21
Charlotte didn’t know how long she stayed huddled on the floor in her room, crying. The minutes turned into hours until even the sun started to set. By the time she managed to pull herself off the floor, she had missed dinner. She hadn’t even heard Elizabeth knock. Perhaps she hadn’t.
Charlotte was devastated knowing that such a perfect day had crumbled so quickly. She knew that Alec could be hurtful and his anger could be explosive, but she had never imagined him saying such hateful things about her. He claimed to have loved her, that he still did. But she couldn’t understand how someone who claimed to love her could say those things about her.
Their two years together meant that he knew all the right places to hit. He knew all of her insecurities and the wounds that she could never quite get to heal. He had known that she had long since felt forgettable, that no one would ever truly love her. He had known that she was one to cower in the corner no matter how hard she tried not to. And he had thrown it all in her face without a second thought.
The worst part of it was, she had ended things not only because she no longer fancied herself in love with him, but because it was the right thing to do. She was to marry another man and there was no telling how quickly that would happen. Her marriage to Cameron meant an alliance for their clans, it meant safety and the end of all the attacks from the Knox clan. Regardless of if she wanted to marry him or not, this marriage would protect countless amounts of people. It would benefit too many for her to be selfish in her decision. Of course, it helped to soften the blow that she had grown to care for Cameron. She could even see herself falling in love with him now more than ever. But that wasn’t the point. The point was that she was fulfilling her obligation to her people and Alec refused to see that.
He took her rejection as a personal attack rather than seeing that she was doing what was expected of her. She was doing what she had to. And in retaliation, he threw every knife in his arsenal at her.
“What are ye doin’ on the floor? I thought ye were in the library or off at dinner.”
Elizabeth’s surprised voice floated through the air, just barely registering.
Charlotte picked up her head, her eyes swollen and sore, her nose red. She made little effort to hide the fact that she had been crying. There was no point when it came to Elizabeth—the maid knew her too well.
“Och, come now, lass. It can nae be as bad as all that.”
Charlotte could only sniffle in response.
“I ken what ye need. A nice, warm bath will soak all yer troubles away. Shall I get the water ready?”
With a pathetic nod, Elizabeth was off, scurrying around the room while Charlotte still sat in the corner, her arms wrapped around her legs. A moment or two later and Elizabeth was back, picking Charlotte up off the floor. Her muscles groaned and ached at the movement after being still for so long. The idea of a bath held more appeal that she realized.
She stifled a moan as she eased into the warm water. It instantly started working at the tension that had built in her muscles. Meanwhile, Elizabeth sat behind her, brushing her hair, humming the same lullaby that Charlotte had sung to Cameron earlier that day.
Charlotte couldn’t stop the tears from flowing once more. To her surprise and relief, Elizabeth didn’t chide her or try to get her to stop. She merely kept brushing and singing, letting Charlotte purge herself of the depths of her emotions.
Only when the water had grown cold did Charlotte move to get out of the water. Her skin was pruned and smelled of fresh lavender. She felt raw and overwhelmed.
She could tell the minute Elizabeth’s eyes found the bruises on Charlotte’s arms. But again, the maid held her tongue. It was Charlotte who could not stay quiet.
“It was nae Cameron,” she whispered, her voice as raw as she felt.
Elizabeth met her eyes, a fire sitting just behind the maid’s eyes.
“Then who?”
Charlotte shook her head, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill over again.
“It does nae matter. He is gone now.”
“I think that is for the best.”
Elizabeth offered no other words as she finished getting Charlotte ready for bed. She somehow managed to understand that Charlotte couldn’t handle anything more.
To her relief, Charlotte managed to stave off more tears. At least until Elizabeth snuffed out the candles and shut the door behind her.
Alone with her thoughts again, Charlotte couldn’t stop herself from ruminating over all the things Alec had said. Over and over, his words kept echoing in her mind until she was up, out of bed, and pacing her floor.
Without thinking of what she was doing or where she was going, Charlotte left her chambers. She walked down the halls in a trance, only knowing that she needed to be out of her rooms. It wasn’t until she was standing in front of Cameron’s doors that she understood where her body had taken her.
For a moment, she thought about turning around and going back to her own room. But when she felt a fresh wave of tears bubbling up in her eyes, she lifted her hand to knock.
Unlike the first time she had gone to his door, she knocked quietly and hesitantly. And unlike the last time she had been there, it only took her knocking one time before the door swung open.
Cameron was standing there, bleary-eyed. She had clearly woken him from his sleep. He had managed to tie his robe around him, though it hung loosely around his waist leaving his chest bare, which was more than she had managed to do. His hair was tousled and messier than she had ever seen it.
