“What does she mean?” she asked.
“We need to go,” I said, rising, while inwardly cursing myself.
Her eyes narrowed. “James.”
I tossed coins on the table. “My thanks for the room and food, Irma.”
Irma looked as though she wished to say more, but something in my expression kept her silent. Good. I could not afford for her tongue to wag any further.
Katreine did not move, so I leaned close enough that only she could hear me. “We leave now.”
Her gaze searched mine, and I watched suspicion sharpen in her eyes. She rose carefully, too proud to let either of us help, and that pride felt different now considering Irma’s revelation. I was headed for trouble with the lass.
Outside, the morning air carried the cold bite of damp earth and the scent of distant rain. The horses waited near the stable, stamping and breathing clouds into the gray light. I helped Katreine mount despite her stiff protest, and though she allowed it, her silence had teeth.
We rode out beneath a low sky, and for a time she said nothing. I should have been grateful, but instead, each quiet moment felt like a rope tightening around my neck.
At last, she spoke. “Are we headed to Skye?”
“Aye,” I forced myself to respond immediately, but the lie tasted bitter on my tongue.
She looked ahead, her hands tight on the reins. “Then why did Irma say we were going the wrong way?”
“Because there is more than one road through the Highlands.”
“Is there?”
“Aye.”
“And is this one faster?”
“In a manner.”
“In a manner,” she repeated.
I did not answer.
She turned her head slowly. “That is a verra slippery answer, James.”
“So was the tub last night, yet ye survived it with my help.”
Her eyes flashed. “Do nae try to charm me out of my question.”
“I was nae aware ye found me charming.”
“I do nae,” she snapped.
That should not have made me want to smile, but it did. The lass made me feel and act in ways that could cost me my future. I had to stop being a fool. We rode in silence, and I noticed she was watching the road now, the slope of the land, the bend of the path, the thin line of trees ahead, as if every stone might confess what I would not. Katreine was clever. I had known from the beginning that the truth would catch up to this journey, but I had not expected to dread it. Not like this. What was happening to me? Why did the thought of losing her trust feel less like an inconvenience and more like a wound waiting to open?
“James,” she said again, softer this time.
I looked at her.
Her face was pale from pain, but her steady gaze bore into me. “Where are ye taking me?”
The wind moved between us, carrying the scent of wet heather and the promise of rain. For one breath, I almost told her. I almost gave her the truth and let the world break as it would, but I had no doubt she would fight me the rest of the way and try to flee. And if she managed to flee and ended up in the arms of Siward or Conn? I was not ready to relinquish the chance I had chased my whole life. To be worthy of pursuing a woman like Katreine, I had to have something to offer her. Theknowledge didn’t lessen the sting of guilt, but the next thought did. If I gained the prize, I could court Katreine, that is, if she ever spoke to me again.
“James?” she said once more.
