“Oh, every time. And often right before he snagged the biggest prize of the hunt. I put it together when I was older that he would let me stay hidden until he had spotted a buck or a doe, and then he would find me, make a bit of a show of things, and then we’d get to track the beast together.”
She gave him a thoughtful hum, content to let Oliver’s memories play out in front of them together.
“It became a sort of game, a charade I suppose. He would pretend to not see me and I would pretend to hide. We were both too stubborn to simply admit that we wanted to spend time together. The game went on far longer than it should have. Cook eventually started leaving food set aside for me, so I wouldn’t get into the things she needed for the next day.” He paused, a mournful expression glazing over his eyes. “I have not been hunting in ages. No doubt the larder would thank me for my efforts, but I can’t seem to bring myself to do it.”
“Ye miss him.”
It was a statement rather than a question, but he answered her all the same.
“Aye,” his Scottish lilt sneaking back in. “I do. Being unable to bring his murderer to justice keeps his ghost alive. It haunts me, knowing that I will likely never be able to make the man pay for taking my father’s life. I could nae so much as tell ye who is responsible for it.”
Her heart ached for him—keenly. She felt so much guilt herself for Taryn’s disappearance. She would never be able to forgive herself if Taryn had come to such a terrible end. Her life would be over as she knew it. It baffled her how Oliver had ever been able to recover from such a loss.
Her palms itched to reach out and touch him, to offer some modicum of comfort. She wanted to hold him, to kiss him, to do anything she could to help ease the sting of all he had lost. Just as she shifted to do so, to open her mouth and offer her condolences, he spoke again.
“It is well past any respectable hour. My mother would have my hide if she kent that I was in here with ye like this.” He rose from his chair with a grin. “And ye look like ye’re about to fall over in yer seat. Come on then. Let’s get ye to bed.”
Spoken innocently enough, his words still brought a red streak to her cheeks. Luckily, Oliver had moved to clear away any evidence of their makeshift dinner while she collected herself. Gallantly, he gestured for her to follow him, and he led her back through the labyrinth that was his castle. She found herself grateful, not for the first time, that Oliver was nothing like the Baron, if only because she would never have been able to escape such a maze should the need arise.
“I am just down the hall,” he told her, coming to a stop outside a simple wooden door. “Should you need anything, you can use the bell pull or come knock on my door. A maid will be in to wake you in the morning so you can have a proper meal before the council.”
A beat of silence filled with tension stole her breath as it hung between them. Something warm and languid pressed against her chest, while his eyes captivated hers. He leaned in close, smelling of the wine they had shared and the salve she had spread on his skin. One hand went around her, just barely missing her, and she arched up to reach him.
“Good night,” he breathed against her lips, turning the handle to her room and pushing it open. “Sorcha.”
Without another word, he moved from her and down the hall to his own room, leaving her breathless and dazed and more than a little irritated. She spun into her room and flung herself into the bed, not so much as bothering to kick her boots off before she fell asleep.
12
FASTER THAN DAWN
“Hewhat?”
A furious hand swung across the table, sending goblets of wine and platters of half-eaten food flying across the room. They landed on the stone floor in a cacophony of clamor. Silently, the nearby servants knelt to begin the work of cleaning up the mess, even as their master continued to rage.
“What do you mean he got away?” Dudley shouted, not bothering to keep his anger in check.
The man before him stammered out a mumbled reply, refusing to lift his head enough, so Dudley could see the coward’s face. It angered him all the more.
“I swear,” he ground out from between his clenched jaw, “if you do not speak up and tell me exactly what has happened, I will cut out your tongue so you are unable to say another word for the rest of your miserable life.”
His men knew well enough to take any uttered threat from the Baron seriously. He had instilled that fear in them long ago. The fruit of his labor was clear when the guard cleared his throat and squared his shoulders, finally speaking with some semblance of clarity.
“We did as you ordered,” the man whose name Dudley had never bothered to learn said. “We waited until we had crossed the border into Blackwood’s land and then we struck. They had stopped to water the horse and the girl was injured and bound. It should have been a simple thing to kill the Marquess and bring her back to you.”
“Yes,” Dudley echoed, a deadly kind of calm in his voice. “It should have been simple enough that a trained monkey could do it. How could you be so feeble-minded enough to make such a mess of things?”
“It is not my fault, my lord,” the man rushed out in a pathetic attempt to excuse his failures. “Her hands were tied. She had taken such a beating. We weren’t expecting her to wield a blade. I did not think a woman could fight like that. I don’t think I have ever even seen a man fight with those kinds of injuries.”
“I do not care,” Dudley screamed, “about her sword skill! I wanted the Marquess dead, and he is not.”
“He was injured,” the guard offered. “It would take a miracle for him to have survived a cut like he had. From shoulder to navel. And with still a ways to go before any chance of a healer. He is as good as dead.”
“‘As good as dead. He is as good as dead,’” the Baron echoed. “But he is not dead, is he?”
The man shook his head, fear growing in his eyes as Dudley stalked towards him.
“No, he is not.” The Baron’s hands wrapped around the guard’s neck, squeezing it until his face turned a splotchy shade of red. “Do you know what you have done? Do you know what you have ruined?”
