Highland Bear (Book 4)

Chapter 25

Chapter 25

               

                Artair was spitting mad and ready to commit murder by the time he finally made it back to the house he had been informed was where Kendrick had disappeared too. It, also, just so happened to belong to the family he had heard rumoured he was betrothed to become a part of. He had never wanted to step foot through this doorway, and from the moment he had heard the rumours he had vowed against it. Yet here he was, traipsing all over Edinburgh trying to find the one who had gotten him into this whole mess, in the one place this mess had all started.

               

                With a long breath out through his nose, he tried to calm enough to at least be civil to whomever came to the door. It was their employment, and it was not their problem that his life had been thrown into chaos because of one male who at this moment resided within that house. Trying one more time, he was caught mid breath as the solid wooden door before him was pulled open on a sullen elder male. His face seemingly set in a permanent scowl at some point in the past and had been unmoved since then.

               

                Walking a little stooped but otherwise quite spritely for his age, the male just stood and glared awaiting Artair to do the talking. But Artair was trying to work out what it was he wished to say without offending anyone. While at the same time, wondering if he could say anything which could change the set of this males face. It was not helping with the seriousness of the situation when numerous thoughts of everything he and Aonghus had said and been slapped on the back of the head for came, running through his head.

               

                He did not think that half of those words would be understood by the fellow before him, but they would be sure to get a reaction. Whether it would actually get him where he needed to be, however, was very questionable, and so with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms, he asked if Kendrick was present. With no movement at all on the wrinkled, scowled face, the male still managed to sniff and look down his nose at him. Even though he was at least a head and a half smaller than he was. In fact, he would even go as far to say as this male reminded him of Isla, not that he would ever voice that aloud. He would be in for a world of pain if he ever did…and he was not willing to risk the wrath of Isla over one slip of his tongue.

               

                The woman probably knew a lot more than he did on how to inflict pain, and she was not afraid to let people know it. Quite publicly. A disdained cough brought him back to the present, in which Isla and the male before him seemed to merge into one for an eerie moment. It was extremely disconcerting, and it took another moment for him to focus back on the situation at hand. Thinking back on the words he had heard in the extremely strong brogue, he nodded and followed him inside, giving his name as he was shown into a small receiving room.

               

                His name was all it took. The shock which covered the wrinkled visage before him really was a sight to behold which he could never put into words. It would have caused him to laugh at another point but in that moment he was just too fascinated with the new wrinkles and shapes the old fellows face made. A young maid came in moments later and paused on the threshold looking over Artair with a glance he recognised from other young lasses…and old maids…and married women if he must be honest with himself. But that was beside the point at the moment, and it was not as if he had acted on any of those glances since he had first cast his gaze upon Rohesia. No other woman even compared.