Page 45 of Bewitching her Highland Savior

“There was a time I thought ye loved me,” Muriel said as she stood to leave.

“I do love ye,” her father said. “Ye just dinnae like the way I do it.”

Muriel had nothing more to say to him. She left the room, slamming the door behind her but then didn’t know where to go. She wanted to find Liam but she knew the guards would never allow her into his rooms or even reveal his location. She thought about leaving but couldn’t do so while Liam was still held captive. Besides, where would she go? The guards wouldn’t let her out of the keep no matter what she told them. She couldn’t even see her mother, who was so near yet seemed so far away.

In the end, she made her way to her old chambers. Just like her father’s study, her rooms had remained unchanged. The only sign that someone was in there regularly was the fact that there was no dust and everything was clean.

As much as she had missed the sky blue of her walls and the velvet that hung from the posts of her bed – she could find no comfort in the familiarity of the room. The knowledge that she would soon leave that room again and be sent back to Lewis was too much to bear.

What can I do? What can I do to stop him?

It seemed like her father had no intention of harming Liam which was not surprising. The McAlpine clan truly was powerful and her father wouldn’t want to make them his enemy by torturing or killing one of their own. He also seemed to have no intention of hurting her – something that she had always known.

So how did he expect her to cooperate? Would he tie her up and send her to Lewis on the first boat he could find? Muriel would then simply flee again and again, no matter what it took. Her father was clever and astute enough to know that he couldn't force her to stay in Lewis but she couldn't figure out what his plan was.

Maybe he doesnae have a plan. Maybe he thinks that Macleod can keep me there by force.

People had a habit of underestimating her, after all. Now that Muriel had something to fight for, she wouldn’t stop but she doubted that anyone else but her and Liam believed that.

Muriel dragged herself to her bed and sat down with heavy feet. She was exhausted for the first time that day. She hadn't slept well, hadn't eaten much, and her clothes were filthy and torn. Eating and bathing, on the other hand, felt like chores, and she doubted she'd be able to sleep. She wondered about how the guards and servants were treating Liam, if they had brought him any food, and if he was comfortable.

As comfortable as a prisoner could be, at least. Liam was not the kind of man who took being caged kindly and she could imagine him in one of the guest chambers, pacing around like a wild animal.

Perhaps if I can find him, I can help him get out.

They'd snuck out of Macleod's castle. What was to say they couldn't sneak out of there as well? But if her father hadn’t posted more guards around the keep, then Kenneth would have. That man, it seemed to her, lived to see others suffer.

At least me stepmaither isnae here to bother me.

Surely, she was somewhere in the castle but Muriel hadn’t encountered her, and hoped she never would. She couldn’t imagine being around her while dealing with everything else, too. Whatever torment she had in store for Muriel would be too much to bear.

Or rather, it would finally cause her to snap. Muriel hadn't considered how she would react if she ever saw her stepmother again but she had changed over the years. She wasn't the timid young lady who had fled the keep, terrified of her stepmother. She was a grown woman and she would not be treated in that manner again.

That’s right. If they want to hurt me… if they want to hurt Liam, they’ll all have to go through me first.