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“It’s nae a friend here,” he said.

Stephen again gave it some thought. Then realization crept over his face. “Oh… dae ye mean the Laird’s sister?”

Evan glared at him, annoyed that he had managed to stumble onto the truth. “It dinnae matter who it is,” he mumbled.

“If the Laird’s sister is in danger then we should rally the men. I’m sure it’s what the Laird would want,” Stephen turned around to the men again, ready to holler at them. Evan batted Stephen’s hand away, for the lad had cupped his hand, ready to give his voice extra strength.

“I told ye, she is nae in danger,” Evan hissed. The last thing he wanted was to ride up on Amelie with an entire army.

Stephen looked confused again. “But I dinnae understand. If she is nae in danger then why are ye gaeing after her?”

Evan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Because she might be in danger. I dinnae know for sure. All I dae know is that she hae been spending time with some merchant, and she might hae gone off with him. But Pascal never mentioned that she was seeing a merchant, sae I’m worried that something suspicious might be happening. I think it’s best that I find out for myself if she’s in danger, and if she is then I can settle things before the laird hae tae worry about his sister.”

Stephen nodded. “Oh, I see. That makes sense.” He paused for a moment. “Does this hae anything tae dae with the flowers ye were taking tae the nunnery this morning? And, come tae think of it, ye took a small gift there as well.”

Evan pressed his lips together and glanced around, making sure that nobody else was overhearing. He lowered his voice to a harsh whisper. “If ye must know then aye, Amelie and myself grew close. But I am worried about her. I need tae make sure she is nae in danger. I will be back soon after I hae discovered what she hae gotten herself intae.”

Evan turned away from Stephen, hoping that he had put an end to the matter. But Stephen did not leave. “But if she is in danger then ye are gaeing tae need tae rescue her. Ye need tae take someone at least. I’m sure if ye asked anyone here they would agree.”

“Well, we’re nae gaeing tae ask anyone because I’m the Captain and I get tae give the orders.”

“But we hae tae protect ye, just as much as ye hae tae protect us. I’m sure the Laird would nae want ye gaeing off by yerself when ye hae someone willing tae come with ye, especially where his sister is concerned. What if ye need tae fight them off? How are ye gaeing tae make sure she escapes?”

Despite Evan wanting to handle this by himself, he knew that Stephen spoke the truth. He got the sense that Stephen wasn’t going to relent in his insistence to come anyway, and the longer he spent arguing with Stephen, the longer it was going to take to find Amelie. So Stephen quickly mounted his horse and then the two men left the camp, riding at a high speed towards the village.

As Evan rode, his thoughts turned dark. Had he been wrong to assume that he could walk back into Amelie’s life and pick up where they had left off? She had made no promises to him and she was quite free to pursue a romance with another man, just as he was with another woman. He had hoped that what they shared meant more than that, however. He found himself wondering if she had kissed him or let him whisper into her ear, if he had brushed his fingers down her cheek and held her hand tightly.

Evan’s face paled and he tensed every muscle in his body, bracing himself against the pain.

“Why dae ye think she is in danger?” Stephen asked, halfway through their ride. By the way he asked the question, it seemed as though he had been pondering the matter for a while.

“I told ye, I am nae sure. I just want tae find out, that’s all,” Evan replied through gritted teeth.

“But perhaps she only left with him because they are friends. After all, she left the keep for a walk with ye.”

“Were ye spying on us?” Evan asked sharply and regretted the tone he used.

“I just saw ye, that’s all,” Stephen mumbled. Evan sighed.

“I am sorry, lad, I dinnae mean tae snap at ye. I know full well that she might be there of her own accord.”

And that’s what worries me the most, he thought, but he did not give voice to that feeling. This love was a torturous thing, made all the worse by the fact that he had been so close to having Amelie, and yet now he was so far. The thought of her giving herself to another man made him wince, and it was then that he realized what she must have been going through. When she saw him arguing with the maid she must have felt this pain, and when she asked him about all the other women she must have been imagining him sharing intimate moments with them. His eyes widened as he realized how deeply she had suffered, and how he had tried to brush those feelings away as though they didn’t matter.

Those women didn’t matter to him because of Amelie, fading from his heart like the dwindling dusky sun, but they certainly mattered to Amelie and he had missed it. Was it this that had pushed her into the arms of the merchant? Was her love for this stranger true, or had she simply run into the arms of the first man who could offer her something more stable than what Evan had done?

Either way, he needed to find out, and he wasn’t going to stop until he tracked her down. Even if the merchant had left the village, Evan was going to find their path and follow them until he found Amelie again. Then he was going to share with her all the things that resided in his heart, as well as the things she wanted to know. He would tell her absolutely everything about himself and if, after that, she still turned away then he would slink back home and nurse his wounded heart. Until then, there was still hope, even if it was forlorn.

They rushed along the road, kicking up a cloud of dust. The horses’ hooves slammed against the ground like hammers, and the reverberations shook through Evan’s body. He tucked his head low in order to increase his speed. The wind whipped through his hair. The horse brayed and whinnied as it sprinted along, stretching its sinews to their limit. All Evan could think about was Amelie. The chance was that she wasn’t in danger at all and that she had been wooed by this merchant. Evan would like to meet him for himself, though. He would like to meet the man who succeeded where he failed.

They arrived in the village and slowed to a canter. Evan saw a wagon that was preparing to leave and went up to investigate, but he soon heard the cries of a baby and knew it was not the merchant he sought. Stephen followed him as they made their way through the village, peering into every nook and cranny for a sign of either Amelie or the merchant. Evan hoped that he wasn’t going to make a fool of himself. He feared finding Amelie in a scene of love, besotted with this other man, but he couldn’t turn away. Rushing away from the nunnery seemed so out of character for Amelie, and he wondered if he knew her as well as he thought.

There were so many things he wished to say to her, things he hoped would inspire her to stay with him.

“I cannae see anything,” Stephen said, turning around so much that he almost fell off his horse.

“Keep looking. She hae tae be here somewhere,” Evan said as he directed the horse towards the inn. If the merchant wasn’t there then he was confident that someone in the inn would know where he had gone. They might have seen Amelie as well.