Page 56 of It’s in his Highland Kiss

Marion wasn’t the kind of girl who would lie to him, after all, nor was she the kind of girl who would change her mind so frivolously. He knew her well; he knew that she loved him just as much as he loved her, and that she couldn’t have possibly changed her mind in one night.

Eiric waited and waited for her, and then waited some more. By the time that the sun had begun to dip under the horizon though, Eiric had started to worry and to think that something must be wrong. Perhaps something had happened to Marion, he thought, while she had been with the ravens, and no one had found out, no one had sought her out, no one knew that she was in danger.

It was that thought that gave him the strength that he needed to push himself off the bed. There was a fresh change of clothes on the chair next to him, which the servants placed there every single day in the hopes that he would stand up and walk, and Eiric grabbed them, using all his strength and stubbornness to dress himself.

It was no easy task. His bruises and scrapes protested with every movement of his body, and the broken fingers in his hand were no help as he tried to pull on the clothes. It took him a long time, and by the end of it all, he was out of breath, and had to sit down once more for the pain to subside.

He was in bad shape, there was no denying it, but at least he had managed to dress himself, and now he would manage to make it all the way down the stairs, even if he had to crawl.

He craved the moment when he would be able to fight once more. He had missed having a sword in his hand, which was an extension of himself by then, and he was tired of being so helpless and of having to rely on others for everything. It made him feel like a child, something that he hadn’t been in a long time.

Finally, when he could breathe properly once more, he stood up and made his way to the door, dragging his feet as he walked. Even though it hurt, his entire body protesting every single movement, it was nice to be up on his feet again, and he considered it a victory. Eiric made his way down the stairs one step at a time, using his hand to brace himself against the stone wall. There was no one around to help him, but he preferred it that way; he didn’t want anyone’s help, and he doubted that if anyone saw him, they would actually take him to the ground floor instead of dragging him right back to his room.

Only when he made it down the stairs did people begin to gather around him. Suddenly, there was such commotion that Eiric regretted the whole thing and wished that he had stayed in his chambers. He hadn’t known that even the servants would get so worried as to beg him to go back to his room.

“I’m fine!” Eiric all but shouted at them, and though they didn’t immediately fall silent, their protests were quietened. Then, he saw his father approach, and the crowd parted to let the man through.

“Eiric, what are ye doin’ here?” the laird asked him. “Ye should be in yer room, son, ye should be restin’.”

“I’m fine,” Eiric repeated, even though he knew that it would fall to deaf ears. “I’m fine, Faither. Where is Marion? Has anyone seen her?”

There was silence around them, a silence that was now deafening, after all that commotion. It was then that Eiric knew that something was wrong, and he looked at his Father with wide, fearful eyes.

“Did something happen to her?” he asked. “Tell me.”

“The lass is just fine,” his father assured him. “And I’m sure that ye’ll see her soon.”

Eiric breathed out a sigh of relief when the laird informed him that Marion was well, but none of what he had told him explained her sudden disappearance. “Weel? Where is she?”

With a sigh, his father wrapped an arm around him to keep him steady as they walked, and he began to lead him away from the crowd. The servants were still watching, undoubtedly, as they walked away, until his father led him to the great hall and closed the door behind them, isolating them from the rest of the castle.

“There is somethin’ that I must tell ye,” the laird said, and Eiric’s mind began to conjure all the worst-case scenarios that it could.

Perhaps he had been right to think that she had changed her mind, he thought. It sure sounded as though Marion had regretted the night they had shared, and now, somehow the entire castle knew and pitied him for it. After all, gossip travels fast around castles.

“Does she hate me noo?” Eiric asked. “Is that what it is? Does she hate me because of what happened?”

“What happened?” his father asked, sounding perplexed, and suddenly, Eiric realised that he had no idea. He decided to quickly backtrack, not wanting his father to know that he had slept with Marion.

“Nothin’,” he said. “What is it? What do ye need to tell me?”

The laird hesitated then, much to Eiric’s annoyance, and he looked so guilty that Eiric feared it had been him who had done something to her. But no, it couldn’t be, his father would never hurt her. He had no reason to.

“She returned to England, Eiric.”

Eiric could hardly believe his own ears. It couldn’t be true, he thought. How could she have returned to England? Why would she return there, to a place that she hated with all her heart? Eiric knew that Marion would have never gone back on her own. Someone must have forced her.

“Ye,” he said, glaring at his father, his voice a low hiss. “Ye sent her back when she didna want to go.”

“I didna send her anywhere,” his father said, raising his hands as though in surrender. “Dinna blame me before ye have all the facts.”

“All the facts?” Eiric asked, a hollow laugh bubbling out of him. “I ken that we decided it would be safer for her there, but ye should have talked to me first before ye sent her away. I didna even say goodbye to her. What if I never see her again?”

“Ach, dinna be so dramatic,” his father said, waving his hand dismissively. “Ye’ll see her soon enough. And I didna send her anywhere. She was the one who wanted to go.”

Once again, Eiric couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Dinna lie to me, Faither,” he said. “Why would she want to go back? We fought many times over it, and she always, always said that she never wished to return. She said she’d rather die than go back to her parents.”

“Weel, I suppose that things have changed,” the laird said. “She has a mission noo.”