The Highlander's Destiny (Highland Rogues #2) - Mary Wine Page 0,12

sorry to say, ye will no’ be going anywhere today,” Faolan informed her.

“The snow is early,” Cora agreed. “It shouldn’t last.”

“All the way up here, there is no way to tell,” Gainor said. “Damn poor luck it is, for our kitchen women went down to the McKay castle a day past. The women split the duty here. The ones who were assigned the winter would have turned back when the storm began to brew.”

The two newcomers grunted, clearly less than pleased with the circumstances.

“We’ll manage,” Faolan stated firmly. “The lot of ye sound like newly weaned babes. We’ve work to finish before the sunlight fades. What fare is set on the supper table will mean very little if our enemies arrive to slit our throats because we did nae attend to building the walls.”

Whoever Faolan was, he turned, and the men followed him. Cora watched them as they moved off toward the second tower. A wall was being built alongside it. His rolled-up sleeves made sense as Faolan began to join his men in hefting large stones into position. Several other men were engaged in making mortar. There were over three dozen McKay Retainers working.

They were racing against the seasons. Snow covered the rocks piled near the building site. Two huge caldrons sat on top of pits where fires were built. The scent of lime was heavy on the wind. All of it must have been transported to the remote site at no small expense. Somewhere, there were more workmen splitting and shaping the stones.

She looked over the two towers. Someday, there would be a full fortification there. She could see the wisdom of it. The McKays were guarding against invasion from the Irish, the Northmen, and England.

So, who was Faolan to be given such a remote command?

It’s none of yer concern….

It wasn’t, and yet, she was here. The men were doing hard labor. She might jump in beside them, but the facts as Gainor had laid them out made it plain there was another essential task that needed to be seen to.

It seems ye can nae escape the role of a woman after all.

Cora grinned at her own thoughts. There was something different about the way she felt in that moment as she went searching for the kitchens. When her brother’s Head-of-House had demanded she learn how to turn bread, the task had struck her as unfair because she was being assigned it for being a woman. Today, though, the men of the McKay made her feel far more appreciated. Essential even. She wasn’t just another woman. Now, she was the only woman.

And they all needed to eat.

Of course, food didn’t have to be a pleasant experience. Riding with the Mackenzie Retainers, she’d learned to be thankful for rabbit cooked over the open flames of a peat fire. Returning home was a bright moment that included the scent of fresh-baked bread with creamy butter. There was nothing quite like the first taste of it or the way sitting down to a meal inside the great hall made her feel truly at home in a way she hadn’t appreciated until she’d been living rough on the road for a week. Filling her belly was a necessity, but sharing supper with friends and family was a treat.

Many thought her unfeminine for riding out. But Cora wouldn’t trade the experience for any amount of praise. No, she’d learned a lesson about being appreciative of what her home offered. It was a deeply personal one that she understood the value of. To be sure, many would lecture her on the fact that she’d not have been fighting for her life if she’d stayed in her place. Aye, once more, she acknowledged the truth of the matter, and yet, she wouldn’t trade her experiences for less pain. It was the truth that she felt as though she was fully awake now.

The second tower was much wider, clearly intended to be the main residence. The presence of the kitchen was announced with the scent of cooking stew. Yet even as starving as she was, the smell permeating the air wasn’t pleasing.

Gainor’s grumbling suddenly made far more sense.

Cora’s belly rumbled again. She made it to the back of the first floor of the tower. It served as a great hall, although it was modest in comparison to the one at the Mackenzie stronghold. Still, there was a sense of achievement in the place. Everything had been carved out of the desolate spot. The men who had