Chapter 28
CHAPTER 28
“I need ye to stay here,” Logan instructed, swiping his kilt off the floor. He did not bother to don a shirt—he did not have time for that.
Adeline wrapped the blanket tighter around herself. “I’m not staying here if they’re out for my blood, Logan. I can reason with them, the same way I reasoned with the villagers in the east.” She looked at Theo. “You said you couldn’t see anyone from the east among the mob, right?”
“I couldnae, Miss Adeline,” Theo confirmed. “They have their banners. None were from the east.” Then he turned to leave. “I’ll just…I’ll wait for ye outside.” With that, he left them alone, closing the door behind him.
“It doesnae matter, Adeline,” Logan insisted after Theo left, focusing only on her. “Even without the east, there’ll be hundreds out there. I’m nae lettin’ them see so much as yer face, lest they start throwin’ rocks.”
Anger flared in his chest as his gaze flicked to the spot where the indent of their bodies was still visible, impressed upon the wide cushions. He had experienced true joy for the first time in years—perhaps all two-and-thirty of them—and now his island had decided to turn on him, snatching that from him.
When Adeline had first arrived, he had known that her presence was like a lit taper held too close to a powder keg, but after seeing her with the villagers in the east, his fears had faded.
Now, they were about to explode.
“I’m coming with you,” she said stubbornly. “I’m not your prisoner, remember.”
Logan stalked toward her, grasping her hands in his. “Just listen to me, lass. Daenae argue, daenae protest, just listen. Heed me. Nay, ye’re nae me prisoner, but ye’re still goin’ to stay behind these four walls—these ones, right here—because I’m askin’ ye to.”
“Let me speak to them first,” she insisted. “If they’re hostile, I’ll do it your way.”
He clenched his jaw, gripping her hands a little harder than he meant to. “This isnae yer world, lass. Reasonin’ with folks who’ve got the bloodlust upon ‘em might be the way of things where ye hail from, though there’s a part of me that doubts it, but in this world, ye daenae get to say more than a word or two before they drag ye off. They’ll burn ye, and I willnae be able to stop them. I might be able to fight me way through a fair few of ‘em, but nae all.”
“I’d fight with ye,” Theo said from outside the door.
Logan grimaced. “That’s nae helpful, Theo.” He gazed down into Adeline’s eyes, needing her to listen to him. “Me men are loyal to me, aye, and they’ll fight for me if I ask ‘em, but they’ve got family down there, nay doubt about it. Do ye want a hefty number of folks to die because ye wouldnae listen to me, or do ye want to do as I say, and just… stay here? Here, ye’re safe.”
Adeline paled, shivering, though it was not cold. “People would really… die?”
“If they took ye, I wouldnae be able to help fightin’ me way to save ye. Aye, people would die.” Logan pulled her to him, pressing a kiss to her hair as he added, “Good people who’ve had some nonsense put into their heads about witches and curses. All we have to do is wait until they tire. The gates will hold. This keep will hold, as it has for years. But ye have to do as I ask. I beg of ye.”
He heard her gulp. “If it means no blood gets spilled, then… I’ll stay.” She peered up at him. “But only if you promise that you won’t get hurt.”
“I have nay intention of gettin’ hurt,” he assured her. “Nor do I want blood gettin’ spilled. Any blood.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist, holding him tightly. “I’m… scared, Logan.”
“Ye daenae have to be. I’m here,” he said. “I swore I’d protect ye, and I willnae be breakin’ any promises. Right now, however, I have to see what’s happenin’. I quelled small rebellions before. Once I’ve seen ‘em, I’ll ken what we’re contendin’ with.”
She pressed a kiss to his chest, just below his collarbone. “I trust you.”
His heart glowed with affection for the woman in his arms, hearing those three words. It was like he had been waiting for her to say them, waiting for her to see him as more than the provincial Laird who lacked refinement. Although, it was his lack of refinement that would keep her from harm if this revolt turned violent.
“Stay warm,” he told her, bending his head to kiss her. “I willnae be long if I can help it.”
She kissed him back, grabbing his face before he could pull away. Her lips were hot and urgent on his, her body melting against him, as if she could not be close enough. It was the kind of kiss that a wife gave to a warrior before he left for war, not knowing if they would ever see one another again.
