Saving Grace

Still, there was always more than one way into a castle. Her mother used to whisper that reminder to Joha

Unbeknownst to her mother, Joha

Joha

She turned her attention to straightening up the chamber. She made the bed, swept the floor, unpacked her clothes and put them away in the chest, and then tucked her three satchels under the bed. She was in a hurry to get outside, for it had turned out to be a glorious day. When she tied the fur covering back from the window, sunlight flooded the chamber. The scent of the Highlands filled the air. The view was breathtaking. The meadow below was as green as emeralds. The hills beyond were thick with giant pine and oak trees. Splashes of color dotted the landscape; red, pink, and purple wildflowers clustered together along a winding path that seemed to lead all the way to heaven.

After eating a small meal, Joha

Finding the little boy turned out to be quite a challenge. She went downstairs and stood at the entrance to the great hall, waiting for one of the soldiers to notice her. There were four men tearing at the far wall and another three high up on the roof, working on the slats.

Everyone seemed to notice her at once. The pounding stopped. Since they were all staring at her, she made a curtsy in greeting before asking if they knew where Alex might be.

No one answered her. She was feeling extremely selfconscious. She repeated her question but kept her gaze centered on the soldier standing in front of the hearth. He smiled, scratched his beard, and then shrugged at her.

Finally Gabriel's first-in-command explained. "They don't understand you, m'lady."

She turned to the soldier and smiled. "They speak only Gaelic, m'lord?"

"Aye," he answered. "They speak only Gaelic. Please, you needn't call me your lord. I'm only a soldier here. Calum will do."

"As you wish, Calum."

"You're a bo

He seemed embarrassed giving her that compliment. "Thank you," she answered, wondering what the word bo

She turned back to the men watching her and asked them her question in Gaelic. She frowned with concentration. The language was difficult, tongue twisting in fact when she was so nervous inside, but when she'd finished her question, only one of the older men openly winced. The others smiled.

Still no one answered her. They all turned to stare at the hem of her gown. She looked down to see if something was amiss. Then she turned to Calum, hoping for an explanation. His eyes, she noticed, sparkled with amusement. "You asked them if they'd seen your feet, m'lady."

"I meant to ask if they'd seen Gabriel's son," she explained. Calum gave her the proper word to use. She again turned and repeated her question.

The men shook their heads. She thanked them for their attention and turned to leave. Calum hurried ahead of her to open the door.

"I must work on my accent," she a

Aye, she was making a muck of it, Calum thought to himself. He wasn't about to agree, however, because he didn't want to injure her feelings.

"The men appreciate the fact that you're trying, m'lady."

"It's the burr, Calum," Joha

"How?" he asked.

"From this moment on, speak only Gaelic when you address me. I believe I'll catch on much quicker if your language is all I hear."

"Certainly," Calum agreed in Gaelic.

"Excuse me?"

"I said certainly, m'lady," Calum explained.

She smiled. "Have you seen Alex?"

He shook his head. "He might be down at the stables," he said. He spoke in Gaelic and pointed in the direction of the stables in an attempt to help her guess what he'd just said.

Because she was concentrating on interpreting what he was saying to her, she barely paid any attention to what was going on in the courtyard. There were soldiers everywhere, but she didn't notice what they were doing.

She finally figured out what Calum had said, blurted out her thank you, and went ru

She suddenly found herself in the middle of a sparring exercise. Calum grabbed her by her shoulders and pulled her back just in the nick of time. A lance nearly sliced her down the middle.

One of the Maclaurin soldiers let out a loud expletive. Gabriel had been watching the sparring from the opposite side of the yard. He saw his wife's near miss and immediately shouted a halt to the training session.

Joha

"Pray forgive me, sir. I wasn't watching where I was going."

The dark-haired soldier gave her a quick nod. Calum still had his hands on her shoulders. He gently tugged her back.

She turned to thank him for his quickness in coming to her aid. She spotted her husband coming her way. Her smile faltered when she took in the look on his face.

The soldiers were all staring at her. The MacBain warriors were smiling. The Maclaurins were frowning.

That mixed reaction confused her. Then Gabriel was standing in front of her, blocking her view. His attention was centered on Calum. He didn't say a word, just frowned at the soldier. Joha

Her heart started pounding with her fear. She desperately tried to hold onto her composure. She wasn't about to let him know how frightened she was.

She decided not to give him time to berate her. "I was very inattentive, m'lord, sinfully so. I could have been killed."

He shook his head. "You could not have been killed. You insult Calum by suggesting he would have allowed you injury."

She wasn't going to argue with her husband. "I meant no insult," she said. She turned to Calum. "Please accept my apology. I wished to soften my husband's anger with me by being the first to acknowledge my foolishness."