Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
When Lachlan woke the next day, the first thing he did was stretch his hand out across the bed to check on Innes. Only to find that the bed was entirely empty.
He sat up blearily, glancing around to see if there were any signs of what she might have been up to. But there seemed to be none. He rose from the bed, pulling the blankets around him by way of decency, and looked out of the window.
In an instant, he spotted her dark braid down by the stables. He cocked an eyebrow but set about dressing, supposing she had intended for him to meet her there.
He took the stairs two at a time, and when he reached her, the air had that cold morning chill, the kind that bit clean into the skin. He rubbed his hands together as he approached her, and she glanced around, cheeks flushed despite the cloak she had wrapped around her body.
“Oh, there you are,” she remarked, with a slight smile. “I was hoping you might give me a tour of the lands today. If it would not interfere with yer duties, of course.”
She pressed her lips together slightly, and he chuckled.
“I suppose I could spare this morning for it,” he conceded. “Come. Do you ken how to ride?”
“Of course I do!”
She proved herself more or less right, though she was slightly less steady on the horse than he was.
He didn’t blame her. Ladies of her caliber didn’t tend to ride much, preferring to move from place to place with the help of a carriage or the like.
But she insisted that she would be able to keep up with him.
And she did, as they took the hill that led up and away from the Keep, rising to the top of a small mountain that would give them a view down over the heather fields.
At this time of year, it was beautiful in this part of the country.
And it wasn’t just his pride that had him saying that.
The blazing red leaves against the purple and green of the heather made for a striking sight, no matter which way you sliced it.
And he noticed that she was appreciating it, too, as she slowed her horse a few times to get a look at a particularly verdant valley or something of the like.
Eventually, they slowed the horses as they crested the top of the hill. When they reached it, the sun had just begun its full ascent into the sky, casting golden rays down across the landscape that lay before them.
As she climbed down from her horse, she planted a hand to her chest, gazing out across the view.
“My goodness,” she exclaimed. “It really is quite bonny here, isn’t it?”
“You could say that, aye,” he agreed as he tied the horses to a nearby tree. “Anything interesting fer you to write about in yer journal?”
“Oh, yes, I can think of a few things I’d like to take from here to make notes on,” she returned enthusiastically. “Perhaps we could return some time with some—”
She stopped in her tracks, glancing over at him.
“Sorry,” she muttered. “I guess you were only making a joke.”
“I wasnae.”
“Why, that was very thoughtful of ye, my Laird.”
They smiled at each other, and he gestured towards the view once again. “I knew a lass like ye would appreciate the beauty of this place.”
“Ye have brought others here before me, then.” Her cheerful tone dropped, and she stared at him.
He could not help but shift slightly where he stood.
Was it really so hard for her to believe, after everything that they had done together the night before, that he might be capable of showing a sincere interest in her?
He did not know how he could have made things more clear, and yet, she seemed to find ways to avoid the obvious.
“Did you… bring Isobel here?” she asked, suddenly.
He tensed at the mention of her name. He did not want to think of her, not if he could help it, and he knew that she was trying to make something of this.
“I did,” he admitted. It was the truth. “But she didnae—”
“Find as much to enjoy as me,” she finished up for him. “Well, I’m glad that I’m so easy fer you to entertain.”
He gritted his teeth. He could not seem to get through to this woman, no matter what he did, no matter how sure he was that he had shown her that he cared for her.
She seemed to have it in her mind that she was his second choice, that she would never have taken his name had it not been for Isobel’s rejection.
The thought bothered him, more than he cared to admit.
“You wanted to marry her, didn’t you?” she asked, glancing over at him pointedly. “You cared very deeply for her. Her smile, her coin…”
“I dinnae wish to discuss Isobel any longer. Ye’re my wife, and that’s all that matters.”
Her face flickered. He knew that he could have phrased things with a little more care, but he did not want to indulge this paranoia that she had taken on, painting him as the villain.
“Hard to believe that when you just married me to get back at her and my brother,” she muttered.
“That’s enough,” came his harsh reply, leaving no room for argument.
