CHAPTERFOURTEEN
Elsy
After the sun had completely set, Brann came for Elsy. She expected him to cover her eyes with a cloth and return her to her rooms, but instead he guided her down a different corridor toward a different room. The door was large and foreboding, the wood dark and reminding her of the rooms in McCormick Castle. She felt a shiver going down her spine and straightened herself, refusing to give in to the fear seeping into her. She hoped it was Connell standing on the other side of this door, but she knew there were others in this fortress—others she had not yet seen, yet she had heard. Brann knocked three times; his head bent as he waited.
“Enter!” she heard a familiar voice call.
As Brann opened the door, she recognized the small study she had been in the day before. Connell sat at his desk, reading a letter in his hand. His gaze slid to her, and she watched him straighten in his seat, setting the paper onto the desk.
“That is all, Brann, ye may leave.”
Elsy didn’t move. She heard the click of the door shutting as she watched Connell rise from his seat. He leaned against his desk, crossing his arms. His brows tented, yet there was no darkness lingering in his gaze, only worry.
“How is he?” Connell asked gruffly.
So, he doesn’t know,she thought while smoothing the imaginary wrinkles in her skirts, biding herself time to choose her words carefully. Elsy cleared her throat, holding her hands steady in front of her. “H-he’s fine,” she said hoarsely, wincing at the nervousness in her tone. She worried Connell would see right through her and know something was wrong with Scott. Elsy could keep a secret yet lying had never been her strength. She was too easy to read, and she preferred speaking the truth. “I believe it was a combination of exhaustion and something rotten he ate.”
“Something rotten?” Connell asked, his head tilting. “Or poison?”
Elsy shook her head. “Nae, not poison. There would be blood in his bile if it were poison.” She forced a smile. “I believe all the lad needs is some rest.”
Connell nodded. “That’s good then.”
Elsy took several steps forward as she asked, “How did ye come upon the lad? Did ye take him from a village?”
Connell scowled. “What? Nae. We did not take him.”
“Then how did ye come upon him?”
Connell shrugged. “In the stables.” He nodded to the window. “Right outside. He was dirty and alone, talking to the horses as if he could understand them.”
“Does he have a family?” Elsy frowned as she watched Connell shake his head. “And how do ye know?”
“I know, because I asked,” Connell said harshly. “He told me his parents passed from illness. Glenton wanted to dispose of him, but I assumed having a servant to help in the stables and the castle would be of good use and so we took him in.” Connell sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I didn’t think it would be good to send him away, especially since he had nae one to rely on, nae one to show him the way.”
Elsy felt her heart softening, her knees growing weak as she stared at Connell. She could still see a glimmer of the man he once was. Perhaps not all was lost. She took another step forward, her hands relaxing at her sides.
“He’s afraid of something,” she whispered.
“Aye, I got that.” Connell’s arms dropped to his sides; his hands gripped the edge of his desk. “Did he tell ye why?”
Elsy shook her head. “Only that he didn’t want to be taken away, but I do not know by whom.”
Connell sighed, tilting his head back and giving Elsy a clear view of his jaw. He looked exhausted; his skin so pale. His only eye was surrounded by dark circles, making her wonder when the last time was he had gotten a good night’s sleep. Her gaze drifted to the eye patch, wondering what lurked beyond it. Was his scar really so terrible? She wondered what it would feel like to touch the puckered skin, to see the red mark that he kept hidden from the world.
“I’ll look into it,” Connell said gruffly.
“Thank ye,” Elsy whispered, her legs having a mind of their own as they slowly closed the distance between them.
His eye slid to Elsy at the sound of her approach and her feet halted at the icy cold look he gave her. “Don’t think I will let ye go, just because ye helped the lad.”
Elsy clenched her jaw, her brow tenting with worry. Her Connell was disappearing, being replaced by this angry and cruel mask he insisted on wearing. “I never assumed ye would.”
Connell chuckled bitterly. “I suppose now that I have ye here, ye can answer a few questions for me.”
“It depends on what ye ask of me. I cannot answer what I do not know.”
“Did yer husband ever have visitors?”
