Chapter 12
As soon as MacWatt said those words, Leah heard the bite of steel as MacIrvin drew his sword once more.
She had known that Magnus did not wish to marry again, yet after everything they had shared, this new rejection was a fresh blow. He did not meet her gaze, dismissing her as easily as if she were a stranger.
Her father instantly erupted into Magnus’s face, screaming at him about his lack of honor, that any laird who understood the true nature of a woman’s reputation would never have abandoned her to such a fate.
Leah’s eyes caught Katie’s as the tirade continued. Her friend had been utterly silent, but she was watching her now, quietly shaking her head as though to dispel the chaos around them.
Leah could suddenly hear the tide pounding heavily against the shore, and she could feel the waves in her blood, rising and falling in her veins. She tried to take deep breaths to dismiss the feeling, but it would not abate.
It seemed as though time stood still. Her father was on the brink of true fury, his arms flailing in a great arc, ready to fight for what he believed was right.
He does not fight for me. He fights for what is best for him, for his honor, and for his reputation. He no more cares for me than he cares for the life I must lead.
The tide was crashing harder now.
Why are the waves so loud?
Leah felt as though her entire body was floating, being washed away by the power of the ocean. There seemed to be long swathes of kelp floating through the eddying currents toward her, and suddenly, they enveloped her in their strong arms and lifted her out of the water.
She struggled against them, gasping for breath, her head falling back into oblivion.
Someone was shouting for Betty, she heard the name echoing off the walls.
“It’s alright, Leah,” a deep voice whispered, “I have ye.”
She was suspended in the air, her arms hanging loosely at her sides as she was lifted from the cold waves and held against a warm chest.
For the longest time, all was dark as she was carried through the currents to unfamiliar lands. She could feel her hair floating in the dark waters, filled with horrors she could not see.
“Leah.”
She shook herself at the familiar voice.
Why is there another in the sea with me? Where am I?
Slowly, she opened her eyes, frowning when she found herself quite safe, lying in her bedroom in the castle. Katie’s concerned face hovered above her, and a wet cloth was on her forehead.
Magnus stood beside the fire, watching Katie tend to her. His gaze was as grave as she had ever seen it, and his brow furrowed in deep thought.
“It’s alright, you’re alright. You fainted,” Katie was saying.
Leah pushed her hand away, trying to sit up.
“Now, now.” Katie sounded alarmed. “None of that. Come on. You need to rest.”
As Leah tried to rise from the bed again, her strength left her, and she collapsed back into the pillows with a sigh. She watched in dismay as Magnus growled from his position by the fire and swiftly left the room, slamming the door shut behind him.
Leah turned to her friend, expecting her to reprimand her for her foolish choices, but was surprised to find a faint smile playing across Katie’s pretty features.
“You have quite outdone yourself, Leah Anderson. When I said to follow my lead, I did not quite envisage you smuggling yourself onto a laird’s island and hiding in the depths of the Scottish Highlands.”
Leah rolled her eyes as her thoughts became a little less muddled. Slowly, she was coming back to the world. She could remember her father’s fury, the anger and wrath he had aimed at Magnus, but what for?
She racked her brain, trying to remember the events just before she had fainted, and when she recalled them, she grimaced.
“He said he would not marry me,” she whispered.
She expected to feel relief at the knowledge but instead felt a strange sense of disappointment.
“He did say that,” Katie confirmed, tenderly wiping Leah’s forehead with the cloth. “But you did not see him, Leah. That man will not allow your father to whisk you away. You mark my words.”
Leah shook her head. “He does not want a wife,” she muttered, feeling the bitterness at the back of her throat at the expression she had seen on his face. “He would rather see me leave. I asked him once what marriage meant to him, and he said he saw it as a curse.”
She knew the truth in those words even as she said them, thinking back to that passionate kiss in the dining room.
She remembered the strange hypocrisy in MacWatt’s actions. On the one hand, he told her he believed marriage to be a curse, and yet in the next second, he had advanced on her, taking her into his arms and kissing her as though he would kill any other man who ever touched her.
If he does not want me as a wife, then why did he hold me in such a way? Why does he look at me as though he cares for me?
As she contemplated her predicament and Katie gently soothed her, the headache returned in full force, and she could feel the pounding of the waves at the back of her skull again.
