Chapter 30
The planning continued.
As she had promised, Freya gave Lily the dance lessons she so desperately wanted.
“Like this.” She demonstrated the step slowly, her skirts swaying with an ease Skye had never managed to match in her entire life. She had tried, but her feet were always injured in the process. “One, two, turn. See?”
Lily copied her almost flawlessly on the first try.
Freya laughed. “Ye’re a natural, Lily. Far more than Skye, I’m afraid.”
Skye huffed. “I am right here, ye ken.”
“We arenae saying ye are bad, but—” Freya began.
“But ye arenae as good as Freya. Though ye are good at so many other things, like telling stories!” Lily interrupted with a grin.
“Aye, me sister is quite the storyteller,” Freya agreed.
Skye frowned. “I can dance. Let me show ye.”
She tried and stumbled almost immediately.
Lily’s laughter rang out bright and unrestrained across the hall, joined a moment later by Freya’s. Even Skye couldn’t help but laugh at herself for missing steps she’d practiced a dozen times that week.
“I suppose I will have to practice some more.”
Freya took a step back. “I daenae want to teach ye again. Me poor feet willnae be able to handle it, and ye are a lot bigger than ye were when we were children.”
“I am nae asking ye to teach me, Freya.”
Lily raised her hand. “I can teach meself, Skye! Watch me.”
She twirled around, taking Skye’s hands in her own. Skye laughed, allowing her to ‘teach’ her to dance. Thankfully, she didn’t step on Lily’s feet, which Lily was desperately trying to avoid.
“Well done, Lily!” Freya praised. “I think yer da is going to be so excited when he sees how well ye dance.”
“Ye really think so?” Lily asked, her eyes wide with excitement.
Skye nodded. “Yer da is going to be very pleased with what ye have learned, Lily. He’ll probably want to dance with ye too.”
Lily squealed. “I’ve always wanted to dance with Da! It’s going to be so fun!” With that, she ran off, shouting her grandmother’s name.
Freya held her hand over her mouth. “Oh Lord, she is so precious.”
“Isnae she?” Skye whispered, unable to hide her affection for the small girl. “She’s managed to wrap me around her finger.”
“Aye, I think it’s impossible for that nae to happen,” Freya admitted. “I’ve only been here for a short while, but I think she’s starting to wrap me around her finger too.”
“Lily has that gift,” Skye said with a laugh.
“Does her faither have the same effect on ye?”
She smoothed her skirts, trying to avoid her sister’s eyes. “It isnae the same. Lily is a child.”
“And her faither is a man ye’ve defended to strangers before ye kent him, worried over while he was away, and gone soft in the face over more than once since I arrived.
” Freya’s teasing smile faded into something more gentle, much to Skye’s relief.
“Ye neednae hide it from me, Skye. I’ve seen enough already.
I only wish ye would admit it to yerself.
Do ye ken how much easier that would make everything? ”
“What exactly do ye see?”
“That ye care for him, far more than a false betrothal ought to allow, which I kent would happen. It was why I was so against ye coming here in the first place,” Freya said softly. “But there is nothing ye can do about it now. That ship has sailed, and he has already stolen yer heart.”
Skye said nothing, which was answer enough.
Freya reached over, squeezing her hand. “I willnae push further. Only promise me that ye’ll guard yerself, whatever comes of it. I’d nae see ye hurt by a man, however fond his daughter has made ye of the whole household.”
“I’ll try,” Skye said quietly. “Though I fear it is already too late for that.”
She did not want to speak of Dougal any further. It wasn’t because she couldn’t handle Freya’s light teasing. It was because she missed him. He had only been gone a few days, but it felt longer than that.
She had busied herself with taking care of Lily, wanting to do whatever it took to distract the girl from thinking about her father. She and Kenna had both agreed to do it the day after Dougal left. Freya being here helped with the distraction, but it didn’t help Skye stop thinking about him.
Every quiet moment made her thoughts drift back to him: the sound of his voice, the warmth of his hand on her back, the way he’d looked at her the morning he rode out, as though there were words he’d left unsaid.
She had caught herself glancing toward the gates more often than she cared to admit, listening for hoofbeats that never came.
“Ye’ve gone quiet again,” Freya observed, watching her closely. “Thinking of him, I bet.”
“I’m thinking of Lily,” Skye lied.
Freya smiled. “Of course ye are.”
Skye huffed. “Could ye at least pretend to believe me?”
Freya threw her head back and laughed. “I daenae think I could do it without laughing, Skye. I’m sorry.”
Sometimes it was better to leave things be, and this was one of those times.
“Let’s just talk about something else,” Skye muttered.
Freya nodded, but the knowing smile never faded from her lips.
Finally, the day they had all been waiting for came.
The courtyard was already alive with music and firelight when the thud of hooves on gravel drew every head toward the gates.
Skye’s heart lurched before she’d even turned to look, some part of her already knowing who it was.
Dougal.
He dismounted in one fluid motion, travel-worn but unmistakably himself.
For a moment, neither of them moved, the air between them thick with everything left unsaid over the past week. Then Lily broke the spell, barreling across the courtyard in her best dress, ribbons trailing loose from her braids.
