As miracles go, this one had gone quite well.
Ellie’s bluestone concoction appeared to be working exactly as she had claimed it would. The infection, as she’d called it, hadn’t spread beyond the single ewe. And even that animal seemed much improved.
It was all he could ask for.
And yet he was miserable.
Caden ducked his head as he rode under the first gate into Dun Ard, not wanting to wait until the portcullis rose fully. He had an anxiety sitting on him he couldn’t quite understand and he simply wanted to be home, to see for himself that everyone was safe. He found himself searching the courtyard for a very specific someone as he entered.
“Have the gates been up since I left?” he called to the guard standing inside the wall.
“Only once.”
Caden froze, staring at the man, a hard knot forming in his midsection until the guard stammered on.
“Sir Simeon wanted to ride the countryside. The laird himself gave permission.”
A breath of relief puffed from Caden’s lungs and he nodded his approval, reining his horse toward the stables.
How foolish of him. Equally as senseless as he’d been earlier this day when he’d prepared to leave the protective walls of Dun Ard. He’d had no reason this morning to suspect Ellie would try to leave. Where would she go? His worry was without cause.
Yet in spite of what he knew to be sensible, the concern had nagged at him when he’d ridden out to check on the sheep. Strongly enough that he’d given specific orders about allowing no one through the gate, in or out, without good reason.
Even now he found himself scanning the bailey for the woman herself or her pack of animals, to no avail.
The apprehension churned in his stomach again as he dismounted and tossed the reins to the lad in the stable.
Gritting his teeth in irritation, he stomped outside, turning toward the back of the keep. There was no point in fighting it. He was tired and overanxious, nothing more. He only needed to know her whereabouts and then he could go inside and relax.
Surely he could locate one woman in this place without actually having to go near her. It was, after all, only to reassure himself. He had absolutely no intent to approach her, only the need to know she was safe.
“It will be a relief when Colin takes on this responsibility,” he muttered, but the words brought him no comfort.
He stopped just inside the deserted garden, only absently noting how the setting sun cast a magical glow on the bench his mother loved so. In the distance he found what he searched for—Ellie’s dogs, sitting patiently at the corner of the bathhouse.
Odd time of day for a bath, but who knew what mess the woman had gotten herself into this time. Someone would likely fill in the details of her latest misadventures for him before the day was over.
Relieved, he headed into the keep and snagged a fresh loaf of bread as he passed through the kitchens, grinning as Bridey yelled and shook her wooden spoon at him. The old cook had been chasing him out of her kitchen with the same empty threats for as long as he could remember, a ritual that normally soothed his soul.
Odd that now, even with his ridiculous worries put to rest, his anxiety continued to grow.
Rest would change that. He was tired and over-wrought.
Up the hallway he headed, toward the stairs, with little more than reaching the privacy of his own bed-chamber on his mind.
“Caden! Yer just in time. Join us.”
The door of Blane’s solar stood open and his brothers sat inside with his cousin, passing a whisky that Caden recognized as one of Blane’s finest.
“What’s all this?”
“A celebration of sorts,” Drew laughed, handing a filled cup to him.
Caden reached for the cup mechanically, feeling as if the blood drained from his body while he stood there, leaving him cold and lifeless.
This was it.
Colin had come to his senses at last. There would be a wedding.
He dropped into the empty chair in front of his cousin’s desk and placed the untouched cup in front of him.
“A celebration?” The words seemed to stick to his dry mouth but the very thought of the liquid in his cup made his stomach churn.
“Aye,” Blane responded, a satisfied grin on his lips. “I’ve spoken to the Lady Baxter this very afternoon. Soon, dear cousins, Catriona will be Lady MacKiernan. But that’s not all.”
He lifted his cup in a toast and Caden had no choice but to pick up his own. The whisky, his favorite, had the taste of weeds as he swallowed, waiting to hear the remaining news.
