The Tangle of Blood

Chapter Four: A Friendly Wager

Rosalyn paused and took a deep breath before leading the way out of the restaurant. She walked in silence, listening to the others chat about their day. She worked hard to not appear uncomfortable or surly, which was difficult, as she had never felt more uncomfortable or surly.

      "Just one minute," Kallon announced and disappeared into a gift shop a few shops down from the pub. When he reemerged, he was not alone. An older woman of roughly forty followed him, laughing as she showed Kallon a trinket she had found. She threw her head back when the laugh deepened, sending her loose dark braid flying.

      "Mother," Kallon began introductions, chuckling himself, "this is Alex, Rowena, and Rosalyn." His eye landed playfully on Rosalyn. "This is our mother, Lenora."

       Lenora's playful expression fell for an imperceptible second. "It is very nice to meet you," Lenora declared, recovering with a good natured grin. "All of you. I hear we're all heading to the same place?"

She linked her arms through Rosalyn's as though they'd known each other for years not less than a minute. Rosalyn stiffened, making Lenora laugh. "Tell me about yourself, Rosalyn."

"I apologize in advance," Astrid said but smiled warmly but Lenora, still laughing, waved her off with a pffh.

"Well, I," Rosalyn began uncomfortably as they traveled toward the castle.

"Rosalyn is from the states, Tennessee to be exact," Kallon interrupted, reiterating her own words from breakfast, "She is headed to university in the states, then to med school, and she loves classic literature."
        Rosalyn grimaced.

"Seems you know each other well," Lenora commented cheerily.

"Yes, a whole five minutes," Rosalyn retorted dryly. A horrified look washed over her face as she turned and faced Lenora. "That was rude. I'm sorry."'

"Not at all, dear," Lenora laughed and turned back, pulling her on. "Kallon has a way to, er, bring out the best in people."

       They walked the slope to the castle grounds and were greeted by a swarm of young children in tidy uniforms. A man in a blazer talked loudly over the children, but it appeared his efforts were futile, as most of the children talked excitedly amongst themselves.

      "This place is old, huh?" Rowena commented.
"It's not as old as you may think. This one right here was built in the 1830s, I believe. There has been a castle guarding this city for hundreds of years, though. According to some, Shakespeare's Macbeth was thought to have taken place in the earliest castle around the 11th century," Lenora told the small group. "Fascinating."

       Staring at the red sandstone, Rosalyn nodded in agreement before absently adding, "It was made of wood, so obviously it wasn't hard to destroy. That one was replaced by a stone castle in the 1500s. It was taken by a couple clans then, who made some improvements after the first Jacobite rebellion. That one was eventually destroyed by the Jacobites, too."

       Acutely aware of the silence following her statement, she slowly turned her head to find the group staring at her. Kallon's amused eyes bored into her, and she felt the warmth creeping into her cheeks. "What?" she demanded before turning on her heels to walk away.

       They stood still and watched her stalk off. Lenora broke the silence and pointed a playful finger at her at her back, "I like her."

        "Well, that was informative. She's a bit of a dag, isn't she?" Astrid asked with a lad.

       "Don't know what that means, but if it means nerd, then yes, that's our Rosalyn." Rowena put her hand over her heart and shook her head in mock pride.