“Gretna, look at mah.”
Gretna fought through the panic, knowing she couldn’t show her weakness to him of all people. He would never let her live it down.
“Gretna, lass, look at mah.”
She did and saw the note of concern on his handsome features. “Breathe, lass,” he told her, his eyes locked in on hers. “Breathe.”
She couldn’t. Gretna couldn’t force the air in. He took a step forward and she backpedaled, not wanting him in her tight space. Her back hit the wall and Remy swam in her vision, his eyes hardening. His hand rose and placed near her head and before Gretna realized what he was doing, he was leaning in. “Breathe, lass,” he told her. “Or I will throw ye on that bed.”
“Ye will do no such thing!” she blurted out. As soon as she did so, a rush of air filled her lungs and she sucked it in greedily, her chest heaving with the movement. The anxiety started to lessen and Gretna felt the tight band around her chest ease as well.
“That’s better,” Remy said, stepping back. “Wait here. I will be right back.”
Gretna couldn’t move if she wanted to, her legs weak. She detested how these attacks made her feel like she was as helpless as a newborn babe and just as weak. Had Remy gone to get the innkeeper to complain about the room?
He was back after a few tense moments and motioned for Gretna to follow him. Gretna did it without complaint, forcing her legs to move as he led her to the room across from hers. In that room, there were two beds, the room looked seemingly clean as well as the bedding. The smell was more musty than offending, with a slight breeze fluttering the curtains at the window. Gretna also noted that the other guards were there, and the bags on the floor.
“I’ve discussed it with mah men,” Remy started out. “Ye can sleep in here.”
“Wot?”
“Tis cleaner than the other room,” Remy continued. “Tis all aboot yer comfort, lass, not ours.”
“Aye, we can sleep anywhere,” one of the guards said, giving her a firm nod. “A bed only softens us.”
Gretna didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t anticipated what would happen after her attack in that horrid room, but them giving up their comfortable beds for her?
“I couldn’t possibly.”
“It’s been decided, lass,” Remy answered, picking up his bag from the floor and slinging it over his shoulder. “Yer supper will be here directly and I’ve asked for a tub of water tae be brought up.”
Gretna looked at him, trying to find where he was jesting with her but all she saw was acceptance. “I donna know wot tae say.”
“Move out, lads,” Remy said instead, his jaw tightening. “Tis time tae give Gretna here some privacy.”
She watched as they filed out a moment later, giving her their goodnights as they did so. When Remy went to leave, Gretna found herself reaching out, touching his arm.
“Wot, lass?” he asked, his eyes colliding with hers.
“Thank ye,” she said softly, her heart full of gratitude. “For this and earlier.” He could have told the others and made fun of her, but he hadn’t. Instead, he had helped her through it and then given up a perfectly good room.
He gave her a grin. “I’ve always been told that I make lasses breathless, but that was on another level altogether.”
Gretna let out a squeak of outrage, but he was already slipping through the door. “Lock the door, Gretna.”
It wasn’t until the door was firmly locked and she was alone that Gretna allowed herself a small smile at his jest. Perhapsit wasn’t so horrible after all to have Remy with her on this journey.
Though she would never admit it to him.
4
“Tis a day or so more if the weather holds out. The roads are treacherous for a carriage such as yers. Yer better off on a horse.”
Remy cupped his mug, letting the warmth of his cider seep through the tin and warm his hands. After a hard night on the dusty floor of the room that was meant to be Gretna’s, he was ready to get moving. “Aye, but I canna get rid of the carriage. We will be fine.” At least he hoped so. Their journey so far had been uneventful and Remy wished to keep it that way.
The innkeeper muttered and moved back to his post to continue cleaning glasses and Remy leaned back in the chair, thinking about the night before. When Ian had asked him to accompany Gretna to the McCellan clan for a potential marriage between the two clans, Remy had agreed to do so as his position meant he protected the entire family, not just the laird.
What he hadn’t expected to find was that Gretna had something she had hidden from him for years. He had remembered Gretna as the sibling who had seemed so serious even at a young age. He had watched her blossom from the gangly young lass to a beautiful one, even with her haughty appearance.
