Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
Beatrice was not left alone much for the next few days. If Leo wasn’t guiding her through the inner bailey and speaking endlessly about how Clan MacSween managed to survive as long as it did, then Effie was yanking on her arm, begging her to come along on an adventure.
“It’s more important for ye to understand our ways,” Leo told her when she asked if she could be excused to accompany Effie on her most recent quest. “Ye think a child’s games are what ye’re here for?”
“And what am I here for, Leo?” she retorted, hoping the question came across as playful.
Judging from the long look he shot her, it didn’t.
“Can ye read the weather changes? Can ye figure the approach of an enemy or tell safe ground from a bog at a glance?” He pointed out into the expanse. “Until ye can, Beatrice, ye’ll stay with me.”
Bea. Call me Bea.
Effie appeared at their heels as Leo led Beatrice through the lessons and history of the clan. The two of them exchanged conspiratorial looks that Beatrice had to hide once Leo spotted his daughter in their midst.
“I want to show Beatrice the most magical place in the castle,” Effie said before Leo had a chance to ask her what she was doing there.
“Aye, but Beatrice has things she needs to learn.”
Effie kept her huge, round eyes on her father’s face until he sighed and dismissed Beatrice with a tired wave of his hand. “Ye’re both lucky I cannae say nay to her.”
Effie clapped her hands giddily.
Turning to follow the little girl, Beatrice stumbled over an uneven stone. Quicker than he had been in the courtyard, Leo grabbed her around the waist, preventing her from falling. His hands lingered on her, his fingers trembling.
I should stand on me own now. I should tell him I’m steady.
But she didn’t. She was suspended in his arms, unwilling and unable to move. They only broke apart at Effie’s high-pitched call for her to hurry up.
“Ye need to watch yer step, Beatrice,” Leo warned. “I willnae always be there to catch ye.”
And yet I wish ye will.
Beatrice nodded without answering, scampering after Effie. She cast one last glance over her shoulder at him, only to find him looking at her too.
“It’s up this way, Beatrice,” Effie called over her shoulder as she ducked in and out of Beatrice's view. “Ye need to keep up.”
“I’m tryin’, lassie,” Beatrice laughed.
Effie was moving too quickly, and Beatrice was already cautious of stumbling. They were on a narrow stone walkway that Effie scampered across so quickly that Beatrice knew the girl was familiar with it, even at such a young age.
How many millions of times has she done this? God, I’ll be dead if I lose me feet here.
Effie waited at the end of the walkway and then pointed an eager finger at a watchtower that barely stood under its own weight. There were bits of stone crumbling off the face of the tower, and the windows where guards had once stood were yawning wide, splintered from weather and age.
“Can ye believe this?” she asked. “Look how high up we are. It’s the most beautiful view in the world.”
“It’s stunnin',” Beatrice agreed, the vast landscape unfurling before her.
She could see for miles, tiny hamlets tucked under the skirts of hills and huge plots of land tilled into neat squares.
This all belongs to Leo.
She was breathless by the sheer size of it.
How much this must weigh on him. This whole kingdom on his shoulders.
Effie was blissfully unaware of the silent astonishment spooling through Beatrice's mind.
She was chattering on about how much she loved to come up to the watchtower, how this was her favorite place to go, and how she was safe there no matter what was happening in the castle.
She leaned against the wall, beaming up at Bea.
Her small face captured a tangle of emotions, each feature radiating a different thought.
“Are ye goin' to stay with us, Bea?” she asked.
Beatrice crouched down so she was at her eye level, and despite having no idea what she should say, she told her something she knew she shouldn’t have.
“Effie, I will be by yer side always. I can promise ye that.”
Effie reached out and wrapped her arms around Beatrice's neck, nuzzling into her like an affectionate housecat. As Beatrice hugged her back, a sinking feeling coiled in her stomach.
What were ye thinkin’, sayin’ that to her? Ye daenae ken what’s going to happen.
Leo had been on the hunt for Effie and Beatrice to tell them it was time for dinner, but neither could be found in their usual spots. Shona had been searching the garden and the courtyard before she rushed up to him in a flustered panic.
“They arenae there either,” she said. “Do ye think they may have left the castle?”
Beatrice wouldnae be that reckless to leave the grounds with Effie. She may be stubborn and hard to pin down, but she’s nae reckless.
Leo ordered Shona to stay with him, hoping she might be able to spot movement he missed. But as she began listing off all the places she had searched, another one came to mind.
“Shona, did ye check the old watchtower?” he asked.
Shona’s brow furrowed. “Nay, I didnae. I daenae think Effie even kens how to get into the rickety thing.”
“Me daughter kens how to get into just about everywhere,” Leo muttered, as frustrated with himself as he was with Beatrice.
She has nay right to run off with Effie like this.
He marched up to the tower, stopping for a moment on the stone walkway to listen for the sounds of laughter and chittering voices.
They drifted out to him, the two having a wonderful time together and lost in their moment of fantasy.
He could hear Effie discussing all the made-up secrets she believed the castle held and Beatrice telling her in a gentle, reassuring tone how interesting it all was, despite knowing none of it was true.
If he had kept a cooler head, he would have appreciated the connection between them for what it was, pleased that his daughter had found friendship in someone who was recently a stranger. Unfortunately, it was not in his nature.
He barreled into the watchtower with such force that both Effie and Beatrice started.
“This is where ye two have been,” he snapped.
Beatrice rose to her full height, while Effie stayed crouched on the ground. “Leo, Effie wanted to show me—”
“Effie, get up,” Leo barked. “On yer feet. Ye’re going with Shona.”
“I want to stay with Bea,” Effie protested.
Leo growled, pointing towards the walkway where Shona waited, her face pinched.
“Go on, Effie,” Beatrice urged. “I’ll be right behind ye.”
As Effie scampered down the walkway, Beatrice started to follow her, but Leo stepped into her path, halting her.
“Daenae disappear with me child like that again,” he warned, hot and cold at the same time. “Do ye understand?”
“I only wished—” Beatrice tried.
“Where do ye get the nerve, lass?” he interrupted.
“Daenae speak to me like I’m a reckless child under yer authority. And as far as I ken, ye daenae see me as a child.”
Instinctively, Leo leaned closer to her.
“What do ye think I see ye as?” he asked on a slow exhale.
Ye see her as a lass ye want to take to bed. Ye see every inch of her body in yer mind when ye close yer eyes.
Beatrice didn’t answer for a long beat. She pressed her lips together and then whispered, “Ye might nae see me as yer equal, but ye see me as a full-grown woman. So I expect ye to speak to me as one.”
She pushed past him, her shoulder brushing against his.
Leo let her go, and though it might have been his imagination, he felt like she brushed against him on purpose.