“How are ye feelin’, Uncle?” she asked.
“Awful,” Archibald admitted. “But I’m grateful to ye.”
Once it was done, Olivia released a sigh. “We should get him to bed so he can rest.”
“I can help with that,” Caden offered, coming up to join them. Finlay was behind him.
“We’ll carry him back to his room,” he agreed.
The women moved out of the way as Finlay and Caden worked to gently lift Archibald. Caden grabbed under the man’s arms while Finlay grabbed his legs, and then they carried him to the castle.
Thalia watched them go, looking out at the dispersing crowd. Now that they had beaten Clan MacGibbon, things could perhaps go back to normal.
Olivia wrapped an arm around her, squeezing her shoulders. “I think ye should go and have a lie down as well.”
“I’m fine,” Thalia tried.
But her mother remained unconvinced.
“I’ll send a maid up to draw ye a bath, and ye can get rid of yer dress,” she suggested.
Thalia looked down at her tattered and bloodied wedding dress. She was partially glad that it was ruined beyond repair. It only seemed to bring her bad luck.
“Aye,” she relented. “A bath sounds good.”
They walked together, with Ava and Emma bringing up the rear. When the women arrived at the room, Thalia went to sit on the bed, and Olivia left to find a maid.
Emma paced the room, shaking her head. “I cannae believe it! Finlay showin’ up the way he did, and Caden, too!”
“Aye!” Ava agreed. “I kent that he was plannin’ somethin’, but I still didnae expect… and Uncle being in on it, too!”
Thalia watched her sisters pace back and forth for a moment, her body sagging with the stress of everything that had happened.
“Ava, Emma.” Her sisters turned to her. She sighed. “I think I’d like to be alone for a minute. I’ll clean up and join ye later.”
“Are ye sure?” Emma asked.
“We daenae mind keepin’ ye company,” Ava added.
Thalia nodded. “I’m sure. Thank ye.”
The sisters hugged each other, before Emma and Ava left the room.
Thalia lay back down, pulling her knees up to her chest as she stared across her room. She had resigned herself to marry Harrison, but now he was dead. Finlay had saved her, but was it because he wanted to be with her?
She could not be sure. She would have to wait until she spoke with him again.
CHAPTER 32
A few minutes passed,and a couple of maids came in carrying buckets of hot water, as promised. They filled up the copper tub in the corner, arranging a towel and even going so far as to add oil and dried petals.
Thalia watched them work, and as they slipped out, she let loose a quiet, “Thank ye.”
They closed the door behind them, and she was alone again.
She stood, crossing the room to dip her hand into the water. It was hot, close to boiling, yet she found she did not have the energy to undress and step into it. She sank to the floor as the first wave of sobs climbed up her throat.
The sobs wracked her body. She choked on them, coughing as she struggled to breathe through the tears. She should be happy that she had managed to escape her fate, but it was as if her bodywas now feeling every ounce of fear and despair that she had been burying for the last two weeks.
