“…ye’ll still have a place here.”
The words were soft and simple, but they carried more weight than anything else that had been said. Elaina’s fingers tightened slightly around the cup.
A place.
It was not obligation, not duty and not something to be earned or proven. It was somethinggivenfreely. Her throat tightened. She did not trust herself to speak.
Catriona continued sorting the herbs, as though the conversation had not changed, as though she had not just said something that settled deep beneath Elaina’s ribs.
“Ye dinnae lose a place by leaving it,” she added gently. “Nae if it was ever truly yers.”
Elaina closed her eyes briefly. That was the danger, because she had never had a place that felt like there. Now, she did. And that only made the choice before her harder.
When she finally opened her eyes again, her gaze followed Catriona, who was looking back at her, with the warmest smile Elaina had ever seen. The understanding between them no longer needed words, and she now knew that she had something that made leaving feel like losing far more than she had ever intended to risk.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
The council chamber felt much smaller than usual, not in size, but in weight.
Torches burned low against the stone walls, their light steady but dim, casting shadows that seemed to press inward rather than stretch outward.
The long wooden table stood at the center, worn smooth by years of decisions. Duncan stood at the head of it. Around him, the council murmurs were rising and falling in quiet uncertainty as word of the summons had spread quickly, but not the reason for it.
Iain stood to his right, silent and watchful. Just like everyone else, he, too, was waiting.
Duncan let the quiet settle before he spoke. What he had to say would not be received lightly.
“There has been a breach within our walls,” he said at last.
The room stilled. Every voice fell silent. Duncan’s gaze moved over them, trying to read every face.
“One of our own,” he continued, “has been working against us.”
The reaction was immediate.
“What?” one of the older men demanded, his voice sharp with disbelief. “That is nae possible.”
“It is,” Duncan revealed in a tone that left no room for doubt. “The guard assigned tae watch over the healer betrayed his post. He aided men, who came with the intent tae take her, intae our land.”
A ripple of alarm moved through the room.
“MacKenzie,” another council member muttered, his face darkening. “It must be.”
Duncan gave a slight nod. “It is.”
The weight of that settled heavily.
“He is closer than we believed,” Duncan went on. “Hiding within the town. Moving frequently enough tae avoid being found. But he is here.”
The murmurs grew louder now. There was unease, anger, disbelief all mixing into something sharper.
“And the guard?” someone asked.
“In the dungeon,” Duncan replied. “He has spoken.”
That quieted them again.
“What did he say?” the same man inquired again.
