Chapter 11
“Be careful with that!” Emily called out to the servants offloading her trunks from the carriage.
She stood outside Muir Castle, and while it had only been a week and a half, it felt like the last time she had been here had been a lifetime ago. As if she were no longer the same person that she had been before.
But of course, that wasn’t possible.
Her mother had insisted upon dolling her up before the uncomfortable carriage ride, and the reds and yellows of her dress were the perfect warmth to complement her pallor and hair.
A string of well-braided ribbons draped loosely over her arm, one end fashioned into a handle and the other end securely fastened to the collar around the neck of the fluffy bundle in her arms.
Such a small thing, but it was hard to bring herself to part with the puppy. Emily hadn’t yet settled on a proper name, still calling her different things to see what she liked and answered to the best.
She didn’t miss the way Kaden’s servants side-eyed the pup in her arms, or even looked at her with something akin to distaste.
She didn’t understand. Who didn’t like puppies? They couldn’t all share their Laird’s stance on pets, could they? She had been perfectly clear that the puppy was coming here with her, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise to them.
One by one, her trunks and other belongings were carried into the castle.
She was somewhat curious just how much leeway she was going to be given to decorate or stretch her legs around the place as she saw fit.
Though given that Kaden hadn’t been standing out here to greet her when she had arrived, there was no telling where things were going to begin.
It would be a lie to say that she hadn’t been having dreams about him. Of course, she had. She had so many questions to ask him, and it seemed to her that each time she managed to find the answers to one of the questions, three more popped up in their place.
At least she understood why he had the reputation he had. She knew perfectly well just how creative people could be within their own minds when they started wondering about a person. Half of the nonsense that her maids told her was being spun about her was so outlandish that it was almost comical.
Emily would have to go inside and speak to him sooner or later.
The carriage door snapped shut behind her, and she spun to face her parents. Her father’s expression was neutral, almost blank, as he looked at her.
If she didn’t know better, she would hardly think that he was looking at his eldest daughter. No doubt, the only thing running through his mind was hoping that she was finally going to do what he had asked of her.
“Daenae mind him, lass. He has decided to be allergic to all emotions,” Iona said as she stepped forward. “I cannae say if I ever truly thought that this day was going to come. I suppose in the back of me mind, I just assumed that ye would always be with me, or come back to me.”
Emily smiled, but she didn’t feel happy. “I am nae dead, Maither. I am merely relocated. This is hardly the first time—”
“But it will be the last,” Hamish cut her off.
He stepped forward, brushing his wife aside briskly as he awkwardly attempted to hug her around the suddenly squirming puppy in her arms.
Emily would have pulled away, but it was over in the span of a heartbeat. Just long enough for him to whisper, “Ye ken what will happen if ye try to come back home.”
She nodded, because of course she knew what was going to happen if she attempted to go back home. This was the last time her father’s protection would extend to her, so if Kaden decided not to embrace her, she would have nothing and nobody.
With that, Hamish turned on his heel, quickly walked back to the carriage, and climbed inside. He didn’t even leave the door open for her mother to join him.
Iona stepped forward, and this time Emily set the puppy on the ground for a moment to embrace her mother properly. Instantly, the puppy started tugging and chewing on the hem of her dress, but she ignored her as she hugged her mother one last time.
“I shall be right here. Daenae worry about me, Maither.”
“Ye have always been able to take care of yerself, I ken.” Iona nodded. “Ye practically raised yerself and all, never gave me the time or mind to try to do any of me maitherly duties. Nay reason that should change now just because ye live under another roof.”
Emily smirked mischievously. “Who do ye take me for?”
She could see tears welling up in her mother’s eyes, and she knew that if she allowed herself to cry, her mother would blame herself forever.
So she made a show of scooping the puppy back up into her arms and burying her face in the soft fur to hide her sadness as her mother disappeared into the carriage and it started to pull away.
Whatever happened next, her life and her future were wholly in her hands. She had to hope that Kaden was truly the man of his word that he seemed to be.
