CHAPTER SIXTEEN –Sloan–
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
–Sloan–
MY MORNING HAD started perfectly, enjoying my mate’s beautiful body and all the pleasure she could bring me, until things began going downhill. First, the gem on her tattoo had decided to become whole once more, and now it seemed she sensed Elspet was trifling with our willow tree somehow.
Something Kenneth MacLomain soon confirmed.
“I cannae say what she’s doing because I cannae get close enough,” he said. “Only that I dinnae trust it and nor should ye.”
“Definitely not,” Willow confirmed, crawling out of bed, having gone from well-satisfied and relaxed in my embrace to unsettled and restless. “She’s chanting things I can’t quite catch and probing in a way I can’t put my finger on.”
“I would say she’s probing it to discover what kind of magic it’s using,” Aunt Chara added to the conversation, telling us to come down and break our fast with the family since things were escalating.
After that, she left the conversation, and I reluctantly got up as well when all I wanted to do was spend the rest of the day, if not weeks, in bed with Willow, now that I finally had her here.
Instead, I had no choice but to watch Willow cover her lovely flesh with a linen dress Aunt Chara must have left here at some point because it hadn’t been there the night before.
“Should I assume she did this on purpose?” Willow said, noting its dark blue color.
“Verra likely.” I dressed as well, fully aware that based on her lustful glances, she was just as disappointed our time in bed was over. At least for now. “Aunt Chara is nothing if not subtle.”
“Well, here’s hoping it works out like it did for Aspen and Hazel,” she replied, referencing how their dresses tied them to a memory with their mates. Dresses that her father clearly knew about because he had requested those colors be worn at his funeral.
“’Twill work out,” I assured her, reeling her into my arms before we headed downstairs. Cupping her soft cheek, I made myself clear. “Because as I said last night, I willnae be handing you over to Dugal no matter what happens.”
Despite agreeing, I sensed a new unease in her this morning that hadn’t been there last night because of the tattoo changing once again. One that lingered even after another kiss that showed her just how much I meant it, and we discreetly headed downstairs, only to discover Lucas and Evan missing.
“There’s word of a skirmish betwixt MacLeods and Sutherlands at our border, so they are heading that way,” Broderick said, urging us to sit and eat. “’Tis not by any means the bulk of their warriors but one of several skirmishes reported overnight, so Lucas is seeing to things.”
Lucas was our finest warrior, so that made sense.
“I would have gone too if they’d let me,” Hazel said, her brow furrowed in distress at not just her mate being gone but one of her closest friends.
She absently picked at her food, seemingly not interested in eating, even though she had undoubtedly cooked some of the best bannock I had ever tasted. “I know how to fight.”
“You do. No one is disputing that,” Aspen agreed, having clearly been going back and forth about this with Hazel for some time.
“But that doesn’t change the fact that you recently escaped the Sutherlands’ clutches and are no longer of value to them, so that makes you fair game.
And we both know if you’re a target, you’ll be a distraction to Lucas and Evan because they’d do anything to protect you. ”
“’Tis true,” Chara said. “’Twould verra likely increase their chances of being caught unaware. Not to mention the distress it would cause Aspen, who, need I remind you, is carrying her only bairns.”
Hazel sighed and relented, but still muttered under her breath how she couldn’t protect them all the way across Scotland, despite it not being nearly that far.
“And I see there’s been more changes with you two.
” Having obviously been communicating with Kenneth as well, Chara eyed Willow’s tattoo.
“I cannae help but wonder if Elspet trifling with the willow tree isnae somehow related to the changes in the gem.” She gave us a knowing look, referencing how the gem changed after we were intimate without Willow’s dragon shifting. “Or mayhap something else.”
“Why would it have anything to do with me not shifting during sex?” Willow wondered, her appetite much improved from last night, if not robust. “I would think it would be the opposite.”
“If we assume the gem in the tattoo relates to you two being fated mates,” Chara said. “’Tis my impression, despite being a color that represents a memory with a MacLeod, ‘tis the gem which means you are meant for a Sutherland.”
Willow frowned. “I’m not following.”
“Och,” I exclaimed, understanding what Chara might be hinting at. “’Twould make no sense for the gem to keep changing lest there was some sort of deception happening.”
“Nay, ‘twould not if we’re to assume the pact is valid and stated in its entirety,” Chara said. “And I can vouch for the validity of it now, having seen it in its entirety, that those words are binding and make no mention of there being half of anything. Certainly not the gem.”
