Callum gave a sharp, angry bark of laughter. “I can take MacLeon.”
Sophie puffed out her chest. “Ye willnae. He is expectin’ his first child, and the MacLeons have always been our allies. Ye cannae and willnae start a war with them. Over my dead body will ye declare war on Clan MacLeon, but if ye trifle with this lass here, ye may find thattheywill declare war onye. Callum, daenae yesee that this betrothal could never have been canceled without serious repercussions?”
Callum jerked back as if she’d aimed a slap at him. Melody stayed silent, anxiety bubbling in her gut.
Sophie is right, she thought, swallowing hard.There were always going to be consequences to this betrothal. By now, half of the Highlands will know my name and will know that Callum is betrothed to me. It’s only a matter of time till the news spreads to England.
Did I truly think that I could go home after all this was over as if nothing had happened?
A sort of warm, hazy relief followed this realization. Shecouldn’tgo home. She certainly couldn’t marry whatever lord Papa had picked out for her. She stayed quiet, however, not quite daring to interrupt the steely staring competition going on between Callum and his grandmother.
“I’d had enough of this conversation,” Callum said abruptly, turning away. He didn’t head toward the door, however, but further into the study, where a stone spiral staircase curved in the shadows. As he passed the desk, he brought his clenched fist down with an echoingboomthat made Melody flinch. She half expected to see cracks spread out from where he’d struck the desk.
Callum disappeared up the stairs, and a long silence followed.
Swallowing, Melody turned to Sophie, who was staring tiredly after her grandson.
“Where has he gone?”
“His rooms are up in that tower,” Sophie sighed. “I’ll nae be able to follow him up there. The stairs are too steep and narrow for me.”
Melody bit her lip. “You say that I’ll be ruined if it’s known that Callum kissed me. But surely, nobody needs to know? You can simply not tell anybody.”
Sophie gave her a long, level look.
“That would be wrong,” she said firmly. “Secrets are necessary, sometimes, but I daenae rush to keep things from me clan and me people.”
Melody opened her mouth to argue, then closed it again.
“I see,” she said at last. “Excuse me. I’m going to try to… to talk to him.”
Sophie said nothing, and Melody hurried away across the study, reaching the foot of the stairs.
As the old woman had warned, the stairs were very steep and uneven. The passage was narrow, and the middle of eachstep was worn down by time and countless footsteps. Suddenly uneasy, Melody glanced back at Sophie.
The old woman, however, was gone, leaving the door yawning open behind her. Biting the inside of her cheek hard, Melody began to climb.
She reallywasclimbing, her feet scrambling up the lopsided steps, leaning forward to grab the higher ones with her hands, since there was no rail to hold. Round and round she went in a tight corkscrew, with no windows to light her way as she went. Just as she was beginning to believe that the stairs were going to go on forever, the narrow stairwell opened up into another circular room, smaller than the one below.
This, she realized to her horror, was clearly Callum’s bedroom. It was a spartan space, with a four-poster bed shoved into a corner beside a window. It had no canopy, and the sheets were tangled and crumpled, dangling onto the floor. An orange cat was curled up on the bed, having made a nest of sheets, and lifted its head as Melody stepped into the room, clambering up from the yawning throat of the stairwell.
Callum sat on a fur rug in front of an empty fireplace, and lifted an eyebrow when he saw her.
“Invadin’ my privacy once more, I see,” he said sharply.
“I will leave at once if you wish it.”
He grunted. “Ye are already here. What do ye want? Did me grandmother send ye?”
“No, she did not. What is that you’re holding?”
He glanced down at the block of wood in his lap. Sighing, he lifted his hand to scratch at his temple. There was a small silver knife twisted between his fingers, glinting in the dull light.
“It’s a log, lass. Can I be allowed to enjoy me privacy for now?”
She took a step forward, folding her arms. “Not just yet, I’m afraid.”
He rolled his eyes. “Of course nae.”
