Chapter 27
When Skye learned that Dougal was leaving the next morning, she wanted to scream. She walked in on him and Kenna whispering to each other just outside the study.
Kenna kissed his cheek before walking past her. “Come find me later, lass. Dougal has something to tell ye.”
Skye’s stomach dropped. “Is everything all right with Lily?”
Dougal smiled, and her pulse stuttered. He rarely smiled. Most of his smiles were reserved for Lily.
“Aye, she is fine. Ye daenae need to worry about her for the time being. She has made a full recovery.”
Skye let out a shaky breath. “Thank God. I was worried she had relapsed.”
“Nay, she is fine. Confused and groggy, but she is doing much better.”
She thought back to Kenna’s words. What could she possibly have been talking about?
“Then what did ye want to tell me?”
Dougal took a deep breath. “I’m leaving for the week to take care of business.”
Her heart sank. She was afraid to ask what he meant by that, but deep down she knew. He didn’t have to say that he was going after Angus. It was clear from the look on his face.
“Where are ye going?”
The words tumbled out, despite her best efforts not to ask. She had to know. She needed him to confirm that her fears were warranted.
“To Angus.” His jaw was set hard. There was no arguing with him about his decision.
Skye wanted to grab and shake him, wanted to beg him not to leave. It would mean war and perhaps his death, and Lily would be caught in between. She had already been through enough.
“That sounds like war.”
“Perhaps it is.” He held her gaze, unflinching. “I willnae allow him to take her. She is mine and has been since the moment I brought her home with me.”
“She’s yers,” Skye said quietly. “Whosever blood runs through her veins.”
“Aye, she is.”
“So am I,” she added, before she could stop herself. “Or so ye’ve told me often enough.”
His expression softened, just slightly. “So are ye.”
“For now,” she said, bitter despite herself.
“For now, lass.” He stepped closer, closing the distance between them. “We cannae allow ourselves to do anything foolish, like care for each other. Elsie cared for that guard, and it killed her.”
“But—”
Dougal reached out to stroke her cheek. “Please, Skye.”
She sighed but nodded. “I hope ye get the justice ye are looking for, Dougal. I do.”
“That’s nae what I asked for.” His thumb stilled against her cheek. “I asked ye to be careful. With yer heart, I mean. Nae just with Angus.”
“Too late for that, I think.” The words slipped free before she could catch them, and she felt her whole body flush.
Dougal sucked in a sharp breath. “Skye?—”
“Daenae.” She closed her eyes briefly. “Daenae say me name like that if ye mean to walk out that door tomorrow and put yerself between Lily and a man with a sword. I cannae bear it twice in one day.”
“I have to go.”
“I ken.” She opened her eyes again, and there was no bitterness left in her now, only something raw. “I ken ye have to. I’m only asking ye to come back.”
“I will.” His hand cupped the side of her face, and for a moment, neither of them breathed. “I have too much waiting for me here nae to.”
She searched his face, looking for the lie in it, and found none. “Ye’d better mean that.”
“I do.” His forehead nearly touched hers. “I mean it more than I’ve meant anything in a long while.”
The fire crackled behind them, and neither moved for a long moment, caught in something neither of them dared to name aloud.
“Go to bed, Skye,” Dougal said finally, his voice rough with the effort of stepping back. “I need ye rested, clear-headed, and here when I return.”
“I will be.” She caught his hand before he could fully withdraw it.
He left her standing there with her heart still pounding long after the door had closed behind him.
Watching Dougal leave after saying a tearful goodbye to Lily was more than Skye could bear. The girl was already distraught and confused by what had happened. She didn’t understand why her father was leaving so soon after.
Skye held her as Dougal rode away, the two of them standing there until his horse vanished down the road.
Lily went to her room afterward to lie down. She claimed she wasn’t tired, but the moment her head hit the pillow, she drifted off. “Da,” she kept muttering under her breath, breaking Skye’s heart every time.
