That would change when they got to the castle and he got his life back. When Jessica emerged, she looked pale. She was trembling slightly. “Are you cold?” he asked.
“No,” she replied. “Just frightened.”
They began to walk again, making their way slowly upward toward the mountain range. “It will be fine,” he said after a moment’s silence.
He was less sure than he sounded. There was a chance they’d be picked off by archers before they even made it inside. What they needed was some kind of disguise. He filed that thought for the future. For now, focus on getting there.
The land grew more familiar as they scrambled up the mountain side to the pass that looked like a cut from a giant’s sword, running through the range and gradually down the other side.
The two of them lapsed into silence for longer and longer, the conversation dying. He thought about asking her more about the key, about why she thought this was a dream, but he decided against it.
If he got to know her too well, it would only make it harder when they parted. And part they would, one way or another. Either she’d be locked in the dungeon as an imposter or she’d get that key of hers, open her magic door, and vanish from his life.
He thought about her being imprisoned and tried to ignore the guilt that washed over him. Could he do that to her? Would he not be better off abandoning the plan?
He shook his head. No, what good would that do? Ronald would ruin the clan, maybe the whole country if he managed to ambush the tax train and steal the coffers for himself.
She’d be stuck where she least wanted to be, forever yearning to get back to her world, wherever it was. Behind a door. That was it. Behind a door he could not walk through for it belonged to her alone. That he knew though he had no idea how.
He thought hard while they made their way to the castle. When it finally came into view in the distance the sun was setting. He allowed them to stop for a minute. She sank to the ground and lay back, stretching her arms out and yawning.
He stood stock still, looking at the turrets he feared he might never see her again. They were hard to see from this distance in such low light but he knew their outline like he knew his own soul.
The castle was part of him. Was that part of the battlement missing? It had jagged edges like it had collapsed. Was he too late to prevent the ruin of the place?
The Laird would never have let the place decay if he were aware of it. He felt a flare of anger. It was one thing to grieve their missing child but did that give them the right to ignore their people’s plight? Or had the steward dripped poison in their ears, made them feel her loss was their fault?
He swallowed the anger. It was his bitterness at his exile that was coloring his thoughts. They had left their steward in charge as many Lairds did during illness or travel. He was the one who was burning the very world around him to keep himself entertained.
It didn’t make much sense though. Ronald had always been dull, easily led by others. He wasn’t the type to make these kinds of decisions without someone telling him to.
Eddard had wondered about this before but he’d stopped himself thinking too much about it for fear the anger would swallow him entirely.
He could never shake the feeling that someone else was pulling the steward’s strings, someone lurking in the shadows where no one could see them. Who might it be? Another Laird? A Norman? Maybe a Viking?
“What now,” Jessica asked, sitting up on her elbows. “Full frontal assault? Or would you rather attack the castle?”
He managed a smile. “I doubt you could handle a full frontal assault from me?”
“Oh, getting cocky are we? I bet I could handle you.”
“Time for that later,” he said, marvelling once more at how quickly she could distract him from his own thoughts. “We get a little closer but not too close.”
“Us or the castle?”
“The castle.”
“Of course. Why not go down now?”
He raised his eyebrows.
“To the castle,” she said, blushing slightly and slapping his leg.
He laughed before turning to again look at the turrets in the distance. Torches were being lit. Soon it would be too dark to see much of anything. “They never let anyone in at night. We will have to approach at dawn.”
“Will they even let us inside?”
“We’ll see. Come on, we shall find shelter somewhere.”
