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days.
    Some of my duties were pleasurable—working with the family horses was a secret escape I treasured—but beyond that I’d often find my hands calloused and aching, my skin burnt red by the sun’s rays. Working with the animals. Repairing the things I knew how to repair and learning to fix those I did not.
    I had been worked very hard with burdens no man should have had to endure, but I had no other choice, and I was not the only one. It was the world I had been given into and the life I had been forced to live. One my mother likely endured, as well, but I would never know.
    “Sit with me,” Kathryn requested, a sweet smile curling at her lips.
    I hesitated, looking down at my tattered clothes. The sweat was still moist on my brow, my hands not their cleanest, and I feared the dirt might tarnish her rare silken coverlet.
    “It’s alright, Matthaya,” she assured with a sweep of her auburn lashes, patting her hand on the bed near her hip and grinning to soften the command. “Sit.”
    I did as she had asked and sat beside her. She put the plate onto my lap and took one of the sweets for herself.
    Kathryn’s manner of eating was anything but dainty, and I chuckled at the way she quickly munched down the small treat.
    “It’s not polite to stare,” she sneered jokingly, wiping a crumb from her lower lip.
    My eyes returned to the biscuit in my own hand and I brought it up to my mouth.
    A small bite of it was all it took for me to relish the elegant texture and sweetness. It may have been a small thing for her to share, but it was a piece of heaven to my taste buds, just as staying within Kathryn’s company was a moment of paradise in my otherwise chaotic day.
    “Your eyes are beautiful,” she said, as if she had just noticed them.
    “What?” I looked up, half of a biscuit still pinched between my fingers.
    “Matthaya, you have magnificent eyes,” she continued, reaching out to graze my cheek with her fingertips. My brows twitched from the contact. “Like the emeralds of a Celtic crown, they shine—strong and brilliant. I’ll never forget them…” Her voice trailed off as she lovingly fixated on me.
    I wanted to retort, but heard a soft patter of footsteps in the hall and realized our conversation was now over.
    “I must go.” I stood and tucked the leftover sweets into a pocket in my tunic.
    “Wait,” she said, tugging at my sleeve as I turned. Her romantic blue eyes glistened with concern. “I want to help you,” she whispered, her gaze intensifying. “Please, Matthaya, return to me on the morn tomorrow. There’s something I wish to do for you.”
    Kathryn’s mother paced the halls just outside her room. I had already long outstayed my welcome in the house. I had to leave.
    I nodded in agreement and flashed a gentle smile along with it.
    “Yes, Milady.”
    She chuckled.
    “To you, I am only Kathryn,” she corrected. “And I am always your friend.”
    Her eyes embraced me with their compassionate gaze and an unfamiliar layer of maturity garnished her voice.
    I left the room and spotted her mother, Lady Maria, a few doors down. To avoid a confrontation, I bowed and swiftly dismissed myself from her presence.
    Kathryn’s mother had her suspicions about our relationship, so I had to be watchful of my actions. I could not escape Kathryn’s heightened feelings for me, or my own constant thoughts about her, but we had to keep them hidden from everyone—including each other.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

     
     
    I COULD NOT ACT AGAINST Kathryn’s will. Per her request, I met with her the next morning at dawn.
    Her father was out on business for the day, so that was at least one less stress on my mind. I feared him more than any other, as he was less forgiving and more foreboding than Kathryn’s mother. I had heard—and seen—horrible things happen while Lord Shallon was intoxicated , but he was even worse sober. Impatient. Provocative. He would strike someone down o ver a