He smiled, sending a pang right to her heart. “I was trying to protect you.” He stroked her cheek tenderly. “I hoped that if they thought I blamed you, they would not try to use you to get to me.”
Her breath caught in horror, realizing what he meant. She bit her lip, looking up at him hesitantly. “You were very convincing.”
He laughed and dropped a soft kiss on her mouth. “I’m sorry.”
Her composure crumpled. “Good gracious, Lachlan what do you have to be sorry for? This is all my fault. I told you I would never betray you, but you were right—everyone is capable of betrayal.”
He tipped her chin, forcing her gaze to his. “I was wrong. I made it seem black and white. What you did wasn’t a betrayal. They gave you an impossible choice and you chose the less terrible of the two.”
“They told me they would put her in the cage.” He muttered a vile oath, and tears streamed down her cheeks. “I couldn’t let them do that, Lachlan. I couldn’t let them put my daughter—”
“Shhh,” he stopped her, soothing her with his gentle embrace. “Of course you couldn’t. It’s over. Don’t think about it.” He comforted her for a few moments, but then pulled back, looking into her face. “We don’t have much time. Are you ready?”
She nodded. Though she knew it was ridiculous, and that every minute they lingered only added to the danger, she couldn’t help the irrational pang of disappointment in knowing that her daughter was so close.
But she might as well be a kingdom away. A kingdom separated by hundreds of soldiers and masses of thick stone walls.
If he guessed her thoughts, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he arched a brow. “Aren’t you going to ask how I escaped?”
She shrugged. “I figured you found a way to unlock the door.”
He shook his head. “You are a hard lass to impress. You do realize the door was more than three feet above my head—and the lock was on the outside.”
“You scaled the walls? Flew?”
He laughed. “Not quite. They came for me.”
She heard the note of pride in his voice and realized of whom he spoke. Their eyes met, and she smiled. “I’m not surprised.”
“Bruce will be furious.”
“Aye,” she agreed.
“I’ll probably have to work out a new agreement.”
Her heart thumped erratically—hopefully. “Does this mean you’ve decided to stay?”
He nodded, pulling her into his arms once more. “I meant what I said. I won’t leave you again. I’ll stay even if I have to fight for free.” She beamed at him, joy surging through every corner of her heart. “But don’t tell Bruce that.”
She laughed. “I won’t.”
He dropped a kiss on her nose and pulled her to her feet. “Good, then we’d better go. Someone is waiting for us.”
The dramatic turn of events could have been overwhelming, but as soon as they entered the corridor, danger and the threat of discovery became Bella’s immediate focus.
Good God, how did he do this all the time? Her heart was fluttering as frantically as the wings of a butterfly. Every noise, every flicker of light sent her into a cold panic that they would be caught.
Lachlan seemed two steps ahead of her. By the time she recognized the threat, he’d already dealt with it.
He didn’t need to ever worry about impressing her. She was in awe.
There hadn’t been an opportunity for her to question him about his plan, but she was surprised when after exiting the eastern tower, he led her around the barrack full of sleeping English soldiers to the castle church.
She tugged on his hand in question.
He shook his head, telling her silently not to worry, and pulled her through the back door of the small church. It was deathly quiet; a few candles flickered by the altar where they’d been left after prayers.
“Why are we here?” she whispered, sensing it was safe to talk.
