That foreboding inside of Rory increased tenfold, and a glance around the faces of Lillith’s family, all gathered in the great hall, told Rory he was not the only one worried.
“What should we do?” Lady Eve asked her husband, her voice trembling.
MacLeod looked as worried as his wife sounded, which only heightened Rory’s concern further.
“We’ve searched the entire castle and the surrounding grounds,” Lady Marion said, wringing her hands.
“Twice!” Lenora added, her face white.
“We need to send out a search party to scour further before the weather worsens,” said Lillith’s Uncle Brus.
Sebille pointed a finger at her husband. “This is yer fault!”
“My fault?” Brus bellowed. “How do ye come to that conclusion?”
“She’s right!” Lillith’s Aunt Elena chimed in, but she was not looking at her brother, Brus, as she spoke. She was looking at her husband, Rolland. She poked him in the chest. “This is yer fault, too!”
“And yours!” Lady Marion growled, glaring at Iain.
Caleb threw up his hands. “I am nae involved.”
“Nay, ye’re nae,” Lenora said. She turned to look at her and Lillith’s father. “But ye are, Da! She’s run off. I can feel it in my bones, and ye all ken Lillith and I have an instinct for what the other one is doing.”
“If you men had not insisted she wed, we’d not be standing here!” Lady Marion bit out each word as if it were a weapon she was lobbing at the head of her enemies.
They all erupted at once. Accusations flew, fists shook, faces turned red, and fingers were pointed. The women moved to one side and the men to the other, with Rory standing in the middle watching it all. The noise was deafening, and the arguing was a dangerous waste of time. Each moment Lillith’s family stood here casting blame was a moment when she was out there alone in the cold, possibly in danger. Rory didn’t know why she’d fled or where she’d fled, but he knew he loved her, and he needed to find her and ensure she was alright, whether she wanted to wedhim or not, whether she’d ever lower her guards and let him in or not.
With this in mind, he lifted his fingers to his mouth and let out a sharp whistle. The moment silence fell, he said, “Stop this, this instant. Ye are all casting blame when we should be finding Lillith. We need to break up and go out there and search for her.”
“Ye’re right,” MacLeod said.
“The voice of reason,” Lady Marion added.
“I’ll gather a group of men and look to the East,” Iain said.
“I’ll do the same and go to the West,” Rolland replied.
“I’ll take the North,” Brus inserted.
“I’ll go South,” MacLeod said.
Rory was about to tell MacLeod he’d ride with him when he recalled Lillith telling him about the Wishing Tree. He didn’t know why, but he felt compelled to go there, and he wanted to do it alone. If she were there, he wanted her to have a private moment to tell him she didn’t want to wed him, if that’s what she needed to say, but was fearful to do it. “I’m going to the Wishing Tree,” he said, and when all gazes fell to him, he added, “alone.”
He got questioning looks, but no one argued or asked why, and the men started departing, but Rory noted that each of them hugged their wives, despite the unresolved argument, before they left. “Lenora, can ye give me directions to the Wishing Tree?”
Lenora nodded and rushed over to him, telling him quickly the way to take to get there. When she stopped speaking, he started to turn away, but she grabbed his arm, and he faced her once more. “I’ve something I must tell ye.”
“Aye?”
She nibbled on her lip and glanced back at the women of her family who were staring in their direction, as was Caleb. “I have nae ever broken a confidence of Lillith’s.”
“Is this about the wish?” Rory asked.
Lenora nodded, her eyes widening. “She told ye?” she asked, her tone awed.
“Aye, ’tis why I want to go there. She told me of the two of ye wishing for yer da to be ‘fixed’ to make him happy again.”
“Oh.” Lenora’s shoulders drooped, and she started nibbling her lip once more. “We did do that,” she finally said, “but there’s more that she did nae tell ye.”
