"Aye."Greta nodded firmly. "I'll see the lass is well taken care of."
"And if shedecides to test her freedom, she's nae to be stopped or bothered. But I daenae want her wanderin' lost in the corridors either." Theodore leaned forward slightly. "Keep every fire lit tonight. Every door open. Make this place feel as welcomin' as we can. Do ye think ye can help me with that?"
"Aye, me laird."Greta bowed. "I'll see the lass is tended to at all hours."
"She's nae a prisoner here, understand?"Theodore's voice dropped. "Though I'm startin' to think she still believes she is. I want that notion banished from her thoughts. If she walks the halls tonight, I want someone there—quietly, mind ye—so she kens she's safe."
Greta nodded slowly."It'll be done." She hesitated. "But… if I may say, me laird, ye'll need to be patient with the lass. If she'sas broken as ye say, she'll need time more than anythin'. Feelin' free is different than bein' free. The lass has ghosts hauntin' her, and I doubt the hunt is somethin' so easily forgotten."
Her words struck deeperthan she knew.
Boyd clappeda hand on Theodore's shoulder, breaking the moment. "I daenae ken what the problem is. She'll come around." His grin stretched wide. "Ye've got a way of wearin' folk down, and I doubt she's any different."
A dry laugh escaped Theodore.The whisky on Boyd's breath made him lean back slightly. "I'll take that as a compliment."
But as heglanced once more at the door Madison had fled through, Greta's words echoed in his mind.
Time.Patience. Freedom.
He could giveher those things. He would give her those things.
Even if ittook the rest of his life.
13
The silence told Madison it was well into the night. The fire had burned down to embers, casting the chamber in dim, flickering shadows.
Her mouth went dry,as she reached for the doorknob. Again. For about what felt like a thousandth time. Her hand trembled, hovering inches from the cold metal.
The momenther fingers touched the steel, she jerked back as if burned. Her heart hammered against her ribs. She clutched her hand to her chest, backing away from the door until her legs hit the bed frame.
The room closedin around her. She couldn't breathe—couldn't get enough air no matter how hard she tried. Her vision blurred at the edges.
She sank onto the bed,gasping.
Leave.Just open the door and step out.
It wasa mantra she’d had playing in her head since she ran from Theodore in the great hall. Her heart raced as she glared at the wooden door as if it were a traitor. Her stomach twisted from hunger and nerves. She cowered into the bedding, grasping the feathered filled pillow and squeezing it will all her might. Madison’s raspy scream cut through the goose down bedding.
Fear mingledwith terror as she collapsed defeated on the bed. Leave, he said. As if it was something she could readily do. Even now as the castle rested, she couldn’t even step out into the still hallway without inducing absolute terror to cripple her.
She closedher eyes and forced herself to think of something else. Anything else. Not the door. Not the cage. Not the hunt.
Hallie.
When wasthe last time she'd seen her sister's face? The market—Hallie laughing with her friends, ribbons in her hair. Before everything went dark.
Madison's throat tightened.Were they looking for her? Did they think she was dead? Her chest ached with the weight of questions she couldn't answer.
She could almost hearHallie's voice—that indignant tone she got when Madison beat her at their games."Yer legs are too long! Ye always catch me faster than I catch ye."
Madison had always toldher the same thing: "Ye'll be big soon enough, and then there'll be nay stoppin' ye."
A sob caughtin her throat. Would Hallie ever be big enough? Or would she stay small and afraid, wondering what happened to her sister?
Madison pressedher palms against her eyes, but the tears came anyway.
“Nothin’to stop me,” Madison whispered as she pulled herself up. She clung to the post of the bed, staring at the door as if she could wield it to become something else. Running the back of her hand over her upper lip, Madison steadied her nerves. Slowly, she rose from the bed, clinging to the post as if it were her life line.
