Chapter 7
Elin dreamt of warmth and love, and when she opened her eyes the next morning, she found her hand tightly clutched around a piece of fabric.
She blearily blinked the sleep from her eyes and then gasped as she realized what she was holding.
Keir’s overcoat still hung over the bedpost, and she was holding it like a comforting blanket.
Flushing, she quickly let go of it, then slipped out of bed and stuffed the whole jacket underneath, hoping Keir would not notice.
He woke up not long later and swore as he stood. “Damned bench. Me back is killin’ me. I feel like a man twice me age,” he grumbled as he pulled on a fresh shirt.
Elin, perched on the edge of the bed, said, “Ye neednae sleep in here tae watch me if it’s hurtin’ ye. I think we’ve both been quite clear there’s nae point in tryin’ tae run again for me, and, anyway, ye can lock this hut from the outside. Ye can return tae yer bed if ye like.”
Keir gave her a strange look, then nodded. “Aye. I think I will,” he replied.
As they prepared for breakfast, neither mentioned the attempted fleeing nor the threats that had been made in response.
Despite those things weighing in the background, Elin felt oddly light as the two of them finally left the hut and made their way down to join the others for breakfast. It was easy to talk to Keir when she forgot about her reality before him.
The thought was as pleasant as it was terrifying—and dangerous.
They reached the others just as Noah was spooning out the last of the porridge. He smiled brightly at her as she sat down, and he handed her a bowl topped with fresh berries and a drizzle of honey.
“Me lady prefers hers this way. I thought ye might as well,” he explained. “Ye seem in need of a wee bit of joy. It was the least I could do.”
She smiled genuinely at last. “Thank ye,” she said. “Ye’re Noah Black, aye? I’ve heard of ye.”
“Ye seem very well-informed,” Noah replied. He leaned forward. “What else do ye ken?”
Keir shifted closer to her on the bench, his arm casually leaning against her as he draped it over the back of the seat.
The movement surprised her, but she didn’t mind the warmth, and she didn’t protest. Theon and Briana seemed to notice, though, but they didn’t say or do anything other than exchange another of their looks, while Graeme was too occupied with his breakfast to comment one way or the other.
“I ken many things,” she replied. It would be best for her to ingratiate herself with the group if she was to be stuck here, wouldn’t it?
If Keir wouldn’t teach her, perhaps she could learn skills from the others.
At the very least, it couldn’t hurt to make friends until Eamon found her.
“Includin’ how tae sew. I ken Briana was goin’ tae fix me torn underskirt and her robe that she so kindly loaned me, but I was wonderin’ if I might do it meself. ”
Briana looked surprised, but she smiled. “If that’s what ye want. I’m excited tae see what ye can do.”
Excited by the approval, even for something so minor, Elin straightened up. “Excellent. May I have a needle and some thread? Preferably the colors of the garments, but whatever ye have will do in a pinch. I ken how tae hide a stitch when necessary.”
“Nay,” Graeme said cheerfully. “Ye cannae.”
Elin frowned, the wind leaving her a little. “Eh?”
Nudging Graeme in the side, Briana explained, “We dinnae have any. It’s been some time since we fetched basic supplies, and I’m afraid I used the last of our clothesmakin’ materials fixin’ Keir’s ruined shirt when ye got back.”
Deflated suddenly, Elin could only manage an, “Oh.”
“We can get some,” Keir said gruffly. “If that’s what ye want. It’s nae hardship if it’ll make ye happier tae be here.”
She turned her head to look at him, but he was carefully avoiding her eyes.
Noah, on the other hand, was smiling again. “I was headin’ out in a few days tae the nearest village tae get some things, but I can go today if it suits ye better, Elin. Would ye like tae come along?”
“Ye’d take me?” she asked, genuinely touched by the offer. “I… that would be wonderful. I’d love tae accompany ye.”
“Excellent. We can leave now if ye like. Do ye ken how tae ride?” Noah asked her.
Keir stood. “She doesnae need tae. She’ll be ridin’ with me. I’ve some things of me own tae pick up, and I need tae keep an eye on her.”
Elin folded her arms. “I’m perfectly capable, and I’m sure Noah’s nae lettin’ me flee. There’s nae need—”
“I’m comin’,” Keir told her sharply. “Go get yer cloak. We’re leavin’ in ten minutes.”
Something about his voice brokered no argument.
She nodded and, with one more glance at Noah, hurried off toward her cabin.
She heard the men talking behind her, but she could not make out the words.
Something inside her told her that even if she could, she would be a long way from understanding their true meaning.
When she returned a few minutes later, Keir had already saddled up Nightwind. The horse whinnied and leaned forward when he saw her, and Elin took her time petting his nose and pampering him before finally clambering up to sit with Keir. Noah, on another horse, had already rode ahead.
“Ye really are a brute,” she snapped while Keir settled himself. “Why Nightwind? Ye must truly feel jealous of Eamon tae want tae parade his horse around while ye imprison his woman.”
She could not see his face behind her, nor could she make out his tone as he replied, “His woman? Is that what ye are?” His cloak rustled as he must have shaken his head. “The way I see it, the horse is mine now. And ye—”
Her breath caught. “I’m what?”
Keir didn’t answer as he wrapped his arms around her waist to take the reins.
Her body reacted to the warmth of his chest pressing against her back, and it took her whole power to stop herself from arching into him.
