“I know it”.To be honest, she didn’t want to go anyway. This man, as gruff and unreachable as he seemed to be, already had a hold over her. Already it would be too hard to leave him behind, knowing she might never see him again. The woman in her was aching to comfort him, to reach through his defenses until he would laugh again, smile for her.She knew that if ever that smile reached all the way to his eyes, she would be truly lost.
She arched a mischievous eyebrow at him. “I suppose then I should settle in for a long visit. Good day, Laird.” She turned back to the garden, still swinging the basket.
Ceann watched her go, her hips swaying gently as she walked.
Ella strolled through the garden, her basket full of the herbs that she had offered to gather. Collected all summer long, they would be hung to dry for the long winter to come.If she were still here then, she would be able to use them to make medicines. Esme had taught her all of the ways of herbs and healing… Esme, she missed her... and Malcolm, and her friends, and even Duncan, though he never said much. Would she ever see them again? Would she be able to go back home when she found... whatever she was supposed to find?
As had now become her habit, she looked closely for any sign of a hidden door or a secret opening; anything out of place. She was beginning to fear she would fail at her task, and she could not let that happen.Not when the people she loved had trusted her with it. By offering to assist with so many different things, she could search unsuspected throughout a large part of the castle, and she truly enjoyed the helping. But as days went by and she found nothing, she grew more anxious. She would not have been sent here at such a risk if it weren’t terribly important.It was all so very frustrating. She let out a breath. She would just have to work harder, and trust in her abilities. After all, she hadn’t searched theentirecastle yet, by any means. Weren’t things usually found in the last place one looked?Of course they are, you ninny, because then you stop looking.She went into the large store house at the edge of the garden, where the herbs would be tied in bundles and hung to dry from the rafters. She was startled from her thoughts when she saw someone else was already within. She gasped and put her hand to the chest, laughing.
“Oh Mairi! I didn’t know you were in here!” She had befriended Mairi only that morning while helping carry out laundry, but had instantly liked her. Mairi was her own age, twenty summers, and shared her wry sense of humor along with her interest in herbs andgardening. Ella thought her quite pretty, with her brown curls and hazel eyes.
Mairi smiled sheepishly. “I admit I may have lingered a few moments just for the peace and quiet.”
Ella grinned back at her. “Aye, there isn’t much peace to be found within the castle walls.” In fact, it was fairly bustling all of the time. Servants hurried about, mothers scolded after laughing, playing children, men trained with swords in the yard, tradesmen worked their crafts…“But the clan prospers, anyone can see that, and the din is but a consequence of that prosperity.”
Mairi nodded in agreement, as she helped Ella spread the herbs on a table and began tying them into bundles. “Aye, life is good here, for the most part. It could certainly be much worse. We are lucky that we have a strong laird who keeps all of our needs so well met.”
Ella pursed her lips. “Strong, aye, but a bit prickly and dour.”
Mairi laughed as she hung up the last of the bundles and they started out the door.“Och, you noticed that, did you?But for all that, he’s still a good man.”
She lowered her voice conspiratorially. “I think maybe he just lacks a good woman in his bed. T’would put any such virile man in a bad mood.” She raised her eyebrows suggestively at Ella, who swatted her playfully.
“Oh, you’re awful!” she laughed. “Just because you’re betrothed to handsome young Robbie you look to see everyone else tied down, even the laird!”
The two of them walked, laughing, out into the yard.Then Ella turned thoughtful. “I know something of herbs and healing, and some things are missing altogether from the still room. I think we should gather some plants from the woods and moor before the cold weather comes and they can’t be found anymore.”
“Aye, you’re right. Our old healer passed last winter, and now there’s just Maggie. I know she can’t keep up with it all, as hard as she tries. We can go this afternoon, it’ll be fun… ooh… we can bring a picnic dinner!”
Ella smiled.“Thatwould be grand.” She paused thoughtfully. “But the laird has said I can’t go out of the castle walls without a guard. We’ll have to bring someone with us.”
“But I go out all of the time… it’s truly not dangerous, close to the castle. The guards on the wall can see everything for miles. It’s only if you go into the woods at the far side that you may run into trouble. We shall stay in the open where…”
“No Mairi”, Ella interrupted. “I think the laird is more concerned that I shall escape from his charge. The guard is not to keep me safe, so much as to keep mehere.”
“Oh.” Mairi’s face lit up again.“My brother Colin!He’ll take us. He owes me a favor.” She lowered her voice and leaned closer. “I covered for him last week when he was nearly caught dallying with another man’s wife. He is a rogue”, she stated matter-of-factly, with a nod. “I’ll find him and meet you back here in an hour.”
“And I’ll pack us up some dinner.”
