Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The thatched roofs of the village came into view as Lavina and Amber trotted up the hill.
Lavina looked down into the valley with wonder. The midday sun glinted off the windows of the stone cottages that lined the outskirts of the village.
Lavina’s chest tightened as she glanced from one side of the dusty street to the other. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end with each new building they passed by.
“If I didnae ken any better, I’d say that ye dinnae trust me,” Theo muttered. “Did I nae tell ye that I’d keep an eye on ye? Try to relax. This is me clan, nae yers. These people will stand with their Laird, and if I need their help, they will rise to the occasion.”
“Ye have a lot of faith in yer men,” Lavina remarked, trying to swallow the uncertainty that hung around her neck like a millstone.
“As any laird should. I’m sure there are some lairds who rule their people with an iron fist, but that wasnae the way me faither built this community.”
Lavina smiled as some of the tension left her shoulders. “Community? I like the sound of that.”
“Is that nae what this all is? Each person here has a part to play, a role to fill. Without the farmers and their goods, the bakers wouldnae be able to sell their goods. So ye see, one works on the other around here. If one fails, we all fail.”
“And that’s why ye can trust yer men,” Lavina said, glancing around at the faces they rode past.
She didn’t exactly know what to expect from them. But she hadn’t expected them to be so kind. They looked genuinely pleased to see them.
“Is that the new Lady?” she heard a soft whisper from behind her as they passed.
Theo’s lips quirked at the corners as he motioned for her to keep her head straight.
“Word is about to spread like wildfire,” he said. “Ye ready?”
“For?” Lavina asked, uncertain as to what she was about to get herself into.
She didn’t like how nonchalant Theo was about the whole situation. Although she knew she couldn’t remain locked in the keep forever, she didn’t think parading about was smart.
“Maybe we shouldnae be tellin’ the whole town that we’re here just yet,” she suggested.
At that moment, Stephen pulled up to them.
“Good, I was hopin’ to catch up with ye,” he said, flashing Theo a smirk. “Didnae want to miss out on all the fun.”
“Ye had better nae be comin’ just to see… What was that lass’s name again? Joe?” Theo teased as they turned onto the main street.
Lavina’s eyes widened with shock as she spotted the merchants lining the cobblestone path.
“Welcome to Shetland. May nae look like much, but ye’ll find everything yer heart desires here,” Stephen announced proudly.
Lavina shook her head in disbelief.
“What?” he protested, trotting closer to Theo.
Lavina glanced at Amber, who was sitting in front of Lavina in the saddle. The child giggled as the wind played with her hair.
“I’m nae lyin’. Ye can find everything.”
“Aye, and today, we’re here to buy dresses or fabric if that’s what they prefer. But I want them watched, do ye understand? Ye’re to be me second eyes,” Theo ordered.
Stephen straightened in his saddle and nodded solemnly. “Aye, Me Laird.”
Lavina’s gaze shifted to Maisie, who was holding on to Stephen for dear life. “Are we there yet?”
“Ye said ye wanted to ride fast,” Stephen said with a chuckle.
He gave her a reassuring pat on the hand so that she would loosen her grip on him.
“I didnae mean rip yer face off. Do I even have a nose still? I cannae feel it,” Maisie complained.
Amber giggled and pointed to the second street, which was filled with even more merchants than the first.
“Aye, bobbin, and it’s as cute as a button,” Lavina teased.
She couldn’t remember the last time she had been able to relax. Her uncle never let up, not even for a moment. And so neither could she.
Her gaze lingered in shadowed alleyways and behind wagons. She could almost hear her uncle’s voice, cruel and sharp, riding the breeze like a curse.
“What if… what if he’s here? Me uncle, or one of his men?”
“Well, unless yer uncle’s colors are green and blue, I dinnae see him. Stephen is here as well, and I swear, with the two of us, nay one will dare touch ye. Now, go and have a bit of fun. Have the dressmaker charge the keep for whatever ye have made.”
Theo’s eyebrows arched as he rolled his shoulders back and sat straighter in the saddle. His expression was unreadable for a moment, but Lavina was slowly learning what each twitch of his eyebrows meant.
As they made their way through the village to its center, the sounds of music danced on the air. Lavina chewed on her lower lip as an anxiousness swelled within her. The horses stopped, and as Theo aided Lavina down from her horse, Lavina’s eyes darted to and fro, hunting for any unseen threats.
“It’ll be all right,” Theo said as he reached up and gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. His calloused fingers grazed her cheek with quiet purpose, sending delicious shivers through her.
“I promise ye,” he said, his voice a low murmur meant for her ears only as Maisie and Amber dismounted with eager wide eyes. “Ye’re safe here. I’ll keep ye all safe. I’m watchin’. If there’s even a whisper of trouble, I’ll hear it before it finds us.”
Lavina’s breath caught. The warmth of his touch lingered, and the sincerity in his words settled in her chest like a slow, steady beat. His eyes searched hers, not demanding trust but offering it.
“Besides,” he added with a dry chuckle, stepping back just slightly, “I doubt yer uncle would dare come this far north. Ye didnae like comin’ this far; I doubt he would either.”
The space between them grew as Theo took a step back—just enough to break the moment—but not before Lavina caught the subtle shift in his expression. His eyes had flicked briefly to Maisie and Amber, who stood a few feet away, both watching them curiously.
Lavina’s cheeks flushed, and she looked down. The ease with which Theo had offered reassurance, his gentleness, caught her off guard. He wasn’t supposed to be like this. He wasn’t supposed to make her feel safe.
Yet here she was, believing every word that dripped from his lips. It didn’t help that he spoke with such conviction that it banished all doubt from her mind.
“Well,” she said brightly to the girls, trying to ignore the feel of his eyes on her back, “which stalls should we visit first?”