Gritting her teeth, she pushed the feelings away, focusing only on needling this man who had taken everything from her.
“There was nae need tae accompany me,” she told him in as derisive a voice as she could manage. “Is it so difficult for ye tae be away from me for even a moment?”
He grunted, flicking the reins. Nightwind started off at a trot, and Keir said, “I assure ye, if conditions were different and I had me own way, I’d gladly never see ye again.”
Elin huffed, her body stiffening as he returned her mockery in kind. She’d expected another battle of wits, but instead she fell silent as she tried to ignore the way his jibe had felt in her heart.
Noah told them that this village was called Caldershore for the ocean inlet that pooled into a small saltwater loch nearby.
Once, he told them, it had been a thriving business port, home to many market stalls and teeming with life.
Since the business trade had moved closer to the centre of the clan lands and to busier ports further south, Caldershore had dried up, and its coin and life had gone with it.
Keir didn’t know how much of what Noah said was fact, but the remnants of vivacity he saw before him were nothing new.
The people of the village looked tired and worn, many stalls and shops bare and abandoned, and the products that were on sale were clearly of low quality.
A few staple stores survived, but this place was dwindling, and like so many villages Keir had seen that had been abandoned by their laird, this one would soon disappear beneath the waves.
Noah grimaced as they walked further into the marketplace and passed a group of children sitting listlessly at the side of the road, one of them coughing into a dirty rag. They looked up as the newcomers passed, but none of them even bothered to beg.
“Can we give them some coin?” Elin asked.
She did not sound surprised by their plight, simply…
tired. Keir was about to agree, but before he did, Noah nodded and approached the children, giving them each a shiny silver piece.
When he returned, Elin granted him one of her rare, bright smiles.
Keir scowled slightly, not understanding why he was so annoyed but knowing that he was being ridiculous.
“Ye seem like ye’ve seen such sights before, Miss Elin,” Noah said, making it not quite a question.
Elin nodded. “I grew up in a place like this. Me home village of Bancraig was a place of ghosts already by the time I was born. The orphaned lassies, and there were many of us, were kept by a tough old spinster who had too much kindness and too little coin. She did her best, but we grew used tae havin’ nothin’.
Everyone around us was the same, after all. ”
Keir frowned at this revelation.
Their horses were secured at the front of the village, and in the time it had taken them to get dismounted and walk this far, Elin had barely said a word.
Why was she chatting so freely with Noah now?
Why was she revealing parts of her past so easily to him, when she had steadfastly refused to tell Keir anything since the moment they met?
“That place was at the edge of the Grant lands?” Noah asked.
“Aye. It was the kind of place where people lived and died without a smile. But as I got older, I got luckier—I’d catch the eye of a merchant who’d want me to join him on his journey, or a barkeep who wanted a lass tae attract his customers.
So long as I did me work, I always had food and shelter, and I slowly made me way closer and closer tae the inner circle,” Elin explained.
Keir felt sick at the thought of these men taking advantage of a young woman in such a way. His fingers itched for his sword as though he could see them all right now, and he itched for violence in a way he struggled to bring under control.
“And that’s how ye met Grant? Eamon, I mean?” Noah pressed, his voice open and honest in its curiosity.
“It was. The old English merchant I was travelin’ with had taken it into his head tae take a bonny Scottish lass back as his mistress tae show off tae court.
When we passed by Castle Grant, Eamon took a fancy tae me.
He persuaded the merchant tae give me up, and soon he had me livin’ in me own wee house near the castle.
” She smiled, though there was something behind her eyes as she did.
“I ken what ye think, but he’s taken care of me. ”
“So he took ye and made ye his mistress instead? And he didnae even bring ye intae the castle?” Keir snapped, unreasonably angry. “I suppose he couldnae, when ye were one of many. How can ye allow yerself tae be treated this way?”
Elin glared at him, and Noah gave him a look. Keir ignored them both, still fuming, and his fury only grew as Noah and Elin fell into another lighter conversation, acting as though they had forgotten him entirely.
Keir tried to tell himself that he didn’t care.
He couldn’t care.
So what if he kept saying the wrong thing every time he talked to Elin? So what if every word she said to him was spiteful or hurtful and he was just as bad in turn? And so what if she opened up to Noah, smiled at Noah, walked closely to Noah, and generally seemed to like him much better?
Why would Keir care about a thing like that?
After all, Elin clearly went where the coin and power was—-like so many women had to in this world. It was no wonder that she would prefer gentle, easygoing Noah with his respected name and high skills. Any woman would prefer that to a surly bastard with nothing to show for himself.
When he focused again, they’d stopped beside a farm shop and Noah was examining the produce in the window.
“I’m gonnae go in and try tae get a good deal for some of that grain,” Noah informed them. “Why dinnae the two of ye go ahead and find that needle and thread?”
“We’ll do that,” Keir said immediately. “Come on.”
Elin gave him a look, but he didn’t understand what she was trying to say with it.
She nodded briefly, then the two of them set off down the path.
Keir’s hand settled lightly on the small of Elin’s back, barely brushing her, but nonetheless firm in place.
He tried to ignore its meaning even as he performed the action, but he knew what it would mean to anyone who was watching, and he had no intention of changing that.
Stay back, his hand warned. She’s mine.
But if Elin noticed, she did not react as they continued toward what came next.