Chapter 29
For the better part of two hours, Emily attempted to study.
The words on the pages of her new books didn’t seem like actual language, and her vision kept blurring.
It wasn’t natural for her to be this distracted. It was foolish of her to think that she would be able to focus so much more if only Kaden were near her. Even more foolish was her constant thinking about the library and the kitchens.
Perhaps a distraction was what she needed. She needed to put some distance between herself and the situation. After all, she was married now and didn’t need to be accompanied everywhere she went anymore. She could make her own choices, and Kaden certainly wasn’t going to keep her cooped up in here.
It took no time at all to ride down to the village. If anything, she felt more like herself on the back of a horse with the wind in her hair. Perhaps tomorrow morning, she would go out for a ride in the forest, or go bird-hunting sometime soon.
If she got back to the things she used to love, the things that her father had forbidden her to do these past years, that would make her feel more like herself. It would make her feel like she could stand on her own feet once more.
She just needed to find more ways to use this marriage to her advantage if Kaden was going to insist on running around however he pleased.
The village was nowhere near as busy as it had been the first time they had visited.
Only half of the stalls in the market square were open.
The bookshop and dressmaker’s were open, but she had no interest in new dresses.
Instead, she gravitated toward the stalls where Kaden had purchased produce in large amounts for the kitchens, mostly perusing it.
Her fingers brushed over the trinkets that one of the sellers had displayed on a sturdy wooden table. But before she could inquire about any of the pieces, a hand tapped her on the shoulder.
Emily tightened her shawl around her shoulders and turned to look at whoever it was. No doubt a guest from the wedding wanting to congratulate her or give her their well-wishes.
“Pardon me, lass,” the man started. His face wasn’t one Emily recognized. Though she supposed that wasn’t saying much, as there had been so many people in attendance and she had overindulged in wine. “I didnae mean to bother ye.”
“It’s nay trouble. What is the matter?” she asked.
“I was sent to fetch ye. I daenae mean to alarm ye, but yer faither’s carriage crashed after yer wedding.”
The very words made her numb.
“Was me maither in the carriage?”
“I apologize, I daenae ken.”
The man was wearing Muir colors, so he was clearly one of her husband’s guards.
She felt terrible for not telling Kaden where she was going before she left. Who knew how many guards he had sent out just to locate her?
She really ought to have made more of an effort to learn the guards’ faces and names. Then, at least she would have been able to greet this guard by name.
“Will ye take me to the carriage? Do we need to fetch a healer?” she asked, already starting to walk out of the square.
“Nay, I was only told to fetch ye and be on our way as quickly as possible.”
Emily nodded once. “Aye, I’ll fetch me horse and meet ye at the edge of the village.”
“Aye, hurry up,” the guard answered, then hurried off.
Emily hadn’t spoken to her father after the wedding.
She hadn’t even so much as said goodbye to him.
Her mother had attempted to come and find her after one of the dances that she had shared with Kaden, but she hadn’t spoken more than a couple of words to her.
Never mind the last conversation she had had with her father.
Neither of them had ended on a good note.
Just because she wasn’t ready to forgive them didn’t mean that she wanted anything bad to happen to them. If that was the last time she had been able to speak to them after leaving the air so clouded between them…
She was angry with them, disappointed even, but she had never wished for anything bad to happen to them. She didn’t know what she was going to do with herself if either of them were harmed.
Certainly, if they were in any real harm, Kaden would have had the guard inform her immediately. For whatever doubts she had about their intimacy, she didn’t have any doubts about whether or not he was honest with her about issues of this nature.
Her parents had to be all right. There was simply no other option. They had to be all right so that she could clear the air and apologize, so that her father would at least have the chance to apologize to her.
Panic started to build in her chest as she mounted her horse and took off toward the entrance of the village and the long winding path that would lead up to the castle or to the woods.
The guard was waiting for her on his own horse, but she didn’t stop to address him.
She simply followed the moment he turned and led his horse in the same direction.
“Faster,” she called.
The guard galloped faster, leading the way. She just hoped that they would get there in time to help.