"I accept,"Maia whispered, and she couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face even though she tried. "I accept yer rules."
Ewan's expression softened slightly."Good. Aisla will be along shortly to help ye get settled. If ye need anythin', tell her. She'll see ye're taken care of."
He turned to leave,and Maia found herself taking a step forward without thinking. "Ewan, wait."
He paused,looking back at her over his shoulder. "Aye?"
"I—"The apology stuck in her throat. How did she explain everything she was feeling? The gratitude and confusion and guilt and this inexplicable happiness that kept bubbling updespite everything? "Thank ye. For—for all of this. For nae lockin' me away. For—for everythin'."
Something flickeredin his dark eyes. Something warm and complicated that made her heart skip a beat. "Ye're welcome, lass."
She turned backto the window, pressing her palm flat against the glass, and felt tears prick at her eyes.
She was a prisoner.
But somehow,impossibly, she felt freer than she had in six years.
12
"Aisla!"
Ewan's voicerang out clear and commanding, pulling Maia's attention away from the window she'd been staring at in wonder. She turned to see him standing in the doorway, gesturing to someone in the corridor.
A young woman appeared—perhapsfive-and-twenty, with wild red hair barely contained by a simple braid and the kind of confident stride that spoke of someone who feared very little. She wore a practical woolen dress and had the air of someone always ready for adventure.
"Aye, me laird?"The woman, Aisla, looked between Ewan and Maia with undisguised curiosity, her green eyes bright with interest.
"This is Maia Ferguson,"Ewan said, his tone carefully neutral. "She'll be stayin' with us for a time. I need ye to see to her needs,clothin', primarily. She'll need several gowns suitable for daily wear."
Aisla's gazeswept over Maia, assessing but not unkind. "Aye, of course. I can have the seamstress come up, take measurements."
"And I want somethin'comfortable," Maia interjected, then immediately felt her cheeks heat at her own forwardness. But if she was going to be here, if she was truly going to be allowed to explore, she wanted clothing that wouldn't restrict her. "If possible, I mean. Somethin' I can move in. Walk in. I'd like to explore the mountains."
The last partcame out almost breathless with hope.
Ewan's eyebrows rose."That's rather presumptuous of ye, lass."
"What is?"
"Thinkin'I'd take ye to the mountains." His voice was dry, but there was something in his eyes—a glint of amusement, maybe, or challenge. "Did I say I'd do that?"
Maia lifted her chin,emboldened by the room with no bars and the promise of freedom she'd just been given. "Nay. But I'm quite persuasive when I want to be."
"Are ye now?"
"Aye."She took a step toward him, then another, her heart racing but her voice steady. "And I'm quite sure I can convince ye to take me there today. Right now, even. The weather's beautiful, and I've been stuck on that horse for days, and I'd really love to go."
"Nay."
"But…"
"I've gotwork to attend to, lass. Reports to review, decisions to make. I cannae just drop everythin' to take ye on a pleasure stroll." Ewan crossed his arms over his chest, but his expression had softened slightly. "Besides, ye need proper clothin' first. And rest. Ye've been travelin' for two days."
"I'm nae tired,"Maia protested, even though her body was already telling her that was a lie. "And I could just?—"
"In a few days, maybe."Ewan's voice was firm but not unkind. "Let me sort out what needs sortin', get ye properly settled, and then we'll see about the mountains."
In a few days.
