Chapter 19
“A
nd when you’re done with the pots, ye can sweep the floors,” Jean barked with glee.
Exhausted, Sloane managed to make it through breakfast, the slew of chores Jean had lined up for her, and now dinner.
At least Lachlan hadn’t forced her to serve dinner.
She wasn’t sure she could survive the humiliation of that.
After rinsing the pots with the water that she’d heaved in from the well, she slumped on her hard, wooden stool and swallowed down the lump in her throat.
The day had been awful, but the guilt that burrowed inside of her was worse.
Even though she didn’t know, Sloane had played a role in her father’s schemes and thus, she believed she deserved this.
It wasn’t the work that bothered her, although it would have helped if she’d had some sleep first, but someone had spread the word and those that already hated her were able to act without the worry of repercussions.
Her body ached, she swayed on her feet, and she hadn’t eaten more than a few biscuits to help her get through the day.
Still, she would endure. Rising, Sloane hung the pots on their hooks to dry and grabbed the broom.
Leaning against it, she took a deep breath and found her balance before trekking slowly to the great hall.
It was empty of people, but the room was a mess.
Ale and wine splattered along the walls and floors and crumbs lined the tables and chairs.
Sloane had never seen such a mess before.
Some of the chairs were even splintered.
Had there been a fight? Was that blood?
Her stomach twisted. Was Lachlan alright?
“Sloane?”
At the sound of Freya’s quiet voice, she whirled around. Her friend looked like she hadn’t slept either. Her hands trembled as she reached for the wall to support herself, and her face was bloodless.
“Is what Lachlan said true? Did ye have a hand in this?”
Sloane’s heart ached to see her friend in pain.
“If Lachlan sees me speaking to ye, he will exile me,” she said softly.
“So, I will only say this once. I didna know what my father had planned. I didna know that ye were not meeting Gair, but Lachlan isna wrong. I am not blameless. I should have known. I should have been stronger and been more loyal to ye and yer clan. For that, I am sorry. I hope one day that ye can forgive me.”
“Ye didna set me up?”
“Freya, we were…” She took a deep breath. “Ye are my friend. I would never knowingly hurt ye.”
Freya watched her for another moment before she turned and quietly walked from the room.
Sighing, Sloane abandoned the broom for a cleaning rag and started on the tables and walls.
Setting the broken chairs aside, she did her best to mop up the spilled liquid.
Legs trembling, she picked up the broom and started sweeping at the far end of the room.
She made it halfway before she collapsed.
When she came to, strong arms gripped her tight and carried her down the dimly lit hall. “Lachlan?” she said quietly, but when she turned her head, it wasn’t her husband that carried her but Adair. “Ye can put me down now.”
“Yer body is still trembling,” he said in a low voice. “If I set ye back on yer feet, ye will probably collapse again. After what ye did, I would have left ye on the floor except that Isla found ye. She’s fond of ye and my wife is fond of her.”
“Isla hates me,” Sloane muttered. “I suppose she is in good company now.”
“Isla loves ye,” he told her sharply. “She spent the morning in my home crying about how the Laird was treating ye when ye didna deserve it. She has been trying for days to figure out a way to thank ye for all that ye have done.”
“There is no need. If she knows what is good for her, she will learn to hate me as well or they will punish her for it.”
Stopping in front of her new door, Adair eased it open and carried her inside. She hadn’t found the courage to go to Lachlan’s chambers and get her things, so she would have to live in her dress for just a little while longer although it was soiled after cleaning.
“Rest. I will bring ye something from the kitchens to eat. Tomorrow, ye will feel better,” he said gruffly as he stood. After pausing for a moment, he turned his head and stared at her. “He says that ye betrayed us. Is he wrong?”
How many times would people ask her that?
“I would never hurt Freya or anyone else, but I am not blameless. I deserve my punishment.”
“I know what it is like to have a father who does not love ye.”
Sloane looked up sharply, and he smirked.
“I am not blind, Sloane. Lachlan made it my business to keep an eye on Errol and in that, I have failed him and I learned enough to know that he has no love for anyone. And I see the look in yer eyes when ye look at him. I had that look once. I learned to let it go. I suggest that ye do the same.”
