Page 57 of In Bed with a Highland Liar

“It’s yer chance tae prove it,” Aaden pointed out calmly, trying to keep himself composed. It would do no good, arguing with Evander when the most important thing was to get their mother back. “Tell me where he could be keepin’ her.”

“I dinnae ken!” Evander insisted. “Dae ye think he told me? Dae ye think I magically ken where tae find him?”

Aaden would get nowhere while Evander was in this state. Once again, he gripped his shoulder, hoping the gesture would ground him enough to help him think past his fear. When he spoke, he did so calmly yet firmly, looking right in Evander’s eyes.

“Ye must think. Is there any place ye can recall him visitin’? Anywhere he visits often or anythin’ that is out o’ the ordinary?”

“I dinnae ken, Aaden!” Evander shouted, his panic getting the better of him. Drawing in a deep breath, he ran a hand through his hair, fingers tugging at the strands. “There is a cottage nae too far from the castle. It’s near the loch. We used tae go there sometimes tae hunt an’ swim. Faither has been visitin’ often lately. He said it needed tae be repaired an’ he had tae be there tae oversee the work, but it always struck me as odd that he would go there himself.”

Aaden exchanged a quick glance with Laird Stewart, who seemed to be thinking the same thing as he did. There was no guarantee that was the place where Ruadh kept his mother, but it was the only clue they had. They had to start from somewhere and that seemed like the best place to look.

“I will need troops,” Aaden told the man. “I understand ye may nae wish tae help me, but I am askin’ ye tae give me some men. Nae fer me, but fer me maither, who is innocent in all this.”

Laird Stewart didn’t respond immediately, and with every passing moment, Aaden began to lose hope. He wouldn’t leave his mother in Ruadh’s hands, though. If he had to go to that cottage and fight all his men on his own, he would, troops be damned.

“Please, faither.” Lilith took her father’s hands, her eyes wide and pleading. “Ye ken he is sayin’ the truth. He had nae choice an’ his maither is innocent in all this. Why should she suffer?”

It took another brief moment for the laird to make up his mind. With a nod, he patted Lilith’s hand reassuringly and said, “Cameron, gather some men. We are goin’ tae find the Lady MacEwan.”

Cameron wasted no time before turning on his heel, rushing off to notify the men. Aaden could finally breathe again, some of the crushing weight coming off his shoulders now that he knew he would have some help in his quest for his mother, evening out the odds.

“I will prepare as well,” said Evander, but he seemed too rattled to Aaden. If there was going to be a fight, then he doubted Evander was in the right state of mind for it and besides, if they found their mother, Aaden didn’t want Evander to see her in such a state.

“Perhaps ye should stay here,” he told him, in as gentle a tone as he could muster. “Once we find her, we’ll bring her here.”

“Dae ye think me weak?” Evander said, and Aaden should have known that he would take offence, despite his best intentions. “I will come with ye. I must speak tae me faither.”

Before Aaden could say anything else, Evander left, too, heading off to prepare for the trip. He was a grown man, Aaden reminded himself. He didn’t need to coddle him, even for something like this.

“I will come with ye too.” Lilith stepped up to him, determination etched in her face. “I wish tae leave ye alone.”

“Nay,” said Aaden immediately. He didn’t need to consider it—the answer was too obvious.

“But—”

“Aaden is right,” Laird Stewart said. “It’s too dangerous, Lilith. Ye shall stay here with yer sister until we return.”

“If ye are goin’, Faither, then why should I stay behind?” Lilith asked, her hands coming to rest on her hips. “I can help. I’m good with a bow.”

“It’s too dangerous,” Aaden insisted, repeating her father’s words. At least for once, the two men seemed to be in agreement. “Ye cannae come, Lilith. We’ll be safe, I promise ye.”

Lilith seemed anything but pleased at being denied, but Aaden could deal with her anger if it meant that she would be safe. She looked between him and Laird Stewart, and Aaden could see the cogs in her mind turning as she tried to find a way to convince them, only to sigh and throw her hands up in resignation.

“Fine,” she said. “As ye wish.”

She didn’t pull back when Aaden took her hand and tugged her closer, pressing a soft, quick kiss to her lips. With her father there, he didn’t want to risk anything more than that, but he also didn’t want to leave Lilith without a farewell kiss.

“We willnae be more than a few days,” Aaden promised her. Either they would find his mother there and bring her back or they would find nothing and then they would have no choice but to return empty-handed to look for other places where Ruadh could be keeping her. “I’ll see ye soon. And if the laird returns, which is unlikely, tell him that we went with yer father to help in a village a day’s ride away where there was a fire. That he demanded our help as fergiveness for our actions, to prove our good intentions.”

“Aye,” said Lilith. “Be safe.”

With that, Aaden, along with Laird Stewart, headed inside for the final preparations. There was much he still wanted to tell the man and even more he wanted to tell Lilith, but it would all have to wait. With any luck, it would all be over soon and the laird would be swayed to give him Lilith’s hand in marriage.

Then again, Aaden had never believed in luck.

Lilith was left staring at Aaden’s and her father’s backs as they left her and Freya there, in the middle of the courtyard. The guards had begun to disperse by then, no longer needed and eager to return to their posts, and Lilith turned to Freya with a roll of her eyes, still in disbelief that she would be left behind.

Why had her father have allowed her to train if not to join him in his battles? Why would he hand her a bow and arrow as a young girl and then deny her the chance to prove herself?