Skye stroked her cheek until she calmed down, only daring to leave the room once she was sure that Lily had settled down. Dougal had to confront Angus, she knew this, but it didn’t make it easier to accept.
Moments later, she found Kenna in the sitting room, the old woman already reaching for parchment and quill with the same brisk determination she’d shown while planning the treasure hunt weeks ago.
She had bid Dougal farewell early in the day, wanting to give Skye and Lily a moment alone with him to say goodbye.
Skye appreciated that more than the woman could ever know.
“He’s gone, then,” Kenna said, not looking up.
“Aye.” Skye sank into the chair beside her, the weight of Dougal’s parting words heavy in her chest. “For the week, he said.”
“He’ll be back before the cèilidh. He gave me his word, and me son doesnae break his word lightly.” Kenna set down the quill, studying her face with open concern.
“The cèilidh?”
She smiled. “I managed to convince him to throw a cèilidh to celebrate Lily’s recovery. He didnae think it was a good idea, but I assured him that it’s the only way to show the world she is one of us—which she is.”
“If ye think it’s a good idea, then I agree with ye.”
“Dougal will be back in time, Skye. Ye neednae worry about that. I ken me son; he wouldnae miss celebrating his daughter’s recovery for the world.” She paused then. “Ye look as though ye’ve swallowed something bitter, lass.”
“I’m only tired.”
“Mm.” Kenna clearly didn’t believe her, but she let it slide. “We’ve a cèilidh to plan and precious little time to plan it properly. Best we set our minds to that, daenae ye think? It’ll do us both good.”
“Aye. What do ye need from me?”
“First, we must think of Lily.” Kenna’s expression softened. “She’s been through a fright none of us can properly imagine, and though the healer says she’s mending well, I worry about her spirits more than her body.”
“She has been quieter than usual.”
It hurt Skye to see Lily clam up the way she had.
The girl had always been joyful and talkative since Skye arrived at the castle.
She was the reason why Skye had felt at home so soon after arriving.
But her spark had dimmed since the poisoning, and it was all that horrid man’s fault, if Dougal’s suspicions were correct.
“Far quieter. Nae so much as a peep about her goat in two days, and that alone tells me plenty.” Kenna tapped her chin thoughtfully.
“We need something to bring the light back to her eyes before the cèilidh, something that’s entirely hers, nae just another celebration thrown in her honor that she must sit through and smile for. ”
“A gift, perhaps? Something small, just for her.”
“Aye, that’s the spirit.” Kenna’s eyes brightened. “What did ye have in mind?”
Skye mulled it over. “She loves stories. And animals. Perhaps… a book, written just for her. Stories of her own, about Blossom and the goat and all their adventures together. I could write them out, and ye could help me choose which tales she’d love best.”
She could put her skills to use and give Lily a present she would surely remember. The girl loved her stories. She was always begging her to tell her a story, so she would always have a story to read even after Skye went back home.
No. Skye wasn’t going to think about that right now.
She wasn’t going to think about leaving.
She knew she would be going home sooner than she realized, but right now her entire focus was on Lily, as it should be.
There was no one else she would rather think of than the little girl who had captured her heart.
Dougal had also captured a part of her.
Kenna nodded earnestly. “Skye, that’s a fine idea! A book of her very own, filled with stories of her mischief. She’d treasure it above any cèilidh, I daresay.”
“I could start today, if ye think it a good use of me time.”
“I think it’s the very best use of yer time.” Kenna reached over, squeezing her hand gently. “Ye’ve a gift for kenning exactly what the child needs, lass. I hope ye ken how much everything ye’ve done for her these past weeks means.”
Skye’s throat tightened unexpectedly. “She’s easy to love.”
“Aye, she is. And so are ye, though ye seem determined nae to believe it.” Kenna’s gaze turned knowing, though she didn’t press further.
“Go on, then. Fetch yer pages, and we’ll set to work.
I’ll tell ye every bit of mischief the lassie has caused since she was old enough to walk, and ye can turn it into something she’ll keep forever. ”