“Fiona?” Looking down at the fine dress, wondering where it had come from, a sudden thought occurred to her.
“Aye?”
“Is there a lady of the castle?”
She held her breath, not sure if she wanted to hear the answer. She could have sworn she saw something like uncertainty flicker across the woman’s face.
“No, it’s just the laird.”
“Why ever not? I mean, surely the laird is past an age to marry?”She knew her question was forward and bordered on rude, but she found that she was more than curious about the man who had brought her here. In fact, she seemed to be thinking about him much more than was strictly necessary to complete her quest.
Fiona bit her lip in hesitation, but answered nonetheless.“Well, I suppose the laird doesn’t want to marry. Some men prefer to remainbachelors for all of their days. It just suits them. Or perhaps he’ll marry one day yet. He’s young, still, afterall.”
Ella sensed there was more to this story. Servants knew everything that went on in a castle. Gossip being coin, and all. “Aye, I suppose.”But what about an heir? Everyone knows there must be an heir.Ella got the impression that something was not quite as it should be at Tulloch. There was a certain tension; a subtle sadness about the place, that was palpable to her even now.A mystery, then. Did it have anything to do with what she was to find here? She needed to learn more; suddenly couldn’t wait to learn more.
With the slippers on her feet, and her mind still reeling from all that had happened in such a short time, making everything seem a bit like a dream, Ella was led back down the stairs and deposited in front of a closed door at one end of the Great Hall.
Fiona nodded towards the door. “The laird’s within, he’s expecting you.”The maid bobbed and then hurried away, leaving her on her own standing in front of the laird’s study. Several curious on-lookers watched her from the hall, waiting to see her go to her meeting with the laird.
Chapter 3
Ella took a moment to compose herself, self-consciously smoothing the front of her skirt. Her heart was beating faster just knowing who was waiting for her on the other side of the thick oak door.Him.She raised her hand and knocked.
“Enter!” came the brusque reply.
She lifted the heavy iron latch and slipped into the room, shutting the door firmly behind her. He turned from where he stood at the window, and her heart lurched in her chest to see him there. God, but he was a beautiful man!Just looking at him made her breath hitch in her chest. Tall, broad-chested, and well muscled, yet graceful with it.His hair hung loose in waves of chestnut brown, reaching just past his shoulders. He looked fierce, and every bit the proud and powerful laird. And yet, there was a palpable air of anger and sadness around him like a dark cloud, giving her the absurd notion that she should take him into her arms and comfort him.Don’t be ridiculous, Ella, she chided herself.He would certainly not welcome your comfort. Especially not with the way he was looking at her as if she plotted to steal his gold and take his castle. She cringed inwardly. In truth, she did not know yet whether she would be forced to steal from him, gold or otherwise.A treasure you will want… She did not care much about gold or jewels. What, then? This whole adventure thing could end up being more than she bargained for. She had a sudden feeling it already was.
The laird crossed his arms across his chest and nodded to a chair near the fire. “Be seated”, he commanded imperiously, as if they hadn’t just spent last night crowded intimately together in a tiny tent.She lifted an eyebrow at him in silent challenge to his tone, but sat down in the ornate wooden chair he offered.He moved slowly across the room, with a lion-like grace, until he stood over her. His size alone wasintimidating, and combined with a fierce scowl, he looked quite dangerous. He was close enough that she could feel the heat of his body, and catch the warm masculine scent of his skin. Her heart beat faster in her chest. Her hands trembled in her lap, and she pressed them against her thighs. She was not afraid,no. Why then, did they tremble?Hemade them tremble.
He narrowed his eyes at her with unyielding intent.“You will tell me why,exactly, I found you wandering alone in the forest.Onmylands.”He stared down at her, waiting for her reply. Looking up at a solid wall of muscle and brawn would be enough to make most people confess everything. But luckily, she was not most people, and she had more at stake here than he knew.She found herself wishing she could just tell him the truth, but even if she could, he would at the very least think her mad, at the very worst lock her up, and she had to be free in order to search the castle. He growled low in his throat.
“I’m waiting lass, and my patience is growing thin.” She sighed to herself and reluctantly looked up at him.
“We’ve already been through this. I can’t tell you, at least not yet.”For God’s sake, why hadn’t they told her what she should say when she got here?Her journey had been so sudden, with no time to prepare, barely even enough time for goodbyes. She had thought vaguely on the way here that she might enter the castle in the guise of a maid, but it was far too late for that…
“Because you don’t trust me. Aye, and you shouldn’t”. He turned suddenly and paced angrily across the room before turning to look at her again. “Who sent you here? Tell me now… and perhaps I will send you back to them unharmed.”
Perhaps. But she already knew he would never harm her.And yet, she didn’t want him looking at her with anger and suspicion in his eyes; she wanted something else altogether.He doesn’t know me. He doesn’t know…Ella stood up and fisted her hands at her sides. “I was not sent by your enemies, whoever they are, and I have no wish to topple your defenses, impressive as they may be. I am not a spy!” She glared at him. “You, by the way, are being very rude.”
“Am I now?”He looked almost bemused as he took a step closer to her. Tension and heat all at once crackled thick in the air. “I am laird here, and it is my responsibility to defend and protect my people, against every threat, large or small, and I will do so to my last breath. Even if that means being rude to an uncooperative, willful lass!”
