Chapter 8
Folding his arms over his chest, Theodore leaned against the door frame of the infirmary. He watched in silence as the healer looked over the injured girl.
“And how long have ye had the injury?” Edith asked as she examined Madison’s leg with the utmost care.
Theodore pursed his lips and instinctively tightened his fist with each whimper and flinch Madison made.
What was it about the girl that pricked him so?
It wasn’t like she was the first he’d rescued.
In fact, he’d seen quite a few young girls over the years in various states of decay.
But perhaps, he’d never come across a girl who had been so poorly treated.
“Only a few days,” Madison answered as Theo noticed her attention shifting to him every so often.
With each stolen glimpse, Theo found his heart quickening.
It was a strange sensation, the flood of heat that coursed through him.
He pulled in a long deep breath to steady his nerves as Edith shimmied what was left of Madison’s dress.
“I’m surprised ye managed to put any weight on it at all.
I ken ye may nae ken it now, but this was a blessin’,” Edith said as she hobbled to the black pot over the fire.
Theo didn’t question what Edith was brewing.
He’d learned long ago to just let the woman work.
She was skilled in the ways of healing that he’d never seen nor would see again.
Madison’s gaze bore into him, causing his body to tingle.
He wished more than anything for the power to read minds.
He wanted to know what was going through Madison’s mind.
She had a crease between her eyebrows that Theodore couldn’t tell if she was in distress, tired, or fed up with the whole situation.
“Well, I’m sure when I figure out what that hidin’ blessin’ is, I’ll be sure to tell ye,” Madison clapped back. Edith stood still. The room shifted and there was no doubt in Theo’s mind Madison had said something she shouldn’t have.
“Ye can lose the sarcasm here, lass. Ye might think it’s maskin’ yer pain, but all it does is put a spotlight on yer problems. Now I understand ye’ve been through a lot.
None of us here are denyin’ that. But in order for me to help ye, we’ve got to work on what’s goin’ on inside here,” Edith said as she pressed her hand to Madison’s chest.
Silence fell over the room as Edith continued to work over Madison’s leg. After a careful examination, Edith glanced over her shoulder. Her direct gaze was the relief he had hoped for.
“As from what I can tell, ye’re goin' to need to stay off it for a few months. I’d suggest ye wait out the season,” Edith said.
“Nay,” Madison answered adamantly. “That cannae happen. I cannae wait any longer. I’ve got to go.”
“And where precisely might that be?” Theodore asked as he pushed off the door frame and moved to the foot of the bed. “What family do ye have that I might call on them?”
Madison’s attention shifted from Theodore to Edith as if she were hunting for the right response.
Theodore shifted his weight and watched Madison.
There was a delicacy to her, an innocence that made him wish the world wasn’t so cruel.
But the fact that Madison hesitated to divulge any information irked him more than it should have.
How could she keep something like that private when all he was trying to do was help her?
As much as he wanted to understand what she went through, he could see she wasn’t in the right mind to do so.
At least not now. He would have to be tender and patient.
Above all, patient. It wasn’t like she was going to release her secrets to a stranger.
Then again… Theo glanced at Edith. The woman had a way of loosening lips without any violence.
“What say ye healer?” Theo asked as he rolled his shoulders back.
The corner of Edith’s lips twitched as she picked up on his subtle clue to take the lead in the situation.
If there was one thing he loved most about Edith was her ability to read him.
Of course, she’d been around since he was a child and practically raised him.
But being able to convey his orders to her without saying a word was a godsend.
“Perhaps it would be best if the laird step out and let the girl have a moment of peace,” Edith suggested, much to Theodore’s irritation.
He didn’t want to leave the room, if anything, he wanted to hear more about Madison’s journey and how she managed to survive for so long.
He’d never seen anything like it before.
It was obvious that even the other girls that participated in the hunt had endured only one event.
By the looks of Madison’s weary eyes and woeful demeanor, it was clear she’d been through more than one.
“Nae to mention the lass needs to bathe. I daenae think she’ll be able to go anywhere, if that’s what concerns ye,” Edith said over her shoulder as Theodore contemplated leaving the room.
There were other things he could be attending to, but he found it difficult to move.
It was as if his fate had now been bound to hers in some mysterious way that he had to figure out.
“I’ll see if anyone is in the kitchen. Perhaps ye’d like somethin’ more to eat?
Lord kens ye could use all ye can get,” Theo said and started for the doorway.
He stepped out into the hall and stopped just outside of the door.
His heart pounded against his rib cage. Every nerve in his body tingled as he leaned in to listen.
“So, where are ye from?” Edith asked, her tone was always so soothing to Theodore’s ear. But it was that tenderness that he was certain would disarm Madison.
“North.”
“Ye ken we are here to help ye, daenae ye?”
Theodore found his body tingling as he hung on every word. Why he wanted to know so much about the girl drove him mad. It wasn’t like he could do anything about the feelings that were brewing within him.
No matter how desirable Madison looked to him, it wasn’t like she wanted anything to do with him. And why would she? He knew what he was, a stone-cold killer. He could plow through a field of soldiers without batting an eye or missing any sleep. Yet, why then did this girl trouble him so?
