Leona nodded slowly, her mind already racing ahead. Planning. Strategizing. Trying to figure out how she’d ended up in a fake betrothal with a man who made her pulse race and her thoughts scatter.
“As ye wish, me Laird.”
8
Leona found Rufus in the room they’d been given, a comfortable space with two beds, a washbasin, and a window overlooking the training yard.
He was sitting on one of the beds with Nyx curled in his lap, his expression troubled. The cat’s purring filled the quiet space, a soothing rumble that did nothing to calm the chaos in Leona’s mind.
“So?” Rufus asked the moment she entered, his young face creased with worry. “What happened? One minute, we’re leavin'; the next, guards are telling me to unpack because we’re stayin'.”
Leona sank onto the other bed, exhaustion seeping into her bones. The mattress was softer than anything she’d slept on in weeks. “Skye told the councilmen we’re getting married. Me and the Laird.”
Rufus’s eyes went wide as saucers. “What? Why would she do that?”
“Because she’s lonely and wanted to keep the cat, apparently.” Leona laughed, but it sounded slightly hysterical even to her own ears. The absurdity of it all was almost too much. “And now we’re trapped in this fabrication because if we deny it, it’ll create more problems than it solves.”
“But ye daenae even like him,” Rufus protested, his voice rising. Nyx’s ears flicked at the noise, but she didn’t move from her comfortable position. “He was goin' to throw us out yesterday!”
“I ken that.” The memory of standing so close to Murdock in the garden, of the way her body had responded to his proximity, made her cheeks burn. Leona pressed her hands to her face, trying to cool the heat. “But he’s right that we need each other. He needs a wife to secure his position, and I need protection from Ragnall. And we have nowhere else to go, Rufus.”
She lifted her head, meeting her brother’s worried gaze. His red hair stuck up at odd angles, and he looked so young, so much like the boy who used to follow her around, asking endless questions about everything.
“If we leave here, where do we go? To Maither? She’s barely managin' with Aunt Beitris as it is. Back to Kerr?” Her voice caught. “That’s certain death. At least here, we have time to figure somethin' out.”
Rufus was quiet for a long moment, stroking Nyx’s black fur thoughtfully. The rhythmic motion seemed to calm him, his shoulders gradually relaxing. “Do ye trust him?”
It was a good question.
Did she trust Murdock? The man who’d killed Keith without hesitation to protect her, but who’d been ready to send her away just yesterday? Who looked at his daughter with barely concealed adoration, but who spoke of marriage as nothing more than a business arrangement? Who made her pulse race and her thoughts scatter with just a look?
“I daenae ken,” Leona admitted, the honesty feeling like a weight lifting off her chest. “But I think… I think he’ll keep his word. Whatever he promises, he’ll do. Even if it costs him.”
“Then make sure he promises the right things,” Rufus said with a wisdom that seemed far beyond his fourteen years.
Before Leona could respond, before she could tell her brother that she wasn’t sure what the right things even were anymore, a knock sounded at the door.
She opened it to find Skye standing there, hands clasped behind her back, her expression more uncertain than Leona had seen it all day. The confident, calculating child from the garden was gone, replaced by a little girl who looked like she expected to be sent away.
“May I come in?” Skye asked shyly, her voice small. “I wanted to… I thought maybe I could play with Nyx again? If that’s all right?”
Leona’s heart softened. She stepped aside, gesturing for the girl to enter. “Of course, come in.”
Skye walked in slowly, her eyes immediately finding Nyx. The cat had lifted her head at the sound of a new voice, yellow eyes gleaming in the lamplight. Skye approached carefully, extending one hand toward the cat.
Nyx’s paw shot out, swatting at Skye’s hand. The claws were sheathed, just a warning, but Skye jerked back quickly, her face falling.
“I thought she liked me,” she said, disappointment thick in her voice.
“She’s just being cautious,” Leona said gently, moving to kneel beside the girl. “Nyx doesnae trust easily, especially when me brother is around. She’s very protective, you see. Try sitting down, give her a moment to decide for herself.”
Skye lowered herself to the floor, sitting cross-legged. She didn’t reach for the cat again, just folded her hands in her lap and waited. Nyx watched her with those unsettling eyes, her tail twitching back and forth like a pendulum.
The room fell silent except for the sounds of soft breathing and the distant noises from the castle. Leona held her breath, watching.
Then, as if she’d made some feline decision known only to herself, Nyx hopped down from Rufus’s lap. She padded over to Skye, circled her once with her tail held high, then settled directly into the girl’s lap with a purr that filled the quiet room.
“She does like me!” Skye breathed, wonder filling her voice like magic. Her hands hovered over Nyx’s back, uncertain, afraid to break the spell. “She really likes me!”
