CHAPTERELEVEN
Elsy
Elsy shivered as she stared at the ring in Connell’s hands.“Yer husband,”Connell’s words repeated in her head. She held herself still, despite the need to run to the door. This was the reason why she was taken. They believed her husband a traitor, an English sympathizer.
Connell placed the ring back on the table, the sound making Elsy flinch. He leaned back in his chair, stroking his chin as he appraised her. “Unfortunately, McCormick died before I could exact my revenge.”
“What are ye going to do to me?” Elsy rushed out, her tongue numb, her body trembling as she imagined all the horrid things Connell’s men had planned for her.
Connell pursed his lips, his eye narrowing. “My duty now is to discover the breadth of McCormick’s dealings with the English and any other information yer husband supplied them with about the Scottish.”
“I know naething.” Elsy winced at the shrill edge to her tone. She gripped her hands tightly to keep herself from fidgeting, but she couldn’t stop her body from trembling. “I swear to ye, Connell, I know naething about Alan’s dealings. He told me naething, Connell.”
His bitter laughter silenced her words. She clenched her teeth, watching him rise from his chair. “I hardly believe that, Elsy.”
“Tis the truth, Connell.” She straightened her back, jutting out her chin as he approached her. “I hardly left the castle’s walls. I rarely spoke to the servants. I was more alone there than I was after Father died.”
“And yet ye still married a traitor.”
Elsy felt her jaw falling open, wanting to yell, wanting to stomp her foot. She had never been so angry with Connell in all their days together. Who was this man staring back at her? He looked like Connell, sounded like Connell, but he was not the man she once loved.
“Tell me, Elsy,” said Connell tauntingly, “why did ye leave McCormick’s castle so quickly? Were ye scared?”
“Aye,” Elsy said, louder than needed. “I was scared. As soon as I saw my husband, his ravaged corpse rotting on the table, I packed my things and made preparations to leave for the McKades.” She inhaled deeply, needing to calm her pounding heart. “I knew my husband had his enemies. Tis the reason why he kept me within the castle walls all these years, worried I would succumb to a vagrant wishing me ill will just to get to him.”
“And ye never questioned yer husband as to why?”
Knowing they once loved each other, cared for one another, kept Elsy from running from Connell. She could see losing his eye had made him bitter, but there was a hint of the man she once knew gleaming back at her. She could see the pain in his gaze, the worry in his brow as he looked at her. He held himself as a cold, bitter man, but it was all a disguise, one he held to in order to seem cruel. She had to believe it was all a ruse. She knew Connell couldn’t be this awful man he passed himself off as. There had to be hope her Connell was still in there, staring back at her.
“Nae,” she whispered. “I did not.”
If he truly wished to demand answers, to harm her, he wouldn’t be speaking with her now, he wouldn’t have given her extravagant gowns and a warm bed. Elsy straightened, her hands clenching at his side as this realization gave her strength.He will not harm me,she thought.He’s merely playing with me, trying to goad me into a response and taunt me into giving him the answers he wants.But he’s a fool, for I have naething to give.
Despite his injury, he was still beautiful. She still felt the pull within her, demanding she touch him, pull him into her arms and kiss his pain away. Her feet had a mind of their own. She found herself drawing closer, her hands lifting, reaching for him.
“I hate ye had to go through so much pain, Connell,” she whispered as she approached him. “I hate to imagine ye alone and hurting. The suffering ye must have felt. The loneliness.”
Her hands touched his shoulders. He flinched, drawing away from her, but he was not fast enough. She wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face into his chest. His body eased under her fingers, and she felt his hands coming around her, his warmth on her shoulders.
“I’ve missed ye,” she whispered while slowly closing her eyes.
With those words, she expected him to say the same. Instead, his body stiffened, his hands forced her away. He held her at arm’s length, his grip tight on her arms but not painful. “Ye truly believe I would fall for such blatant seduction?”
Elsy scowled. “I wasn’t trying to seduce ye, Connell.”
His laughter made her see red, made her feel fire at her fingertips. Why was he being so cruel? Connell was the one who lefther.Hewas the one who broke his promise. She wrenched herself away from him, stifling the need to shout her irritation.
“Why do ye believe it was my husband who betrayed ye to the English?” Elsy asked while resting her hands on her hips. “What proof do ye have? It could have been any laird, yet ye assume it was my husband?” She pursed her lips, staring at Connell accusatorially. “Has jealousy made ye blind?”
Connell’s eye was cold as he stared down at her, looming above her, yet she wouldn’t cower before him. “I saw him riding out of the English camp.”
Elsy’s eyes widened. “Ye lie.”
“Tis nae lie, Elsy.” Connell sighed, his fingers sliding against his patch, stroking it absentmindedly. “I tried to capture him, but he was more skilled than I. One mistake was all it took. One misstep on the battlefield. With a slice from his blade, he took my eye. He took my very life from me.”
Elsy gasped, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. She shook her head, unable to believe Connell’s words.It can’t be true,she thought, searching her memories of that day.
“He even took my love,” Connell said with a tilt of his head and a cruel smile upon his lips. “Tell me, sweet Elsy, how did that come to be? Did ye invite him into yer bed the very moment ye heard of my death?”
