“Where are ye goin’? I could come with ye. I could use the opportunity to expand the search for me sister, perhaps consider…”
“Nay,” he interrupted firmly. She paused, briefly taken aback, and glanced quickly up at him. There was a flash of reproach in her eyes, quickly hidden.
Creighton shifted, crossing one ankle over the other. He wouldnotallow himself to be affected by her disappointment. Her reproach had no impact on him, none at all. He cleared his throat and waited for her inevitable response.
“And where is it that ye are goin’?” she continued, after a moment’s affronted pause.
“To visit me cousin and me aunt. Me cousin, as I think I’ve said, is Laird MacCrimmon. It was his sister, Skye, who went with yer Laird Bryden.”
“He’s notmeLaird Bryden. In fact,” she added thoughtfully, “Now he’s hers.”
Creighton’s eyebrows flickered, and he decided not to offer any opinions on this comment.
“Well, that is where I’m goin’,” he said, after a moment. “We have clan matters to discuss. I might leave Laurie to stay with them for a few days.”
“Clan matters?”
He paused, wondering if it would be wise to keep this matter from her.
Nay,he decided.The truth will come out one way or another. Best to start as we mean to go on.
“Ye said that Laird Bryden would never accuse us of havin’ ye killed,” Creighton said aloud. “Ye are wrong. Ye were poisoned three days ago, and news of the event reached Clan Bryden within one day. I have had Bryden envoys here, accusin’ me of havin’ ye killed. Or of tryin’ to have ye killed, at least. I explained as best I could…”
“And did Evander believe ye?” Nora burst out. She’d stopped rifling through drawers and was instead staring at him in dismay.
“I daenae ken,” Creighton answered, honestly enough. “I hope that he did, but at any rate, things are uncertain now. It’s wise nae to take anythin’ for granted. If me treaty with Clan Bryden falls through, I must ensure me cousin’s support. We must be prepared for war.”
War. That awful word made Creighton tighten his jaw. More bloodshed, more expense, more uncertainty, morepain. He hated it, hated it. He’d do whatever he could to avoid it. Paying a visit to his cousin and aunt was a small price to pay in exchange for some security.
“Well,” Nora said slowly, taking a step forward. “If ye wish to convince the Highlands that ye did nae arrange me death, which I ken ye did nae, by the way, ye would never have risked puttin’ poison in Laurie’s shortbread—then do ye really think it’s wise to leave me behind?”
Creighton lifted an eyebrow. “Thank ye for yer faith in me. And as to that, what exactly do ye mean about leavin’ ye behind?”
She shrugged. “Well, I’ll be here alone. Tired. Sick. Sad.”
He rolled his eyes, getting to his feet. “Daenae be ridiculous. Ye cannae possibly imagine that travelin’ across the Highlands would be better for yer health than remainin’ here.”
“I didnae say it was. I said it was thelookof the thing. If ye take me with ye, then ye are showin’ everybody that ye are watchin’ over me. Besides, I am yer betrothed.”
He groaned aloud, pacing over to the window. “Everybody kens that betrothal is nae real.”
“I did nae say that itwasreal. I said that all this was about the look of the thing,” she argued, with a surprising vigor for a woman who was unconscious only an hour or so ago.
Heaving a sigh, Creighton stared out of the window. The sky was dark by now, the last streaks of light gone altogether. The day had been heavy and cloudy, and tomorrow was likely to be just as miserable. Traveling wasn’t necessarily difficult, as long as there was no rain. Rain bogged down the roads, making travel troublesome and dangerous if not blankly impossible. In bad weather, a horse and rider might scarcely be able to travel from town to town, let alone a little girl and a weakened woman in a carriage.
“Are ye listenin’ to me?” Nora prompted, when he apparently took too long to respond. “I am nae tryin’ to nag, or complain for complaining’s sake, I just…”
“I didnae think that ye were.”
With the darkness outside the window and the flickering light in the room behind him, all Creighton could see now was his own reflection, silhouette in the black glass. He watched Nora step up behind him. She looked at him uncertainly, and at one point reached up as if to touch his shoulder. His whole body tensed, bracing for the touch. But she hesitated, then let her fingers curl back into a fist. Her hand dropped, and Creighton exhaled a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.
Disappointment flooded through him, a sharp and uncomfortable realization. He didn’t want to be disappointed that she hadn’t touched him. He didn’t want…
He stopped thinking. Worrying too much about what one wanted or didn’t want was a sure way of ensuring that you got nothing.
“I am yer betrothed,” she said at last, with finality. “It doesnae matter that it’s nae real. That’s what I am for now, and we ought to do these things together. Iwillbe safer with ye than remainin’ here.”
“I was goin’ to leave ye with a taster in case of poisonin’ again.”