“I’ve been told somethin’ similar only to have me leg broken.”
“And who did this to ye?”
Theodore found his hand balling into a tight fist as every nerve in his body was set on fire. He found himself far too eager to inflict damage to the whomever injured her so.
“Lewis,” Madison answered, much to Theodore’s disappointment.
“And do ye ken his fate?” Edith asked. Theodore’s ears burned as he hoped to hear the answer. But the silence was like the tip of a blade pressing on his chest.
“Does such a thing matter here?” Theodore finally asked, breaking the tension.
“The castle walls are high and impenetrable here on the island. He’ll be dead before he breaches the dock.
One thing ye can be sure about, he’ll never bother ye again.
Laird Theo will make sure of that. Ye can trust him ye ken. He’ll help ye if ye let him.”
“Says the servant of the man who keeps everyone trapped on an island. Do ye nae see? Ye’re a prisoner here, just as I am,” Madison said. Her words were like hot coals under foot.
“Perhaps ye’ll see this place more for what it really is, a sanctuary.
A place of refuge. Castle MacLeon has secrets hidden within the mortar of the stones that even I havenae heard yet.
Ye’ll be surprised at how things change with the right perspective,” Edith said as her words were drowned out by the clamor of heavy footsteps.
Glancing over his shoulder he spotted Gilmore moving with urgency toward him. Theodore rolled his eyes as he tried to focus on what was going on in the room rather than outside of it.
“I was told ye had returned,” Gilmore stated as he bowed low. “We must talk.”
“Nae now,” Theodore answered as he tried hide the ire of being interrupted.
“Ye ken the charter, and yer time is runnin’ out. The council demands ye have a bride before yer thirty second birthday. And from me calculations, that’s happenin’ in a month. Do ye want to lose the lairdship to yer uncle?”
Theodore glared daggers at him as he missed the question Edith had asked Madison.
“What’s this?” Gilmore asked as he craned his neck to spy into the room. “Who is that?”
“Someone rescued from the hunt. Her leg is broken and the only healer I ken skilled enough to mend it is Edith. I had nay choice but to bring her here.”
“She isnae a stray animal ye can pick up and bring back.” Gilmore flinched as Theodore’s eyes flashed in warning at him, and Theodore felt satisfaction rush through him. Gilmore had forgotten his place – perhaps now he would remember exactly who he was talking to.
“Aye, which is why I have every intention of seein’ her back to her family. But she’s injured and I’ll nae send an injured woman away, nae when I can help.” Theodore raised an eyebrow as Gilmore gulped and nodded his understanding. He wouldn’t question Theodore again.
“A month, Theodore. It is written in the charter of this clan." Gilmore shifted his weight, clearly uncomfortable under Theodore's hard stare. "I daenae mean to overstep, me laird, but... the solution is right under yer very nose."
Theodore's jaw tightened. The councilman took a step back.
Theodore glanced through the doorway into the room. His gaze found Madison immediately. She looked back at him, questions clear in her eyes—questions he wasn't sure he was ready to answer. But the truth was, he needed her help.
When he turned back, Gilmore and the other councilmen had already retreated down the hall. Cowards, the lot of them. Always quick to make demands, quicker still to disappear when he fixed them with a look.
Theodore rolled his shoulders back and stepped into the infirmary.
“Well?” he asked, trying not to stare at Madison. But how could he not? Even with her being just skin and bones, she was lovely. He found himself eager to stuff her with food so that he could admire the woman she was meant to be.
“It’s a bad break, but I’ll fashion her a brace. She willnae be able to go anywhere and will have to take it slow.”
“Thank ye, Edith,” Theodore said.
“Ye say that I’m nae yer prisoner,” Madison said, her voice quaking with emotional stress. But the fact she was able to get out anything at all astonished him. Most of the other girls were mute for days after he’d saved them.
“Aye, ye’re nae. Ye can go… as soon as ye’re healed.
I’ll nae send ye out to be a lamb to the slaughter.
This world is a dangerous place. Best to heal first before meetin’ it head on,” Theo said as he noticed Edith moving to the door and slipping from the room.
His chest tightened as he realized the time for pleasantries was over.
“And I’m tellin’ ye I cannae stay here,” she snapped back. She froze as fear gripped her. Theodore watched as the fire that had been kindled just moments prior fizzled to embers. “Forgive me. I ken that me fate is in yer hands. But I implore ye, please. Let me return to me family.”
“Edith says ye need time. The council says I’m runnin’ out of it,” Theodore mumbled as he rubbed his chin. He studied her a moment as the plan formed in his mind. He arched an eyebrow as his focus shifted fully to her. “Are ye one to gamble?”
Madison glared at him with suspicion flaring in her eyes.
“Because I’ve got a proposition for ye that could be very beneficial for the both of us,” he said as he waited for her to show interest. She leaned closer, as if hanging on his every word.
“Go on,” she finally answered as she folded her arms over her chest.
“Marry me.”