“Aye.” She nodded. “When ye are clean, and calm, and daenae look like a nightmare at the bairns’ door.”
He moved to the door and put his hand on the iron handle, holding his breath. “Kristen…”
She waited.
“I apologize for scaring ye,” he murmured.
“Right.” Her arms were crossed tightly, yet her voice was even. “Go now.”
Neil opened the door and stepped out into the corridor. Cool air immediately slid over his skin. The stone walls looked back without care. He turned toward the east rooms.
Five years in the woods, and he came back to this.
He kept walking anyway, his steps silent.
He didn’t stop until he got to the other end of the corridor, a room usually reserved for visiting lairds. He closed the door behind him and leaned back against the wooden surface for a while.
Then he exhaled and stripped out of his ragged clothes, taking a look around the room. There was nothing but a large, plush bed, a candle in the corner, and a bedside table that contained drawers at the bottom. On the table, however, was a jar of what looked like salve and a roll of bandages.
“Why—” he broke off.
Now isnae the time.
When he stepped into the bath, the water stung the raw cuts along his back, his arm, his ribs. His breath punched out of him and came back slowly.
He worked the lye into his hair and beard, then scrubbed his skin in slow circles until it felt clean. The heat soothed and burned at once.
When the water cooled, he rose. He dried himself with a rough towel until the sting in his cuts grew unbearable, then dressed in what Giles found—a plain white shirt and a patterned kilt. He set his old clothes by the fireplace and stepped out.
The corridor felt colder after his bath. He clenched his jaw and walked back to Kristen’s chamber. A few maids greeted him along the way, but he only responded with a brief nod.
He put a hand on the handle and pushed the door open.
Kristen shrieked. She grabbed a sheet from the bed and wrapped it around her nightgown. “Have ye lost yer senses? Knock!”
Neil raised a placating hand. “Apologies. It’s been a while since I’ve had a civil conversation with anyone. Five years in the woods will do that to ye.”
“I can see that,” she muttered.
She kept one hand on the sheet and the other at her throat. The fire had burned lower.
“The bairns,” Neil said. “Are ye certain they arenae yers?”
She stared at him as if he had asked whether the sky was green. “I would remember if I ever gave birth to two children, thank ye very much. I should be askingyethis question, should I nae? I thought ye died, for the love of God.”
“Well, here I am?—”
“Clearly! I have always taken care of the children as me own because I thought they were yers. Finn has a striking resemblance to ye, so I just thought?—”
“I didnae conceive a bairn in me absence, lass.”
Kristen heaved a breath.
Neil moved closer, his voice softening. “Tell me exactly what happened.”
Kristen looked up at him, swallowing as the memory of the night she had found the children flashed through her mind.
Two Years Ago
