Chapter 21
The letter felt like ice in Leona’s hands.
She’d taken it from Murdock without thinking, needing to see the words for herself, needing to confirm that what he’d read was real and not some nightmare her fear-addled mind had conjured.
But the words were there. Black ink on pale parchment. Written in Ragnall’s careful, precise script.
To Laird Ainsley,
Your time grows short. My patience thins with each passing day that my cousin remains under your unlawful protection.
I make my terms clear: Return Leona Gilmore to me by week’s end, or face the consequences. Not just war, Laird Ainsley, but total destruction. I will burn your lands, slaughter your cattle, and put every soul who aided in her theft to the sword.
This includes her brother, Rufus Gilmore, who has been complicit in her rebellion. The boy will die first, so she may watch. So she may understand the cost of her defiance.
You have until sunset, four days hence. After that, the blood of your people will be on your hands.
And hers.
The paper crumpled in Leona’s fist, her hands shaking. Her vision swam, dark spots dancing at the edges. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think past the roaring in her ears.
Rufus. He’d specifically named Rufus. Her baby brother, who’d done nothing wrong except love her and try to protect her.
Ragnall would kill him. Would make her watch while he did it.
“Leona.” Murdock’s voice seemed to come from very far away. “Lass, breathe.”
She couldn’t. Her lungs had seized up, her throat closed tight. The meadow spun around her, wildflowers and blue sky blurring into meaningless color.
Strong hands gripped her shoulders, steadying her. Murdock’s face swam into focus, his eyes dark with concern and something harder. Something that looked like barely leashed fury.
“Breathe,” he commanded again, and this time her body obeyed.
Air rushed into her lungs in a painful gasp, and she pulled back from him.
“He’ll kill him,” she managed, her voice high and thin. “Rufus. He’ll kill Rufus.”
“He’ll nae touch yer brother.” Murdock’s voice was flat. “He’ll nae touch anyone under me protection.”
“Ye cannae promise that. Ye cannae…” She pulled away from him, starting to pace. Energy flooded her limbs, nervous and frantic. “This is me fault. I brought this here. I put everyone in danger, and now Rufus, me brother, he’s…”
She couldn’t finish. Couldn’t voice the terrible images flooding her mind.
Behind them, she heard Skye’s worried voice asking Rufus what was wrong, heard Rufus trying to soothe the girl even as his own voice shook. They’d been having such a lovely afternoon. Such a perfect, peaceful moment.
And now it was ruined. Everything was ruined.
Just like she ruined everything she touched.
Murdock snatched the letter back from her trembling hand. His jaw clenched as he read it again, a muscle ticking in his jaw. Then, with deliberate violence, he crumpled the parchment into a tight ball.
“That’s it, lassie.” His voice was hard as stone. “In two days, ye’re marrying me. And that’s final.”
Leona’s head snapped up. “What?”
“Ye heard me.” He turned to Hamish, who still stood nearby, holding his horse’s reins. “Gather the councilmen. Tell them there will be a weddin' in two days’ time. Tell them to prepare.”
“Me Laird…” Hamish began, his eyes darting between them.
“Now, Hamish.”
“Aye, me Laird.”
Murdock strode past her, heading back toward the blanket and baskets. “Skye, Rufus, pack everythin'. We’re returning to the castle.”
“But Da—”
“Now.” His tone brooked no argument.
Skye and Rufus moved to obey, casting worried glances at Leona as they packed up the remnants of their meal.
Leona stood frozen, shock warring with a rising tide of anger. Murdock had just decided. Just declared that she’d marry him in two days without asking, without discussing it, without giving her any say in the matter.
As if she were property to be disposed of at his whim.
As if her wishes, her feelings, her very autonomy meant nothing.
The fury that rose in her chest burned away the fear, the panic, the helpless terror that had gripped her moments before. She watched Murdock help his daughter onto his horse, watched him hand Rufus the reins with quiet instructions, watched him prepare to ride away as if the matter was settled.
As if she’d simply accept his decree.
She ran.
Not away from him, but after him. Her skirts tangled around her legs as she raced across the meadow, but she barely noticed. All her focus was on the man mounting his horse, on stopping him before he could leave, before he could make decisions about her life without her.
“Murdock!” His name tore from her throat. “Daenae ye dare!”
He paused, one foot in the stirrup, and looked back at her. His expression was carved from granite, showing nothing of what he felt.
That made her even angrier.
“We’re nae done talkin' about this,” she said when she reached him, her chest heaving from exertion and the emotions churning inside her.
“Aye, we are.” He swung himself up into the saddle. “The decision has been made.”
“Without me? Ye made a decision about me life without even askin' what I want?”
“I ken what ye want, lass. Ye want love and fairytales and all the pretty things ye’ve been taught to believe matter.
” His voice was hard, cold in a way she’d never heard before.
“But we daenae have time for that anymore. Ragnall has forced our hand. So, in two days, ye’ll marry me, and that’ll be the end of it. ”
He turned his horse toward the castle. Leona grabbed the bridle, stopping him.
“Let go, Leona.”
“Nay.” She met his eyes, refusing to back down despite the warning in them. “Ye cannae just order me to marry ye like I’m one of yer soldiers. This is me life. Me choice.”
