It is back.
Her eyes flew open, and she stilled, feeling her heart thump in her chest. She thought of what to do for a moment, quietly hoping that the noise would go away.
Should I call for Lilly?
Her mind flashed quickly to last night, and she decided against the idea.
She stared around the barely lit room, straining her ears until she heard the creak again. This time, it sounded at her door.
She pushed the blankets off her and slipped out of bed, her heart beating faster than she cared to admit. She reached for the lamp on her bedside table. Lilly had lit it before retiring, but it had burned out, and Marian had no knowledge of how to light it again.
It is no use.
She sighed.
Her ears perked up at the sound of something she couldn’t place, and she hurried into the dark hallway, hoping to find a guard to help in her search.
If it really is a ghost, I shall know it tonight.
She took a few steps forward, her eyes catching a flicker of light further down in the right wing of the castle.
She hesitated for a moment. Save for the flicker of light, the darkness stretched before her, cold and quiet in a way that made even the smallest movements echo.
Her mind combed through childhood memories of ghost stories as she tried to recall tales of a ghost with golden candlelight.
There is no such thing.
She drew a deep breath, padding softly across the cold stone floor as she made her way toward the faint flicker of light. She had forgotten her slippers in her haste, and it worked in her favor. She could barely hear her steps in the night.
A cold breeze swept over her, and she froze again. She was halfway to the light now.
Her heart beat harder, and she turned her head, peering into the dark to check if she was being followed.
“Do not be foolish,” she muttered under her breath, shaking off the thought.
But her hands curled into her robe as she resumed walking, increasing her pace.
Soon, she found herself at the entrance of a long, quiet room lined with shelves and tables—the castle library.
The light was at the end of the room. A single candle lit on a stand, casting a shadow over the back of a man.
Marian stepped inside, relieved that she’d found another human being.
Her relief faded into embarrassment once she realized who the man was. Tall, broad-shouldered, with long dark brown hair—only one Highlander looked like that in Glen Carrick.
Her heart skipped a beat.
She ducked behind one of the tables as he turned slightly, but it was too late. The Laird had already heard her.
She went still and held a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound of her own breathing, listening closely as he walked toward the table. His footsteps grew louder, as did the pounding of her heart.
I cannot stay here.
She crouched lower as she shifted around the table, trying to put more distance between them as quietly as she could.
Suddenly, her feet slipped.
“Oh!” she yelped.
