“I don’t rightly know what that means, but it sounds well enough, so I’ll thank ye.” Annie stood. “Now eat up and I’ll come in a wee bit to collect the tray.”

“Thank you, Annie.”

“Whist. It was nothing.” The scrawny housekeeper waved a hand. “By the by, Simon is gettin’ worried about you. Ye might want to set his mind at ease afore he does something silly.”

“Simon is a worrier. He always has been.”

“Aye, and that makes him all the more dangerous, fer he’s apt to get involved if he decides things are not progressin’ as he thinks they should or shouldn’t.”

Kat nodded. She’d have a word with Simon. Meanwhile, her mind returned to Devon. Was Annie right? Was Kat getting too attached? All she knew was that she was not going to stop seeing Devon. Not yet, anyway. She’d just let the days unfold and enjoy them all, and then worry about Devon’s departure when that day arrived. She’d just have to make certain she didn’t let go of her heart.

That settled, she pulled the tray closer and ate.

Devon rode into the clearing, but unlike the previous days, Kat did not come out to welcome him. But of course, he was well over an hour late thanks to Murien’s machinations. She’d caught him in the stables and had quizzed him mercilessly about his horse. Devon ground his teeth.

He dismounted and tied Thunder to a rail, then tilted his head and listened. He could just make out the faint sound of voices from the workshop. Deep masculine voices and a lone, husky feminine voice.

Devon walked to the workshop, pausing outside. Was Kat angry at him for not arriving when he’d said he would?

“’Tis a complete ruin.” Kat’s voice filtered outside.

“Aye,” agreed one of the lads. “The fool couldn’t even draw a proper bead.”

Another lad added, “An’ look at the bit o’ a smudge that’s on the bottom.”

“Aye,” came a voice that Devon recognized as Simon’s. “A cow-handed job if I ever seen one.”

“We’ll have to melt the seams and take it all apart,” Kat said.

Devon stepped quietly into the workshop. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, but they eventually did. He was intrigued with what he saw.

Rows of large tables ran the center of the shop, strewn with pieces of glass of every color, as well as several large squares. To one end of the room was a fire that was banked and covered until it smoldered. Beside it was a large, flat table strewn with long sticks and covered with drips of dried metal.