Page 13 of A Nameless Highland Laird
Charlotte straightened her back and went for the door. Just as Elizabeth had said, a servant stood in the hall, waiting for her to appear. As soon as she stepped out of her chambers, the maid pushed off the wall and started walking without a word. She dutifully followed the maid as she began to wonder if none of the servants would talk to her. It was not what she was used to. It made Charlotte feel like an inconvenience rather than a person. And it was the first thing she would change once she was made lady of the castle.
After a brisk walk, the maid stopped outside of another set of double doors and gestured.
“Just through here, Miss.”
The woman’s voice was small and hard to hear, but Charlotte understood well enough. What she couldn’t make out was why she hadn’t been taken to the Great Hall. Putting it out of her mind, Charlotte pasted on a smile and schooled the rest of her features into what she hoped would be pleasing to the Laird. She needed him to agree to sign the peace treaty, she needed tonight to go perfectly.
Giving a nod to the men stationed outside the doors, they moved, turning the knobs and pushing back the wooden panels to reveal a small, quiet dining room. It looked more like her father’s breakfast hall than the set up for a feast.
She didn’t have the time to ask any questions as Laird Knox turned to greet her.
He hadn’t changed. It was the first thing she noticed about him. He still wore the ill fitting coat and breeches that had more than one spot of soot on them. His hair looked as though he had raked his fingers through it several times, dishelving it entirely. Suddenly, her new gown and fine jewels felt out of place and unwarranted.
Charlotte froze. Once again, she found herself at a complete loss as to what to do next. Laird Knox offered her a small smile, stretching the corners of his face, moving the muscles so awkwardly that she got the idea he hadn’t smiled much. She returned the gesture, but stayed quiet as she tried to find her bearings.
“Dinner is served,” a booming voice announced at just the right moment.
She tried not to let the relief show on her face as she crossed the room to one of the two seats offered. A servant stepped behind her, pushing her chair all the way in. Laird Knox moved to the other seat, yanking on the back of the seat so he had room to slide in. Once he was seated, he picked the chair up and scooted it closer to the table, making a horrible noise as he went. Even the servants couldn’t hide the shock on their faces.
Luckily, a stream of maids bustled in carrying trays of meats and cheeses, along with two bowls of stew. A steaming loaf of bread was placed in the center of the table, in between two small vases of flowers. It all looked incredibly tasty, though it was not the feast she had prepared herself for.
There were no other guests to make introductions with, no music to dance to. When the hustle and bustle of the servants had stopped, there was only her and Laird Knox to fill the empty, awkward spaces of the meal.
Charlotte sat with her hands folded in her lap, waiting. What she was waiting for, she didn’t know. But this wasn’t her home and so far, everything had been done so differently that she didn’t want to make another misstep. The Laird sniffed loudly and then picked up his plate and began filling it. He leaned over food and made a bit of a mess with the utensils, but she tried not to notice. Following his lead, Charlotte started filling her plate as well, though with much less mess. For the things that were out of reach, she allowed one of the maids to help her, keeping her from soiling her sleeves as Laird Knox just had.
With their plates full of food and their glasses full of wine, she was ready to start eating. Stabbing a small piece of meat with her fork, she brought it to her mouth when Laird Knox waved his hand.
“Ye are all dismissed.”
Her fork froze halfway to her mouth.
One by one, each of the servants filed out of the room, disappearing into the rest of the castle to do their other chores. They all moved slowly, looking between each other, not truly believing that they had just been ordered away from helping serve the meal. Charlotte couldn’t understand it either.
First, there was no welcoming party to greet her. Then there was no feast to celebrate their engagement and her arrival. Now, she was to have dinner alone with Laird Knox, tucked into a back room, without so much as a maid to help serve the meal. None of it made sense to her. At every turn, he surprised her with more indifference and lack of formalities.
Laird Knox, on the other hand, seemed entirely unbothered. He shoveled food into his mouth, using his fork more like a rake. Juice from the meat dripped onto his shirt and down to his lap, but he didn’t notice.
Only when the door was closed and she was truly alone with her future husband did Charlotte begin eating.
The sounds of them chewing filled the room, highlighting for her just how uncomfortable the entire thing was. She desperately tried to think of something to say, some way to break the tension. All she could come up with was a measly attempt at gratitude. It would have to do.
“I—” she cleared her throat, set down her fork, and dabbed a napkin at the corners of her mouth. “I wanted to thank ye, Laird. Yer hospitality has been…unlike anything I have encountered before. My rooms are absolutely lovely. And yer staff, they are all so efficient.”
It was the best she could offer under the bizarre circumstances.
“I am pleased ye like them,” he answered through a mouth full of food.
She took another bite, moving much more slowly than he did, as she nodded, trying to think of another topic of conversation.
It wasn’t that she particularly wanted to converse with him. She spoke more out of her need to be polite, her desire to accomplish her father’s goals. If she was going to have anything more to write in the next letter, she needed to get Laird Knox to start talking sooner or later.
“I have never been to a dinner so small. Even in my father’s castle, there always seemed to be a surplus of kin and council around. Is that nae the case here?” she asked, her tone light and airy.
He swallowed another large chunk of bread, washing it down with a huge swig of ale. With the back of his hand, he wiped his mouth and then sat up straight, with his elbows on the arm rests, before looking at her to answer her question.
“Nay. There is nae other family here. In fact, I rarely eat anywhere besides my study these days. I am sure the servants appreciated having something to do with their day, preparing this room for us.”
They both took his words to look around the space a bit more. Deep red curtains hung on the walls, covering the windows and the now dark world that lay outside them. Fresh candles were lit and hung all over the room, providing them with plenty of light. She could tell that the table had been freshly polished, as had the floors and every other surface in the room.