“Under the circumstances, we’ve agreed to dispense with the auld tradition of posting banns. We’re to be wed within the week. Should her brother think to reclaim her, I want to make sure he has no the least ground to stand upon.”
“I told you we should have done away with him before we left Wode Castle. Then you’d have no need for worries.”
Colin’s emotionless statement sent shivers up Caden’s spine and set him wondering when his brother had become so hard.
Could he have been mistaken about this being the proper match for Ellie?
“Still, yer timing is fortunate indeed for my own news, Cousin.” Colin propped his boots on the desk, leaning back in his big chair.
“And what would yer news be?” Caden forced the words out. This was what he’d waited so long to hear, what he wanted.
Wasn’t it?
“I’d no want to miss such as Blane’s wedding, but waiting through the posting of banns would surely have delayed it too long. As it stands, I can see that which I thought would never come to pass and still be ready to leave as soon as Dair returns from delivering Alycie and Steafan to Iona.”
Colin was leaving? He couldn’t do that. Not without Ellie. His brother had to wed the woman and take her away from Dun Ard. Away from him.
Caden leaned forward in his seat, the cup in his hand forgotten. “And where would it be that yer planning to go, little brother?”
“It’s rumored that Edward plans to attack Stirling soon. Dair and I will journey there to lend our swords to the castle’s defense.”
Confusion speared through Caden, melding with a growing anger. “What of Ellie?” The words burst forth as if of their own accord.
“The lass you traveled with?” Colin’s brow arched with the question. “What of her?”
“She’s to be yer wife, you great fool, that’s what. The Fae have sent her, just for you.”
“Wed her?” Colin snorted derisively. “I’ve no idea where you came up with such a foolish notion, but I’ll no be wedding anyone. Though a quick tumble may not be so bad, eh? She’s no so hard on the eyes as I…”
Colin’s words were cut away as Caden slammed his body into his brother’s, sending his chair and both men tumbling over backward to the floor. In the blur of his fury, Caden fought at the hands dragging him from his brother.
“You’ll no speak of her in that manner again, do you hear?” He jerked his arms away from Blane’s grasp and straightened his shirt, using the time to regain the control he’d lost.
“I’ve had more than enough of this,” Colin growled as Drew helped him to his feet, a restraining hand placed to his chest. “If you feel so strongly, perhaps it’s you should do the wedding.” His eyes narrowed as he wiped a trickle of blood from a cut on his lip. “It’s you she wants anyway.”
“Yer daft,” Caden spit, the rage only now ebbing from his body.
“No, he speaks the truth,” Drew stepped in. “And more the fool you are for no seeing it yerself. If you go on like this, you’ll have no one to blame but yerself for driving her away.”
“I’ve no idea what you speak of,” Caden muttered, guilt filling the empty space where only moments before anger had lived.
“Do you no?” Colin shook his head in disgust as he righted his chair and sat back down. “She’s done her best this whole day to escape the walls, fair driving the guards mad with her persistence. She’s determined to go home, Caden. And if yer half the man I’ve always believed you to be, you’ll act to prevent that. Dinna prove yerself to be the great idiot here.”
“I’ll hear no more of this.” They didn’t understand, didn’t know all that had happened. Didn’t know Ellie had already rejected him.
“Then yer a greater fool than I ever credited you. I’ve no desire to waste any more of my time on this nonsense.” Colin stood and strode from the room, leaving silence in his wake.
Caden stared at the doorway his brother had stormed out, his thoughts a jumble. He’d been so sure it was Colin she’d been sent for. And if not…
“You should go and speak to her.”
“I canna!” Caden turned, shouting at his brother. He took a deep breath, fighting for the control that had mysteriously deserted him before repeating more quietly, “I canna. She’s already told me she does no love me.”
“And you believed her?” Blane laughed, his brow knit in concern. “A woman says many things to preserve her pride. Just as men do.”
“In case you’ve forgotten,” Caden reminded, a bitterness he couldn’t prevent in his voice, “I’ve traveled this path once before. I’ll no ever again force my attentions on a woman who has no desire for me.” He’d ignored every sign with Alycie at a dear cost to his family. He’d sworn never to repeat that mistake and he intended to keep his vow.
