Page 76 of Highland Vows of Betrayal

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Noah felt a heaviness in his sleep he’d never felt before. Intermittently images played out before him. He saw Athol in the dungeon where he had last seen him, then in the courtyard pressing the sword to his heart. That image shifted to the night Noah found his father dead with a stab wound in his chest.

‘Tis the same injury.

“Father!” Noah had raced over to his father, dropping on his knees and pressing on his father’s chest to keep the blood inside him, but it was too late. There was no life left in him. His father’s eyes were sightless as they stared at the ceiling.

“Ye murderer!” Noah had raged at Athol in the dungeon. The man just smiled, pleased with his accomplishment.

“At least now she is free of him.”

Unable to get through him in any way, Noah marched out of the dungeon to find his mother in the corridor. She pleaded with him, desperate to see her lover, but Noah forbade it. He had never quite understood how much his mother knew in advance. Had she planned with Athol to kill her husband? Or did she simply not complain after it was done?

“I will never forgive ye for this,” Noah had sworn to her as he walked away. “Ye are dead tae me.” She had run after him, pleading for forgiveness, but he deemed her mad. What woman would do this to any other soul, let alone her husband?

Noah felt the heavy sleep shifting as the images changed. No longer was he staring into the stricken eyes of his mother the day before she took her own life. Now he looked up at Scarlett, instead.

There were tears in her eyes as she lay her hands over his wound. Desperately, she tried to stop the bleeding. It was so like the moment when he tried to save his father’s life, the image wrenching his heart. He longed to raise his hand and wipe the tears away dripping down her cheeks, to let her know that all was well. If he died, at least the pain and wondering about the past would be over.

He thought he heard Scarlett crying from a distance, but he couldn’t be sure.

“He will live, ye can be sure of it,” another voice assured her.

Noah turned in the bed, but he still couldn’t rouse himself from sleep. The dreams playing out before his eyes shifted. He no longer saw himself through painful memories, but in happy ones. He and Scarlett lying in bed together, her head resting on his shoulder where she could hear his heart beating strong and steady.

I wish this moment would last forever. She had once said that to him, and he felt he understood truly it now. He wished for the moment to last too, so he wouldn’t have to wake to face the horror of all that really happened.

* * *

Noah’s eyes opened. His wish to stay lost in his dreams was not one to be fulfilled. He was met with bright light and someone’s hand holding his, though he couldn’t see who it was at first—it was just too bright to be certain. The strong sunlight shined through the windows and across his bedchamber, reflecting off the vials nearby on a table. It reminded Noah much of the days after Scarlett’s poisoning, for Callie had such bottles strewn around her chamber then.

“Noah?” a woman’s voice murmured his name.

Angling his head round, he grew aware of his own position flat on his bed with sheets to his waist. There was a thick bandage over his shoulder and one arm was held securely in a muslin sling. His one free hand was caught in a woman’s soft hand.

She bent toward him; her face revealed in the light.

Scarlett? Or is it Eloise?

“Who are ye?” he asked, needing to have the question answered.

“Do ye really nae ken?” Her voice was but a whisper. She didn’t release his hand as she stared at him. “Here, Callie said ye were tae drink this when ye woke. She just left tae check on yer soldiers.” With her free hand, she retrieved a cup from the bedside table. “Drink this.”

He took the cup, finding the liquid distinctly herbal and fragrant, though not to his liking. He grimaced but did not refuse it.

“How long have I been asleep?”

“A day,” she explained. “Callie gave ye a strong draught so she could work on yer wound. There was some heavy stitching, and ye lost a lot of blood.” She smiled suddenly. “She is confident ye will make a full recovery, though. Noah…” She reached for him and he flinched as she did so, retreating against the pillows. It hurt just to pull himself back from her, but he had to be certain.

“Do ye really nae ken me?” she asked.

“Ye are the woman who came here, spent nights in my castle, spent nights with me,” he reported. He couldn’t mistake her. She was the one he had made love to passionately, the one he argued with, and the one who had ended up beating him in a game of daggers.

“Aye!” she said triumphantly. “I am Scarlett. That is my name. I didnae lie tae ye on that score.”

“Ye said it was a nickname,” he corrected her, watching as she bit her lip nervously. “Why are ye here?” He remembered telling her he never wanted to see her again, but now he didn’t know what to think or feel.

He couldn’t forget the way she had pulled at his arm in the courtyard, nor how she had pushed him back, determined to save him. Had she not tugged against him when she did, that blade might have pierced his chest.