“Now that I know the kind of man that my father is, I doona need nor want his love, but his betrayal still stings.”
“Ye could tell Lachlan the truth.”
Sloane looked up at him and laughed wryly. “I did, but my father has poisoned him against me. He doesna believe me. I doona think he ever will.”
When Adair returned later with some cold chicken, a hard biscuit, and an apology for not being able to find anything better, Sloane thanked him and ate everything on the plate.
Alone in the cold chamber, she still couldn’t bring herself to touch the bed, so she curled up on the stone floor, closed her eyes, and wept.
Her things were still in his room.
Lachlan clenched his jaw and stepped out of the chambers slamming the door shut. Even if she hadn’t cleaned out her things, he didn’t think that he could spend the night in there. Not when her scent still lingered on the bed.
Heading down the hall to collapse in one of the empty chambers in the guest wing, he stopped short when he saw Freya and Isla whispering in the corner. Isla paled immediately, ducked her head, and scurried away.
“Ye should be in bed,” Lachlan said tightly as he approached her. “And ye shouldna be running around the keep at night.”
“Ye fear for my reputation?” Freya asked darkly. “I only care what Gair thinks and he has assured me that we will still wed. Besides, ye have no mistress of the keep at the moment. I must step back in to help.”
“And Isla?”
“She is worried.”
Lachlan growled. “I have no intentions of tossing her out simply because the lass who vouched for her is a traitor.”
“’Twas not her concern,” his sister said gently as she glanced over her shoulder. “She has slipped in and out of the keep quietly and has overheard things. She insists that Sloane is innocent and we have misjudged her.”
“I doona want to hear this. I have already made my decision. Sloane made her choice when she told me that she agreed to spy on ye,” he hissed as he pulled her aside. “I willna have ye going about questioning the staff about her. I have made my peace with my decision.”
Her eyes flashed. “Is that why ye are skulking about the keep? Because ye have made yer peace? When ye wed her, ye asked that we not hold her father’s sins against her and yet, that is exactly what ye are doing now. She was manipulated by Errol Fenton.”
“Ye were attacked,” he reminded her.
“Aye and I should have had a say in what ye did with her. Instead, ye are working yer wife to the bone until she has collapsed from exhaustion.”
“Collapsed.” Lachlan’s spine went rigid and he twisted with every thought of running to her side, but he stopped himself. What if it was just another manipulation? “Has she been seen to?”
“Aye. Isla went to Adair and asked for his help. He carried her to bed and fed her. Ye are leaving her to the mercy of the people who hated her the most. She willna last the week.”
He hated the idea of Adair’s hands on his wife, but he was also relieved that someone was caring for her when he could not.
“She isna yer wife, Freya. ’Twas my decision to bring her into this keep and make her family and look at what happened.
She is my responsibility and I will deal with her as I see fit. Now, go to bed.”
“Ye cannae lose yer heart, Lachlan. ’Tis what makes ye great,” Freya said quietly before she turned and walked away.
“Freya,” he growled as he turned. “If ye doona like her in the kitchen then I will move her to one of the pastures. Will that make ye happy?”
She paused and sighed but didn’t stop.
Furious, Lachlan didn’t bother to call her back. She didn’t understand what he was going through. He’d already lost his heart and now he had to find a way to get it back.
Despite his better judgment, he walked to Sloane’s room and put an ear to the door.
There wasn’t a peep from the other side.
Quietly opening the door, he peered inside.
The bed was empty and his stomach clenched when he thought that she wasn’t in there, but then his gaze adjusted to the dark and he saw her curled up on the stone floor.
She didn’t even have a blanket or a pillow to keep her warm.
Ye can sleep here so ye can always be reminded of what ye nearly did to the woman who thought ye were her friend.
Angry that he still cared, he carefully picked her up off the floor and carried her to the chambers next to his and carefully laid her on the bed.
Lighting the fire in the fireplace to help warm her up, he studied her sleeping body.
Small. Slender. How could something so tiny have so easily ripped his heart out of his chest?
“How could ye do this to us?” Lachlan whispered.
When the room was sufficiently warm, he slowly backed out of the room and closed the door. He could not trust her again.