Once again, Freya found herself standing behind James rather awkwardly, waiting to be acknowledged. Her heart beat so fast that she feared it would burst right out of her chest and her temples throbbed with pain from all the tumult of the day, so the longer she remained unseen and ignored, the better it was for her.
Naturally, it was right then that the young woman addressed her.
“Forgive us,” she said, stepping forward. “I am Morgana, James’ sister, and this is Edward. And ye are?”
“I’m… Freya,” she offered. “Freya Webster.”
“Me savior,” said James, almost speaking over his sister. His two siblings stared at him in surprise, James’ intensity giving them pause. “She’s the only reason I’m here now, alive.”
Freya’s cheeks heated uncomfortably under the scrutiny from the two siblings, and James’ words hadn’t helped at all. That one word carried so much weight on it that Freya could hardly stand the attention it had brought her.
She couldn’t decipher the looks on the siblings’ faces. Other than the shock of the revelation, there was nothing else that she could see, nothing that she could read.
Morgana nodded a few times and then, as if remembering herself, she gave Freya a warm, welcoming smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet ye, Freya. Perhaps ye would like me tae show ye yer chambers. Ye and me braither will have time tae tell us all once ye have rested a little.”
Me chambers?
“Aye, please, Morgana,” James said. “I’ll speak with our parents while she rests.”
“I dinnae think—” said Freya.
“Please,” James said, this time addressing her. He, too, seemed exhausted and Freya couldn’t help but worry about him and his state after everything that had happened to him in the previous month. He was still in recovery; any sort of excitement, good or bad, was bound to have a profound effect on him.
“Ye should rest too,” she said in an attempt to ensure he wouldn’t fall ill again.
“I will,” he assured her. “Once I’ve spoken tae me parents.”
Freya realized that that was something James had to solve himself, and the more she insisted and tried to meddle, the worse it would be for them both. So, instead of insisting, she simply nodded and followed Morgana as she headed up the stairs, waiting at the landing for her.
To Freya, it seemed as though she were walking to the gallows.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“In all this, everyone else seems to have forgotten ye went missing fer a whole month, but I havenae,” said Edward once Morgana and Freya were gone.
James looked at his brother wearily, reaching up to comb his fingers through his hair. Of course, he would have to explain everything that had happened to his whole family at some point, but the mere thought of it was exhausting.
“There was a storm,” he said. “The ship sank and the current took me to a small beach in Rùm. Freya found me there, half dead, and nursed me back to health, but I had lost me memory.”
Edward looked at him in disbelief, his brown eyes filled with concern. “We had heard news of the shipwreck but were not able to get any other information about the survivors and worried greatly when we got no further news from ye,” he said with a sad smile. Then, he suddenly seemed to register what James had said and added, “But ye remember all now?”
“Aye,” James assured him. “I remember everything. It all came back tae me when we were traveling.”
His brother breathed a sigh of relief. “I cannae believe that happened tae ye.”
“That and much more,” said James. “But I will tell ye all about it later. Now I must speak tae Faither and Maither about marrying Freya.”
“Dae ye plan on marrying that lass?” Edward asked, quick to add, “I’m sure she is lovely, James but ye ken how Maither can be.”
They both knew their mother well and that should have been enough to discourage James from his plan, but his desire to be with Freya was stronger than any apprehension he might have held. She was the love of his life. She was the only thing that mattered.
“Freya saved me life,” James said. “Once ye ken her better, ye’ll see how caring and how brilliant she is. I cannae compromise on this. I love her, Edward. I love her and I willnae sacrifice that fer some alliance.”
There was a time when such an alliance would have been the most important thing for James. There was a time when he would have readily agreed to the proposed marriage with Evelyn, and perhaps he would have even been happy with her by his side. But that was a time when he had not yet known true love. Now, it was as though something inside him had awakenedand demanded to be heard. His feelings for Freya, the love he had for her—it could not be suppressed. For once in his life, he wanted something for himself.
Besides, he was certain Freya would step skillfully and proudly into the role expected of her. Who could be better at it than a healer, a woman as compassionate and thoughtful as she was?
For a few moments, Edward was silent, only observing James. When he spoke, his voice was softer than James had ever heard it before.
