Chapter Twenty-Six
“Ellie? Are ye hurt, lass? Where’s me uncle?”
Ellie was experiencing the most wonderful dream. In front of her, wet and looking rather dashing, was Aidam. Somehow freed from Sinclair’s dungeon and standing right in front of her. “Aidam, what are ye doing here? How did ye escape the dungeon?”
He rushed toward her and took her lips with his own in a fast, demanding kiss. “Did ye think I would leave ye that easily, lass? Where is yer guard? Where is me uncle? Why are ye not standing up?” He was repeating himself as he continued to kiss her, and she didn’t care. She kissed him back with abandon.
There was no other explanation but that she was dreaming. Or perhaps she had gone daft or hysterical because she felt like laughing at his questions even though she most certainly imagined her love in front of her. He touched her everywhere, but not as a lover. He touched her as if reassuring himself she was the one who was real and not an apparition.
“Lass, what’s wrong, can ye nay speak?” He cupped her face in both of his strong, calloused hands. Hands she remembered well as they had brought her body to pleasure. Hands that she knew would protect her. “Ellie, answer me.”
Ellie opened her eyes and stared into the blue abyss of her love’s gaze, and reality set in. Aidam was there, and he was real. He was holding her. He had somehow come.
“Kiss me again,” she whispered, leaning into him. He wrapped his arms around her as best as he could with the rope that secured her to the tree blocking a full embrace. He was so warm. How was that even possible? Her shivering stopped.
“Ellie, I’ve got to get ye free, but where is yer guard? Do ye ken anything about why yer so far away from the men? Is this a trap?” Ellie looked around, clarity coming back as the world came into focus, and she remembered where they were.
“I dae nae ken why I’m so far away,” she replied. “Duncan was told to guard me, but he left me alone? He grumbled something about sleep and not wanting to be left again to watch me. He tied my wrists and ankles and secured the rope to this tree,” she let her words rush out in a speedy whisper.
“Duncan, that rat,” Aidam spat out. “Anything could have happened to ye, lass. And look at ye, yer froze nearly to death. I have a mind to put a knife in Duncan’s belly for treating ye so poorly.”
She liked that Aidam cared for her and was concerned, but they had more pressing matters before them than one angry clansman shirking his duties. They had to stop Sinclair. “Aidam, I thought ye were in the dungeons? How did ye find us?”
She watched as Aidam scanned the trees. The men were close but far enough away that she was sure they could not hear or even see them. “I think most of the men are asleep,” she said.
“Aye,” Aidam replied, rushing to undo her bindings. “Jemina is with me. She’s back by the horses. She got me out of the dungeons, and we raced through the storm. I thought me uncle would camp for the night, and I would make it to yer brother in time.” He shook his head. Ellie could feel the disappointment radiating off him. “I’m afraid I failed ye. I didnae make it in time.”
He freed her wrists, and before he could start on her ankles, Ellie wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed both of his cheeks, not bothering to hide her affection. He came for her, and whether or not they could stop Sinclair didn’t change the fact that they would try together. “Aidam, ye didnae fail me. Ye came for me, to help me and my family. Ye’ve done more than ye can ever ken.”
“Aye, I suppose,” he replied, giving her a weak crooked smile before finishing his work on her restraints. Ellie threw her arms about his neck again, holding him tightly. She knew when this was over, she would waste no time showing him exactly how much his coming for her meant to her. She would make sure he knew he never failed her. He could never fail her. “Och, lass, yer gonna have to let go if ye want to walk again,” Aidam chuckled in her ear, and Ellie realized she was holding him rather tightly.
“Sinclair went to meet with my mother,” she said, letting go of his neck. “We have to try and speak reason to both of them. We have to stop the threat of battle.”
“Aye, but how can we get into the keep? We don’t want to bring more concern to the MacAskill men. Me uncle coming through the gates this early and unannounced may already have them on alert. I imagine they’re already on pins seeing the men out here. If they see us and begin to talk, it could spark my uncle’s temper,” he said, looking back at the sleeping clansmen.
Aidam was right. Ellie knew the clan was already on shaky ground with her father’s death and their new laird being still just a lad. Seeing the Sinclair men surrounding their gates unannounced and then the Laird Sinclair coming to seek audience with Lady MacAskill would cause alarm. Ellie and Aidam waltzing in as if it were a regular family reunion would do nothing to ease the MacAskill side of the gate.
The snores of the Sinclair men were the only sounds in the early morning. Not even the birds chirped. It was as though the animals all hid, awaiting the results of their mission, Ellie thought. The very existence of every man, woman, child, and animal depended on the outcome of what happened next.
“I know a way we can get in undetected,” Ellie said. “Follow me.”
* * *
Aidam would follow Ellie to the stars. All she had to do was ask, but standing in muck knee-deep and feeling his way along a stone wall was not exactly how he thought they would be entering the keep when she bade him to follow her.
“Ellie, are ye sure ye ken where yer going, lass?”
“Aye, Aidam,” she replied, looking back at him with a cheeky grin. “Do ye not remember when we were bairns? I would always beat ye back to the kitchens for the noon meal. This is how.”
“So this is yer secret, lass? Mud?” Aidam thought back to his summer visits to her keep. They would play in the fields all day with the other children from the village. After his parents died, it was the only fun or solace he had. Ellie’s governess always bade them back for the noon meal, lest the Laird be disappointed at not seeing his daughter. She would challenge him to a race, and every time she would disappear in the wood. Thinking for sure he had the upper hand on the young sprite, Aidam would race back to the kitchens only to find Ellie sitting at the maids' table already with bread in her mouth As she gave him the same cheeky grin she had now.
“Not exactly,” she replied as Aidam watched her push on a loose stone. A small door opened in the wall. Aidam sucked in a breath.
“Holy—”
“Now, Aidam Sinclair, dae nae be takin’ God’s name in vain,” she chastised. “We were smaller then, but I think if we squeeze, we can still get in.”
“This leads to the kitchens?”
