Chapter 25
Eileen sat by Reid’s bedside again, where she’d spent a lot of time over the past two days. She watched him as he lay unconscious, only waking up long enough to take two sips of water before falling back into unconsciousness.
He still hadn’t said a word since he had commented on her ugly crying. From time to time, the healer would check on his wounds and pour some liquid into his mouth, but it didn’t seem to change anything.
The guards remained outside the door, working in shifts, and when Eileen was in the room with her brother, there were often four of them.
She was angry, and she couldn’t work out how to solve that problem. Every time she thought about returning home—a place she must go—she felt afraid.
Something rooted her to MacLennan Castle. She felt happy there, at home, even though she hadn’t been there for long.
Oh, me goodness!
Eileen cast a glance at the healer to find her asleep in her chair. She leaned closer to her brother.
“Reid, ye’re the only one I can talk to.
Ye’re the only one who properly kens me,” she murmured, quiet as a mouse.
“I didnae realize it until now, but I think I’m growin’ feelings for the man I’m pretendin’ to have feelings for.
Ye willnae ken any of this, but I agreed to be betrothed to him so he would help bring ye back, and he did.
It’s to keep his maither and sister off his back—the council, too.
I did me best to pretend so ye would be saved, but I’m nae pretendin’ anymore.
I dinnae ken what it is yet, but I have some feelings for him, and the thought of goin’ back home makes me stomach twist into knots. I want to stay here and maybe…”
She sat back in her chair and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. She shook her head.
Ye’re a stupid, wee lass!
She leaned in again. “I almost said somethin’ today.
” She rested her hand on the dirk at her waist. “I looked him in the eyes and searched for a hint that he felt somethin’ too, but I didnae see it.
He likes me, aye, and we’ve… kissed, but he doesnae like me in that way.
He talked about me goin’ home and didnae even look sad about it.
I’m nay longer pretendin’, but he still is.
The best thing I can do is get ye better and go home with ye and forget all about this. ”
Reid said nothing. He only breathed evenly, the wheezing gone for a full day. The wound on his chest had stopped bleeding. More color had come back to his cheeks, but he still hadn’t woken. He was alive but wasn’t living.
“What would ye do, Reid?” Eileen asked.
She knew what the old Reid would do, but she was not so sure about the new one.
Ye would take control of the situation, either way.
“Aye, that’s what I need to do,” she muttered to herself.
“I cannae sit around here, waitin’ for somethin’ to happen.
I need to take control of me own destiny and nae sit around, waitin’ for someone else to decide me fate.
I dinnae belong to O’Gunn, and I dinnae belong to Archer, even though he’s claimed me to protect me from O’Gunn. Aye, I ken what I must do.”
She bent down and kissed her brother on the forehead.
“Thank ye, Reid. I kenned that talkin’ to ye would make me feel better.”
She got up from her chair and quietly slipped out of the room without waking the healer. Outside the door, four guards waited—two for Reid and two for her.
“Ye can follow me, but I willnae make it so easy for ye this time,” she warned with a smile.
Her guards smiled in reply.
They were good men—two of Archer’s best. She felt safe with them watching over her, even though she felt suffocated sometimes.
She walked away from them, taking the familiar path from the healer’s chambers to hers. She looked behind her and smiled to see them ten paces behind. They’d tried to remain unnoticed at the beginning, but they didn’t bother anymore. Wherever she went, they went.
Eileen slipped into her room to find Piper waiting, looking bored.
“Me Lady,” she greeted. “Any change with yer braither?”
“I need yer help,” Eileen blurted.
Piper brightened, eager for some action after not doing much over the past couple of days. “Aye, whatever ye need.”
“The last time we snuck out so easily,” Eileen began. “I need to do it again. I need to get out of the castle without bein’ seen.”
“What? Why? What for?” Piper asked.
Eileen swallowed. “Because I deserve to be happy.”
Archer sat in his study. He had the funny feeling that Eileen was purposely avoiding him. He hadn’t seen her since they’d trained together the previous morning, and he was becoming worried that she would continue to avoid him.
They’d finally sent a messenger to Laird O’Gunn the previous day.
