Page 70 of Taken By the Heartless Highlander
Daisy sighed. “One of the servin' girls said ye can make a love potion that will ensnare a man. She said her maither told her that was what healers were famous for. Maybe I should try it!”
Keira shook her head, frowning at her sister disapprovingly. “That’s the kind of nonsense Lucas would accuse me of. Have I ever offered such a thing?” As Daisy’s easy smile faded, Keira quickly continued, bumping her shoulder gently. “Love is a matter of the heart, flower; ye cannae manufacture it any more than ye can manufacture hate. Love has to be earned before it can be given.”
“It must be nice,” Daisy said longingly, “to care for someone and be cared for like that.”
Kiera was about to reply when someone cleared their throat. Keira turned to find Fenella standing behind them.
Fenella’s expression was far colder than it had been; her mouth was pursed in a look of disapproval, and her back was tense as a bowstring.
“Fenella?” Kiera asked. Daisy turned, her arm hooking around Keira’s as she watched the maid. Fenella’s presence clearly discomforted Daisy, and Keira could understand why; her gaze was positively hostile.
“This came for ye,” Fenella said, her eyes hard and dejected as she held out an envelope.
Keira took it, and as soon as the delivery had been made, Fenella turned on her heel, swishing away from them down the corridor.
As she reached the archway to the stairs, she turned and gave Keira one last withering look before she descended.
“What was that about?” Daisy asked in confusion, but Keira could not answer. She was staring at the note in her hand—the curved writing so familiar it sent dread running down her spine.
Keira broke the seal with trembling fingers, but before she opened it entirely, she looked back at Daisy.
“Go to yer room, flower,” she said firmly.
“But what is it?”
“Go!”
Daisy winced, and then her eyes filled with tears as she ran to her chambers. Keira could hear her sobs as she slammed her bedroom door, but she would rather that than Daisy see what Lucas had written.
She opened the letter to find one line scrawled in a spiking hand, each word looking more unhinged than the last.
In two days, ye’ll be mine.
Keira swallowed, anxiety fluttering in her gut and making her throat dry.
She stalked away from the window and her brother’s high, joyous laughter. All the happiness and contentment she had been feeling had been snuffed out by those six, awful words.
She reached the entryway to the staircase where Fenella had disappeared and walked down the stone steps, feeling as if the walls were closing in around her as she descended.
She made her way out to the courtyard, where Scott and Noah had ceased their sparring and were standing beside the fountain.
“Before every battle?” Scott was saying.
“Aye,” Noah replied, “Callum thinks it helps clear the mind, but I put nae store by it.”
Noah protested loudly as Scott bent forward and dunked his head into the water, standing back up and flicking his head back with some force, spraying Noah with a great deal of water in the process.
Noah looked at him with exasperated affection. “Aye. Like that.”
“I feel better already,” Scott said, grinning, but then he turned and saw Keira approaching, and instantly, the grin disappeared. “Kee? What is it?”
“I must speak with Laird MacAllen,” she said quickly. Noah’s eyes were fixed on her, his hand running through his sodden hair as he tied it in a loose knot at the base of his neck. “Could ye give us a moment?” she said, looking at Scott.
Scott stood up straighter, his eyes angry and determined. “I’m a fighter now. I dinnae need to be kept in the dark about what is happening. It’s that villain again, isn’t it? I kenned he wasnae done with ye.”
Keira glanced between them, at a loss for words, but her gaze was caught by Noah’s dark eyes watching her.
“I thought ye dinnae wish to speak to me,” Noah said curiously, his hand on his belt, looking large and intimidating in the bright sunshine.
