CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN
Elsy
Elsy held the drapes as she stared out the window of the carriage. Fields greeted her vision, the green blades of grass appearing brighter, sharper due to the morning rain. The clouds hung low in the sky, their darkness blocking out any light the sun offered. Tears stung her eyes and she quickly wiped them away, sighing as she let the drapes slide to a close. She leaned back in her seat, feeling the steady rock of the carriage around her.
Scott sat quietly at her side. The little girl’s head bounced against her shoulder. Neither of them had slept well the night before, at the inn. They had spent all yesterday traveling on the path, moving slowly, until finally they arrived at a village not far from the fortress. The driver had been kind, paying for their room and the stew the innkeeper’s daughter had made.
“Tis not I ye should thank,”she recalled the driver saying the night before.“Tis the man who sent word for me. He gave me enough coin to provide for the both of ye.”
Elsy had been surprised by the driver’s words. Although now, thinking of Connell, she knew he only wanted to protect her and Scott. He didn’t want any harm to come their way. She only wished he had come with them. What if his men were angered by her escape? What if they turned on Connell? Her frown deepened as she imagined Connell alone in that fortress, in the dark halls, surrounded by silence with noone to bring a smile to his lips.
There is naething I can do for him now,Elsy thought while stroking a stray hair behind her ear, watching the drapes swish back and forth.I cannot aid a man who does not wish for it.
They had awoken early in the morn and Elsy’s eyes ached with exhaustion. The inn had been filled with laughter and shouting, busy with local villagers drinking and dancing. She hadn’t gotten much sleep due to the noise. And the bed had been too small for both Scott and Elsy. The mattress had been too hard, like lying on rocks. The blanket had been thin and frayed and the pillow hardly there at all. Elsy did not wish to complain, but a part of her missed her room in the fortress, how the mattress seemed to cradle her form and the blanket provided her with all the warmth in the world.
They had waited for the driver to break his fast before setting out. Elsy hadn’t been able to eat much. Her stomach twisted and churned with worry, wondering what awaited Connell. Scott also hardly ate a bite, only nibbled on a small piece of bread. She hadn’t touched her porridge. Darkness surrounded the little girl’s eyes and a pallor lay on her skin. Elsy hoped it had nothing to do with Scott’s health and more to do with the worries of travel. Still, she occasionally felt the girl’s forehead.
“Elsy, where are we going?” Scott asked, her voice uncertain. “Connell did not inform me.”
Elsy grimaced as she heard Connell’s name leave Scott’s lips, hating the way they’d left. She forced a smile for Scott’s sake as she said, “To the McKades. My dearest friend, Ava, will take us in.”
“Ava,” Scott whispered, pursing her lips as if she were tasting the name and deciding whether or not it was worthy. “Do ye know her well? Will she truly let us stay with her?”
“Aye, I know Ava well,” Elsy said with a firm nod. “She is a good and close friend. I’ve known her since I was a young lass. Younger than ye.”
“Will she--” Scott paused and sighed. Elsy looked upon the girl, seeing tension in her shoulders and her hands fisting in her lap. “Will she send me away? Given who and what I am?”
Elsy took Scott’s hands and held them gently. Scott’s large brown eyes lifted to her, wide with worry, displaying her fear. The girl was young, but she had seen more than her years let on. She had seen too much for a girl her age, and it broke Elsy’s heart knowing Scott would never be like the other girls. She lacked all the innocence one her age should have.
“Ye will not be sent away,” Elsy said, her tone stern. Scott opened her mouth to speak, but Elsy shook her head and cut in, “I will make sure of it. Ava knows me well. She knows I have nae sister, nor brother to call my own, but she will keep our little secret. I will introduce ye to the McKades as my niece and that is what everyone will know ye as. Nae one will question it.”
“How are ye so sure?” Scott whispered, tears glimmering in her wide eyes. “How do ye know they won’t question it?”
Elsy smiled, the look genuine as she brushed the hair away from Scott’s face. “Because I know Ava. She would never let anything foul happen to me and those close to my heart. She will ensure our safety, just as I will ensure yers.”
Scott wrenched her hands away and wrapped her arms tightly around Elsy’s waist. “Thank ye, Elsy,” she whispered, nuzzling her face into Elsy’s shoulder. “I cannot help myself. I feel so worried without Connell here.”
Elsy sighed as she caressed Scott’s hair, her brow pinching together as she recalled the way Connell looked at her.“Do ye love me, Connell?”she remembered asking him, remembered the warmth entering his gaze, how the entire world seemed to stop as he stared back at her. She wished he’d answered her. She wished he had come with them, but she was no witch. She could not make him say the words she knew he felt.We were never destined to be together,she thought, inhaling deeply to calm the sob threatening to break from her lips.
“As soon as we arrive, we’ll need to have ye bathed at once,” Elsy rasped while quickly wiping a lone tear streaming down her cheek. “Ye smell like the horses.”
Scott chuckled as she pulled away from Elsy, yet no joy glimmered in her gaze. Elsy knew Scott was just as sorrow filled about leaving Connell behind. “I miss Connell,” she whispered, her bottom lip trembling while tears fell from her eyes.
Elsy stroked her tears away. “I do, too,” she breathed. “But only he can make the choice to come with us. And only he can live with those choices, while we must carry on without him the best we can.”
Scott shook her head. “I don’t want to,” she sobbed. “I wish he was here.”
Elsy pulled Scott close, stroking the girl’s back while she cried. “All will be well,” she whispered. “Do not cry, sweet child.”
“Whoa!” the driver called, making Elsy and Scott both straighten as the carriage slowed into a stop. Elsy grabbed the drapes, pushing them away and peering outside the window, yet all she saw were the clouds and the fields. She couldn’t see whatever it was that had stopped the driver.
“What is it?” Scott whispered.
Elsy shook her head. “I am afraid I do not know.”
“Good day!” the driver called.
The hair on the back of Elsy’s neck rose and her skin prickled as fear seeped into her. It wasn’t long ago she had been stopped in a carriage only to be taken and held prisoner in a fortress. Her fingers dug into Scott’s shoulders and her grip on the girl tightened as she let the drapes fall away. She moved them both closer to the opposite side of the carriage, pressing their bodies into a corner.
