Page 64 of Bound to a Scot
“I will.”
“All right. Sit tight, lass.”
Maddox picked his way out of the forest and to the edge of the village. He walked casually, but kept his eyes moving, searching the grounds around him as closely as if he was on a battlefield. The village was abuzz with activity as people went about their daily chores, vendors hawked their goods, and others did their shopping in the market. The air was redolent with the aroma of sizzling meats and vegetables, making his stomach rumble onceagain. As tempted as he was to pick up something to eat, he knew time was of the essence. They’d eat once they returned to the castle.
His body tense as he listened carefully in case Emmeline screamed, Maddox quickly made his way over to the tailor and picked up Cecilia’s wedding dress—the reason Emmeline had come to the village in the first place. That done, he walked through the crowded streets of the village, making his way to the stables. He didn’t expect to find assassins looking for her lurking about, but he wasn’t going to take anything for granted either. He wasn’t willing to roll the dice with Emmeline’s life.
He watched everybody carefully, searching their faces for anybody who didn’t seem to belong. Anybody who seemed to be out of place and anybody who seemed to be there for nefarious reasons. He didn’t see anybody who seemed to be lurking about. Nobody he’d crossed paths with raised any red flags in his mind and he made it to the stable without incident. After giving the stableboy a few more coins, he led the horses back to the edge of the village, where Emmeline waited for him in the trees.
Cutting a glance around him, just to make sure nobody was watching, Maddox whistled, giving her the signal he’d told her to listen for. He waited and as the seconds ticked by and she did not appear, a cold fist of fear gripped his heart and squeezed. Maddox’s throat grew dry, and he searched the trees in front of him. A moment later, he let out a sigh of relief when he spotted her picking her way through the bushes.
As he watched her coming toward him, Maddox was once again gripped by just how deep his feelings ran for her. And being with her had only served to reinforce them. He needed to be with her. He wasn’t sure how he was going to make that happen, but Maddox knew he had to do everything in his power to see that it did.
He helped her up onto his horse then led her along a path that ran around the village rather than through it just in case there were more assassins lurking about he hadn’t spotted. It wasn’t as if he knew what an assassin might look like, so he thought it best to add the extra time to their trip back to Castle Macfie rather than cut through the village.
As they rode, he noticed her stealing glances at him. The expression on her face though, was unreadable to him. He had no idea what she was thinking. He simply knew that she was thinking about something.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Nothin’.”
“Ye ken ye can talk tae me.”
She sighed and stared down at the reins in her hand. “I just dinnae ken how we’re goin’ tae navigate this. What happened?—”
“Was beautiful,” he said. “’Twas amazin’.”
“Aye. It was,” she agreed. “But we cannae dae that again, Maddox. Nae matter how badly we want tae be. Burchard will never let me go. Especially nae tae ye.”
He frowned, knowing deep down that she was right. No matter how great his enthusiasm to find a way to make it happen, he had to admit that Macfie would never let her go. He was a prideful man who would likely see her dead before he accepted that she wanted to be with somebody else. Especially one of his supposed allies.
As they rode, he found himself thinking back to finding her on the verge of being killed by those three men. Hired swords, if he had to guess. But that led back to the one question that continued echoing through his mind—who had hired them? Who wanted to see her dead? Maddox racked his brain and the only name that came to him was Burchard. But if he’d hired the assassins, why? Why did he want to murder his own wife?
“We need tae be careful, Maddox,” she said. “Ye ken Burchard is a petty, vengeful man.”
“Aye. I ken. And we will be.”
“I am grateful tae ye for savin’ me yesterday. I really thought I was goin’ tae die.”
“We need tae teach ye tae fight back.”
“I ken how tae fight. But the water… it made me freeze up. I was so scared…”
Her voice trailed off and Maddox nodded, understanding why she had put up so little resistance. It was her fear of the water that had crippled her.
“Well, since ye ken how tae fight, we need tae teach ye tae get over yer fear of the water,” he said. “If ye can beat that, ye’ll be unstoppable.”
She laughed softly. “Ye’re goin’ tae teach me nae tae fear the water, eh?”
He nodded. “Aye. I will.”
Emmeline eyed him for a long moment then nodded. “All right. I’d like that.”
“Good.”
A turn in the road took them to the main path into the castle. By then it was afternoon, and the light was slowly fading. As they passed beneath the sallyport though, Maddox saw Emmeline sit up straighter in her saddle, her body tense. He followed her gaze and felt his stomach turn over on itself when he saw Laird Macfie along with half a dozen armed and armored men standing in a line before the main door to the keep.
“He wasnae supposed tae be back until tomorrow,” Emmeline murmured.
