Page 61 of Saved By the Cruel Highlander
Elias raised his eyebrows slightly. Before he or Holly could say anything further, Cole bolted from Holly’s side and crashed into his leg, wrapping his arms around his thick thigh.
“Thank ye, Mister Laird,” Cole said, gripping Elias tightly. “Thank ye for savin’ us. He was a bad man, was he nae? He came into the castle to kill Mistress Holly, and ye protect her and me. Thank ye, thank ye, thank ye.”
Holly could see that Elias didn’t know what to do. He ruffled the lad’s hair while looking at her. Laird McKinnon looked on in fascination.
“Eliza spoke before the lad when she shouldnae have,” she said. “I didnae realize how worried he was about it all.”
Elias sighed and nodded, patting Cole’s head.
Holly smiled to see them interact as they did – she didn’t expect Elias to have a soft side towards kids, but she loved that he did. Finally, she went to Cole and took his arm. Only when she did, did he release his grip on the Laird. She pulled him back with her.
“So, he’s really dead?” she asked.
Elias’s eyes flickered from Cole to Holly. “Aye, he’s dead. I stabbed him in the heart with me dirk.”
“It’s over,” Holly said.
“Aye,” Elias confirmed.
There was a sudden look of loss on his face, and she could tell exactly what it meant.
The only reason she had gone to Elias in the first place was to avoid being poisoned by Felix. Her best option was to align herself with someone more powerful, and that would be the end of it. Only, it was not the end of it, and she had not known that. Felix had been plotting in the shadows, and he meant to murder.
The Laird had killed Felix, and that was the end of it. Felix was dead, and he did not hurt her or Elias.
The sadness in Elias’s eyes came from that. With Felix gone, there was no reason for her to marry him. In his opinion, anyway. Holly had no thoughts of calling off the wedding, and not because she didn’t want to unpromise herself to a second man. After she had spent the morning by the loch with the Laird, she wanted to spend more time with him. She knew she needed to wed, and he was a man worth marrying.
“Then our weddin’ will be undisturbed,” she announced. “I admit that I hadnae worried about Felix disturbin’ us, but mayhap I should have. Ye took matters into yer own hands, and ye have made sure we will have a braw weddin’ day, Me Laird.”
Elias suddenly stood a little taller. “Aye, the weddin’ will go ahead… with nay hitches.”
“Aye,” Holly said enthusiastically. “Now, are ye sure ye arenae hurt? That looks like a lot of blood.”
“Nay, I’m nae hurt,” Elias said. “I do appreciate yer concern for me, but he did little to trouble me. He lunged at me, and I’m sure he meant to hurt me, but Grant was a wee man, and he died a coward. He could barely look me in the eye, but at least he admitted what he meant to do.”
“‘Tis true,” Laird McKinnon piped up. “The man was a coward when I caught him, and he showed madness afore Laird McAllister.”
Holly couldn’t help but think of Ollie. She hadn’t seen the cat in some time and hoped he had grown fat on mice. However, she was starting to worry.
“Of course, now, yer Laird owes me a favor,” Laird McKinnon added.
“Och, away with ye,” Elias said. “Ye really think this is the same as killin’ the eight men who surrounded ye?”
The mention of killing so many people shook Holly, but the more she thought about it, the prouder she became. Elias was a man who could take care of himself and others. Whenever she heard astory about what a beast or monster he was, it was always in the act of protecting others.
“A favor is a favor,” Laird McKinnon said with a smile. “It doesnae matter what the favor is, or we’d be bogged down in arguin’ the finer points of everythin’.”
“Aye, ‘cause we dinnae do that already.” Elias smirked.
“Laird McAllister’s weddin’ will be a boon for the clan,” Holly said. “And for the clans around. I have seen the effort the servants are puttin’ into the preparations, and it will certainly be the biggest weddin’ I’ve ever seen, and I get the pleasure of bein’ the bride.”
“And a fine one ye will make for Laird McAllister, from what I have seen and heard so far,” Laird McKinnon said.
“Aye, and a fine laird and husband he will be,” Holly said. “Of course, there are still the seatin’ arrangements to figure out, and I ken they will figure them out in time, but afore that, I shall make sure ye are as near to the head table as possible, Laird McKinnon. Everyone will see what a close ally ye are to Clan McAllister, which will strengthen yer position.”
“Miss Taylor, ye are an even finer lass than I gave ye credit for. It would be me pleasure and honor to sit so close to ye. We all ken that the good drink often runs out the further down the tables ye go.”
“Then we are in agreement,” Holly said. “Ye did Laird McAllister a favor today, and it has been repaid with the seatin’ arrangement for ye.”
