She gave him no opportunity to respond, and instead turned and plunged straight into the crowd.
CHAPTER 24
Megan foughtthe urge to glance back at Ryder. She could feel his amused, mocking eyes on her, following her across the crowded room.
When did I begin to feel so differently about him?
There was no doubt in her mind that she was in danger now. Her feelings for Ryder had stopped being complicated and were now horribly, painfully simple.
I care about him. I want to be around him. I want him to care about me. I want to talk to him, kiss him, touch him. I want him to touchme.
It was a worrying revelation, and Megan swallowed thickly, trying to concentrate on the here and now. She finally pushed her way out of the hot, crowded Feast Hall. It was a relief to stumble out into the cool corridor behind the main room. The corridor was empty, except for one servant scuttling toward thedoorway she had just exited, clutching a slopping jug of wine in his hands.
Megan let out a long breath, trying to concentrate. In her time at Keep MacCulloch, she’d learned that while it was easy to follow the main, central corridor, which ran through the middle of the Keep, with rooms like the Great Hall and the Feast Hall springing off that road, the rest of the rooms were set out like a maze.
Endless corridors crisscrossed the lower floors of the Keep, forming dead ends and circular halls which looped back to where they’d come from, rooms which opened on rooms which then opened on rooms in turn, and so on.
It was very easy to get lost. The northeast corridor was, in fact, a long, trailing hallway that wound its way through the Keep, with countless offshoots. Depending on how far Alaina and Hamish had gone down it, they might be challenging to find.
Megan set off at a trot in the direction that led away from the Feast Hall. She guessed that if the two youngsters had gone to find a quiet spot, they would goawayfrom the noise and crowds, not toward it.
As she walked, she thought.
Alaina and Hamish shouldnae have to hide their feelings for each other. Ryder is right to tell her that she shouldnae marry yet, but that’s nae to say that she’ll be obliged to marry for duty. She can follow her heart when the time comes; perhaps if shekent that for certain, she’d feel a little bit safer. I’ll make sure that she kens she’ll have the freedom to choose.
A sudden thought struck her, causing Megan to stop suddenly.
I willnae have any say in what freedom she has, or what future she has. I’m leavin’ this place, and I am nae returnin’. I likely willnae see them again.
A cold feeling settled over her, and Megan bit her lip hard. Yes, she was leaving. If not today, then tomorrow. If not tomorrow, then the day after. Her days at MacCulloch Keep as the Laird’s betrothed were over. She was never going to add Alaina and Sophie to her list of sisters.
It was a more depressing thought than she’d expected.
Enough,she scolded herself, suddenly harsh.There is nay time to stand here, all melancholy, and think about an uncertain future. The task here is simple. Find Alaina, and bring her back.
Sucking in a breath, Megan smoothed down her skirts with shaking hands and set off at a brisk trot.
She walked for about five minutes when, at last, she heard voices drifting toward her from further down the hallway. A disembodied male voice echoed through the quiet corridor.
“…nae disciplined enough. I should have kent.”
The voice was familiar, but she couldn’t recognize it. Megan quickened her pace and turned the corner to see the hall blocked by three people.
Alaina and Hamish stood, hand in hand, their backs pressed against the bare stone wall.
Logan stood facing them, blocking their way. He was watching Hamish with a close, narrow expression. When Megan approached, he barely bothered to glance up.
“Ah, Lady Megan,” he drawled. “I take it that ye have come to retrieve me errant niece?”
“Aye, I have,” Megan answered, glancing between the three faces. There was a closed-off look on Alaina’s face, a sort of wariness. Hamish simply looked frightened. “Alaina, love, ye ought nae to have wandered off as ye did.”
“I didnae mean to go so far,” Alaina responded, her gaze still focused on her uncle. “We only went around the corner for some privacy, but Uncle Logan found us and took us deeper in.”
Megan’s brow flickered. She glanced up at Logan, who still was not looking at her.
“I wanted a talk with me niece in private,” Logan responded. “We have already met, Lady Megan, so ye should ken how highly I prize me family. The lasses are the last thing left to me of me sister, so their future matters to me.”
“Their future matters to us all,” Megan responded. “Ryder worries obsessively about them. He loves…”