Her eyes swerved in his direction, sharp, furious.
“I’ve made myself clear,” he muttered.
“Aye,” she nodded, as she moved past him towards the horse. “You have. And ye’ll forgive me, Lachlan, if I wish to ride alone back to the Keep.”
He turned to call after her, but she had already scrambled her way onto the horse, driven her feet into its sides, and started away from the top of the mountain.
He pushed a hand through his hair, watching as she went, half-wondering if he should go after her.
If she truly wanted to ride alone, then she might not take too kindly to the thought of him stepping in to make himself her companion.
But, as she vanished down the side of the hill, he let out a sigh and moved for his own horse.
He was not going to let her go so easily, not on terrain that she knew so little of.
She might have thought he was nothing more than a beast using her for what he could get, but, deep down, he cared about her.
And he knew he would not be able to forgive himself if something happened to her.
Tears stung Innes’ eyes as she made her way back towards the Keep—or, at least, took a path that seemed familiar. She knew she wasn’t being entirely fair to her husband, but, after everything that had happened, he surely couldn’t expect her to forget what had led her here in the first place.
If it had not been for Isobel picking her brother, she knew that Lachlan would never have taken her as his wife.
A notion that had crossed her mind before, but one that she had done her best to keep at arm’s length.
But now that she had been with him, given her maidenhood to him, it was clear just how much of a mess she had found herself in.
And just what she might be risking if she allowed herself to be drawn any further in to this man.
She gripped the reins tight, steering the horse as best she could; she had tried to follow the same path that they had taken, but instead, she was sure that she had found herself in territory she had never laid eyes on before.
Maybe she didn’t even really want to go back to the Keep, better off staying out there in the treeline where she felt, at least, like she knew who she was.
She dashed the tears away with the back of her hand, cursing herself for feeling it all so deeply.
She knew she only had herself to blame for the position she was currently in; she could have stayed aloof, and no doubt he would have kept his distance in the same way, but no.
She’d had to step into his world, let him take her in his arms, and now, she could not undo the brand that it had left on her.
So focused was she on Lachlan, in fact, that she did not notice the shadows moving at the edge of the treeline.
Her first alarm that there was anything wrong came when her horse came to an abrupt halt, sending her sliding forward in the saddle and forcing her to grasp on to whatever she could to keep herself from tumbling out.
“Who’s there?”
The horse reared, letting out a piercing whinny; Innes did not see movement, but she heard a hiss and felt something split the air beside her. She shifted away from it on instinct, and the sudden motion, along with the movement of the horse, was enough to send her slipping from her seat entirely.
She landed with a crash on the side of the road, in a scratchy pile of heather and fern.
The wind was entirely knocked from her body, her heart slamming into her ribs as she tried to make sense of what had happened.
She lifted her head, trying to get a sight of what exactly had startled the horse so.
The creature was pacing back and forth, protecting her from whoever might have been watching.
The world tilted, the sharp scent of heather filling her head. She slumped back, and it wasn’t until she heard the thunder of hooves closing the distance between them that she mustered the energy to look up once more.
Lachlan. He must have followed her there. He drew his horse around and leapt off, moving beside her and stooping down.
“Innes,” he called, and he glanced around; his eyes landed on something, narrowing dangerously. “You foolish girl,” he growled as he pulled her into his arms. “Come. We cannae stay here.”
She gasped as pain lanced through her ankle. She must have twisted it when she fell. He gripped her waist, lifting her into his arms.
“Ye’ll ride wi’ me,” he told her firmly. “Come. This way.”
He carried her towards his horse, quickly tying the reins of her steed to his saddle.
And, with her cradled carefully in his arms, he drove his feet into the sides of the horse to urge it onward.
She leaned against him, some part of her still wishing that she could undo the conversation they’d just shared.
Another part of her, though, was relieved beyond all words that he had still come for her, even after what she had said to him.
She let the thundering of the hooves settle something inside of her and closed her eyes, promising herself that, for as long as this ride lasted, she could, at least, trust that she was safe.