Chapter Seven #2
“I am glad that ye are perfecting yer craft, Eilidh,” her mother spoke.
Lillias had always been the water to Arthur’s fire.
“Ye will show those that speak ill of ye that they doonae possess the talent in their whole being that ye have in the tip of yer pinky finger.” Her mother spoke confidently, as if she had all the trust that Eilidh spoke the truth.
She appreciated her mother’s compliment, but it made the twists in her stomach turn into a stabbing pain.
Supper could not finish soon enough, and once it had, Eilidh quickly excused herself. She needed to get away. Away from all the questions. The inquisitions.
Away from her family.
She did not understand the sudden interest in her endeavors now. No one had had any concerns afore.
It had to be that elder. How had she not noticed him afore now?
That night Eilidh waited until the castle was quiet and stealthily made her way out into the moonlit night.
With her fiddle case slung over her shoulder, her heart pounded erratically in her chest until she was a safe enough distance away from Hartsmoor.
Only then did she take a deep, steadying breath.
She hoped that the night was late enough that whoever seemed to be watching her lately would be snug in bed fast asleep.
The seldom used path that led out of the belly of the castle was not well kenned and bypassed the on-duty guards at the gate. She had used it many times to slip away. This night was no different.
An owl hooted in the distance and she nearly jumped out of her skin.
For the first time since she had left, she realized how foolish her desperation to see Torquil was.
Not so much seeing him, but the steps she needed to take to do so.
Her actions were madness, but she needed to see him. To feel his touch.
What if she came upon someone untoward with unsavory actions on their mind? She pushed away the thought. She wouldn’t allow herself to think about how careless she was being.
The trip went faster this time now that she kenned where he lived. Well, not the exact location, but she kenned it was near where they had met the day afore.
She had not yet reached the area she had met Torquil previously when a figure stepped on to the pathway a few lengths ahead of her.
She stiffened, her breath caught in her throat, her fingers wrapping around the hilt of the dagger she had belted to her side. The moon had passed behind a cloud and the figure was partially obscured by trees so that she could not see who it was. Her pulse raced as her mind screamed danger.
The thought of turning around and running back toward home crossed her mind.
But she could not get her feet to move either forward or backward.
It was as if her boots had rooted to the ground.
She looked around, searching for any places that could offer a hiding place. Mayhap the figure did not see her.
She cursed quietly. Of course she could be seen, just as she could see them.
The figure advanced, and Eilidh willed her feet to move, but they would not comply. Curses. Her body chose the absolute wrong time to not comply. Her breathing quickened and she squeezed her eyes tightly shut. She had been daft to attempt such a rendezvous at night.
“Eilidh?”
She nearly collapsed at the familiar voice calling her name as relief flooded her. Torquil. She was safe. “Aye,” she finally said, her voice shaky.
He closed the distance betwixt them, studying her. “Are ye weel? Is something amiss?” Concern laced his voice.
She shook her head. “I,” she paused. What was her reasoning?
It was because Torquil consumed her thoughts.
She could not stop thinking about him. Every minute of the day was focused on the next time she would be able to see him.
She had to make it happen. But she couldn’t tell him all of those things.
Instead, she kept her answer simple. “I had to see ye,” she finally answered.
“At this hour?” he questioned. “’Tis dangerous for ye to be walking aboot the woods at this time of night.” He looked around to see if anyone was there. “What if ye came across bandits or marauders? ’Tis not safe.” He gathered her in his arms and she inhaled his scent. Pine and peat smoke.
“But I didnae,” she said as she lifted her head.
“Ye came across me. I could have been one of them. What would ye have done by yerself?” His voice was clipped, and she could tell he was angry.
“I have my dagger.” The statement sounded weak even to her own ears. It had not proven to be of any use when she thought Torquil was a stranger. She had been frozen with fear.
“Which ye would quickly become disarmed from.” He pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head as she laid her cheek on his hard chest. “I am happy to see ye, my sweet. But ye must take heed.”
Eilidh nodded with a sniffle. “I ken.”
“I should get ye back home.”
“Nay.” She pulled back, her voice strong and loud in the quiet of the night. “I doonae want to be there right now. I want to be with ye.”
“Yer family—”
“Have nay idea that I have left,” she cut in. “One song. I just want to play one song and then I will be on my way. I promise.”
Torquil studied her face for so long, that she feared he would deny her and turn her away. Instead, he heaved a sigh and nodded.
The sharp snap of a branch had both of their heads whipping to the trees around them.
“What was that?” Eilidh whispered.
Torquil put his hand up in a sign for her to remain silent as his gaze scanned the woods.
“Are ye for certs no one kens ye are here? Mayhap someone followed ye.”
She shook her head. “I left from a path not widely used. No one would ken.”
They waited for a few more minutes, but when they didn’t hear aught else, they attributed the noise to an animal. Still, she saw that Torquil’s was on alert. They both kenned they were playing a dangerous game.
“My cottage is near,” he finally said. “I will get my lute and then we can go to the clearing where we spent the afternoon yesterday.”
After he acquired his lute as he said, they walked to the clearing and upon entering it, Eilidh couldn’t help but feel like she was stepping into another world. One that was forbidden, but also one where she belonged.
Torquil strummed a few notes, setting the tempo, and she quickly caught on and began playing her fiddle. Their blended notes filled the quietness of the night. Eilidh felt like she was exactly where she needed to be. One song, turned into two. Then three.
They laughed and danced, drowning out their guilt, as if they had no cares in the world. Like their clans weren’t on opposite sides and that what they were doing wouldn’t cause unnecessary strife between the two.
Torquil sensed the shift in her mood and paused his playing.
“I can tell when ye are sad. Yer bow trembles when ye play,” he said at her raised brow.
She smiled solemnly. The way he took heed in learning her feelings made her chest ache with something that was far more than infatuation. Her growing feelings were much deeper than that.
“The hour grows late, and the morn grows near.”
She nodded, kenning the time to leave had arrived.
Pulling her into his arms, he enveloped her in a warm hug.
“I am glad ye found me yet again.” He captured her mouth in a searing kiss that left no doubt what his feelings were, and she melted against him.
He broke the kiss and held her gaze. “But promise me ye willnae be so careless. I cannae bear the thought of any harm coming to ye.”
“I promise,” she said quietly.
Against her declarations that she could walk back home alone, Torquil insisted on escorting her to make sure she was safe.
They paused just outside of the parting of the trees that would lead her back through the secret entrance.
His lips were soft on hers. The kiss a promise of things yet to come.
Eilidh snuck through the house, taking heed not to make a sound, and crept into bed, her dreams filled with Torquil’s kisses and his hand entwined with hers.