“Does such a thing matter here?”Theodore finally asked, breaking the tension. “The castle walls are high andimpenetrable here on the island. He’ll be dead before he breaches the dock. One thing ye can be sure about, he’ll never bother ye again. Laird Theo will make sure of that. Ye can trust him ye ken. He’ll help ye if ye let him.”
“Saysthe servant of the man who keeps everyone trapped on an island. Do ye nae see? Ye’re a prisoner here, just as I am,” Madison said. Her words were like hot coals under foot.
“Perhaps ye’ll seethis place more for what it really is, a sanctuary. A place of refuge. Castle MacLeon has secrets hidden within the mortar of the stones that even I havenae heard yet. Ye’ll be surprised at how things change with the right perspective,” Edith said as her words were drowned out by the clamor of heavy footsteps.
Glancingover his shoulder he spotted Gilmore moving with urgency toward him. Theodore rolled his eyes as he tried to focus on what was going on in the room rather than outside of it.
“I was told ye had returned,”Gilmore stated as he bowed low. “We must talk.”
“Nae now,”Theodore answered as he tried hide the ire of being interrupted.
“Ye ken the charter,and yer time is runnin’ out. The council demands ye have a bride before yer thirty second birthday. And from me calculations, that’s happenin’ in a month. Do ye want to lose the lairdship to yer uncle?”
Theodore glareddaggers at him as he missed the question Edith had asked Madison.
“What’s this?”Gilmore asked as he craned his neck to spy into the room. “Who is that?”
“Someone rescued from the hunt.Her leg is broken and the only healer I ken skilled enough to mend it is Edith. I had nay choice but to bring her here.”
“She isnaea stray animal ye can pick up and bring back.” Gilmore flinched as Theodore’s eyes flashed in warning at him, and Theodore felt satisfaction rush through him. Gilmore had forgotten his place – perhaps now he would remember exactly who he was talking to.
“Aye,which is why I have every intention of seein’ her back to her family. But she’s injured and I’ll nae send an injured woman away, nae when I can help.” Theodore raised an eyebrow as Gilmore gulped and nodded his understanding. He wouldn’t question Theodore again.
“A month,Theodore. It is written in the charter of this clan." Gilmore shifted his weight, clearly uncomfortable under Theodore's hard stare. "I daenae mean to overstep, me laird, but... the solution is right under yer very nose."
Theodore's jaw tightened.The councilman took a step back.
Theodore glancedthrough the doorway into the room. His gaze found Madison immediately. She looked back at him, questions clear in her eyes—questions he wasn't sure he was ready to answer. But the truth was, he needed her help.
When he turned back,Gilmore and the other councilmen had already retreated down the hall. Cowards, the lot of them. Always quick to make demands, quicker still to disappear when he fixed them with a look.
Theodore rolledhis shoulders back and stepped into the infirmary.
“Well?”he asked, trying not to stare at Madison. But how could he not? Even with her being just skin and bones, she was lovely. He found himself eager to stuff her with food so that he could admire the woman she was meant to be.
“It’s a bad break,but I’ll fashion her a brace. She willnae be able to go anywhere and will have to take it slow.”
“Thank ye, Edith,”Theodore said.
“Ye saythat I’m nae yer prisoner,” Madison said, her voice quaking with emotional stress. But the fact she was able to get out anything at all astonished him. Most of the other girls were mute for days after he’d saved them.
“Aye,ye’re nae. Ye can go… as soon as ye’re healed. I’ll nae send ye out to be a lamb to the slaughter. This world is a dangerousplace. Best to heal first before meetin’ it head on,” Theo said as he noticed Edith moving to the door and slipping from the room. His chest tightened as he realized the time for pleasantries was over.
“And I’m tellin’ye I cannae stay here,” she snapped back. She froze as fear gripped her. Theodore watched as the fire that had been kindled just moments prior fizzled to embers. “Forgive me. I ken that me fate is in yer hands. But I implore ye, please. Let me return to me family.”
“Edith says ye need time.The council says I’m runnin’ out of it,” Theodore mumbled as he rubbed his chin. He studied her a moment as the plan formed in his mind. He arched an eyebrow as his focus shifted fully to her. “Are ye one to gamble?”
Madison glaredat him with suspicion flaring in her eyes.
“Because I’ve gota proposition for ye that could be very beneficial for the both of us,” he said as he waited for her to show interest. She leaned closer, as if hanging on his every word.
“Go on,”she finally answered as she folded her arms over her chest.
“Marry me.”
9
Madison stared at the laird with more than bewilderment, she was convince the man had completely lost his mind. Reality struck her harder than a typhoon against a skiff. What was his nickname again? Mad Dog. Terror gripped her, stealing the very warmth of her being.
