Callum set his hand upon her shoulder and motioned that he would take Sion and the others below. Then he pointed to himself and to her.
“You don’t have to return for me,” she said. “I know you want to join them.”
His expression grew tight, and he shook his head. It was then that she noticed something gripped in his other hand. Laren reached out and gently opened his palm. Inside, she saw a blue silken ribbon.
“This was Lady Marguerite’s, wasn’t it?” she asked.
He gave a single nod, curling his fingers around it once more. The stony resignation on his face was of a man who knew he could never have the woman he wanted. As the third son, he had nothing to call his own. Never could he marry the daughter of a duke, no matter what his heart wanted.
Laren’s throat ached, for she knew exactly how he felt. She’d believed herself beneath Alex for so long, that being with him seemed an impossibility. Their worlds were so far apart . . . and yet he had never cared about her family’s poverty, not the way she had.
As she stared at Harkirk’s stronghold, she thought of how hard Alex had worked for Glen Arrin. He believed it was worth rebuilding. He’d seen beyond the ruins, knowing that it could be something beautiful beneath the desolate exterior.
The way he’d seen beneath her family’s circumstances, fighting for her.
He loves me, she realized. And she’d hidden herself from the people, never believing she was worthy of his love.
But I am worthy, she thought. A strong resolution flooded through her, for she wasn’t going to let Alex die. Not while she breathed.
A new truth had surfaced, while she’d gone to visit the clans. Being Lady of Glen Arrin wasn’t about giving orders to the people or putting on a false confidence. It was about taking care of her loved ones—something she’d always known how to do. Something that had always been inside of her.
The clan needed Alex, just as she did. And she wouldn’t hesitate to fight for the man she loved.
She reached out to Callum and curled his fingers over the ribbon once more. “Lady Marguerite cares for you,” she told him. “Find her, when this is over. Tell her what’s in your heart.”
A look of regret crossed his face, and he shook his head. With one finger, he touched his lips, reminding her that he’d lost the ability to speak.
“That doesn’t matter to her, and you know it.” She reached out and took his hand in hers. “You’re hurting by being apart from her, aren’t you?” She offered him a tentative smile. “Surely she would find it romantic if you were to steal her away, taking her back with you.”
Callum sent her a look of disbelief before drawing a line across his throat.
“Aye, her father might kill you.” She sent him a wide smile. “But you’d die a happy man.”
A guttural laugh broke forth from Callum. The unexpected sound took her aback, and he touched his throat as though he couldn’t believe it had come out.
“You’ll speak again,” Laren predicted. “And I think you’ll have a stronger reason to, if you find her.”
Callum met her gaze. In his eyes, she saw the mirror of the person she had been before. Someone who didn’t believe it was possible to be loved.
He took her hand and pressed the ribbon into it. A moment later, he disappeared into the darkness, with Sion at his side.
Chapter Fifteen
Larenjerkedtoherfeet when she heard footsteps approaching. Though she couldn’t see who was there, it wasn’t Alex or one of the others. She hid herself within the trees, crouching low behind a bush. Within seconds, she heard the sound of dirt poured upon her fire. Darkness blinded her, and her pulse tightened.
“I know you’re there,” came a whispered voice. “But you shouldn’t have lit a fire. They’ll see it from the fortress.”
Laren didn’t speak, not knowing if it was a trap of some sort. Her fingers curled around a tree and it took several moments for her eyes to adjust. The scent of ashes cloaked the atmosphere, a cloying odor that heightened her fear.
When a hand touched her shoulder, she let out a shriek. A boy stood in front of her, older than Mairin, but not yet an adolescent. His hair was ragged against his neck and he wore warm clothing against the cold. “You have to come with me. She wouldn’t want you here alone.”
“She?”
“Lady Harkirk.”
Laren didn’t trust any Harkirk, Lady or not. But what was a child doing alone in the hills?
“Is she your mother?”
