Pure (COMPLETED)

Chapter 23: The Daughter

It had taken Finten another thirty minutes to remember that his men were waiting on him in the dining room. But as it turned out that they weren't waiting after all. Aoibh had told them they could go on to work, she and Cathal would keep an eye on Finten.

The kitchen got busy again as they started to prepare for lunch. To keep Finten's mind off his worries for Maigred Cathal put him to work with Sinead, slicing vegetables for the stew and meat pies.

"You're worried about my mother?" She asked giving him an appraising look.

Finten looked at her in surprise. "You're Maigred's daughter?"

She gave a nod.

Finten knew that Maigred had gotten pregnant eleven or twelve years ago, but for some reason he still had it in his mind that her daughter was still just a young, toddling thing. "How old are you?"

"Twelve."

"Twelve? When did you turn twelve?"

"A few months ago."

FInten was surprised. Maigred had gotten pregnant close to presentation day if Sinead was twelve already. He looked at her again. No wonder Maigred was desperate for something to be done about Hadeaon. Her daughter as growing up. He swallowed harshly.

"Why are you worried about my mother?" Sinead asked.

"She's gone to see some dangerous people."

"Oh."

"That doesn't worry you?" Finten asked.

She shrugged. "She's done it before. She'll be fine."

Finten smiled. "I'm glad you have so much confidence in her."

"She's strong." Sinead said seriously. "I'm going to be just like her when I grow up."

Finten nodded. "That's good. We need good, strong women like your mother in this town."

Sinead pressed her lips together and nodded.

"Are you going to run the inn when you grow up?"

She shrugged. "No. It'll pass to whoever Eoghan marries. Mother says that we're just staying on to help out Cara till he comes of age and finds a wife."

Finten frowned. "Why wont it pass to Aoibh? Didn't Cara adopt her?"

"Yes. But...well, she barely has any connection to the land. She wasn't born here, you know." She bit her lip.

Finten frowned. "I didn't know she couldn't connect to the land here."

Sinead nodded.

"That bothers you?"

"Well, it doesn't seem fair. It's not her fault that she had to leave her land, and now it's destroyed, so she can't go home. It's very hard for her. She'll probably never be able to have children or anything."

Finten looked over at the Sinead. Her concern was written out clearly on her face. "You're a good person, Sinead." He said quietly.

She looked up at him in surprise. "What? Why?"

"You care about others as deeply as your mother does."

"Oh." Surprise overtook her face. She half smiled, then went back to work chopping carrots. "Thank you."

They worked in silence for a moment before Sinead glanced up at him again. "So, what do you do for work?"

"Oh. I used to be the lord of the land, you know."