Inhaling deeply, Emily turned to head inside the keep, but then was met with two bright, pretty faces smiling broadly at her.
“Welcome to Muir Castle!” the first one said, dipping into a small curtsy. She seemed to be the younger of the two.
But now that Emilly really looked at them, she could see a resemblance to Kaden in their features.
These must be his sisters.
“We wanted to be the first to tell ye just how happy we are to have ye here, and hope that ye can make yerself feel right at home!” The younger one continued with what seemed to be genuine warmth.
Emily wanted to trust it, but she had made the mistake of placing her trust too easily into people before, and she wasn’t about to do so again just because they seemed so kind.
“It is a pleasure to meet ye both. I thank ye kindly for the greeting. But if it’s all the same to ye, I have had a very long ride… I wish to head inside and ready meself before I meet with Laird Muir.”
Emily felt horrible for brushing them off, but perhaps distancing herself from the sisters would be for the best. This was not to be a real marriage, after all. She did not wish to give them false hope.
The two sisters quickly exchanged looks with one another. “We would be happy to show ye to yer chambers!”
If there was any way to know what sort of relationship Kaden had with his sisters, she might have felt less apprehensive. For all she knew, they were devious sorts that kept him on his toes.
Perhaps they were the source of the rumors about him?
With all that was circulated about their brother, they and their mother were rarely mentioned.
Were they only here to greet her because they were worried that she was going to step on their toes?
It was always hard for a change of power to happen in your own home.
But she didn’t think that she needed to explain herself either. Emily had no desires or intentions of running this castle like it were her own. Lady of the castle wasn’t the role she had ever felt born to. It was second best to the thing that she actually wanted.
“Aye! I can even hold yer puppy if ye like? What’s her name?” the younger sister asked, bouncing forward onto the balls of her feet.
Emily angled herself away from the girl. “Most kind of ye, but perhaps I ought to meet with Laird Muir directly after all.”
“I’m Freya, and that’s Skye,” the older sister offered. “Ye daenae have to speak so formally with us if ye daenae wish to. We are to be sisters, after all.”
There was no way to get out of this, was there?
Emily smiled tightly. “Aye, I suppose that we will be.”
“This way, then!” Skye started to lead her to a part of the castle that she hadn’t been offered to see when they had been visiting for the cèilidh.
“Kaden doesnae like to have people in this part of the castle, or knowing these paths, but since ye’ll be living here, we are happy to show ye all the shortcuts.
There’s so much space to cover that if ye daenae use them, ye are likely to be dripping sweat by the time ye arrive at yer destination,” Freya said.
“And that willnae please anyone.” Skye laughed softly. She had such a pleasant voice.
How had Emily never spoken to her before? Was that more of Kaden’s doing?
Even as she tried to focus on the path they were taking, it would likely take her a few tries before she committed it to memory.
After what felt like forever, they finally came to a dark wooden door and pushed it open. Emily noted that the heavy lock on the inside of the door seemed to be perfectly functional. Good. She would at least be able to get a good night’s rest, then.
The familiar feeling of being in a strange place all alone was starting to settle within her. Just like the other times she had been sent off like a lamb to slaughter, she had been forced to acclimate quickly on her feet.
The first castle had, naturally, been far more difficult than the second.
Every day there, she had felt like a pawn, moving carefully across a chessboard filled with trap after trap.
Never mind that being on the said chessboard meant that she was a part of a game that she had never agreed to play in the first place.
But the furnishings in this room seemed plentiful enough.
The bedding looked soft and inviting, the small vanity was larger in surface than she would need, and she could already see a large wardrobe full of dresses awaiting her.
Then, there were all of her trunks and things waiting for her to unpack, stacked neatly by the side of the bed.
It would be nice to be allowed to make even just this much of this place feel cozy and more to her tastes. Perhaps when she did get to speak with Kaden, she could force him to agree that her new bedroom was off-limits. She would like to have a place that only she was allowed to go.