Ella knew he meant those words. Her gaze took in the pride with which he held himself, the hard glint in his eyes. This was the first time she had stood so close to him, and she suddenly felt very small. The top of her head did not even reach his shoulders. And he was so verymale. Aye, he would defend and protect what was his.She wondered what it would be like… to be the one a man like this fought to defend. Or to be the focus of all that passion he held under such tight rein. She could see it, this close, in his eyes. A restless anger. The spark of something… But no she couldn’t think about that, not when there was so much at stake.She was not here to become intrigued by the laird, she reminded herself.She shook off the strange feeling that fate was tugging at her sleeve, and instead gave him a smile. “And you think that I,a mere lass, am a threat to the mighty Tulloch? I am flattered.”
He scowled at her, his only expression thus far.“Don’t play games with me. You know as well as I that it is not usual to find a lass, especially an apparentlywell bornlass, wandering on her own, with no decent explanation as to why.Andyou were on my lands, no far distance from my castle. Aye, I would be foolish if I didn’t doubt your word, or your motives.”
Well, he had her there. By all rights she would never have been in that forest alone. Why did she not take the time to think up a better story before now? Perhaps because her erstwhile escorts had so swiftly dumped her in Ceann’s path before disappearing and leaving her to her fate as if she was so much unwanted baggage. If she ever got out of here and they dared show their faces to her again… But that was neither here nor there. She was here in Tulloch Castle and it made no difference what the laird thought of her, did it? Perhaps it was good that he was so suspicious, it seemed to make him all the more determined to hold her here. And here is where she needed to be.
Ceann had truly hoped the lass would have a good explanation for how she was found, or at least a believable one. She unsettled him in a way he didn’t understand, and didn’t want to understand. He didn’t like the way his heart sped up when she was near, or the way he suddenly had the almost uncontrollable urge to take her in his arms and kiss her whenever she looked up at him with her sweet innocent face.He really didn’t need the trouble she was sure to bring, and he didn’t want any complications in a life he had long ago accepted as his. If she had kin that would vouch for her, he could send for them to come and retrieve her. No one here at Tulloch had heard of her, but he had already sent out messengers to all of his trusted allies, and aye, a few not-so-trusted ones as well. One or more of them would have heard of her; the highlands were not such a big place as all that. And if she were a runaway bride, someone would surely be searching for her by now. He would have to wait only a fortnight or less to learn her identity. Until then, he would watch her closely, and he had to admit, watching her would not be a hardship. Keeping his hands from her would be.
When she had come into the room, bathed and in a clean gown of pale blue, with her hair brushed out all golden and shimmering, he knew for certain what he had suspected from the first.A woman this beautiful was a prize that men would fight for… aye, even die for. She would never have been left on her own, unless, of course, she was meant to lure him into a trap. She was a very valuable sacrifice for someone to make, which meant the reward they hoped to gain was even greater.He would not be falling into any traps; he was far too cunning for that. Still, he could not just send her back out into the forest either. If there was even the slightest chance that she was innocent, perhaps having been set upon by thieves or even kidnapped… aye perhaps she was taken for her beauty and torcher and managed to escape, and was afraid to trust anyone with her true identity lest her captors catch up with her…Stealing brides was a common enough practice in the highlands; but now he was just being fanciful. Nevertheless, he could not by his honor send her back out on her own where she would surely be raped or killed by the first less-than-honorable man who found her. Some women were willing players inthe games of men, and others were innocent pawns, forced by sometimes brutal means to comply. He could not be sure which Ella was, and so he would not see harm come to her while she was in his care. Perhaps in time she could be convinced to give up her accomplices.
Ella watched as the laird considered her. He was so adept at shielding his thoughts, that she could barely read them on his face. It would take one much more skilled than she in that art. It seemed like time slowed almost to a stop as she waited for him to decide her immediate fate. She could only hope he would not send her away. She couldn’t go home to her people in shame, not after all they had done for her. And how would she get home, anyway? She furrowed her brow, her heart suddenly thumping in her ears. No one had mentioned how she would get back! Was that not a rather important detail?
Ceann turned and moved to stand by the fire. In the dim light of early evening, the glow from the fire highlighted his high cheekbones and strong chin.He seemed to fill the whole room with his presence. She drew a little breath when he finally spoke. Though his words were firm, his voice sounded like dark velvet to her ears.
“I can’t allow you to leave, lass, without knowing who you are. Since you won’t tell me, I’m forced to keep you here until you do. Or until I find out on my own,” he added ominously.
She thought she saw a flicker of surprise when she merely nodded her consent. “I told you, I understand. I have nowhere else to go at the moment, anyway.”She smiled serenely, and enjoyed the perplexed look that flashed across his face before he could stop it. Aye, she could have quite a bit of fun confusing and beguiling this man. She loved to tease; had nearly driven Malcolm and his friends mad with her childhood antics. And he seemed to need a bit of fun in his life; he was awfully dour for one so young and so handsome. He should be reveling in all of the good things life had to offer.And why did he not take a wife? That question intrigued her more than she wanted to admit, for it was certainly no concern of hers. Was he a man who preferred to have a different woman in his bed every night? She didn’t think so. No, it feltto her more that he was protecting himself, shielding himself. Perhaps a woman had hurt him in the past? Stolen his heart and made him bitter for it?
