Page 90 of The Highlander's Auctioned Hellion
“They arenae yer concern any longer,” Callum spat. “Or did yer daughter fail to mention that she abandoned them, leavin’ them to fend for themselves?”
Moira gave a high, coquettish laugh, stepping past her father. She showed no fear, her eyes fixed on Callum and never wavering, not even to acknowledge her daughters.
“Abandoned them?” she asked, her lip quivering. “I was wracked with grief. I needed some time alone to gather myself. And now I have come to claim them.”
Callum had said she was an accomplished actress. Lydia could see it now, how weaker men might be manipulated by her warm smiles and fluttering eyes. But there was cruelty there, too. A strain in her features, her fingers holding a white-knuckled grip to her skirts.
“Ye arenae welcome here,” Callum said firmly. “Leave me castle and ye willnae have to face the consequences.”
“Eilis, Amy, come here,” Moira’s voice was sharp, echoing against the walls around them.
Eilis was standing closest to Callum and gripped his leg more tightly, while Amy wrapped her arms around Lydia, almost toppling her over.
As she struggled to keep her balance, Moira’s eyes snapped to her. There was a moment when the pale blue eyes were venomous. They narrowed, as she ran her eyes over Lydia’s figure, a smirk on her face.
“Girls!” she barked again, but Amy only tightened her grip.
“We dinnae want to go with maither!” Eilis piped up desperately. “We want to stay with Uncle Callum and Lydia.”
That got Laird McCarthy’s attention as the older man seemed to acknowledge Lydia’s presence for the first time.
He scowled.
“Ye would rather spend yer time with some stranger, than yer own maither?” he asked mockingly. It was a cruel tone to have with a grown adult, let alone two girls of only five years old.
“Listen to yer maither,” Laird McCarthy continued. “Ye will come back with us now, stop ditherin’ and get in the carriage.”
Two guards stepped forward and unsheathed their swords. The highshingof metal echoed ominously around the space, the two sides poised for attack.
Lydia could hear the blood pounding in her ears.
They cannot fight here. What will happen to the girls? They will be taken anyway, having witnessed things no child should ever see.
Callum’s hand went to the hilt of his sword, and Lydia instinctively reached out, holding her breath as she put a hand against his arm, pulling him back gently.
It was one of the hardest things she had ever done, but she would not allow the girls to watch as blood was spilled on their behalf.
“They are scared, Callum, all that will come of this is more pain,” she murmured, the words leaving an unpleasant taste at the back of her throat.
She looked down at Eilis and Amy, their upturned faces filled with fear.
There must be a way we can stop their mother from taking them. Violence cannot be the only path.
But when she looked up at Moira, she knew that it was a false hope. Her expression was half triumph, half fury, her eyes fixed on Lydia’s hand, touching Callum’s arm.
The woman is mad. After everything she did, she still believes there is something between them.
Callum looked to Lydia, his mouth pursed, jaw working. His shoulders were completely still, the veins in his arm thick and prominent where he clutched his sword.
“Ye’ll let us take the girls,” Laird McCarthy muttered. “If ye dinnae want them to witness the murder of their uncle and theirbelovedLydia.”
Callum glanced around the space, his eyes wide and searching as though looking for any way to prevent what was about to happen.
The castle was well defended, but any fight would end in bloodshed, and Lydia knew he would wish to avoid that if he could.
Lydia could feel Callum’s pain as the realization dawned. Moira was the girls’ rightful family. There was nothing they could do.
“Go to yer maither,” Callum whispered, and Amy’s little arms tightened all the more on Lydia’s legs.