Aware that time was not on his side, Logan reluctantly broke the kiss. But before he made his way out of the chamber, he brought his hand to rest on her heart. It beat wildly, like a trapped bird.
“I’m comin’ back for this,” he whispered. “Daenae be afraid. If we have to leave the island, so be it.”
He kissed her once more and withdrew, storming out as a dark cloud gathered over his head. He had expected better from his clan.
“When did they arrive?” Logan asked Theo as soon as he stepped out of the chamber, and the other man hurried along at his side.
“Nae long ago,” Theo replied. “One of the watchmen saw the torches in the distance. Came to wake me. I dinnae believe him at first, thought it might be lightnin’ or somethin’, but then I saw it with me own eyes. There’re hundreds of ‘em, m'laird.”
A muscle twitched in Logan’s jaw, his hands balling into fists. “Where are me maither and sister?”
“They’re takin’ refuge at the top of the tower,” Theo replied. “Yer brother is still asleep where ye left him, but there are men headin’ there to move him up to the tower. I ken his fever has gone down, but he wouldnae be strong enough to fight if the villagers break through the gates.”
Logan sniffed. “I’m nae sure he would fight, even if he wasnae sick.” His mind raced as he pressed on through the maze of hallways, darting between thoughts of Adeline and Oliver. “I havenae behaved toward him as I should’ve. There are things I forgot, things I… ignored because all I saw when I looked at him was our faither. If we survive this, it’s me solemn vow to be better to him. Adeline noticed it right away, but… I couldnae see it. Couldnae remember.”
“Aye, well, he hasnae exactly been well behaved toward ye either,” Theo muttered. He had never much liked Oliver. “I’ll be honest with ye, I’ve always kept a keen eye on him, ever since we were lads. Always had this awful feelin’ that he was goin’ to do somethin’ to ye.”
Logan frowned. “I might nae be his favorite person in the world, but he wouldnae harm me.”
“Are ye certain of that?” Theo cast him a sideways glance.
“Aye, I am.”
Theo shrugged. “Who am I to tell ye otherwise? I’m just someone who has been watchin’ him like a hawk since he was old enough to start envyin’ ye.”
They continued in on pensive silence, the thick walls of the keep muffling any sounds coming from without. Yet, beneath that dense quiet, Logan could just hear the rumble of dissent. It was cold out there, and the longer they stood waiting to burn their witch, the angrier they would become, the cold stoking the fire of their fury.
He pictured Adeline, safe below the earth, warming herself by the hearth. Even if the villagers made it through the gates, they would not be able to reach her there.
What if she leaves? What if the fear is too much?
His stomach clenched with dread. He had not considered that. After all, she still had the key to get back home. He did not know what it was or how it worked, but what if she used it while he was gone? What if she thought that was the only way to help him out of this mess?
Nay . She said she dinnae ken how it worked either. She touched it, she fainted, but she dinnae go back to where she came from. She stayed right here.
That soothed him, but only a little.
Before long, they had climbed the winding staircases that led to the very top of the keep, where the wide, square tower stood guard over the island. The door to Adeline’s guest chamber was open, and from inside, Logan heard the whispers of frightened, feminine voices.
“Who’s there?” his mother’s voice called out.
“It’s me and Theo,” Logan replied, poking his head into the room. “We’re goin’ up to see what’s afoot. Both of ye, stay away from the windows and keep the shutters closed.”
Moira was hiding under a pile of blankets and furs, just like the night Adeline arrived. “I hate this,” she muttered from within the mound. “They daenae ken her like we ken her, but how do ye tell a horde of fools that a beautiful, wonderful, intelligent woman isnae a witch?”
That was precisely the question that Logan kept asking himself. He had seen what a frenzy of fear could do to ordinary, good people. He had seen other women burned before, accused of crimes they likely had not committed.
He had seen the masses turn, becoming a frothing tide of menace and violence. But that had been under his father’s reign, and he refused to be anything like that man.
“I’ll be down shortly,” Logan said, ducking back out of the bedchamber.
Up ahead was a wooden ladder that slanted up toward a trapdoor in the ceiling. For years, it had not been climbed for anything but leisure and the joy of taking in a beautiful view, so it felt strange to climb it for a darker purpose.
The bolt on the trapdoor stubbornly refused to budge for a few minutes, the metal rusted. But with a hard shove from Logan, it finally gave. He pushed the wooden flap up, a sharp gust of icy air blasting him in the face.
