Page 27 of It’s in his Highland Kiss

“If there’s going to be a war, then I will stand by your side,” Marion said. “This is my home now. Scotland is my home, Eiric. You said that I don’t have to go back to England, and I have decided that I don’t want to. I want to stay here.”

“Aye, that’s all bonnie and weel,” Eiric said. He would be lying if he said that he wasn’t glad about Marion’s decision. He had been dreading for several weeks that she would decide to return to England once she reached the six-month mark, but now that he knew she wanted to stay in Scotland, he was delighted. The threat of war loomed over him though, and he didn’t want Marion to be caught up in it. “But ye said it yerself. There will be a war, Marion, and I dinna ken if ye’ll be safe here.”

“I don’t care,” Marion said. “I am not going anywhere. I will stay right here, and I will fight.”

The girl that stood in front of him was not the girl that he had pulled out of that lake all those months prior. The Marion that stood in front of him was feisty, ready to say her opinion, and ready to fight.

The only problem was that Eiric didn’t want her to fight. He didn’t want her to do anything that would put her in danger. Besides, he didn’t think that she was ready to fight at all. He had been the one training her, and he didn’t think that he had had enough time to teach her everything that she needed to know. She was good with a sword, and she was an even better spy and tracker, but he still felt uneasy sending her to fight for Scotland.

“Marion, I dinna think that’s a verra good idea,” Eiric said, trying to sound as gentle as possible because he didn’t want her to think that he was being harsh. “I’m sorry, lass, but this isna yer war.”

“But it is!” Marion said, raising her voice. “It is, Eiric! I am just as much of a Scot as you are now. You’ve been doing this for a long time, have you not? You can tell me everything that you know, and I can help in any way I can.”

“How do ye ken how long I’ve been doin’ it?” Eiric asked, trying to avoid the subject of Marion fighting for Scotland.

“I know that’s why you came to England six months ago,” Marion said. “You’re a spy, are you not? You’ve been spying for your Father all this time, and perhaps even before that. That’s why you came to the ball.”

“Aye, that’s true,” Eiric admitted. He saw no reason to hide anything anymore, since Marion had already figured it all out herself. “I’ve been spyin’ for Scotland, and I’ve been collectin’ allies and gold. It’s hard work, Marion. Dinna think that it’s easy to do any of the things that we do here.”

“I don’t think anything is easy,” Marion said. “I know just how hard spying is because you’ve shown me. You’ve taught me. You’ve taught me everything that I need to know to help.”

With a sigh, Eiric walked up to Marion, putting his hands on her shoulders. She was warm under his touch, and so alive.

I canna lose her. I canna do anythin’ to risk her life. It doesna matter how much she wants to help.

“I canna let ye fight, Marion,” he told her. “I canna. It’s far too dangerous, and it’s nae a job for a woman, especially a woman who hasna grown up doin’ things like this. This is what me faither prepared me for. Ye’re nae ready.”

“I am!” Marion insisted, hands on her hips as she glared at Eiric. He could see the fire in her eyes, the stubbornness, and he recognised it as purely Scottish. He would have been proud to see that determination in her under any other circumstances, but now he simply feared the consequences of it. “I am ready, Eiric. How many times do I have to tell you that I know what I’m doing? I know how to fight, and I want to help. I heard what Edan was saying.”

“And what is that?”

“That you don’t have enough men and gold,” Marion said. “That you’ll need all the help that you can get. I’m right here, telling you that I’m willing to give up my life for—”

“That’s the problem!” Eiric shouted, his anger getting the better of him. “That’s the problem, Marion! I dinna want ye to give her own life, dinna ye understand?”

For a moment, neither of them spoke. They stared into each other’s eyes, unable to look away, until Marion turned around with a huff and began to pace around the room, as though she couldn’t contain her own anger in her body.

“You’re a fool,” she said. “What good will living do if Scotland falls? What good is being alive if everyone else I know is dead? What if you end up dead, Eiric? What then?”

Marion was standing right in front of him then, but Eiric could hardly speak, let alone move. He was stunned into silence, both by Marion’s fierce determination and by his own anger at it. It didn’t help that she seemed to be worried about him, something that made his breath catch in his throat.

Does she have to be determined about this one thing?

“Then ye’ll still have yer life,” Eiric said. “Even if Scotland falls, even if I die, even if everyone here dies, then ye’ll still have yer life, and ye canna trade that for nothin’, do ye hear? Nothin’. How do ye expect me to let ye give yer life? Have ye ever thought what will happen if ye die and I dinna?”

That seemed to give Marion pause for a moment, and her gaze began to search for something in Eiric’s face, though he did not know what it was. He, too, was shaken by his own confession, and for a moment, he had no more words.

He had always cared for Marion, ever since the two of them were children, but his newfound concern for her brought him face to face with his feelings; feelings that he had tried to push away again and again, fearing what would happen if he allowed them to come to the surface.

“I haven’t,” Marion said, and her voice was calmer than before. “But I had no life before I came here anyway. What life was that, hmm? What life did I have in England?”

“I brought ye here to show ye how good life can be, nae so that ye can throw it all away!” Eiric roared, furious.

After everything that he had done for her, after everything that his entire family and his clan had done for her, she still wanted to throw her life away. It was a good cause, of course, as good as any, but it was not her fight.

“I wouldn’t be throwing my life away!” Marion said, raising her voice back at Eiric. “It’s a just cause! It’s for Scotland! Besides, like you said, you’ll have your own life, even if I die. You can’t trade that for anything, remember?”

“Dinna use me own words against me, lass,” Eiric said. “It’s different for me.”