make it close. Large as it was she’d expected it would be a harder task. It must have some kind of weight and pulley system, she supposed.
“This way,” Alpin said, turning to head up the dark, narrow corridor.
“I am surprised ye’re willing to show me the passage,” Saidh commented quietly as she followed him. “I thought ye did no’ approve o’ me fer yer laird’s wife.”
“ ’S truth, I did no’,” Alpin admitted in a wry little voice. “But I’ve change me mind.”
“Ha’e ye?” she asked with interest. “Why? I’m still no much o’ a lady. I curse and carry a sword and ha’e a filthy temper.”
“Aye, but so does me laird,” he said on a sigh, and then added, “But I think me laird loves ye.”
Saidh stopped walking at this news and stared at the boy’s back as he continued forward, the torch leaving him in silhouette. His words had knocked the wind from her. Greer? Love her?
The boy said he thought Greer loved her, Saidh’s common sense pointed out. It wasn’t as if Greer had confessed it to the lad or something and it was a certainty. Still . . . what if he did? For her husband to love her would be . . . well, she thought that would be just fine. Wonderful in fact. Because she suspected she was coming to love the big, stupid stubborn man herself. How could she not? He’d done nothing but fuss over her the last three days since she’d woken from her long sleep.
While she and Alpin occupied the bed, Greer had taken to sleeping on a pallet on the floor next to her to remain close. He was usually awake and gone by the time she woke in the morning, but always returned to share the nooning meal with them, and then again at sup. Afterward, Greer didn’t retire below to drink with the men, but sat and played chess or nine-men’s morris, or any number of other games to entertain them.
The first night, Saidh had been too tired to play and left it to him and Alpin while she dozed in the bed, listening to their quiet voices. The second day she’d managed to stay awake and play a game or two against him. Much to her amazement he’d won more games than her. He had a fine strategic mind. She’d also asked him questions about his time as a mercenary and he’d regaled her with tales of battle and life as a soldier until she’d begun to nod off. Then he’d urged her to lie down and had tucked the linens and furs around her, pressing a kiss to her forehead before settling into his furs on the floor next to her. Saidh had lain silently for a bit, then turned onto her side. She’d been just drifting off to sleep when she’d felt his hand clasp hers where it rested on the edge of the bed.
Last night the three of them had played games, laughed and chatted for hours before exhaustion had again made her settle in bed and snuggle down to sleep. He had again tucked the furs about her and settled onto his pallet. He’d also taken her hand again and Saidh had drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face.
“Besides,” Alpin continued, unaware of how his comment had affected her. “I’ve been thinking.”
Forcing herself to start forward again, Saidh murmured, “Oh? And what ha’e ye been thinking?”
“Well, me ma and da are both very proper. Ye’d ne’er catch me ma cussing or wearing braies under her gown,” he assured her in a dry voice as he led her around a corner to the left. “As fer me da, he ne’er loses his temper or swears either. But . . .”
“But?” she prompted curiously.
“Well, they are me parents, so ’tis probably a sin fer me to say this, but they’re no’ good nobles.”
Saidh remained silent, not sure what to say to encourage the boy to continue. Sharing a sickbed with the boy, she’d seen the scars on Alpin’s back and knew someone had whipped him viciously and repeatedly. She was positive Greer would never do it, so could only think it must have been his parents.
“Me mother seems sweet. She simpers and keeps her eyes lowered. She is always proper in company. But she lies near every time she opens her mouth and she’s definitely less than proper when she raises her skirts for me da’s first.”
Saidh stopped walking again, her jaw dropping in shock.
“As fer me da, I ha’e ne’er e’er heard a cuss slip from his lips, and he ne’er loses his temper, e’en the time I accidentally broke his favorite inkwell, which was a gift from the king and one o’ his most prized possessions. He just smiled coldly, grabbed his whip and punished me, the whole time just smiling that cold smile. Then he ordered one o’ the maids to clean the blood away and put some salve on me back and walked away.”