Chapter 27
“I
t has been nearly a week. Why have ye not married yet?
” Sloane demanded as Freya sat on the edge of her bed.
The slight movement of her body no longer made her gasp and cry.
She could even let her friend touch and hug her now.
“I am going out of my mind stuck in this bed. Go get married so I can listen to it from the window. Then ye can give me all the details.”
Freya chuckled and gently placed the tray of soup on the bed. “I already told ye that I willna get married until ye can attend. Ye get out of the bed right now, and I’ll get married this afternoon.”
They had the same conversation every day and every day, they knew that Sloane was still bound to the bed.
The burning pain was receding, but she still wasn’t mobile.
She was getting better. Last night, before the healer came to give her the laudanum, she managed to hold herself up long enough to walk to the window and back.
She was elated although Elizabeth had berated her for pushing herself.
For an old English woman, she was tough and more than a little irritating.
Sloane also knew that her body was healing faster because the irritating and tough old English woman was an amazing healer.
“Tomorrow,” Sloane promised. “Tomorrow, ye will be married, although I would appreciate a chair.”
“I think we can scrounge up a chair,” her friend said and laughed. “But a few more days willna matter to me. Gair will still love me.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, her eyes widened a little and she looked away.
Sloane forced a smile. Lachlan had not come to see her even once since the day he’d rescued her. He’d offered his life in exchange for hers and yet, he didn’t care enough to come check in on her. Maybe she’d hallucinated the whole thing.
Or maybe he blamed her because he’d had to kill his friend to save her.
Rather than thinking of her husband never speaking to her again, Sloane focused on something else that was eating away at her. “Freya, I need to ask ye a question. I’d like ye to tell me the truth. Will ye do that?”
“Of course! I wouldna lie to ye,” she said as she pushed the tray toward her. “As long as ye eat.”
This would not be an easy conversation for either of them. Picking up the spoon, she dipped it into the stew and searched for courage. “Lachlan said that my father is dead.”
Freya averted her gaze to the floor and Sloane knew her suspicions were about to be confirmed. “He knew before I did. I don’t suppose a messenger delivered the letter while I was tied up?” Sloane continued.
“Nay,” Freya muttered.
There were only two reasonable choices and Sloane knew that Lachlan had not been away from the keep for any suspicious length of time. “Did Gair tell him?”
Slowly, Freya nodded as tears filled her eyes and Sloane looked down at her stew and took a deep breath. Her father was dead. He was a horrible man, but for a long time, she hadn’t realized that.
“‘Tis possible that he killed my mother,” she said inanely. “‘Tis also possible that she was leaving us to be with Gair’s father. My father is a monster. My mother would have abandoned me. With a heritage like that, it is no wonder that Lachlan doesna trust me.”
“Ye doona know that,” Freya said fiercely. “Ye doona know what happened to yer mother and I am sorry for that, but ye cannae compare yerself to them. Ye are full of love and goodness. Ye must believe that.”
The door opened and Sloane, still hoping for the impossible, looked up thinking that she might see Lachlan, but it was Gair. “What is wrong?” he demanded when he looked at the tears on Freya’s face.
“’Tis nothing,” she said as she wiped them away.
Sloane stared at Gair. “We were speaking of my father.”
There was no expression in his face as he met her eyes. “Darling, do ye mind giving us a minute?”
“Nothing too taxing. She promised to leave the bed tomorrow so we can get married,” Freya teased gently before she dropped her gaze. “I’ll be back this evening with a book.”
After she’d stepped out, Gair slowly shut the door behind her. “How are ye feeling?”
“Better. I thank ye for yer hospitality. I know that I am not yer favorite person.”
He didn’t respond, but he didn’t have to. They both knew there was still some resentment in him. “Do ye really think ye’ll be up tomorrow?” he asked.
“Ye arena here to check up on my health. Ye have a healer to give ye updates as well as Freya,” she reminded him.
“Aye. I do.”
Silence grew between them and she made the choice herself. “Gair, if ye are here to confess something, I will ask that ye not. Secrets are best kept when fewer people know the truth.”
Leaning against the wall, he chuckled softly and crossed his arms. “I should have suspected that Lachlan would tell ye.”
“My husband has not been in to see me.” She smiled faintly. “I had enough facts to draw my own conclusions. If ye are worried about retribution then ye may rest easy.”
