Page 33 of It’s in his Highland Kiss

“Can she?” his father asked, finally looking up from his papers to gaze at Eiric. “It’s nae yer castle yet, lad.”

“Weel, canna she?” Eiric asked. “Why nae? She needs our help, Faither. Had it nae been for us, who kens what kind of life she would be livin’ noo? Ye should have seen her at that ball, she was nothin’ like she is noo. I want to help her. I want her to come back when it’s all over.”

“Let it all be over first,” his father said. “This war may be lost, and ye ken that as weel as I do. What will she come back to then? Shambles and ruins? Sometimes even England is a better place . . . weel, if that’s even possible. I canna see how England could be better, of all places. Why dinna ye send her to France? Yer maither has family there, surely they’re all related.”

“I willna send her to France, Faither,” Eiric said with a roll of his eyes. If he did, then Marion would be all alone once again, and he couldn’t bring himself to do that to her, not even for her own safety. Considering that she had jumped into the lake that night when they had reunited, there was no telling what she would do if she was all alone, with no familiar faces around her.

“Nay one likes France anyway,” his father said, much to Eiric’s amusement. The man didn’t like anyone, not even his neighbouring clans. “Fine. Do as ye wish, but make sure that the MacAuleys are on our side.”

“I will,” Eiric assured him, and then left the room with a smile on his lips. At least his father hadn’t forbidden him from bringing Marion back after the war.

And he would, once everything was over. He would never leave her alone.

Chapter Fifteen

Marion read the letter over and over, unable to take her eyes off it. It had been so long since she had last received a letter that it caught her by surprise, and it surprised her even more that it had been sent by none other than her parents.

They remembered her, it seemed. She had feared that they would have forgotten all about her, that they wouldn’t care to see her again, and that they would be happy to have her off their hands, but the letter that she was holding said otherwise.

Marion,

You have spent enough time in Scotland. You are to return home immediately.

That boy promised to have you back within six months, and it has been

longer than six months.

Your father and I are not satisfied with your behaviour. We shall have a

talk about it when you return, and we will see what is to be done about it.

Pack your belongings and return immediately. This is your only warning; I will not send another letter.

Mother

There was not a single hint of emotion in the letter that her mother had sent her, Marion noticed, at least nothing beyond anger. Not once had she said that she had missed her, that she couldn’t wait for her to return, that she thought about her often.

There was no love, no motherly tenderness.

The woman that Marion called Mother was hardly her mother at all. Adaria had been more of a mother to her in the six months she had lived in Scotland, and she resented her real mother for it.

Why could she never love me? Why was I never enough for her?

Marion often thought back to her life, especially when she was a child, and tried to find her fatal flaw, but no matter how much she searched, she couldn’t think of a single thing that could have made her mother hate her so much. Besides, she had only been a child; what could a child do to warrant its mother’s wrath and hatred?

Marion refused to shed the tears that gathered in her eyes. She refused to cry for that woman, and if she could stop herself from feeling any emotion for her mother, then she would. She would do anything to get her out of her mind once and for all, to forget about everything that she had done.

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, taking a deep breath to calm herself. Her mother didn’t deserve any of her distress.

Besides, it didn’t matter what her mother and father wanted. Eiric had promised her that she would never have to go back to England if she didn’t want to, and that he would do anything to protect her from her parents.

Eiric had never gone back on his word the entire time that she knew him; she was certain that he wouldn’t start now.

Just as she was thinking about Eiric, she saw him at the other end of the corridor, and she quickly tried to shove the letter into her pocket, crumpling it up in her hand as she did. There was no reason for him to see it, she thought.

“What is that?” Eiric asked, revealing to her that he had noticed the paper she had been holding. “Were ye cryin’?”

“No!” Marion said, though her small sniffle indicated otherwise. “It’s nothing, Eiric. Nothing that you need to see.”