“Who?”
“Drust, lass. Does he ken about the child?”
Why was she so confused all of the sudden? “Oh.” She couldn’t help but heave a frustrated sigh. “Yes, he does.”
“And he wasna happy.”
“No.” Though a small part of her had held out hope that he would be happy…
“And he’s upset ye, made ye cry.”
“Y... Yes…” This man was strange… very strange, but somehow, she wasn’t afraid of him. Besides, everyone in the keep spoke of him with affection. She turned her head to watch him as he continued to circle her where she stood.
“And ye have it in yer mind to perhaps teach him a lesson… about what is important and what is no’.”
“No,I…”Teach him a lesson? To be honest, ithadcrossed her mind. She had trusted Drust with her heart, and hehadhurt her. Whether he meant to or not. And he made her feel guilty for carrying his own child. A child that she already loved with all her heart. A child that deserved a father who loved him as well. She had thought to maybe leave for a while, visit James and Maura… make him worry… but had quickly discarded the idea. She would not risk the safety of her baby that way. “Perhaps… but I…”
“Ye thought to leave for a time… make him fret and worry until he realized what he had and would do anything to have it back again?”
Willa’s eyes flew open in surprise, then narrowed in suspicion. “How did you know that?”
“Smart lass. ‘Tis exactly what the lad needs to get out of his own head. He’ll be stuck in there otherwise, reliving the past over and over. Daft he is. Already had to lose ye once to figure out he wanted ye in the first place. Now his own child… Och… my work is never done with those three lads. Not since the minute Bren Mac Coinnach was born have I had any peace. And the youngest… oh I’m in for a time of it with that one! Wild as the wind, he is. He’s going to get himself into more trouble next month than… well, anyway… on to making Drust fret.”
Next month? Willa shook her head and blinked, thinking she must have missed something.
“Now, there are two ways to go about this… ye could actually leave, or ye could pretend to leave, but I wouldna recommend that. No matter what kind of magic we use, Drust will still ken ye’re here. Because ye’re his mate and all.”
Willa was beginning to have some major misgivings about this whole idea. “Oh, I don’t’ think I should…”
Dirc held up his hand. “Trust me lass, I do this all the time. Come now, before he finds ye. He’s looking already, ye ken.”
“A…all right. But… Faith… will you tell her I’m, uh… not really missing? I don’t want her to worry.”
“Aye, of course, lass.I’mno’ daft.” He took her by the arm. “Now, ye just relax and let me handle everything. When I’m through that man will be thanking the stars just to have ye back, as he should be.”
The door burst open and slammed against the wall. Bren looked up from the accounts on his desk he had been reviewing, to see Drust looking disheveled and half-crazed. He raised an eyebrow in question.
“I canna find her”, Drust said, his voice almost desperate. “I’ve looked everywhere.”
“Did ye look in the gardens?”
“Aye!”
“The stables?”
“Aye, Bren I’ve lookedeverywhere! She’s gone.” He put his palms to his forehead, thrust his fingers through his hair in agitation. “Ah God! She’s gone!”
Drust began pacing, panting as if he’d just run through the entire castle, which perhaps he had. He looked so wretched that Bren almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
“Well brother, she canna have gone far. Especially no’ in her condition. She fainted dead away only this morning. Are ye certain she’s no’ in the tower?”
Drust turned to glare at him. “Aye! I looked in the tower, three times. What if she was taken? What if…”
Bren shook his head firmly. “No. No one would be able to get past our gates without our notice. Unless… she wouldna have gone outside the gates alone, would she?”
Drust looked at his brother with such anguish on his face that Bren actually felt it like a stab to the chest. This was possibly the most emotion he’d ever seen Drust express, and it made Bren uncomfortable to see him in such pain. But still… Drust needed to fix the mess he had made of things.
“I dinna ken. I… I was so angry about… about the bairn.”
