“And did ye not say me nay?”
“Not exactly, I didn’t realize it was a command, and I just couldn’t leave what I was doing at that moment.”
“Katherine, if I ask ye to do something, I expect ye to do it. I don’t care what else ye are doing at the time. I will not tolerate defiance. Don’t do it again.”
His anger seemed diffused and she ate in silence for a few minutes before asking, “Just so I’m clear, what do you mean by ‘defiance’?”
Looking even more astounded, he asked, “Do ye truly not understand what the word ‘defiance’ means?”
“Oh, nay,” Katherine said lightly, “I understand what it means, I am just wondering if it means the same thing to both of us.”
A muscle in Niall’s jaw twitched. “Defiance means willful disobedience. Do we understand each other?”
“Aye, I think we do. So you agree I didn’t defy you and your anger is misplaced.”
“Ye didn’t—I—what?”
“Well, I didn’t realize I had been given a command, thus I couldn’t have made a conscious or willful choice not to follow it. So based on your definition, I didn’t defy you, I was simply confused and you shouldn’t be angry.” Katherine calmly turned her attention back to her trencher.
Niall stared blankly at her for a moment. He chuckled softly, but soon his chuckles evolved to uproarious laughter. When he finally had control of himself again he said, “My lady, I apologize. In the future I will try to make my wishes clearer.”
“It will certainly save you a tremendous amount of upset if you do,” she said imperiously and he laughed again.
When he had stopped laughing and they were no longer the center of attention, she put her hand on his arm, leaned towards him again, and said in a voice only he could hear, “Niall, please don’t always assume the worst from me. It was a misunderstanding. I would never intentionally defy you.”
Katherine had no idea how difficult that simple request was for him.
Ten
Fingal had said Niall “protects his own,” but it took Katherine a while to really understand what that meant. She loved to go riding, but she had been so focused on the management of Duncurra, she hadn’t been on Eachann’s back since the day she arrived. On one late summer day, the open heath outside of Duncurra’s walls practically called to her. She needed to replenish some of her herbs, so she gathered the supplies required for collecting them and headed to the stables. When she asked a stable hand to saddle Eachann for her, he seemed confused and asked, “Are ye riding to the village?”
“I need to gather some medicinal herbs,” she answered by way of explanation.
“In the village?”
She laughed. “Nay, lad, there are not many herbs growing in the village.”
The boy looked uncomfortable and asked, “So ye are planning to ride outside the walls?”
She laughed again. “Aye, lad. I will need to if I want to gather herbs.”
“Then where is your escort, my lady?”
“My escort? I don’t need any help.”
Looking even more uncomfortable, he said, “My lady, ye can’t ride outside the walls of Duncurra without an escort. It wouldn’t be safe. The laird would never allow it. If ye will wait a bit, I will find the laird or Diarmad so an escort can be arranged.”
She smiled at him and said, “Nay, lad. Thank you, but I don’t wish to pull anyone away from more important work.”
Disappointed, she left the stables. It seemed silly to tie up man-power with an escort, especially since she didn’t really need to ride, she just wanted to for the enjoyment of it. She could gather much of what she required just beyond the village, so she strolled down the sloping crag, through the village. When she reached the barbican, the watch there stopped her. “My lady, I can’t let ye pass.”
“Excuse me?” she asked, not quite believing what she heard. “I’m just going to gather some herbs in the heath beyond the village.”
“I’m sorry, my lady, if ye will just wait a moment, I will send for a guardsman to go with ye.”
“That really won’t be necessary,” said Katherine, feeling a bit irritated. “I’m not going far.”
“I’m sorry, my lady, but the laird would not want ye to go outside Duncurra’s walls without an escort. It will only take a few minutes to fetch one of the guardsmen,” he said, motioning to another of the men-at-arms to go and do just that.
Katherine put her hand up to stop him. “Nay, thank you, but it isn’t necessary.” She turned to walk back through the village and up the hill to the keep. This is completely ridiculous. How was she supposed to gather the supplies she needed? She certainly had no intention of arguing with a stable boy or men-at-arms when they only followed orders, but she would have a discussion about it with Niall as soon as she could be alone with him.