Maisie practically bounced on her heels. “That one!” she squealed, pointing to a row of colorful stalls where bright shawls and beaded hair ribbons hung on display.
Amber slipped her hand into Lavina’s without a word.
Lavina’s heart soared at the quiet trust. She gave the girl’s hand a gentle squeeze and nodded.
If someone so young could put their trust in her, then surely she could put her trust in Theo.
“Then that’s where we’ll go,” she declared.
She looked over her shoulder to find Theo following a few steps behind. He rested one hand lightly on the hilt of his sword as if he could pull it from its sheath at a moment’s notice. The other hand hung loose at his side.
Despite the awkwardness in his gaze as he scanned the crowd, having him there gave her a peace she couldn’t deny.
She wandered slowly between the stalls with Maisie on one side and Amber on the other, their little hands tugging her toward every glittering, colorful display.
Her heart felt lighter than it had in months.
Laughter rang out around them as merchants called out their wares and children darted underfoot with sticky fingers and berry-stained smiles.
They paused at a trinket stall, where tiny carved wooden animals and delicate combs were arranged with care on blue velvet.
Maisie pointed to a little fox figurine. “Look, it even has its tail curled just like the one we saw outside the stables!”
Amber, still holding Lavina’s hand, pointed at a crimson ribbon that fluttered in the wind. “Red,” she said softly.
Lavina gasped with joy. “Aye,. That’s right. Ye’re a fast one, are ye nae? Soon, ye’ll be talkin’ me ear off.”
Amber’s lips quirked up in the smallest of smiles, her confidence growing.
They moved on to a lantern stall, where glass globes in jewel tones glowed with trapped sunlight.
Amber tugged Lavina toward one. “Blue,” she said shyly.
Lavina crouched beside her and ran a hand through her hair. “Ye’re doin’ so well. Ye’re sayin’ so many words today.”
She glanced over her shoulder, her eyes instinctively seeking out Theo.
He wasn’t far, standing just behind them, his arms folded across his chest, his eyes sharp beneath the shadows of the tavern eaves.
He hadn’t touched a single thing since they arrived, hadn’t so much as looked at a stall—but he was always watching.
Watching them. Like a silent sentinel cloaked in leather and quiet strength.
When Lavina caught his gaze, she offered a small smile. And to her surprise, he smiled back.
It wasn’t wide or showy, but it was real. There was a tenderness to it that made her heart ache. She looked away, flustered, but the warmth lingered.
They moved next to a dressmaker’s stall, where bolts of fabric flowed like waterfalls and gowns hung like dreams waiting to be worn. Maisie spun in a circle, the ends of her braid whipping around her shoulders.
“This one!” she cried, holding up a lavender dress with puffed sleeves and embroidered vines. “It’s like the wildflowers near the stream!”
Lavina laughed, but the sound caught in her throat. Just beyond the dress rack, in the periphery of her vision, she saw a glint. A shimmer of metal.
Reflexively, her entire body went stiff. Her smile dropped. Her hand squeezed Amber’s so tightly that the girl looked up, startled.
Theo was at her side before she even turned her head.
“What is it?” he asked, his voice grounding her instantly.
She swallowed hard and leaned in. “One of me uncle’s men. I swear it. By the tavern… across from the tailor’s. He was watchin’ us. I saw the light catch in his brooch. The same one they all wear.”
Theo’s eyes narrowed. He scanned the crowd with practiced precision, but when Lavina turned to point, the space was empty. The glint was gone.
She blinked, her heart racing, her lungs constricting like they’d forgotten how to expand.
“I—he was there,” she stammered, her voice trembling with terror.
It was her worst fear come to life.
A knot twisted in the pit of her stomach, and she shook her head. “I saw him.”
Theo placed a steady hand on her back, solid and warm above the layers of her gown. “That’s enough. We’re done here.”
There was no hesitation in his voice. No question of whether she’d imagined it. Just action. He straightened and whistled once, sharp and low.
Stephen’s head snapped up, completely abandoning his flirtation with a merchant.
“Time to go,” Theo announced in a firm voice. “Now.”
Lavina gathered Amber into her arms immediately, still shaken. Theo reached for Maisie, who looked confused but obeyed without complaint.
He moved quickly but calmly through the crowd, steering them with quiet urgency toward the smithy at the far edge of the village—the place he trusted most when the world threatened to implode.
Lavina clutched Amber tighter, her heart pounding against her ribs like a war drum.
But even in the fear, there was trust. For Theo was like a steady rock at her side. The terrain was unfamiliar and alarming, but this was his clan, his family; Lavina had to trust they would keep their word.
“To yer left,” Stephen grunted.
“I ken,” Theo muttered. “They’ve been followin’ us since two shops down. We’ve got to split.”
“I’m nae leavin’ Maisie,” Lavina barked.
She snagged Maisie’s arm, refusing to let her out of her grasp either.
“Ye cannae hold on to both, lass,” Theo reasoned, his voice calm. “Ye need to mind yer sister, ye hear? She’s yer responsibility, and she trusts ye. But ye’ve got to trust me and follow Stephen.”
“What? Wait, I’m nae about to leave ye here to fend off these bandits.”
“Aye, ye will,” Theo snapped, pulling his blade from its sheath. “Ye’re a better rider than me. Ye get Lady McGowan back to the keep. Do ye hear me?”
“Theo, nay. Please, have Stephen watch Maisie,” Lavina pleaded.
“Maisie isnae Lady McGowan. Ye are. And I warned ye, lass, did I nae? I told ye, I’d pick ye. Now, give Amber over to Maisie. The lighter riders need to go first.”
“Ye cannae do this,” Lavina begged as Stephen pulled her to the horses.
“Stephen, get them out of here,” Theo ordered. “I’ll give ye as much time as I can.”