Chapter 3

Skye chose to return to the dining room after seeing the servants leave.

She made her way with soft steps toward her seat.

 "Here I am," she said. "I wasn't late, was I?" Added avoiding looking at them. "Oh, dessert is here too. Lovely!" she said, trying to make her excitement sound realistic. Wearing a big smile, she served some of the forest fruits and nuts on her plate. She took a blackberry with her fingers and put it in her mouth. Her aunt turned and looked at her; her eyes opened wide. Skye took the message and picked up her fork.

"Is everything okay, Skye?" Uncle asked her as he took his cup to drink some of his drink- he wanted to appear calm and that it was a simple question without meaning, but his glance over his cup burned her.

"Yes, uncle, everything is fine," she replied as she turned her attention back to her plate.

Suspicions began to arouse in her mind that the uncle had understood the reason for her absence.

But what mattered to her was that the servants would not be punished.

Her uncle couldn't do anything to her because from the moment she had set foot in the castle following the King's order then, she was automatically considered in some way his protégé.

When she looked up again, she met Lennox's eyes that looked at her for just a moment full of warmth and… approval?

Her brows furrowed. "Is it possible that Lennox understood what I did? How is that possible?" she thought. "I probably didn't understand something correctly."

She continued eating her fruit, lost in thought.

"After you finish your dessert, would you like some beer?" Uncle asked Lennox. "Fiona and I always have a cup of beer after every meal."

Lennox kept silent for a while, which got Skye's attention, and she fixed her eyes on him. His eyes were slightly wide, and his mouth was hanging open.

Skye didn't understand why Lennox had reacted this way to her uncle's offer.

"Beer?!" Lennox repeated and shook his head in denial. His cheeks had taken on a rosy color.

The uncle furrowed his brows. "Yes, beer. What is so wrong with that?'

"But beer is a humble drink. Only the peasants drink it," Lennox blurted out, leaving the uncle speechless.

"So? We're peasants too." Skye snapped.

Lennox's gaze darkened. Skye put her hand over her heart. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Lord Lennox. By "we," I mean us." She cleared up, pointing to herself, her uncle, and her aunt, who let out a small scream and covered her open mouth with her hands.

"I mean uncle's family." Skye clarified. She was trying but in vain not to sneak glances at her aunt. She found her reaction amusing.

Lennox's gaze returned to normal. His eyes sparkled as before, and he also managed to give them a small smile.

On the contrary, the uncle did not look pleased at all. He began to clench and unclench his cup, and a vein on his forehead was bulging.

"What do you mean by that, Skye?" Lennox asked.

"Well, my uncle and my father were brothers. They were born in a hut in a village down to the Lowlands, and grew up there. Their father worked in the grain fields and their mother took care of the house, the children, the animals and brewed beer. See, old habits are not so easily broken. What did you think? That my uncle has always lived here in this castle?" Skye scoffed with a snort.

Lord Malcolm stood up abruptly, making his chair fall back.

He slammed both hands on the table.

"That's enough! Cheeky creature. That's enough of your lip!" he screamed.

Skye leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest.

She shrugged and looked at him without fear. "Why, uncle? Isn't it true?' she asked without a trace of remorse on her face.

"Shut up, I said!!" he screamed again, pulling at his hair.

Fiona raised her hands to him, and Skye noticed they were shaking.

"Calm down, my lord, please. Your face has flushed so much that I am afraid."

She tried to touch him, but the uncle pushed her hands away with a sharp movement.

"Leave me alone Fiona, don't you hear what is she saying?"

"I heard her, but please calm down. I am started worrying about your health."

Lennox seeing Fiona's agony decided to take the situation into his own hands.

He rose from his chair.

"Come, Lord Malcolm, let's move to the living room and continue our conversation there alone without having someone keep interrupting us saying nonsense."

Skye's eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open. Had she heard right? Had he just insulted her?

The uncle's face immediately changed. The tension left his face as abruptly as it had come. He turned and looked at Lennox and almost smiled.

"That is a splendid idea! Let's go to the living room."

"Very well. Let's go. And maybe we'll drink that beer you were talking about." Lennox said and laughed.

The two men walked towards the door that led to the living room.

The uncle urged the young man to go first, and as the uncle closed the door behind him, he turned and looked at Skye.

His cocky grin made her lips tighten.

He didn't leave her eyes for a moment as he closed the door and a final raise of his eyebrow in a "See?" look.