***
Ceann left the keep and entered the bailey like he had a thousand times before, but this time was different. This time he unexpectedly caught sight of Ella and his heart leapt into his throat; for a moment he couldn’t breathe. Must she be everywhere he went? She stood speaking with the lass Mairi. Her face was alight and her hands clasped the other girl’s as they laughed together. For a moment Ceann wished he were the one to make her laugh like that, just once.That her face would light up just so when she looked at him. As he started for the stables, he saw that a man had joined the two women. It was Colin, one of his best guardsmen. One of his best guardsmen who was renowned for his handsome face and his wicked way with the lasses.Ella was smiling at him, and he was taking her hand, kissing it, smiling back…
The red hot stab of jealousy was instantaneous and undeniable. It was all he could do not to stalk over there and put his fist in Colin’s handsome face. But he didn’t. He took a deep breath and forced himself to keep moving toward the stables. He couldn’t have her, didn’t need her. Hell, he didn’t need any woman.It was only lust, nothingmore. Lust, no matter how strong, was not worth entangling himself with this woman who was anything but simple. His heart would surely end up broken when she eventually betrayed him, and he didn’t want to know that feeling again. It had been bad enough the first time with Brigid; the lass had nearly torn him to pieces with what she had done, and at the time, he had thought himself in love with her. He would never again be that vulnerable to another human woman.Never.
Ella and Mairi passed a pleasant afternoon together, collecting the plants Ella knew to be helpful, then braiding flowers in each other’s hair as if they were children, and chatting while Colin leaned back on the grass and watched with an amused look on his face. He was careful not to go too near Ella, however. He had noticed the murderous look on the laird’s face earlier and valued his life above even a tumble with a beautiful woman.And a broken nose would surely mar his own handsome face, which would not do at all.
To Ella, the time was a welcome, if short, respite to her constant worry that she wouldn’t be able to find what she was looking for. She had begun to have a strange feeling in the last few days; almost, but not quite a premonition, that it was very close indeed, just out of her grasp.That perhaps she had even looked upon it and not recognized it for what it was, which made her search all the more maddening.
It took the two women several days to prepare and properly store all the herbs they had gathered, working only in the time between other tasks. During those days, Ella saw Ceann hardly at all, and she began to miss him. She missed him even though all he ever did was scowl at her, or at most growl out a command or a question. If she missed him, she reasoned, then she must have feelings for him. No, sheknewshe had feelings for him. Her heart skipped a beat whenever she saw him, and she longed to be pressed against his steely chest again, as she had been when they rode together on horseback.She wanted to taste his kiss. Fully, this time. She could picture his wide mouth and soft lips... his strong square jaw with just a little dimple in the chin… his eyes, such a deep blue-green that they always reminded her of the sea…Oh God, I’m in this deep.
It was nearly dusk, and Ella wandered the castle grounds, no closer to her goal, but pleased that she was allowed the freedom to at least be outside and have some time on her own this evening.She had been working very hard, and as much as she enjoyed the company and camaraderie she found with the other women here, she also needed to be alone sometimes to be quiet and reflect. She always had, even as a child, when she would steal alone into the forest to play, imagining herself in a world of her own making. It was a world where anything was possible, and even the smallest of things had the deepest meaning. She had never entirely given it up, even as she grew into a woman. Such things were in her blood, at least that was what Esme always said, when she caught her dreaming things up or being fanciful. The true magic of life is always in the smallest things, she had said.
Humming softly to herself, still occupied with thoughts of the laird, she began to follow an old dirt path she had noticed some days ago, curious to see where it led. It began just behind the stables, and did not look as if it was used too often. More than likely it marked the way to a favorite trysting spot. She smiled at the thought of lovers meeting secretly in the shelter of the trees. Then she frowned as she thought of Ceann perhaps stealing away with a pretty lass… pulling her into his strong arms, bending down to kiss her with his wide mouth and soft lips…
She turned a corner of the path as it went through a small copse, kicking sulkily at a stone near her foot.Her very skin tingled just before she looked up, startled to see an old woman sitting on a small stone bench there, amongst the shadows of an old oak tree; someone she had not seen before, either at the castle or in the village. Strange, she thought she had met nearly everyone by now. Ella gave a friendly smile as she approached the woman.But her smile faltered as she drew closer. She could feel it, the subtle thrumming of energy, the slight push of a force unseen.The woman had the Sight, or more. She barely suppressed a gasp of dismay as she saw the amulet which she worearound her neck.This woman was of Esme’s own clan. Why was she here? Her mind spun precariously. Curiously, her first thought was of Ceann, not, as it should be, of her quest.Were they calling her back?No!The thought of leaving him now was…
The woman smiled and shook her head. “No, child.Calm yourself.Your work here is far from done.”