Dougal caught her easily, cradling her against his chest despite the dust still clinging to his cloak. “There’s me lass.” His voice was rough with something that wasn’t quite relief or exhaustion, but a mix of both. “Look at ye, all dressed up and bonnie.”
“I have a new dress! And Blossom has a ribbon! And the goat too, though he tried to eat his.”
“Did he now?” Dougal’s mouth curved, the first genuine smile Skye had seen cross his face since he’d ridden out. “I’m nae surprised in the least.”
Kenna reached them next, her hands smoothing over his shoulders as though checking for injuries, the way she likely had every time he’d ridden home from battle since he was a boy. “Ye look tired, son.”
“I am tired. But it’s done, Maither. Or near enough to done.”
“We’ll speak of it later.” Kenna’s eyes flicked briefly toward Skye, a meaningful look in them, before she pressed a kiss to his cheek. “For now, welcome home. Ye’ve a cèilidh to attend and a daughter who’s talked of naught else but yer return for three days straight.”
“Have ye now, little one?”
Lily nodded solemnly against his shoulder. “I told everyone of yer promise. And ye kept it.”
“I always keep me promises to ye.”
Kenna excused herself then, murmuring something about the honey cakes. However, Skye suspected it was more courtesy than necessity, for she was left standing there while Dougal set Lily down to dash off toward the musicians.
“Ye’re back,” she said quietly, unable to think of anything more clever to say.
“Aye.” His eyes settled on hers, making her breath catch despite herself. “I missed ye more than I care to admit, lass.”
“I missed ye too.” The words slipped free before she could stop them. “The castle felt… quieter without ye in it.”
“Quieter.” Something shifted in his expression as he stepped closer. “Is that all it was?”
“Nay,” she admitted, her cheeks warming. “It wasnae only that.”
“Good.” His voice dropped low, for her ears only. “Because I’ve thought of little else but ye the entire ride home. There are things I mean to tell ye, once the night settles and we’ve a moment alone.”
Before she could ask what he meant, a hush fell over the courtyard, every head turning toward the gates as a second rider approached.
“Dougal, what is he doing here?” Skye asked, unable to keep the venom from her voice.
Angus had barely dismounted before he said it, loud enough for the whole courtyard to hear.
"The world may as well ken it now. She's me granddaughter, and Dougal's daughter in every way that matters, and any man who thinks to use that truth against her will answer to both of us.
" A murmur rippled through the gathered guests, but no one dared meet his eye, or Dougal's, long enough to argue.
Dougal sighed. “As ye can see, he didnae hurt her, Skye. It was someone else.”
Skye wasn’t sure she believed it, but before she could say anything else, Lily rushed over and looked at Angus with wide eyes.
“Is that man mean?” she whispered.
Dougal shook his head. “Nay, little one, he isnae.”
“But I heard ye talking about the last time he was here. He was mean to ye and Skye.”
“Sometimes people do mean things because they cannae do anything else. It’s why we must give them a chance to explain.”
Lily slowly and carefully approached Angus. Skye wanted to rush towards the girl, scoop her up into her arms, and whisk her away, but Dougal shook his head, stilling her.
“I’m Lily. Do ye want to see me baby goat and Blossom?”
Angus made a choked sound. “Who is Blossom?”
“Me kitten!” Lily said brightly. She grabbed his hand and pulled him along with her.
Dougal glanced toward his mother.
“We’ll watch over her,” she assured him, pulling Stephen along. He didn’t need to be told twice.
Skye wasn’t sure how she felt about Angus being here. It felt surreal.
“I cannae believe he is here, Dougal.”
“Aye, I understand. I cannae believe it either,” he muttered, his jaw tight. “When I arrived, he offered a peace treaty. I never thought he would suggest such a thing.”
“What changed his mind?”
He let out a slow breath. “I cannae say. It could be grief, perhaps, or shame. A man who carries guilt for a long time will eventually be brought to change should it break him enough.”
“Do ye trust him?”
“Nay,” Dougal said without hesitation. “But he will have eyes on him no matter where he goes. It willnae hurt to let him get to ken Lily.”
Skye did not want Angus near Lily at all after the way he had acted that day. She wasn’t even convinced that he hadn’t poisoned her, even if he claimed he didn’t. It all seemed too convenient.
“Is that yer sister I see?” Dougal asked, glancing over his shoulder.
She laughed. “Aye. Freya arrived days after ye left. I didnae think she would visit so soon. She taught Lily to dance.”
“Did she now?” he asked, chuckling. “I look forward to seeing the outcome.”
“The lessons went better for Lily than they did for me.”
Dougal tilted his head to the side. “Does this mean ye willnae agree to a dance with me?”
Skye blushed. “I wouldnae put ye through the pain of dancing with me.”
“Nonsense. Ye will save a dance for me.”
“Dougal—”
“I willnae take nay for an answer.”
Skye could only nod. Even if she could not dance if her life depended on it, she still wanted to share a dance with him, regardless of anyone who looked upon them.
Freya looked over at her and grinned. She was enjoying this a little too much, as far as Skye was concerned.
Dougal arched an eyebrow. “Yer sister seems to be enjoying herself.”
Skye sighed. “Ye have no idea.”
Freya was going to tease her about this later when it was just the two of them. She was sure of it.