Memories of the first castle she had been forced to live in threatened to surface again, but she quickly shoved them down.
Freya lingered in the doorway, watching as Emily studied the room.
She didn’t even bother to hide the open scrutiny on her face as Emily turned back to her.
Her hands were clasped loosely in front of her.
Whatever was behind that expression, Emily couldn’t guess. Had she suddenly done something wrong?
“Well, I suppose I shall go and fetch me braither. Ye two shouldnae keep each other waiting for too long,” Freya said flatly, and like a wisp, she was gone.
Emily’s brow furrowed as she moved to close the door so that she could set the puppy down and let her stretch her legs and sniff around the room.
The puppy’s small, fuzzy paws made almost no sound against the stone floor as she happily moved about, dragging the ribbon leash behind her without a care in the world.
“Daenae mind me sister. She always moves that quickly. I swear, sometimes I think that I am alone in a room, and she will jump straight out of a shadow like she had been there with me the whole time.”
“Terrifying,” Emily remarked without any real fear or venom.
Silence stretched out for a long moment.
“Well then!” Skye clapped her hands once. “Shall I help ye unpack? It likely will take a while for ye to feel settled, I imagine. Not that I would ken, I have never really been too far from the castle. But I do read, ye ken, so I ken some things!”
She giggled at her own words, and it was hard for Emily not to crack a smile.
“Thank ye, that’s very kind, but I can handle it. I daenae mind unpacking later.”
Skye almost seemed saddened by that, but she quickly changed tactics. She spun around and plopped down onto the corner of Emily’s bed. “That’s alright, I understand nae wanting to have a stranger poking about yer things. But even if ye daenae believe me just yet, ye have a companion in me.”
Emily wanted to pretend that she believed her, but it felt kinder to just not deny the accusation.
Skye offered her another softer smile when she didn’t answer right away.
“I ken that this might nae have been yer first choice, but we are deeply grateful to ye for coming here. I daenae even remember the last time I have seen me braither smile.”
There was something so mournful in her voice that Emily felt compelled to ask for more information. She had to bite down on her lip to keep from prying because she didn’t wish to come across as rude.
She had seen Kaden smile a few times now. Did that mean more than she had originally assumed?
“Ye… bear him nay ill will, do ye?”
“That’s… a strange question,” Emily answered before she could stop herself, her eyebrow raised in suspicion.
“I reckon that ye daenae ken to much about him; he doesnae like people to. Ever since he returned to us, Freya and I have been trying everything in our power to cheer him up, to make him remember that this is his home and that nothing like… the accident will ever happen to him again, but nothing we do seems to be good enough. I… I fear that he will never trust his freedom fully.” Skye’s chin dimpled as she swallowed back tears.
“What do ye mean?” Emily murmured.
Skye glanced at her. “I am sure that he will tell ye all about it when he is ready. It isnae something that he can hide, since ye are to be his wife and all…”
Emily nodded once, thinking that was the end of the conversation, but Skye continued.
“For fifteen years, he was held captive. That sort of imprisonment would change anyone, I imagine.”
“On what charges?!” Emily gasped in shock.
Skye shook her head. “Ye misunderstand me. It isnae charges that he was held on. He would never do something like that, and if he did, he would have never been foolish enough to be caught. He was but a boy when he was abducted, along with our faither. Only one of them returned. It’s been… an adjustment.”
Emily was at a loss for words.
What could anyone possibly say to something like that? There was so much that she didn’t know.
Her chest ached at the thought of Kaden’s younger self so afraid, turned into what he was now—the most feared laird in all of Scotland.
It made sense in a way.
“But I have said too much already. I didnae mean to burden ye, lass. I just wanted to express how happy I am to have ye here. Freya too, even if it will take her a little while longer to get used to ye.”
Emily rose when Skye did, out of reflex and manners. She felt dizzy with the implications, and she had yet to see Kaden.
They had a lot more to talk about than she had initially thought.