Page 31 of A Highland Bride Forgotten
For a while, the two of them sat side by side in silence, Layla clearly shaken by everything she had heard. River couldn’t blame her; it was a lot for one to bear and apart from those closest to her, no one else knew the full truth. Layla was the first person to whom she had said all this, the first person who shared this burden with her.
Now that she was finding the calm after the storm, River couldn’t help but wonder what it was that made her share all this with Layla. She hadn’t known her for that long, after all. Andyet, it seemed so much easier to share all this with her than with Finlay.
Perhaps it’s precisely because she doesnae ken me that well.
River looked at Layla then–at the look of sympathy on her face, at the openness with which she regarded her and everything else around her, the sheer earnestness she always carried–and realized it was not only because Layla didn’t know her well but also because she was genuinely a good, trustworthy person.
“When ye’re ready,” said Layla then, breaking the silence between them, “I will sit with ye and open them. I can open them for ye and ye can read them for me...if ye wish.”
Before she knew it, tears stung River’s eyes. She turned away from Layla and quickly wiped them off with the back of her hand, embarrassed by her overreaction. Layla saw her, perhaps, or perhaps she didn’t; either way, she said nothing more.
River reached for her hand, lacing their fingers tightly together. “Thank ye.”
“Of course, me lady,” said Layla softly. “I’m sure yer brother loves ye. A letter from him sounds...nice. I wish I could have some from me own brothers.”
“They daenae write ye letters?”
“They daenae ken how to write,” Layla pointed out, and River felt too foolish in that moment to respond. “Well! I almost forgot what I came to tell ye! Laird O’Douglas has requested yer presence in his study, he says there will be a meetin’. He also wants ye to speak to the housekeeper regardin’ a feast. And he wishes ye to attend the next hearin’ and also find an apprentice for the healer.”
River blinked in surprise. “He wants me to do all that?”
Layla hesitated for a moment. “Shall I tell him it’s too much?”
“Nay!” River was quick to say. “Nay...it isnae too much. I’m simply...surprised.”
Archer had said, though, that she should be more involved with the clan. Still, it was such an unexpected change, such a sudden twist in the path of her life, that River couldn’t help but find each and every one of his rather reasonable requests quite odd.
“Alright,” River said, slapping her hands on her thighs as she pushed herself to her feet. “Then I might as well go and be the Lady of the Clan.”
11
“They will riot,” said Keir.
“Let them,” said Archer.
“Archer,” Keir said in a stern tone. “They willriot.”
The courtyard was filled with noise from the servants and the few visiting merchants who had come to the walls, and yet Archer and Keir spoke in low voices, heads close together, so that no one else would hear. Keir was right; there would be a lot of resistance, but the plan was solid.
It was more than solid, in fact; it was the kind of plan that they should have implemented a long time ago.
“Keir, the people will starve if we daenae do this,” said Archer. “If the landlords have a problem with me policies, they can come and complain to me.”
“They will,” Keir said. “They most certainly will.”
Of course they will. One can be popular with the people or one can be popular with the wealthy, but nae with both.
And Archer preferred to be popular with his people.
“The plan is good,” Archer insisted. “We shall create a central granary for all the landlords to contribute. They willnae have to donate that much grain if it’s all of them.”
“They daenae wish to donate any grain,” Keir pointed out.
“If we must, we will lower their taxes,” said Archer. “But only if we must. Either way, the most important thing right now is to prevent a famine. Ye heard the men...there isnae enough grain.”
Keir remained silent for a long while—a sign that he agreed with Archer, no matter how reluctantly. They both knew the importance of keeping the people fed, despite the pushback they would receive from the wealthier men. And yet, they both knew the importance of keeping the wealthier men happy, too.
“This wasnae discussed in the last council,” Keir pointed out as they walked past the front gates of the curtain walls. Archer tilted his head in greeting to the guards who bowed to him, taking note of those who were bright and alert and those who seemed to be there only in body and not in spirit.