His gaze didn’t waver and she raised an eyebrow. “But ye arena worried about retribution. Ye are here for forgiveness. Or perhaps someone to tell ye that ye did the right thing?”
“I have never felt anger or rage like that,” Gair admitted. “But in the end, it was about seeing Freya safe. I wouldna let her be harmed because of something my family did to him.”
“And ye come to me? Ye blame me for what happened to Freya. Why would ye care what I think?”
“I thought ye would understand. Do ye hate him for what he did to ye?”
“No.” Sloane set the tray aside and sighed. She had lost her appetite. “I know that is not what ye want to hear. He ruined my chance at happiness. He ruined my future, but when I heard my father was dead, I felt pain. Not physical pain but pain in my soul.”
Gair nodded slowly. “And yet ye want to protect me?”
“Aye.” It may not have made sense to him, but she knew what was right.
“For protecting my friend. For protecting the alliance which protects my husband. For protecting the Fenton clan, although that wasna yer motivation.” She smiled and studied him.
He was a good man. How different would things have been had she been raised alongside him?
“Do ye believe the rumors? My mother and yer father?”
“Aye. I do.”
“Does it affect how ye see yer father?”
“Nay. Does it affect how ye see yer mother?” When she didn’t answer, he smirked. “So, ye doona hate yer father for what ye know he did, but ye hate yer mother for what she might have done?”
“My father didna love me. I clung to the hope that my mother did. He disappointed me constantly, but I expected it. She was dead and I needed that hope that she loved me.” Sloane shrugged. “I know that it doesna make sense, but I needed it. I didna expect her to disappoint me in death.”
Slowly pushing off the wall, Gair walked toward her and sat by her side. “I doona remember yer mother nor do I remember my father being in love, but I do remember one night that my father sat me down and asked me how I might feel about a baby sister. I instantly hated the idea.”
Was he implying that his father was willing to take her and her mother in? That her mother wasn’t going to abandon her? “She was still married. My father could have declared war.”
“He must have thought yer mother was worth the risk. If ye are anything like her, I can see what he meant. I judged ye too harshly. Ye risked much to protect Freya. For that, I owe ye much. As for yer father…”
“Ye are forgiven.”
“Thank ye,” he whispered. “That means a good deal to me.”
After a moment of consideration, Sloane nodded. “Ye would have made an excellent older brother.”
“Of course, I would. Ye, on the other hand? I think ye would have made an obnoxious younger sister.”
Freya and Gair were married the next day. Lachlan stood next to his wife and saw the smile on her face when Gair swore to love and protect Freya.
Lachlan was furious when Gair announced that they were not going to wait any longer and he tried to forbid the healer from letting Sloane attend, but nobody was listening to him. She hobbled slowly from the keep on the arm of some stranger whom he immediately dismissed.
“Doona bother being angry,” Sloane had told him as he gently pulled her against him to steady her. “I am going with or without ye.”
Without saying a word, Lachlan helped her to the lone chair sitting by the church. Seeing the look of happiness on her face, he knew that this was helping ease the pain. She was no longer bedridden. Soon she would be ready to leave.
When the ceremony was over, she rose from the chair, but she was a little unsteady on her feet. Lachlan reached out to help her, but he stopped himself when she stepped away from him and made her way to the keep.
Instead, he stayed behind her and watched her carefully until she’d taken her seat in the great hall for the dinner. Despite all the commotion, everyone was careful not to jostle or bump into her. He still couldn’t let go of the fear that someone would hurt her.
“Do ye want to return to yer bed?” he asked.
The smile fell from her face. “Nay.”
Damnation. How quickly he could steal the happiness from her. “Ye may stay if ye wish.”
“Thank ye. I wish to stay.”
He had no idea what to do. He’d been the reason that she was in pain, so he gave her space to heal. Maybe he wasn’t giving her enough space. Maybe every time she looked at him, Sloane still saw Blaine and the lies that he’d fed her. She was not responsible for Kenzy’s death.
“I’ll be back. If ye need anything, ye just need to ask,” Lachlan said softly in her ear.
Stepping away, he went to find Freya and Gair and congratulate them. Rather than a blissful look, Freya bared her teeth at him. “If my wedding werena part of an alliance, I would have banned ye from it completely!”
“That hurts,” he said mildly.
