Page 26 of It’s in his Highland Kiss

“Ach, me lady, what are ye doin’ here?” Mrs. MacKay, the head housekeeper, asked her as she grabbed an apple from the table, suddenly realising just how hungry she was. “And look at ye! Ye’re full of dirt! Go clean yerself, lass.”

“Sorry, Mrs. MacKay!” Marion said, and quickly fled the kitchen. She never wanted to face the housekeeper’s wrath. She had seen it directed towards Eiric, and it had been that moment when she had decided that she would do anything to avoid it.

Running up to her chambers, she couldn’t get the prospect of war out of her mind. She had never lived through war, or at least not through a war that was so close to home. Every war that she had ever heard of was distant, too distant to make her feel scared, but this war would be there, she knew, right there, in her new home. Eiric would be the one fighting it, along with his men, the people that she had come to know so well.

What if something happens to them? What if they die?

What if Eiric dies?

She wondered for a moment whether that was the reason why Eiric had taught her how to fight, how to spy, and how to follow tracks. It all made sense in that moment; she had thought that he was simply trying to teach her things, to keep her occupied, but now she could see that everything he had taught her had purpose.

Is he expecting me to fight?

No, that couldn’t be. Adaria had been clear about her place in the castle, and that was the place of a noble girl, not a soldier. Perhaps Eiric was teaching her all those things so that she could defend herself when the time would come, she thought.

And what a terrible thought it was; if it came to her having to defend herself, then that would mean that all the men would have lost, that the war would be lost, that her beloved Scotland would be at the mercy of the English.

And if there was one thing that she knew about the place of her birth, that was that it wasn’t merciful. An English victory would bring about the end of Scotland as she knew it.

She had to talk to Eiric, she decided, even if that meant that he would know she had eavesdropped on his conversation with Edan. She had to talk to him and see how she could possibly help, because she knew that sitting and waiting would be torture.

She knew how to fight. She knew how to spy, and how to track people. And she knew that she could be of great help to Eiric and the Scottish armies. What did it matter that she was a woman? She wanted to help, and she would do anything.

She would do anything, she realised; even if it meant that she would have to give her own life for Scotland.

Chapter Twelve

Edan’s news was certainly not good, and the laird was not pleased with anything that he had told him. Eiric had to admit that he, too, had begun to feel a tinge of despair in his chest, but he tried to not think about it. It would do him no good, thinking about losing the war before it had even started.

The knock on the door of his chambers caught Eiric by surprise, and when he opened the door, it surprised him even more to see Marion there. In the months that she had spent in that castle, she had never come to his chambers, and to see her there made his heart beat faster in his chest, as though he had never seen her before.

What is this thing that she does to me?

It was a question that he quickly shoved out of his mind. He had always known that she was a beautiful girl, that there had always been great beauty hidden under the rags that she was wearing, but nothing could have prepared him for the way that she was shining now, her big, dark eyes and her dark hair a stark contrast against her alabaster skin.

She was beautiful, but Eiric had bigger problems than love. The war was looming over him, occupying every little corner of his mind.

“Marion!” he exclaimed. “Is everythin’ alright, lass?”

“Yes,” Marion said, giving him a small, sweet smile, but then her smile seemed to fall off her lips and be replaced by a frown. “I mean, no . . . I suppose not.”

“What’s wrong?” Eiric asked. “Did somethin’ happen?”

Marion drew in a short breath, opening her mouth as though she was about to speak, but then she promptly shut it once more, changing her mind. She hesitated, and Eiric considered speaking, trying to prompt her, but then he decided against it.

He doubted that Marion had had many chances in her life to speak; he didn’t want to stop her before she had even had the chance to start speaking.

“I must tell you something,” Marion said, and Eiric waited patiently, stepping aside for her to move into the room. He watched as she stepped inside, just as hesitantly as she was speaking, and then he closed the door behind her, cutting off the two of them from the rest of the world. “I must confess something, actually. I heard you and Edan speak earlier today.”

Eiric blinked in surprise a few times, wondering to which conversation Marion was referring, as he and Edan had exchanged several words that day. Then, it dawned on him that she was talking about the conversation in the courtyard.

“I thought ye said ye’d go and get ready for supper,” Eiric reminded her.

“Well, I didn’t,” Marion confessed. “I’m sorry, Eiric. I don’t know what came over me, really, but I heard what you two were saying. Is there going to be a war?”

Eiric couldn’t deny it, of course; if Marion had heard their conversation, then she already knew that there was going to be a war. He also didn’t have the heart to confirm it, though, and so he stayed silent, letting out a heavy sigh.

It seemed to be enough of an answer for Marion, though, who gasped, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. Her eyes widened, and it looked to Eiric as though she had only just realised the gravity of the situation.