As long as he believes what we wrote to be me true intentions, and also believes that I believe the intentions of a known liar and cheat, then we can let this play out and gain some time.
It was a waiting game, and he hated waiting. He was also waiting for someone to come and try to kill him.
And if ye do, it’ll be yer last act in this life.
A knock sounded at the door.
“Enter,” he boomed.
The door opened to reveal a young woman. It took Archer a second to realize that she was the maid who’d accompanied Eileen to the castle.
“Aye?” he grunted.
“Laird MacLennan, I…”
“Well, out with it,” he urged.
“I think she’s gone,” the maid blurted.
Archer’s blood turned to ice. He shot up from his desk, bumping his thighs against it and rocking it a little.
“Gone? Eileen?”
“Aye, Me Laird. I tried to stop her, but she wouldnae listen to me. She took some food from the kitchens and disguised herself just like she did when we left McFair Castle. Spoke about takin’ matters into her own hands.”
“That blasted woman,” Archer snapped. “Do ye ken where she means to go?”
“I dinnae ken,” the maid mumbled. “I only ken that she’s stayin’ away from O’Gunn lands. Somethin’ about headin’ for the river first and then goin’ north from there.”
“Aye, well, she’s got some common sense in her madness. Och, I cannae let her go out there by herself.”
Archer pushed past the desk, almost tripping over the leg, and the maid darted to the side as he bolted out of the room. He ran down the hallway and the stairs, barging into the kitchens and almost knocking over one of the cooks as she unloaded a large tray laden with freshly baked bread.
He ran down the short passageway that led to the rear of the castle, an entrance usually used for food deliveries, and out the small wooden door. He sprinted to the stables.
“The fastest horse ye have saddled!” he barked at the nearest stablehand.
“Aye, Me Laird,” the boy replied. He ran into the stables and exited with a black steed, ready and saddled.
Archer grabbed the reins, shoved his foot in the stirrup, and threw his leg over the horse. He slipped his other foot into the opposite stirrup as he flicked the reins to get the horse moving.
He crossed the courtyard at a canter, people moving out of the way as he headed for the front drawbridge. The horse’s hooves thudded against the wooden planks as Archer flicked the reins again, urging the beast into a gallop.
As soon as he was out of the castle, he turned into the woods, heading straight for the river. The trees on the left and right became a blur, some of the branches biting at his cheeks as he rode past.
He briefly spotted a small patch of ground. It was flat and mostly blended with the surrounding area, but his eagle eye noticed the slight difference. It was the resting place of Mack Douglas—gone and soon to be forgotten.
He pushed the horse faster, forgetting his own safety.
He needed to ensure Eileen’s safety, and if she wanted to go back to her home, he wouldn’t stop her.
He would bring her back for now and have a caravan escort her to McFair Castle.
What he couldn’t figure out was why she wanted to leave now when her brother was still recovering.
It didn’t make sense to him. But then a lot of things didn’t make sense. He was still coming to terms with the death of his father all over again. It didn’t make him feel any better that it had been an orchestrated attack. He still blamed himself for it.
He reached the river, the water rushing by with a melodic thrum. He was about to turn to head north when he spotted her.
On the grass at the back of the river, Eileen sat on a blanket, a picnic basket to her right. She had her hands behind her, slightly reclined, bathing in the sunlight.
“What the heck are ye doin’?” Archer called.
“I’m waitin’ for ye,” Eileen called back as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“Waitin’ for me?” he echoed. “Why’d ye leave the castle when ye ken ye’re nae meant to?”
“I wanted to see if ye would come after me,” Eileen admitted. “Do ye remember when ye said ye would, back when ye thought I might run away?”
Archer furrowed his brow as he dismounted his horse. He led it to a tree and tied it to a branch before turning back to her. He had to admit that she looked beautiful in the golden glow of the midday sun.
“Are ye tellin’ me that ye planned for us to have a picnic out here?” he asked.
“I thought I would inject a bit of fun into our betrothal.” Eileen shrugged. “Do ye nae feel so alive and free?”
“Ye’re crazy, lass! As mad as they come. And yer maid?”
“She’s in on it, but I made her do it.”
“How did ye even sneak past the guards?”
