Chapter 3

“This is ridiculous.” Ilyssa marched up and down the bedchamber.

Catreena, in contrast, laid back peacefully on the bed nearest the fire. Her blonde hair was tangled around her head, and she smiled to herself as the fire warmed her.

“What is?” Catreena asked through a yawn.

Ilyssa stopped pacing and turned to her friend. “Catreena, dae ye nae think it mad how often our brothers go drinking in taverns and we’re made tae sit at home?”

“I suppose they think we’re dutiful women,” Catreena scoffed and made a gagging sound.

“Or they think we’re meek as mice. Nay tonight, Cat, nay tonight.” Ilyssa moved toward the bed, looking at her friend with her hands on her hips.

“I ken that look. Oh nay.” Catreena raised her hands and covered her face. “What is it ye are plotting now?”

“Who said I was plotting anything?”

“I ken ye.” Catreena lowered her hands. “Last time ye had that look in yer eyes, ye and I and Kira stole out of the castle and went swimming. I dinnae think I’ll ever forget Bran’s face when he saw ye climbing out of that loch in nothing but yer chemise.”

“Cat!” Ilyssa swatted her friend’s arm. “How can ye talk that way?”

“Ye shocked him.” Catreena sat up. “That’s all.”

Ilyssa had to calm her suddenly racing heartbeat. For a second, she had thought Catreena meant Bran had looked at her with something like lust in his eyes. Abruptly dizzy, she sat down on the bed behind her.

She pictured that day again as she and Kira had walked out of the water, drenched to the bone, with Bran moving toward her. His handsome face was turned to hers. Now that she thought about it, he had not looked anywhere else. He hadn’t even searched for Kira or Catreena. His eyes had been on her, but she could not recall anything curious in them, certainly nothing that amounted to heat.

She felt suddenly frustrated.

“Let’s get out of here.”

“What!?” Catreena sat up so fast that she nearly fell off the bed and into the fire. They both yelped in fear then exchanged an amused look. “Are ye wanting tae run away? Ilyssa, they said they would sort it. That ye wouldnae have tae marry this man –”

“I ken all of that.” Ilyssa waved her hands impatiently. “But I dinnae have tae wait here like a mild mouse as they saunter off and have all the fun.”

“I am nae sure I want the sort of fun yer braither has.” Catreena wrinkled her nose.

“I dinnae ken.” Ilyssa couldn’t help smiling. “That sort of fun could be interesting. Have ye never wondered what it is like? Tae lay with a man?”

“I’m certainly nae up fer finding out tonight!” Catreena threw herself back down on the bed and pulled the blankets over her head. “Dae me a favor and dinnae mention such things and yer braither in the same breath. I dinnae want tae think of him like that.”

Ilyssa stood and reached for the covers, tearing them off Catreena to look at her friend’s face.

“I’m talking of just going out fer a drink. Bran and Tad have gone tae one tavern, but there’s another in town. We passed it on our way in. Let’s go there fer a drink. Why can we nae have a little fun, Cat?”

Catreena bit her lip in the way that was all too familiar to Ilyssa.

She’s tempted…

“Bran would never need find out?” Catreena asked.

“Nay, yer Papa Bran never needs tae find out,” Ilyssa said with a laugh.

“Dinnae call him that.”

“He is the most fatherly amongst ye. Aye, I promise, he has nay need tae find out.” Ilyssa sat down on the edge of Catreena’s bed, just as her friend sat up. “We can go out for that drink, enjoy ourselves, then sneak back in without them ever discovering we left this room at all. What dae ye say?”

Catreena bit her lip again.

“What’s this really about?” Catreena asked. “Just a chance fer fun? Or is it… something more?”

Ilyssa didn’t answer right away. She was known enough for mischief that she had hoped it wouldn’t raise suspicion, but she could hardly deny that there was more at stake.

“I cannae just lay down and try tae sleep when me head is full of fears of what is tae come,” she said in a rush, desperate to get the words out and over and done with. “I need a distraction, Cat. Please?”

Catreena hesitated for a minute, but Ilyssa’s hope swelled within her. It would hardly be the first time that Ilyssa had persuaded Catreena to bend the rules a little in their lives. She had been doing it since they were very young, even if Bran occasionally told them off for pushing their rule breaking too far.

“Aye, very well, let’s go fer that drink.” Catreena stood from the bed.

Ilyssa smiled and excitedly jumped up.

“But there is one rule.” Catreena held her finger up in the air between them. “We are just going fer a drink, Ilyssa. Ye may be curious about other things in life as yer braither is, but I willnae be discovering them tonight.”

Ilyssa giggled. Now that Catreena had put the thought in her head, she couldn’t help wondering what it would be like, to share herself with a man. When Bran’s face suddenly appeared in her mind, she thrust it away forcefully.

“Let’s go.” She snatched up a warm wolf’s fur and hastened to the door.