“Silence!” Elsy shouted. “How dare ye demean me.” Her hands fisted as she went onto her tiptoes, scowling up ay Connell through the tears blurring her gaze. “Alan was wounded when he knocked upon my door. He was the one who informed me of yer death. Told me he had a message for yer father. I thought we won the battle, instead I not only had to grieve my father’s loss, but yers.”
“Aye,” Connell said, his smile widening, which only made her anger worsen. “At least I was able to give him that.”
“Ye wounded him?”
“Aye, I wounded him,” Connell said while leaning toward her, his lips a hair’s breadth from her own. “I would do it again and much more if I could.”
Elsy wiped the tears from her eyes. “I took care of him for the next several days. Yer father, grieving for yer loss, could not bear to look upon me. I suppose I reminded him of ye and the arguments ye once had. He wished to give my father’s cottage to another and so I was alone and nearly homeless, with nae where to go.”
Connell chuckled, stepping away from her and striding back toward his desk. “And so, McCormick offered to take yer hand in marriage.”
Elsy found herself nodding, although she hated admitting it, knowing only a mere three days had passed before she accepted another man into her life. “Aye, he did.” She wrung her hands as she thought of that day she left the MacArthurs, of saying her farewells to Ava. “He promised to care for me, to provide me with a warm home. I would never be alone, he said.” She scoffed, her lips trembling as she held back a sob. “How could I deny him, when I was alone in the world, with naething to keep me company but the memories of ye?”
She remembered sitting on that horse, with Alan behind her, his arms wrapped loosely around her waist. Ava had been wiping the tears from her eyes. Elsy remembered saying to her friend,“Tis not goodbye. We will see each other soon.”If she could, she would laugh now at those words. It had been four years since she saw Ava last.
Elsy also recalled looking up to the far tower of the MacArthur castle as she and Alan slowly rode away. She remembered being startled by the elder Laird MacArthur’s stare. He had watched her from his window, a thin and shallow version of himself, as if hearing of his beloved son’s death had finally broken him. Elsy vaguely wondered what became of him; if Laird MacArthur had overcome his grief. She had heard very little of her past clan over the years.
“And did McCormick keep his promises?” Connell asked gruffly.
Elsy frowned as memories surfaced. She remembered walking through the dark halls of McCormick’s castle. Every day, she had been followed by a knight. She was never permitted to leave, rarely could she speak to the servants, who kept their heads down. Their eyes had always looked fearful, as if they were hiding something, as if they were worried the moment they spoke a word to their lady they would lose their tongues.Perhaps I should have known then that he was hiding something,Elsy thought as she stared at the stones below her.
She winced, recalling a time when she had been sitting next to Alan, wishing to visit Ava and see her first born.“It won’t be long,”she remembered saying while watching her husband eat. He had hardly said a word to her. She hadn’t known if he was listening.“I would be back within the next two weeks. It’s been so long since I’ve seen-”
“Elisabeth,”Elsy shivered as she remembered the way he’d said her name. It made her skin prickle and the hairs on the back of her neck rise. She recalled the way his eyes had stared at her, like a wolf about to rip her throat out if she wasn’t careful.“Do ye not remember what I told ye?”
“I remember, my laird.”
“Then why do ye insist on speaking of trivial nonsense when ye know my answer? Ye will remain here, where yer safe and where my men can care for ye.”
“But-”
“What more do ye want from me, ye foolish lass!”
Elsy flinched, remembering the way Alan yelled at her, the way he slammed his fists on the table, the way he made her feel weak and unwanted. She shook her head, forcing the memories away.He cannot threaten ye now,she told herself.He is dead and yer alive. There is naething he can do now that he is buried in the ground.
“Did he, Elsy?”
Elsy’s head snapped toward Connell. She frowned, not remembering what he had asked of her. “Did he what, Connell?”
“Did he keep his promise to care for ye, provide for ye? Ensure ye were never alone?”
Elsy winced. Over the last four years, she had always been alone. The only thing that changed was the location. “It was never home,” she whispered, not wanting to speak any longer about Alan or his promises to her. It only brought up terrible memories she wished to leave behind.
Elsy watched Connell, noticing how he gripped his desk, his fingers digging into the wood. “I understand the pain ye went through,” he said harshly. “I apologize for the loss of yer father. I apologize for not returning to ye as promised. I should have never left.”
“Connell--”
“What I cannot forgive is ye marrying a traitor like McCormick.”
Elsy stepped toward him, wanting to tell him how much she missed him, how she thought of him often. There had even been nights in which she had been tempted to join him. “Connell…”
“Enough!” Connell wasn’t looking at her, as if the very sight of her disgusted him. “Brann!”
Elsy turned at the sound of the door creaking open, finding Brann’s curious gaze peeking through. He looked between them; his brow tented with concern. “Aye?” he asked uncertainly.
“Return her to her rooms,” Connell said, gesturing sharply toward Elsy.
Without a word, Brann quickly strode toward her, gently taking her arm. Elsy wrenched away from him. “Connell, please,” she said while lunging toward Connell. Her hands grabbed his and she shook them, trying to get him to look at her, but his attentions were fastened to the floor.