“I have me ways,” Eileen quipped.
“So, ye’re nae runnin’ off?”
“Nae yet,” she said with a smile.
“Och, ye scared me half to death.”
Eileen didn’t reply, but she looked pleased to have evoked the emotion within him.
She tilted her head back, letting her hair hang loose and her breasts stick out. Her neck was open, and Archer wanted to rush over there and kiss her again, but he didn’t appreciate being manipulated. He didn’t like how scared he’d been when he thought she was running off on her own.
“Will ye nae come and join me?” she asked.
Archer sighed. While he didn’t like the way he felt, there was something comforting about her being able to sneak out of the castle. She might be a little reckless, but that didn’t make her any less impressive.
“Aye, I’ll join ye. But after that, we’re goin’ back to the castle,” he warned.
“Are ye goin’ to hoist me over yer shoulder and drag me back there?” she asked with a mile.
“If I have to,” he replied. He made his way to the blanket and sat down.
“Well, let’s see what we have in here.” He opened the basket to unpack it.
“Blackcurrant mead. Good choice. Cheese, cured meat, jam, bread, tarts—aye, a fine spread. And did ye have to steal this, or did ye have the cooks betray me, too?”
“If I reveal all me secrets, I willnae have anythin’ left to surprise ye with,” she pointed out.
“I dinnae think ye’ll ever stop surprisin’ me,” he admitted. He took out the two cups and poured some mead into both, handing one to her. “I’m glad ye’re safe, so let’s toast to that.”
Eileen clinked her cup against his.
“I also want to thank ye,” he added.
“I didnae think ye would thank me after I led ye on this wild goose chase.”
“Nay, nae for this whole thing. For the other night when ye let me talk about me faither and voice me frustrations. I’ve been carryin’ that burden for a long time, and after I told ye about it, I felt different—lighter.”
“That makes me happy.” Eileen smiled. “I didnae want to push ye into that, but I kenned it would help. I didnae ken what ye held inside afore ye told me, but I could see it was a dark shadow—and it was. I cannae imagine what ye’ve gone through for the past six years.”
“It’s why me relationship with me maither is so strained,” Archer admitted. “Every time I look into her eyes, I see the woman she once was, and that takes me back to the day Faither was killed. She has never been the same after that, and she’s right to blame me.”
“She doesnae blame ye,” Eileen countered.
“How do ye ken that?”
“I dinnae. But how could she blame ye?”
“I like seein’ her happier, and she’s been a wee bit happier since I’ve become betrothed.
I ken that grandchildren will bring her happiness, but I also ken that helps to hide her pain.
She’s carried that pain around with her for six years, and she doesnae talk about it with anyone.
I daenae think anythin’ will ever take away the pain of me faither’s passing.
She doesnae show it much when we’re around the clan, but in private, me heart aches for her. ”
“Ye should talk about it with her,” Eileen suggested.
“Nay, I dinnae think I’m the right person for that. Ye’re the one who is good with that sort of thing. Ye could help her.”
“Well, it’s nae really me place, is it? She’s nae me maither, and I barely ken her. Besides, I’ll be gone from here soon.”
He felt a pang of fear in his chest. “Aye, but ye’re nae gone yet, are ye?”
“Nay, I’m nae,” Eileen relented. “I’ll stay here until Reid wakes up, and then he’ll need to regain his strength before we go back home. Aye, I’ll be here for a while until then.”
“That brings me some happiness,” Archer admitted.
He hadn’t meant to say it, but it had come out anyway.
“Aye, me too,” Eileen murmured. “I like bein’ here, despite what’s happened since I arrived. And I like bein’ betrothed to ye, even though it’s nae real.”
“Aye, but I think that’s ‘cause ye like sneakin’ around with anyone kennin’ what ye’re doin’. Ye like the danger of it,” Archer said.
“Aye, maybe ye’re right,” Eileen conceded. “I did like sneakin’ off in the hopes ye would chase me.”
“Ye like danger, and I like keepin’ ye out of danger,” Archer snorted. “It’s like storin’ yer lamp fuel by yer lit candles.”
“Aye. But it’s fun, is it nae?” Eileen smirked.
“Aye, it certainly is.”