Chapter 7 #5
“We’re nearly there now”, Ceann muttered absently after a few hours of riding in silence, though she hadn’t asked.
They crested a hill and as she looked across to the next rise her breath caught in her throat.
She had never been here before, but she had seen several sketches of the castle standing boldly on the hill.
Excitement coursed through her and she leaned forward in the saddle: it was Tulloch.
Malcolm had indeed left her in the hands of the very man to take her where she needed to go.
Now her work would begin. A part of her could not wait to prove her worth to the people who had taken her in as a child and raised her as their own.
Another part of her, a more secret part, reveled in the prospect of a bit of adventure.
She watched the castle grow larger as they rode toward it, and she wondered anew what lay within that was so precious.
Something so powerful and mysterious that she had been sent here at great risk to retrieve it.
And even she was not allowed to know what it was. At least not yet.
“You’ll know when you find it”, they had said. “It is the most beautiful and precious thing in the world, something you’ll want to have above all else.”
“And what do I do when I find it?” she had asked.
“Have faith that you will know in your heart what is right.”
They were ever talking in riddles. It seemed there was always a higher reason for any answer, if she was even given an answer that made sense.
More often than not she was told she already knew, or that she would learn in time.
She had been continually frustrated as a child, especially when Aunt Esme told her to go sit quietly and look within herself for the answer to her question.
She had never been good at sitting quietly; there was too much else to do.
She had always been one to follow her heart and its whims, and her heart wasn’t always wont to follow a path other than its own.
But this she would do, this she wanted to do.
To fail now would be a blow to her pride, and she did not want to disappoint the people she loved.
They rode on towards the castle stronghold, which rose up magnificently in front of them, its high towers flanking the substantial keep.
Surrounded by strong walls on three sides and a pristine loch on the fourth, it looked to be impenetrable, and indeed had been for its many years.
Sprawled out before the castle walls was a sizable village, with smoke wafting up from the chimneys of the rows of cottages.
Beyond the cottages, there were fertile fields, rich with spring crops.
Even from a distance, she could smell the acrid scent of burning peat, and hear the myriad sounds of village life.
A shout went up as they were spotted, “The Laird returns!”
Ella sucked in a breath, the sound of which was thankfully drowned out by the clatter of hooves on the hard-packed road.
The Laird. She had known that Ceann was leading the other four men who were with him, but she hadn’t even considered that he could be the Laird of Tulloch.
A very powerful man, then. No wonder he carried himself like a king. She turned to look up at him.
“You are Laird.”
“Aye, that I am.”
She felt her stomach sink a little as she realized that the castle, and everything in it, belonged to him. Would she have to deceive him? Steal from him? God, she didn’t want to.
As they rode past the first of the cottages, people paused their work to greet the men, and many curious eyes gazed upon Ella.
She saw them exchange puzzled glances, even as Ceann must have.
But he offered no explanation for her presence.
He only traded brief pleasantries with his people without stopping or even slowing his pace, then continued on to the castle gates, the horses kicking up dust and scattering a flock of chickens that had been scratching industriously in the road.
Despite his fierce and forbidding demeanor, Ella could feel that the people respected their laird, liked him, even, which to her meant he must be a fair man and treated them well.
She could see it in their eyes; they admired him; a less than common thing between most Lairds and their clan.
Her sense of the character of the man beneath the grim countenance was becoming clearer.
If the people he ruled thought him honorable, then he almost certainly was.
It would be a very difficult thing to fool so many, for so long.
They rode through the gates and entered the bailey, stopping before the stables, where Ceann handed her down without a word before dismounting himself and passing the reins off to a waiting groom.
He started purposefully for the keep, leaving her staring after him.
When she made no move to follow, he stopped and turned to look back at her, crossing his arms across his chest. “Come on, then,” he said gruffly, and began walking again.
Ella heaved a sigh and followed him despite his lack of manners.
She could hardly feel her feet touch the ground, with her mind racing and nerves suddenly even more on edge.
Coming here had seemed so abstract, as if she had been reading a story in one of her books, or making one up in her mind, as she so often did.
But now, she was really here at Tulloch, and it felt so very strange…
so different than what she had imagined.
But then, she hadn’t imagined Ceann at all.
They went through the huge oak doors into the great hall, and she paused to look around.
The room was grand, to be sure. The furniture was fine, large windows let in light from every side, and rich tapestries adorned the walls.
It was by every appearance a warm and comfortable hall, but as she paused just within the room, she felt immediately as if something was missing.
It was that feeling she had when she knew she’d forgotten something, but couldn’t remember just what.
There was an emptiness that should not to be there…
but she couldn’t put her finger on exactly what it was.
It was… hollow somehow, wanting, and she found herself longing to fill it and make it whole.
What an odd feeling to be having just now, she mused.
Ceann’s powerful voice interrupted her thoughts as he gave orders to a waiting servant.
“Take the lass to the south chamber and have her bathed and fed. When she is ready I will be waiting in my study to speak with her.” He looked at Ella, his expression as ever hard and unreadable, but his eyes seemed to pierce her very heart.
“Don’t keep me waiting lass, I am not a patient man, and we have much to discuss. ”
With that he turned and left her with the maid, whom she followed to a staircase at one end of the room.
They climbed the narrow, winding stone steps to the second floor, where the maid showed her to a door at the end of the short hallway.
Opening it, she ushered Ella inside, giving her a shy smile.
“I will see to having your bath brought up, and a meal. Until then, please make yourself comfortable.”
Ella nodded and gave the girl a warm smile, “Thank you, you’re very kind.”
She closed the door and looked curiously at her new surroundings, her heart still beating too fast, her hands still trembling just a little.
God! She was really here, on her own at Tulloch!
It was a fine room, well furnished and cozy.
The centerpiece was a large four-post bed with red velvet curtains drawn back to show fine white linens and plump pillows.
Beautifully woven rugs covered the floor, and colorful tapestries lined the stone walls.
And this was the guest solar, no doubt! The laird was evidently not short of coin.
She went to the window, which stood open to the fresh air.
Looking out, she couldn’t help but admire the lovely view of the loch below, and beyond it, the mountains stretching into the distance.
The mountains… old as time itself. She loved how they seemed to enfold and protect her, so different from being in the open and flat terrain to the south.
She left the window and moved about the room, running her hands over the smooth wood of the furniture, touching the fine fabric of the bed curtains.
She sat on the bed, and found it to be as soft as it looked.
She certainly could have done worse than to find herself here.
Here. Nervous chills suddenly prickled at the base of her neck as the strangeness of the moment again caught up with her.
She was here on her own at Tulloch Castle.
Really here. At the mercy of the laird, since she could not tell him who she was or where she had come from.
And she needed to make him keep her here long enough to complete her quest. If he sent her away, it would be nearly impossible to get back inside these well guarded walls.
That must have been why Malcolm had left her to be found by the laird.
Of course her being alone in the woods would be suspicious, and of course she would be brought back here to the castle.
It was a brilliant plan, really. Why hadn’t they told her?
Did they think she would balk at the idea?
Could she not be trusted to keep a secret?
But that didn’t make any sense. If they didn’t trust her, they surely wouldn’t have sent her here on an important task…
unless they were trying to get rid of her…
She put her hands to her head. I just can’t make sense of it all!