At the Highlander's Mercy by Terri Brisbin

approaching midday,’ she said, accepting the brush from Beathas and beginning to tame the unruly curls on her head now that the dressing had been removed.
    ‘The laird has given new orders,’ she began. ‘You are to remain here after all.’
    ‘He has? I am?’ Rob had seemed resolute last night, and now?
    ‘Aye. You are to stay in this chamber and the corridor. He said you can walk the length of it if need be,’ Beathas explained. The woman watched her closely as she explained Rob’s new commands about her. Did she think him trying to assuage the guilt from other actions by being kinder now?
    ‘Did anyone argue with him when he ordered this change?’ she asked. Surely Symon and his sister would.
    ‘Did not listen to them,’ she said with a chuckle. ‘He brushed their words aside and said there were too many ways for you to escape through the kitchens. Safer to keep you in here, where no one could get to you and you could no’ get far.’
    With her leg as it was, she could not get down the steps to escape. Hmmm. She had not thought about escape possibilities from thekitchen when she’d been there. She needed to use her mind and keep an eye open for such opportunities. It would take some time for her father to plan his attack and she needed to use that to discover whatever she could about the Mathesons’ strengths and weaknesses. She knew he would try to negotiate first because she was being held.
    So, she would also try to encourage Rob to look for a peaceful way out of this situation for all of them before the MacLeries arrived in force.
    Beathas finished just as Siusan arrived carrying a large basket of clothing and another smaller basket filled with threads and sewing supplies. Lilidh stood to greet her.
    ‘Your work for the day,’ Siusan announced, putting it near the chair on the floor and handing her the smaller basket. If the woman was pleased not to have Lilidh under foot in the kitchens, Lilidh could not tell. Her tone gave no hint of her feelings on the matter.
    ‘What is this?’ she asked, reaching into the basket and pulling out a tunic.
    ‘His lairdship’s laundry, of course. For you to repair.’ Lilidh dropped it back in the basket and looked at Siusan. ‘He has no wife and there is no lady in charge of such things yet.’
    ‘Tyra does not oversee this for Rob?’
    ‘Their betrothal is only a recent thing. Mayhap once this is all settled.’
    Betrothal? Rob was betrothed to that woman and never said anything to her? No small wonder that the lady reacted as she had to Lilidh’s presence in the hall. Especially if she believed Rob and Lilidh were lovers. Wives usually had to learn forbearance when it came to other women their husbands chose and, in the case of lairds and chiefs and nobles, those other women could be quite public.
    Still, betrothed to that woman? A topic to discuss with the man who now claimed her as his and not for this servant’s ears.
    ‘From the kitchens to this,’ she said, bringing their conversation back to the task before her. ‘Is he not afraid I’ll sew all the seams shut? Can I be trusted with scissors?’
    ‘Lady Tyra raised those very questions to the laird.’
    She could see the mirth in the older woman’s blue eyes. Oh, to have been a witness to this scene! It would have almost made things funny. Almost. ‘And?’
    ‘She will not be raising those questions again,’ she explained. ‘The laird made it clear what her position in his hall is and what is his.’
    Stunned that he had taken a public stance against Symon and Tyra on this, Lilidh sat down on the chair and lifted the tunic once more. Searching in the smaller basket, she found a matching thread and began to sew the tear along the seam closed. Embroidering and sewing were always a great way to clear her thoughts and her mother had always encouraged her skill in it.
    ‘I will come back later with more,’ Siusan said as she walked to the door. Beathas left at the same time and she listened