“Ye are being a sniveling coward! Or ye are being deliberately cruel. In either case, I am disappointed in ye, Lachlan. Ye used to be a better man than this.”
“Ye used to be less annoying.” Instead of listening to her yell at him some more, he wrapped her in his arms and hugged her. “I love ye, Freya, and I am happy that ye are happy.”
“Stop that. I am angry at ye and I willna change my mind about allowing Sloane to stay here simply because ye are hugging me,” she said, feeling irritated.
He froze. “Ye did what?”
“Lachlan,” Gair greeted with a faint smile. “Thank ye for yer congratulations. I am also pleased to be officially part of yer family.”
“Aye and the first thing ye decide to do is to take my wife from me. ‘Tis not the wedding present I had in mind. I thought maybe I’d give ye some manpower to rebuild that village so no one can use it to hide kidnapping and torture,” he spat. “Withdraw yer offer of sanctuary.”
His sister rolled her eyes. “Gair didna offer her sanctuary. I did.”
“Take it back.”
“I willna!” she hissed with flashing eyes. “Ye are too much of an idiot to be allowed to take her home. Ye have not been to visit her even once.”
“Ye have no right to interfere,” he said darkly. “And ye have no right to keep her from me. I could declare war on ye.”
Freya snorted. “Aye. Ye plan to declare war on yer sister and her new husband who has been friends with ye for years.”
“Doona tempt me. When she is ready to leave, I will be taking her with me. Ye willna keep her here. Revoke her sanctuary.”
“Afraid she willna want to leave with ye on yer own? Because ye are such a prince?” Freya asked sweetly. “Excuse me, dear brother, ‘tis a celebration for my wedding and I plan to enjoy it.”
She walked away and Lachlan leveled a gaze at Gair. “She is yer wife. Do something.”
“She is yer sister and I knew what I was getting into when I married her,” Gair responded with a shrug. “’Tis strange that Freya believes ye arena visiting yer wife. I happen to know that ye slip into her room every night when she is asleep.”
“She is my wife. I will see her when I wish.”
Gair smirked. “Apparently it is easier to see her when she is drugged on laudanum to help her sleep than when she is awake and alert and able to speak to ye. What are ye afraid of, Lachlan?”
“I am afraid of people taking my wife away from me.”
Walking by him, his new brother-in-law clapped him on the back. “Then perhaps ye should tell her that.”
Even if he wanted to speak to her during the dinner, there was no opportunity. During her own wedding celebration, Sloane was the least popular person at the party, but now, at Freya’s celebration, she was never alone and was always smiling and laughing.
Taking his seat toward the end of the table, Lachlan watched her carefully. Her face was bright and animated and everyone from all four clans was constantly seeing to her needs and entertaining her.
She would be happy here. He owed it to her to give her what she wanted and give her a chance to be happy, but if he left her here, things would never be the same.
Later that night, when Lachlan knew that she’d gone to bed, he slipped into her room and sat by Sloane’s bed.
With her hair fanned out over her pillow and her pale skin practically glowing in the moonlight, she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
He missed the way she felt and tasted. He missed the little sighs she made in her sleep when she nestled up under his arm.
He missed the fire in her eyes when she was frustrated with him and the sparkle when she was trying to seduce him.
More than anything, he missed that smile when it was aimed his way. It had felt like a lifetime since they’d smiled at each other.
“I have made mistakes,” he said softly. Normally, he didn’t speak to her.
He wanted to give her plenty of rest, but tonight, he needed to talk.
“Before I met ye, I made mistakes. Over and over again.
Quinn was always the one to help me. He saved my life.
He saved my reputation. He gave me good advice.
He was the reason that I started getting close to Kenzy.
He was also the one who told me that he feared Kenzy was clinging to me, although he didna know why. He saw it when I didna.
“Kenzy. Isla. Ye. There were things going on in my clan that I never saw coming.
‘Twas my fault that this happened to ye. I swore to protect ye and in that, I have failed. Ye have every right to claim sanctuary here. I pushed ye away, but if ye stay here, I will never be able to make it up to ye. I want to give ye everything, but I cannae do that if ye are here.”
Of course, she didn’t respond. She was asleep.
“Give me a chance, Sloane and if I cannae earn yer love again, then I will let ye go.”
With one last look over his shoulder, Lachlan slipped out of the room and closed the door behind him.