Pulling himself through the gap, the kiss of a snowflake pinched his cheek. He turned his gaze skyward, squinting at the gloom. The sun rose late in the winter, but it was not quite light enough to be nearing, nor was it quite dark enough to be night. They were somewhere in the small hours of the morning, he guessed. Three or four o’clock.
He checked with Theo.
“It’s half past four, m'laird,” the man-at-arms replied. “I really am sorry that I had to… um… disturb ye. I dinnae realize that ye’d taken Miss Adeline downstairs with ye. If I kenned, I would’ve… well, I still would’ve had to wake ye, but I might’ve been less brutal about it. Knocked on the door a wee bit lighter, so as nae to frighten the lass.”
Logan looked at the high wall that surrounded the top of the keep, coming up to his chest. He could not see beyond it to the mob below, and they could not see him, but soon, he would address his people—the clan he had sacrificed so much for.
“We were sayin’ goodbye,” he said, a lump forming in his throat.
Theo’s eyebrows shot up. “She’s leavin’?”
“Aye. She was meant to be leavin’ in five days, but I have a feelin’ she might have to go sooner,” Logan answered. “It all depends on what happens next.”
“But ye cannae just let her go, m'laird,” Theo protested. “Ye’re fallin’ in love, the pair of ye. I’ve seen it with me own eyes! What if she doesnae come back? What if somethin’ happens to her while she’s makin’ her journey home? Are ye goin’ to go with her?”
Logan turned around and stared at his friend. “It’s nae love, Theo. Daenae say that. I cannae have ye sayin’ that.”
“But it is, m'laird!” Theo argued. “I have four sisters, m'laird. Ye think I daenae ken what love looks like when I see it? I’ve seen ‘em all swoon and sigh enough, and I’ve seen how it all changed when they met their husbands—the married ones, anyway. It wasnae swoonin’ and sighin’, it was almost… serious. It’s all in the eyes, m'laird, and ye and Miss Adeline both have it in yers.”
Logan shook his head, closing his eyes. “Nay, Theo, I cannae have ye sayin’ that. Nae now. Nae if I want to keep me wits about me.”
After the night he had just had with Adeline, he had no doubt that she had stolen his heart and would keep it, wherever she went. She was the woman he had been waiting so long for, to be the Lady of this keep at his side.
Yet, that could never be. Indeed, he had already come to the conclusion that if it could not be her, it would be no one. But imagining how life would continue without her was not something he could think about right now.
“Ah… I see,” Theo said quietly. “Pretend I dinnae say anythin’.”
Sucking in the frosty air, the snowflakes cooling his face, Logan approached the wall.
The moment he looked over, a fiery orange light filled the darkness. It glowed from every torch, wielded by every villager who had come to seize Adeline, making it look like the entire world was on fire.
In truth, his world was.
The mob had come to the southern gates, rather than the heavy wooden door of the main entrance. Both were locked through the night, but it was little comfort. If they wanted to break through, they would find a way.
“Burn the witch!” someone bellowed, spotting Logan standing behind the wall. “M’laird, burn the witch! Free us from this curse!”
“Burn her!” another screamed. “She took the lives of all me family! Burn her!”
“She willnae rest until we’re all dead and buried!” a third howled. “Burn her, free us! Give us the witch!”
With sick dread, Logan’s gaze drifted to a stake that was, at that very moment, being erected behind the mob of hundreds. Bales of dry hay were being stuffed beneath the rickety wooden platform, logs and twigs leaning against it. A pole was in the center, where Adeline would be bound and trapped as the flames devoured her.
“M’laird!” Theo hissed, his eyes wild.
“I see it, Theo,” Logan replied dismally, trying to think of what to say.
How could he reason with these people who wanted their pound of flesh?
Theo grabbed his arm. “Nay, m'laird—look!”
The stocky man-at-arms was not looking at the mob, as Logan was. His eyes were trained on something else down below. Something moving in the courtyard, approaching the keep gates—the only thing standing between the mob and their objective.
She moved slowly, like a woman sentenced to the gallows. She moved without fear, her head held high. And as she continued her approach to the gates, even the mob fell silent.
“Adeline,” Logan hissed, breaking into a sprint.
She had disobeyed him. Despite everything he had said, she was on her way to try and reason with a mob who wanted nothing but her death.
And he did not know if he could reach her before she reached them.