Chapter 17 #2
He could feel her eyes on him, and her scent lingered in his nostrils long after he left the room.
Later that evening, Jacob and Kayden were walking along the battlements, the fields stretching far and wide below them. From their vantage point, they could see almost to Inverness.
“This healer they speak of, I sent men after her, but they have been unable to locate her,” Jacob said.
Kayden shook his head. “Is she hiding from us?”
“Well, she isnae looking for us at least.”
Kayden looked away from his cousin, scanning the vast verdant hills beyond. “She will be found eventually. Unless she leaves our lands and returns to the Lowlands, she will be found.”
Jacob nodded. “Hopefully, she’s nae spreading harm while she sticks to the shadows.”
“Send word to all the trackmen that finding her is of the utmost importance.”
Jacob nodded. “I will.” He turned to study Kayden. “Ye’ve been quiet about yer marriage lately. Quiet and distracted.” He briefly touched Kayden’s arm, which was still securely wrapped beneath his sark.
Kayden shrugged. “They do say marriage is hard, so I daenae expect it to be easy.”
Jacob chuckled. “Especially when ye make it harder than it has to be.”
“How so?”
“Ye agreed to marry her, but ye keep her at arm’s length. Why?”
Kayden sighed, shaking his head. “I daenae ken. It’s very confusing.”
“Have ye tried to think about it?”
Kayden snorted. “I havenae been able to do anything but.”
“And what is it that confuses ye?”
He took a deep breath. “Well, for one, she is a sassenach.”
“And redcoats are the bane of our existence, I understand. But she’s nae a redcoat.”
Kayden shot him a sidelong glance. “I ken that,” he said dryly.
“Do ye?” Jacob scoffed.
“Of course I do!”
“Well then?”
Kayden covered his face with his hands and rubbed it in frustration. “I’m nae me faither. He kent how to protect me maither, how to be a husband. I daenae.”
“I guess he started out just as clueless as ye are. But ye cannae run away and expect to learn. Have ye tried speaking with her?”
Kayden blew out a breath. “It isnae that easy.”
“What’s stopping ye?”
Kayden stared out into the night, at a loss for words. Jacob watched him somberly.
“I ken that ye think ye cannae trust her because she’s a sassenach, but she hasnae done anything to make ye distrust her.”
Kayden shook his head. “I suppose nae.”
“So, what is really holding ye back?”
Kayden gave a deep sigh.
Jacob leaned his forearms on the stone, watching the mist roll over the lower fields. “Ye ken what it looks like from the outside?”
Kayden grunted. “I imagine ye’ll tell me, regardless.”
“It looks like ye married her to secure Ashcombe’s favor, then put her on a shelf like a prized sword ye’re afraid to draw.”
Kayden gave his cousin a flat look. “She isnae an object.”
“Then stop treating the situation like one,” Jacob replied easily. “The clan watches. They see a laird circling his own wife as if she might bite.”
“She might,” Kayden muttered.
Jacob barked a short laugh. “Aye, that much I believe. But she has spirit. Folks like that either settle into the clan or… bolt. And ye ken what will happen if ye keep acting like she is a negotiation rather than a woman.”
Kayden’s jaw tightened. “This marriage is a negotiation.”
“Aye,” Jacob agreed, shrugging. “But it is also a household. And households run on more than ink and promises.”
Kayden said nothing, eyes fixed on the hills.
Jacob nudged the stone with his boot. “So I will ask plainly. Are ye planning to treat her like a wife, or like a banner ye hang over the gate to keep the English at bay?”
Kayden exhaled through his nose. “I have kept me word. The proof was sent. Ashcombe is satisfied. The redcoats stay away.”
“Good,” Jacob said. “Then the hard part is done.”
“The hard part has just begun,” Kayden corrected quietly.
Jacob studied him for a moment, then nodded once. “Fair enough. But if ye keep staring at her like she is a storm about to break, she will either challenge ye or stop caring what ye think.”
“Ye sound as if ye speak from experience.”
Jacob smirked. “I watch people. It is cheaper than making mistakes.”
They fell into silence again, the wind tugging at their plaids.
After a while, Jacob added, “Folks notice the distance, ye ken.”
Kayden’s gaze flicked to him. “Let them notice.”
“They do more than notice,” Jacob replied mildly. “They speculate. Old Fergus nearly wagered a goat that ye sleep with one eye open and the other on the door.”
Kayden huffed despite himself. “He would wager a goat on the weather.”
“Aye,” Jacob agreed, amused. “But the point stands. The marriage has steadied the borders. Now, it needs to look like more than a truce.”
Kayden ran a hand over his beard, thinking. “I will handle me household as I see fit.”
“I ken ye will,” Jacob said easily. “Just remember, ye brought her into this clan. Whether by bargain or by fate, she is part of the story now. Best decide sooner rather than later what role she plays.”
Kayden’s eyes drifted towards the distant lights of the village. “She is… difficult,” he admitted at last.
Jacob snorted. “Aye. And ye arenae?”
That earned him a reluctant smile.
Jacob pushed off the battlement. “Come on, then. If the healer remains a ghost and yer wife remains a mystery, at least let us pretend the rest of the world makes sense tonight.”
Kayden nodded once, the tension in his shoulders easing just a fraction as they turned back towards the tower.