“Yet there was clearly half a gem over my dragon’s heart,” Willow murmured, mindlessly fiddling with her mother’s ring.
Hope lit her eyes as she reflected on how well we had been able to hide each other from our loved ones.
“Not that I’m proud of it, but over the years, there's been so much deception involved with me and Sloan coming together.”
“Aye.” Chara considered Willow, offering a theory. “You might not have been able to embrace your dragon in the Morrow, but I cannae help but wonder if, despite seeming so repressed, she wasn’t thriving just fine inside you, biding her time.”
“Decieving us even as we deceived our kin,” I realized. Prayed. “Doing whatever it took to get back to her fated mate, which means she could verra well be responsible for changing the gem if it keeps Dugal and Elspet at bay.”
“But what about the one over Willow’s dragon heart?” Uncle Marek wondered. “Why bother going that far, as ‘twould make more sense to reveal she has no gem there.”
“It would,” Aspen agreed, seeming to sense something as she rested her hand over her womb, and her dragon eyes flared. “Unless, of course, she’s trying to protect someone.”
“That would make my dragon pretty damn powerful,” Willow commented. “And while yes, I feel strong in dragon form, I’m not so sure I’m any more powerful than the next dragon.”
“Yet,” Chara reminded her, “you’re born of not just a powerful dragon but a powerful witch, so ‘twould make sense you might be capable of more than most.” She gave my mate a pointed look.
“And ‘twould make sense, given you’re only really getting to know your inner beast now, your human half would be completely unaware if it suited your dragon. Completely unaware, for your own good or better still, the good of another or even others.”
“That's a lot to grasp if you're right.” Choosing to remain optimistic, Willow offered me a reassuring smile because that would only work in our favor. “Not that I’m complaining.”
“Nor I.” I met her smile, believing her dragon was that powerful because she had been exceptional, in my opinion. “I look forward to seeing her at her best and discovering what she’s up to, may it only ever work in ours and our kin’s favor.”
“Here’s hoping.” Willow tilted her head in thought.
“So maybe that’s why I could sense what Elspet was up to at my willow tree.
” The corners of her mouth tugged down. “Which is alarming if the tree is part of my dragon’s deception somehow, because wouldn’t that mean Elspet’s sniffing around my magic? ”
“In a way, I’d say yes,” Chara confirmed. “Yet let us not forget the trees are part of your father’s magic too and mayhap in this case even your mother’s unraveling spell, and something tells me that will definitely work in your favor.”
I wrapped my fingers with Willow’s and squeezed, reminding her I would protect her always.
Yet as we resumed eating and discussing the king’s eventual arrival, I felt her niggle of worry linger.
Although I wished I could ease her of it, the truth was, until that tattoo was gone and our tree was in front of the right castle, neither of us could be completely confident she wouldn’t somehow be ripped away from me.
We were nearly done eating when a rap came at the door, and along with it, one of the king’s men.
Erring on the side of caution lest the Sutherlands approach the king first rather than outright attack us, Broderick had sent word of our arrival to King Robert, trying to get ahead of whatever lies the Sutherland laird might tell.
“After speaking with you two last night and knowing what I would do in my rival’s position, ‘twas crucial,” Broderick said, as he broke the king’s seal on the missive he’d been handed.
“And I was right to think so.” He met my eyes.
“It seems your diplomatic words willnae be happening here, but at the border we share with the Sutherlands.
So ‘twill have to be your words on my behalf, cousin, because I willnae leave this castle and its people with such heightened tensions betwixt us and our rivals.”
We both understood how hard his request would be, given my personal stake in this.
More so, a viewpoint I had already made clear to my chieftain.
I would not hand Willow over to Dugal no matter what.
And while one could wonder why Broderick didn't ask Lucas or even Tavish to do it, neither had the king’s ear like I did.
“What of your brother?” I asked. “Tavish might not share the same diplomatic skills as I, but he’s trusted and just as close to the king. Might he not be the better choice?”
“King Robert entrusted Tavish with the monumental task of keeping peace at the Sassenach border, so nay,” he revealed, his eyes narrowing on me ever so slightly. “It has to be you, Sloan, and I trust you will do as you’ve always done and put our kin and country before all else.”
Before I could say Willow would always come first, she squeezed my hand and spoke, voicing words I can say, without question, I didn’t like one bit.