Page 40 of It’s in his Highland Kiss

She looked around her, noticing her surroundings. Edan had carried her all the way to her chambers, and he had laid her down on her bed. She sat up a little, using what little strength she had left, and then tried to gather her thoughts enough to speak.

“Eiric,” she said. “Eiric is . . .”

She couldn’t even get the word out. She couldn’t say out loud that he was dead. She was certain that she would faint once more.

“He’s nae dead,” the laird said, much to her surprise. “They wouldna have sent the horse back if he was dead.”

That was a relief, Marion thought. It was certainly a relief, but it didn’t explain anything to her.

Where is he? Is he hurt?

“Well, where is he?” Marion asked. “Who has him?”

“Probably the English,” Edan said. “I dinna ken where, but I’d say that it’s definitely the English. It’s a message, the horse. They sent it because they want us to ken they have him.”

“Aye, because they want us to go get him,” the laird said, and the way that he said it made Marion worry that he wouldn’t.

“Of course we must go get him!” she said. “We can’t possibly leave him there! They’ll kill him if we don’t find him!”

“Do ye think that I’ll leave me son out there for the Sassenachs to have?” the laird roared, suddenly furious by Marion’s words. “Do ye really think that I willna send me best men to save him?”

“Please,” Adaria said, as she put a hand on her husband’s shoulder. It was all she had to say for the man to calm down visibly and take a step back, before he walked to the other side of the room and began to pace back and forth. “We will do everythin’ that we can to bring Eiric back, Marion. I promise ye that. But I think that Eiric and the laird are right, ye should go back to England.”

It was the last thing that Marion had expected to hear from Adaria. She couldn’t believe that she, too, wanted to send her away, especially when Eiric was in danger.

“No,” Marion said, shaking her head. “No, please. Please don’t make me go back, Adaria, I beg you. I don’t want to go back, especially not now . . . I can’t go back knowing that Eiric might never return.”

“Ye must,” the laird said from the other side of the room. “It’s nae safe for ye here. Yer faither will keep ye safe in England.”

“The war is with the English!” Marion pointed out. “How will I be safer in England when the war is with the English?”

“The war will be fought here,” the laird said. “Here, in Scotland. That’s what the English like to do. Ye’ll be safer there, especially because yer faither is an important man. Dinna worry, nothin’ will happen to ye there.”

“I’m not worried that something will happen to me,” Marion said. “I told Eiric that I want to fight, and now I’m telling you. I want to stay here and fight. I want to do anything that I can for Scotland.”

“Aye, I ken,” the laird said. “Eiric told me. But ye canna fight; I willna let ye.”

Marion fell back on the bed with a groan, covering her face with her hands. No one would let her fight. No one would even let her choose where she wanted to be, and they all thought that they knew better than she did regarding what was best for her.

She stayed silent for a long time, and eventually, she heard the door open and close, and turned to see that the laird and Edan had left. Only Adaria was there, a pained look on her face.

Marion sighed and swung her legs off the bed, sitting on the edge of the mattress and taking Adaria’s hands in her own. She couldn’t even imagine the turmoil that she must have been in, knowing that her son had been captured by the enemy.

“Adaria . . . I am so sorry,” she said, her voice soft and quiet.

“I ken, Marion. I ken,” she said. “I wish that there was somethin’ that I could do, but I ken that there is nae a thing I can do for him noo. We’ll see what happens. Me husband will get him back. I’m certain of it.”

It was all good in theory, Marion thought. She could sit back and wait for the laird and his men to come up with a plan to rescue Eiric, and she could also wait for him to send her back to England, or she could do something about it herself.

Eiric had taught her everything that she needed to know. She knew that she could track him and the Englishmen that had captured him, and that she could outsmart them, even though she couldn’t possibly overpower them. All she needed to do was escape from the castle, track Eiric down, and be careful.

Her plan was not fool proof, but it was the only one that she had. She couldn’t wait a moment longer, and she couldn’t spend the day planning; she would have to be on her way soon.

“Thank you, Adaria,” she said, and it pained her to speak the words, knowing that everything she would say would be a lie.

No, not a lie. A distraction.

“What for?” Adaria asked.