Page 30 of It’s in his Highland Kiss

“I ken that,” Adaria said. “But dinna fret, lass. I’m sure that everythin’ will be fine. Scotland kens how to persevere. We ken how to survive, even when the odds are against us.”

Adaria’s words were like a balm to Marion’s heart, and she couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Despite her pessimism, she had managed to make herself listen to reason; Adaria knew best, she always had, and if she said that everything would be fine, then it would be.

“I think ye should go and talk to Eiric,” Adaria continued. “He willna come to ye, ye must ken that. That lad is more stubborn than a mule.”

“What am I supposed to say to him?” Marion asked. “I’m sure that he doesn’t wish to see me. After the last time we talked, I couldn’t imagine being the first to approach him again.”

“Weel, one of ye has to, and it willna be him,” Adaria said. “Even if I grab that lad by the ear and drag him out here, he willna say a thing. He’s just like his faither, that bairn . . . he has me looks and his stubbornness.”

Marion couldn’t help but huff out a small laugh at that, amused by Adaria’s words. She had seen that stubbornness first-hand, and just like Adaria, she didn’t know what to do about it.

“I suppose I will go and talk to him tomorrow,” she promised Adaria. “Even though I can’t possibly imagine what I will say to him. Surely, he doesn’t expect me to apologise!”

“I’m sure he does,” Adaria said. “But all that is between ye and him. I’ll only tell ye to nae be a fool, Marion. Yer place is here, in the castle, where ye’re safe. Besides, I’ll need ye by me side when Eiric will be gone to fight. I’ll need ye right here, with me.”

Marion took Adaria’s hand in hers, holding it tightly. It was a silent promise, one of solidarity. She would stay by her side, and she would do her best to comfort her while her son and the other men in the family would be gone.

“And dinna forget that someone needs to run this castle,” Adaria continued, just as the two of them made it to the front doors. “That’s what we do. That’s our job. We keep the castle and the people who canna fight safe. There are many women and bairns, many old people who will need our help, Marion. We ought to help them while the men are at war.”

Perhaps that was what Eiric had meant when he had told her that she shouldn’t underestimate the power that women have in a war, Marion thought. It made sense, of course; everyone would be gone, apart from her and Adaria, and there would be no one else to do everything that needed to be done in the castle grounds and the surrounding villages.

The people would be looking for some semblance of normalcy too, she figured. It was her duty, just as much as Adaria’s, to provide it.

“Go rest noo,” Adaria told Marion, as she led her to her chambers, lingering outside her door. “We’re nae at war yet, but there’s nay sayin’ when we will be. We must get all the rest that we can.”

“Alright,” Marion said. “Goodnight, Adaria.”

With a final goodnight, Adaria was gone, and Marion was alone in her chambers, closing the door behind her. She made her way to the bed, throwing herself onto it with a heavy sigh.

It had all been fine and well while she had been talking to Adaria. The moment that she had been left alone though, her mind began to race once more, as it often did when there were no distractions around. It didn’t matter how many reassurances Adaria had given her then, nor did it matter that she had believed them in that moment. It didn’t matter that Adaria had given her hope and courage.

Once again, all Marion could see in her mind’s eye was Eiric, lying dead on the ground, surrounded by swords and men in uniforms. Even as she took off her dress and got under the covers, trying to get comfortable, sleep evaded her.

Perhaps it’s for the best. Even if I sleep, all I will dream about will be Eiric.

Dead.

As she lay there, in the dark, her desire to help the Scottish cause grew once more. Eiric’s and Adaria’s words still rang in her ears, and she couldn’t help but worry that she would end up being a burden to the soldiers, or that Adaria would feel that she had abandoned her when she needed her the most.

Oh, if only I knew what to do! If only there was some easy way to get what I want and give Eiric and Adaria what they want, too.

With everything that had been happening in the castle, Marion had forgotten entirely about her parents, as well as the promise that Eiric had given her mother. She hadn’t thought about them in so long, and she hadn’t realised that it had already been six months since she left England.

Eiric had promised her she could stay forever, after all, and that was precisely what Marion wanted to do; she never wanted to return, as there was nothing left for her there anymore.

There had never really been anything there for her at all.

Her parents had different plans though; plans that she would soon find out.

Chapter Fourteen

“She canna stay here, can she?”

Eiric’s words caught in his throat, and he had trouble speaking them out loud. He had been thinking about the upcoming battle for several days, losing sleep and appetite over it, and he had also been thinking about Marion, which only served to make him lose even more sleep.

Now, he was sitting in his father’s study, the two of them going over the battle plans yet again, and he couldn’t help but ask about Marion.

“Nay, I suppose that she canna,” his father said. “Ye should send her back to England, to her family. She’ll be safer there. I dinna think that ye should have brought her here in the first place.”