“James will recover,” Joanna said matter-of-factly. “I had to come. As soon as I received his missive that Archie was missing, I began to make preparations. When I learned that Archie had been imprisoned...”
Her voice fell off, and Elizabeth reached over to put her hand over hers to give it a comforting squeeze. “He will be all right,” she said firmly. Theybothwould be all right.
“Of course he will,” Izzie said from her other side. “The smithy’s son will help.”
“Thom,” Joanna filled in, with a sidelong glance at Elizabeth.
Elizabeth made a great show of dunking a chunk of bread in the broth and pretended not to notice. Joanna had been very interested to hear that Thom had not only been here, but had been conscripted into helping with the rescue. Elizabeth had provided an edited explanation, but she knew that Joanna sensed there was more to the story.
Izzie wrinkled her nose. “How did a smith’s son from Douglas end up fighting with Edward Bruce?”
“It’s a long story,” Joanna said.
There were a lot of turnips and onions in the soup, Elizabeth noticed from the intense study she was doing of it.
“You were all friends growing up?” Izzie asked.
Joanna didn’t answer, so Elizabeth was forced to look up from her bowl. “We were.”
Were, but not any longer. Thom had made that perfectly clear. And after what had nearly happened, Elizabeth wasn’t inclined to challenge him.
Not that she was worried aboutthathappening again. She was sure it had been a one-time loss of sanity. Now that she was experienced and knew what to expect, she would not succumb so easily. It was her innocence that had been to blame, she told herself. It could have happened with anyone.
Of course, it would have been much more appropriate if it had happened with Randolph.
She bit her lip. But now that she had tasted passion, she was sure it would. Of course it would.
Still, prudence dictated a certain amount of caution around Thom. She would not tempt sin unnecessarily. He was so blastedly handsome, and all those muscles had felt surprisingly good—wonderful—against her.
Something in her voice had caused Izzie to frown. “Did something bad happen with the smith’s son? You tense up every time he is mentioned, and cousin Jamie turns outrightblackwith temper.”
“Nothing happened,” Elizabeth responded quickly. Perhaps too quickly. And with far too much insistence. Her cheeks flushed. “Nothing specific. He and Jamie... they grew apart. We all did.”
Jo looked like she wanted to argue, but pursed her lips and studiedherbarely touched pottage instead.
Izzie seemed to understand. “I suppose it’s only natural. The friends we have when we are children aren’t always suitable when we get older.”
Elizabeth bristled. “Thom is perfectly suitable. He’s a wonderful man. He was always the best among us. I wasn’t the one who ended our friendship.”
Izzie held her gaze for a moment. “I see.”
But she didn’t; she only thought she did.
Elizabeth would have corrected her, but at that moment there was a commotion at the door to the Hall as one of the guardsmen rushed in. Barely had he announced that the men were back when Jamie came striding into the room.
The three women seated at the dais rose in unison. Elizabeth clutched a hand around her throat as if it might help her to breathe, but her chest was frozen as her eyes scanned the men behind him.
Her knees buckled, and she was forced to grab the edge of the table to keep from falling. Right behind her brother, initially hidden from her view by the sizable warrior who walked beside him, was Archie.
It had worked! Her brother was safe, and...
The cry that bubbled from between her lips was more of a sob. Even among the group of exceedingly tall, broad-shouldered, and muscular warriors, she picked him out easily.
Thom was as well.
Despite her hold on the table, her legs gave out. She collapsed back on the bench. The relief was too much, and the emotion of the past few days caught up with her all at once as she burst into tears.
Realizing her tears were only causing Archie more guilt and distress, Elizabeth quickly got her emotions under control. But after days of fearing she might never see her young brother again, she was reluctant to take her eyes off him or let him be pried from her side.
