Page 25 of A Kilted Marriage of Convenience

“I ken that hand. It was ye… back in the MacNeil castle. It was ye who brought me food, and it was ye who saved me,” Lillie said, tears forming in her eyes.

Ciara finally realized what Lillie was talking about.

“It was ye, was it nae?” Lillie’s voice was small. “That hand gave me strength. I could never forget it.”

“Aye,” Ciara confessed at last. “It was me.”

Lillie was hugging her the next second, crying freely now. “Why did ye nae say anything? Ye should have told me! Ye should have told my brothers! Thank ye so much… I cannae believe ye went against yer father to help me. Ye are the only reason I survived!”

Ciara too was overwhelmed, almost too emotional to speak. “I didnae mean to stay quiet… I just didnae see the need to say it. I helped ye because I thought it was right. I am sorry I could nae stop my father.”

Lillie stroked her shoulder as she wiped her eyes. “I already ken these men dinnae listen to us. Look at my brothers and how they didnae listen to me either. I’m sorry I wasnae able to help ye the same way.”

Surprisingly, Lillie’s words had the opposite effect of what she no doubt intended. Ciara was scared. Terrified.

Och, goodness, nay. Please, dinnae help me! Unlike ye, I dinnae want to be saved.

“It’s alright. Yer brothers daenae treat me badly,” she said nervously, and she looked back at the forest to change the subject. “Although the men are gone, I dinnae think we should be out here in the open for now. Let us go back inside.”

With how grateful Lillie is now, she might end up working against my plans instead of helping me!

Those men, they had all been wearing black cloaks, with no tartan in sight. They had not wanted to reveal their clan, but Ciara knew who they were after seeing the scarred man. Her father must have sent spies to watch the MacDonald castle. It was no wonder that they gave up on chasing them so easily. They were only there to scout, not kidnap. When they realized they had been caught, they must have tried their luck to see if they would be able to snatch one of the girls and please their master.

Ciara had been able to hope for freedom when she had thought her father did not know where she was. Now it seemed it was only a matter of time before he came for her. Her ridiculous plan of marrying Aidan seemed to be the only thing that could actually keep her out of Laird MacNeil’s grip. It was either that or escape the keep and brave the wilds alone.

The girls walked past the stables before the keep, with Ciara far behind. A neigh distracted her, and she turned to see a stable hand struggling with a horse. However, what really drew her attention was the little boy who looked not more than five years old, holding onto the horse’s hind leg!

Ciara could foresee disaster. Her legs were moving before she even finished processing the sight, and in an instant, she shielded the boy with her own body just as the horse kicked back. She felt a terrible pain tear through her shoulder, and all went black.