“Yer choice?” Something flickered in his expression. Pain, maybe, or frustration. “Yer choice has put everyone here in danger. Yer choice has given Ragnall ammunition to threaten me people, to threaten yer brother. So, forgive me, lass, if I take that choice away before someone gets killed for it.”
The words hit her like a slap across the face.
Leona released the bridle, stepping back as if burned.
Murdock’s expression softened fractionally. “Go back to the castle with Rufus and Skye. We’ll discuss this further when tempers have cooled.”
Then he was riding away, Hamish falling in beside him.
The two men disappeared over the ridge, leaving her standing in the meadow with her heart pounding and her hands clenched into fists.
“Leona?” Rufus’s voice was quiet, uncertain. “Are ye all right?”
No. She wasn’t all right. Nothing was all right.
But she couldn’t say that. Couldn’t let her brother see how close she was to falling apart.
“I’m fine,” she lied. “Let’s go back.”
The ride back to the castle was torture. Skye tried to maintain cheerful chatter, but even her enthusiasm couldn’t pierce the heavy silence. Rufus kept casting worried glances at her, his hand resting protectively on Nyx, who sat in front of him on the saddle.
Leona barely saw any of it. Her mind was racing, circling the same thoughts over and over.
Murdock was going to force her into marriage. Was going to take away her choice, her autonomy, everything she’d been fighting for. And he thought he was doing it for her own good. Thought he was protecting her.
Just like Ragnall did.
The comparison made her stomach churn, but she couldn’t shake it. Both men, in their own ways, believed they knew what was best for her. Both were willing to override her wishes to achieve their goals. The only difference was that one wanted to keep her safe, and the other wanted to own her.
But was that really a difference that mattered when the result was the same?
By the time they reached the castle, Leona’s anger had crystallized into something hard and sharp. She dismounted before anyone could help her and headed straight for the keep, her strides purposeful.
“Where are ye going?” Rufus called after her.
“To finish this conversation.”
She found Murdock in his study, exactly where she’d expected. He stood by the window, still in his outdoor clothes, staring out at the courtyard below. Hamish was with him, both men speaking in low voices that stopped abruptly when she entered.
The man-at-arms looked at Murdock, who gave a slight nod. Hamish left, but not before shooting Leona a look that might have been sympathetic. Or pitying. She couldn’t tell and didn’t care.
The door closed behind him with a soft click.
“Leona,” Murdock began, turning to face her.
“Daenae.” She held up a hand. “Daenae try to justify what ye just did. Daenae try to tell me that it was for me own good or that ye had nay choice or any of the other excuses ye’ve been preparing.”
“They’re nae excuses. They’re facts.” He crossed his arms, his posture defensive. “Ragnall has escalated. He’s threatenin' everyone here, includin' yer brother… and ye. I’ll nae stand by and let that happen when I can prevent it.”
“By forcin' me to marry ye.”
“By protectin' ye the only way I can.” His jaw clenched. “I’ve been far too lenient, caterin' to yer silly notions about love. But that ends now. We daenae have the luxury of waitin' for ye to develop feelin's or whatever it is ye think should happen before marriage.”
“Silly notions?” Leona’s voice rose. “Ye think wantin' to marry someone I love is silly?”
“I think it’s impractical, given our situation.
” He moved away from the window, closer to her.
“I can easily solve all our problems with a simple weddin'. Two days, a ceremony, and ye’re legally mine. Ragnall loses his claim, the council is satisfied, and everyone stays alive. It’s the sensible solution. ”
“The sensible solution,” she repeated, her voice shaking with fury. “And what about what I want? What about me feelin's, me wishes, me—”
“If ye go back to him,” Murdock interrupted, his voice hard, “and he doesnae kill ye outright, he’ll marry ye anyway. So ye tell me, lass. Between the two evils, which would ye pick? The man who at least respects ye, or the one who sees ye as his property?”
“Ye daenae respect me either!” The words burst out of her, raw and furious. “Nae when ye dismiss me wishes so easily. Nae when ye make decisions about me life without even askin' what I think. Nae when ye treat me like a problem to be solved rather than a person!”
“I dismiss them because I havenae seen them.”
The words made no sense.
Leona stared at him, her anger momentarily derailed by confusion. “What?”
But Murdock’s face had shuttered again. “It doesnae matter. What matters is that in two days, we’re getting married. I suggest ye find a suitable gown.”
“I’m nae marryin' ye like this.”
“Aye, ye are.”
“Ye cannae force me to speak vows I daenae mean.”
“I cannae?” He stepped closer, and there was something dangerous in his eyes now.
Something that made her pulse quicken despite her anger.
“Ye think I havenae noticed how ye look at me, lass? How ye respond when I touch ye? Ye want me as much as I want ye. The only difference is that I’m willin' to be practical about it.”
“Practical.” The word tasted bitter. “Is that what this is to ye? Practicality?”
“What else should it be?” But there was something in his voice that didn’t match the coldness of his words. Something that sounded almost like pain.
Leona wanted to reach for it, to push past his walls and find whatever vulnerability he was hiding. But she was too angry, too hurt, too overwhelmed by everything that had happened.
“I need to think,” she said finally.
“Think all ye want. The weddin' is still happenin'.”
She turned to leave, but his voice stopped her at the door.
“Leona.”
She didn’t turn back.
“I’m nae the enemy here. I’m tryin' to save yer life.”
“I ken that,” she said quietly. “But ye’re goin' about it the wrong way.”