As Leah put a hand on her hot forehead, the door to the bedroom opened, and Betty came inside, followed by Iona. They both looked at Leah with thinly veiled concern, and Katie took a step back as Betty made for the bed.
“Now then, child, what has the master got ye into this time?” Betty asked, touching Leah’s forehead with a cool hand as she tutted and waved her fingers in a vague gesture at Iona.
Clearly, Iona understood that instruction, and she pulled out a small vial from a bag around her waist. She handed it to Betty, who unstoppered it and brought the rim to Leah’s nose.
Leah was expecting the unpleasant tang of smelling salts, but instead, she was greeted by a gentle mix of lavender and eucalyptus.
“That’ll calm yer mind, me dear. We dinnae wish ye to be more agitated than is needed.”
Leah wanted to stay awake to ask her where Magnus had gone, but as she opened her mouth to speak, the darkness took her once more.
Magnus walked swiftly back to his ‘guests’ before the lass’s father began destroying his castle.
He listened to the thudding of his own footsteps, which seemed to match his rapidly beating heart. He had not felt so panicked in all of his life, and he could not see a way to overcome it.
I cannae marry the lass. I willnae force her into this life. She didnae choose it—she fell into it because she hid inside a carriage. That is nay way to pick a husband, any more than threats are a way to win a wife.
He pushed through the door and advanced on the Earl and Laird MacIrvin, who were waiting for him, their expressions grim.
MacIrvin wore the same apologetic expression, but his eyes were dark and calculating as he looked Magnus over.
“There will be war,” he said simply as Magnus approached them. “If ye dinnae act now, ye are puttin’ yer clan in danger for the sake of a lass.”
“Are ye declarin’ war?” Magnus asked angrily.
“I’ll do what I must to protect the honor of me friend, the alliance be damned,” MacIrvin said, his eyes sorrowful but steely.
Magnus opened his mouth to demand that he explain himself further, but Burton was already advancing on him.
“I don’t care what you brutes are planning. My daughter is coming home with me and will marry the Marquess I have selected for her. If he will still have her, that is, after this mess she has created.”
“I cannae allow her to marry an old man she doesnae ken,” Magnus growled, his shoulders tensing up as he squared off against him.
The strength of his desire to protect Leah from that fate was greater than anything he had ever known. It was not just that he could not allow it; he could not even imagine losing Leah at all.
In such a short time, he had grown accustomed to her presence in his castle and enjoyed her company. The thought of her being taken from him and married off to a stranger—never seeing her again—was unbearable.
What is happening to me? I have lost all sense of reason because of the lass.
“Ye willnae take Leah anywhere,” he snarled.
“Lady Leah will do as she is told, and you would do well to remember who her father is. What say do you have in what she can and cannot do? None!”
Magnus used his bulk to tower over the man and, with some satisfaction, saw the Englishman pale in the face of his fury.
“And ye will remember whose castle ye stand in, Lord Burton, and just what led her here in the first place!” he thundered.
“This is preposterous!” Burton bellowed. “I have never been so insulted in all my life as I have been in these accursed Highlands. MacIrvin, I will have my satisfaction. You shall see it done!”
All three of them stopped speaking abruptly, however, as someone cleared their throat delicately from the doorway.
“M’Laird?”
Magnus turned to see Betty standing there, looking entirely unphased by the near-brawl she had walked in on. The light from the window beside her gave her an ethereal look, and her robes billowed about her even though there was no breeze.
“What is it, woman?” he barked.
She bowed her head even as the Earl scoffed at Magnus’s rudeness. “I have seen to the lady. She will be quite well. She was merely overwhelmed with the stress of the situation. She needs rest and some food inside her, and she will be quite alright.”
Betty’s sharp eyes were not looking at Magnus; they were trained on Lord Burton, who, Magnus noted with interest, would not meet her gaze.
“I shall go to her,” Magnus said urgently.
He was desperate to see for himself that Leah was well and that she had recovered.
He had never felt so helpless as when he had watched all the color drain from her beautiful face. As she fell to the floor, he swore that his heart had stuttered. He had wanted to wrap her in his arms and never let her go.
The Earl spluttered a protest, and this time, it was Magnus’s turn to threaten him in anger.
“Just try and stop me. Either of ye,” he snapped, stalking back the way he had come.