“She’s no Alycie, Cade.” Drew spoke softly, crossing the space between them to lay a hand on Caden’s shoulder. “This one’s different. You must let the past lie in the past.”
This from his brother? He would not be lectured by Drew, especially not with advice the young man didn’t follow himself. It was more than he could accept now. He needed time to think. Time alone.
Pushing Drew’s hand away, Caden turned and hurried from the room, ignoring Blane’s call. Down the hall to the stairs he strode, once again bound for the privacy of his room.
His foot was on the first stair when the poorly muffled sobs of a child found his ears. He stopped and stepped back down, following the sound of weeping until he found its source.
Just around the corner from the stairs, on the floor, huddled up against the wall, he found her, the little red-haired kitchen lass, Anna. She turned her face up to him as he approached, her eyes large, her dirty little face wet with tears.
A desperate glance around the room quickly confirmed there were no women about to assist him. He’d have to deal with the crying child on his own. He couldn’t very well walk away from her. Besides, how hard could it be?
“What ails you, lass?” he asked, using his best no-nonsense voice and feeling entirely out of his element.
“I…I think I’ve done something verra bad, Master Caden,” the child sobbed, and dropped her forehead to her knees, hiding her face from him.
Perhaps gruff didn’t work as well with the wee lassies as it did with his shepherds.
He squatted down next to her and awkwardly patted her little shoulder. “You dinna ken whether or no yer actions were bad? Then what’s yer reason for all this bubbling you do?”
Anna looked up and launched her body into his, almost toppling them both to the floor. Her little arms clutched around his neck as she buried her grimy face in his shoulder.
“I’ve lost my best friend, that’s my reason.”
“Ah, so that’s it, is it?” Nothing more than a disagreement among children. That he could handle. “When I was lad, my mother always told me I should take responsibility for settling arguments with my friends. She taught me to go to them and shake their hand, no matter that I thought I was right, because their friendship was worth much more than my pride. Aye?”
Anna shook her head, grinding her nose into his shoulder. “You dinna ken at all.” The muffled words ended another sob. “It’s no a fight. It’s Ellie.”
“What did you say?” Caden grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away from him so that he could look into her eyes. He must have misunderstood her words because there was only one Ellie in the whole of Dun Ard. “How is Ellie involved in this?”
“That’s what I’m telling you. She’s left to go home. I’ll no see her ever again and it’s all my fault.”
“That’s impossible. The guards knew better than to let her out the gates.” He said the words as much to reassure himself as the child.
Anna hung her head, her whole body reflecting her misery. “It’s my fault, I tell you. I showed her a way out and told her how to reach the auld pool so she could use the magic.”
No. He wouldn’t believe it. The child was mistaken. Ellie was still here. In the bathhouse. He’d seen her beasts waiting for her.
All the same, he couldn’t discount what the lass said. If she was right, he had to act quickly. Just the thought of Ellie outside the gates of Dun Ard after dark, unprotected, tightened his chest so that he could hardly catch his breath.
“Show me,” he ordered, giving the girl a little shake to stop the infernal weeping. “Take me to the place you say she went out.”
She clasped her little hand around his fingers and pulled him along, down the hall past the now closed door of Blane’s solar, out through the kitchen, into the garden and beyond.
His stomach tightened as they neared the bathhouse. The sight of the waiting dogs, which before had appeared so reassuring to him, now took on an ominous cast.
They waited for a mistress who would not return.
“There.” Anna pointed to a spot under the building before getting to her knees and slipping inside the hole.
He squatted down to inspect the pathway. It was too small for his shoulders to manage, but the child moved through easily. And it was no stretch of his imagination to see Ellie being able to make her way through as well.
“To the auld pool, did you say?”
He waited only long enough for her affirmative reply before running toward the stables. If he took his fastest horse, he might reach her before it was too late.