Chapter 33
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Only a few servants were allowed to be near Beatrice once she returned to the castle. Shona was one of them, but she seemed to be keeping her distance.
Beatrice hadn’t seen Tyler since she had returned, though the idea of him trying to poison her was laughable. Eloise told her that Violet was on the hunt for the culprit and that her single-minded determination was alarming to see.
“The MacSweens take it personally when someone is hurt under their watch,” she said. “Violet sounds as vicious as a man when she mentions what she’ll do when she finds the culprit.”
Her own parents were kept at a distance, though Beatrice wasn’t sure if that was their doing or Leo’s. Not having to speak with her father was a relief, but the two of them had left the castle so suddenly and quietly that she was hurt not to be able to say goodbye.
“We’ll return for the handfastin' ceremony,” Eloise said as she and James prepared to leave. “It’s probably for the best that ye daenae have a lot of people around ye right now.”
“Ye daenae have to treat me like I’m so fragile,” Beatrice protested.
“Aye, I ken that.” Eloise beamed at her, glowing from the inside. “Ye walked through the fire, and now ye stand here on the other side of it.”
The castle seemed unnaturally quiet with everyone gone and most of the servants giving her a wide berth. One late afternoon, she approached Shona, and the woman looked at her as if she were a ghost just risen from the grave.
“There’s nay need to be so scared of me, Shona,” she sighed, exasperated. “I daenae have anythin' catchin'.”
“Nay, of course. Forgive me, mistress.” Shona wrung her hands.
“Can ye come with me and Effie to the abandoned watchtower?” Beatrice asked. “I’d like to take her up there, but I daenae think I should do it on me own.”
“I’ll go find Effie. We’ll take her up there.”
“Thank ye.”
Shona departed, and Beatrice was left alone again in the quiet, empty corridor.
Nay, whoever did it would never do anythin' to hurt a child. Nae Effie.
Moments later, the small girl rounded the corner and came bounding towards her. Beatrice could not help but smile.
Leo would have their heads and then some if anythin' happened to her.
“I have so much I want to show ye, Bea!” Effie gushed, pulling on her hand until she followed along, trying to keep pace with the energetic little legs that took off in a split second.
“Aye, well, wait up so I can see it!”
Effie laughed at that, and Beatrice forgot how scared she had been—how scared she still was—if just for a moment. There was magic to be discovered, worlds to explore.
I may nae be as safe as I thought, but I am safe for now.
She traipsed behind Effie, and they disappeared into their reveries together.
“We need to call a council meetin',” Leo told Tyler. “If anyone kens anythin' about what happened, we need to hear it.”
“I can arrange it, me Laird,” Tyler offered.
Leo dismissed him and went to check on the guards who were still doing their rounds. He had tightened security as the handfasting ceremony drew closer.
But if the threat is comin' from within these walls, then it willnae matter how many guards I have watchin’ outside.
His guards were well-trained and loyal. He wasn’t concerned that any of them could be bought. But anyone could be tricked. He knew that after seeing smart, wise men being brought down by people close to them.
He was keeping a close watch on Beatrice, though she didn’t know it. In a way, he was hoping the culprit was sloppy enough to make a move in the aftermath of the first attack. There was no party to cover tracks, no guests flowing in and out of the castle to cloak nefarious deeds.
If someone came for her now, he thought, watching as she chased Effie around the glen, I could take them down without even tryin’.
But watching her only created a more intriguing version of her in his head.
He saw her laughing in the fading sunlight and spinning Effie around in her arms. It was becoming impossible to just see her as a woman with whom he had an arrangement.
So many bits and pieces of her were being unveiled before his eyes.
One evening, he was sitting in the Great Hall waiting for dinner to be served, when she and Effie bounded in to join him.
She looks better than she has in some time. Nae only has she recovered fully and gotten her strength back, but she also looks more at peace now that her father is gone.
“Look at this,” Effie said, running towards him. “I made it meself!”
She handed him a piece of paper with a charcoal drawing on it. There were three distinct figures in the drawing, one that was quite large and two that were smaller, with one of those two being very small. A castle stood in the background behind them, but even the smallest figure was bigger than it.
Leo tilted his head to the side and studied it closely. “It’s lovely, lassie. What’s it of?”
Effie pointed to the larger figure. “Well, that’s ye.” Her finger trailed to the smallest one, smudging a bit of the charcoal as it did. “That’s me.” She laughed over her shoulder at Beatrice, who returned the sound cheerfully. “And that’s Bea, of course.”
A lump formed in Leo’s throat. He stared down at the drawing, the three figures pressing together as if huddling for warmth during a storm. “Of course.”
He stole a glance at Beatrice, who averted her gaze at that very moment.
Violet came in, nodded to all of them, and took a seat at the table. “Am I too early for dinner?” she asked. “What would ye tell me if I said I was starvin’ to death?”
“Violet, can I draw ye?” Effie grabbed her arm. “A quick portrait before dinner?”
“So dinner’s nae ready yet? It cannae be if ye have enough time to be sketching yer big old auntie.”
“Effie can do it really fast” Beatrice assured her. “She’s quite talented with charcoal.”
Violet rolled her eyes but capitulated and stood up. She peeked over at the drawing in front of Leo.
“Aye, quite a talent,” he murmured. “She drew this for me.”
“And what’s all this, Effie?”
Effie shifted her gaze between the three adults, all focused on her at the same time. “It’s me and Da, and the third figure is Bea. Now, come on.”
She tugged on Violet’s arm once more, and Violet followed helplessly along, pulling a face at Leo as she was escorted by the small, pushy child out of the Great Hall.
“I didnae tell her to draw that, Leo,” Beatrice said, once they were alone. “I told her to just draw the two of ye. I told her that was her real family.”
“There’s nay need to explain, Beatrice.” He dropped his hand over the drawing. “She’s a child. Many things willnae make sense to her.”
Beatrice left without saying anything else.
Leo couldn’t take his eyes off the drawing. How simple and innocent it was, and yet how strongly it affected him.
He folded the drawing neatly into quarters and held it in his palm, briefly hoping for the strength to crumple it up and toss it aside. Forget he had ever seen it. Instead, he slid it into his pocket with a long exhale and kept it there through dinner.