“I am sorry to have woken you, Helen. I would not call you at this hour if it were not of the utmost importance,” Vivien apologized to her. She could see that Helen must have been sound asleep when she was called to her aid.
Helen smiled and shook her head. “It isnae a problem, milady. I am here tae serve ye as best I can. Always.”
“Bless you, Helen,” Vivien murmured, rubbing her arms as though there was a chill in the air, “I must ask something of you. I would do it myself if I could, but I cannot risk it at this point.”
“O’ course, milady, anything,” Helen replied, her expression serious and honest.
“I need you to deliver a message for me.” Vivien could not contain her panic.
She needed to get the information to Kieran as quickly as she could, but with Reginald’s command that she travel with guards, she could not risk doing it herself. The only thing she could do was hope that her trust and faith in Helen were not misplaced.
“I can dae so, milady; who am I delivering it tae?” she asked politely.
“Laird Kieran MacBride. He is the Laird in these parts; I’m sure you know of him?” Helen nodded. “O’ course, milady. My mam is part o’ his clan; he is a good man.”
“He is,” Vivien agreed, “I need this delivered as soon as possible. I know it is a big ask; I would not ask if of you if I could do it myself.”
“I’m ready now, milady; ye can trust me. I know what goes on in this house, an’ ye don’t deserve it. I will go tonight; no one will see me leave under the cover o’ darkness. It is a new moon tonight – there is little light. I will mak’ sure I am not caught.”
“Thank you, Helen. I need you to seek out Kieran – tell him that I must meet with him tomorrow night, at sunset. There is an old, abandoned hunting cabin. It is not far from where we first met – tell him that, he will know exactly where I mean. Tell him it is urgent; I cannot trust this information to anyone. He must meet me there.”
Vivien was completely out of breath by the time she had finished relaying the message to her; the panic rising throughout her body had her on a knife’s edge.
There would be no sleep for her that night; her fear was far too overpowering.
Helen nodded and repeated the message to Vivien so that she knew the girl would remember it correctly.
“I won’t let ye down,” Helen said, and with that, left the room and was gone.
Chapter Fifteen
Kieran had been woken up in the middle of the night by one of his soldiers to receive Helen’s message.
The young maid had been both terrified and dignified at the same time. Kieran knew well the risk the girl had taken in bringing him Vivien’s message in the small hours of the night. He could also sense that she held some pride in being trusted enough to bring it to him on behalf of her lady.
He had agreed to meet with Vivien without waiting for Helen to finish relaying the message, leaving the poor girl flustered in the middle of her sentence. Kieran had apologized and urged her to finish so that he would have all of the information he needed.
Kieran could only shake his head at himself; there he was, a grown man, acting like a young lad with his first crush. He wanted nothing more than to see Vivien again – for whatever reason they could come up with.
He would be there in a heartbeat; all she had to do was ask.
It took several thousand heartbeats to get to the time when Kieran could ready himself to leave and meet her.
His day had dragged on relentlessly. Every minute that passed by felt like an hour; every hour felt like an eternity. There was no escaping the hours and hours Kieran had to wait to see Vivien again.
As he readied himself to leave, pulling his wild hair back into a tight bun at the nape of his neck, Kieran decided it would be nothing less than prudent to inform Bailey and Tilly that he would be meeting with Vivien. He did not fear her or think that something would go awry, but Kieran knew he would never forgive Tilly or himself if something went wrong and she disappeared without telling him where she had been going.
It was only the decent thing to do.
Tilly and Bailey were easy enough to find, running drills with the other soldiers in the training grounds outside the barracks.
“Tilly, Bailey, I need tae speak with ye,” Kieran called out to them, as he walked to his personal office inside the barracks. What he needed to say did not need to be overheard by some overly excited young soldier and spread around the clan like wildfire.
Kieran sat on the edge of his desk; Tilly and Bailey appeared a couple of minutes later, sweaty and out of breath.
“Och, the two o’ ye really stink.” He wrinkled his nose in disgust.
“Aye, an’ ye smell like a newborn bairn after you’ve been training, don’t ye?” Tilly rolled her eyes.
