Page 62 of Saved By the Cruel Highlander
“Wh-Wh-What?” Laird McKinnon blustered. “Now, ye cannae be thinkin’ that ye can repay me capturin’ the man who wanted to kill ye and Laird McAllister with seatin’ me closer to yer table. I would?—”
“A favor is a favor,” Holly interrupted. “It doesnae matter what the favor is. If we were to get into the finer details, we’d be here all day.”
Elias suddenly burst into the heartiest chuckle she had ever heard, and she felt it shaking the castle walls. He clapped Laird McKinnon on the back as he chuckled, and Holly could not help but crack a smile. Cole laughed beside her, even though he wasn’t sure what they were laughing about, and then Laird McKinnon burst into a loud chuckle, too.
Suddenly, Elias came for her, grabbing her with his bloodied hands, but she didn’t mind a bit. He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her in front of Laird McKinnon and the child. Holly slipped into his kiss like slipping into sleep late at night. She melted as he kissed her, and everyone around them faded away for a few seconds until he broke their kiss.
“Nay one touches me wife-to-be or threatens to do so and gets away with it,” he told her.
Cole hopped on one foot, then switched to the other, all the while clapping his hands. It was the happiest he had looked since arriving at the castle.
“Ye constantly surprise me,” Elias continued. “And if ye can best our allies so easily, what will ye do when it comes time to best our enemies? We’ll make a formidable team.”
“Mayhap ye can teach me wife some of yer shrewdness,” Laird McKinnon suggested.
Elias laughed again, then took Holly by the chin. He tilted her head up slightly and kissed her again.
“Aye, ye’ll be a fine woman to have by me side,” he said.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“What was that?” Holly uttered as she sat up in bed. “How long have I been asleep?”
She immediately got out of bed and dressed herself, looking out the window to find the moon high in the sky. She didn’t know what irked her, but something troubled her mind.
“I cannae shake the feelin’ that me dreams left in me when I woke. I dinnae ken what’s gotten into me.”
Her thoughts immediately went to Cole. They might have gone to Elias first, but she knew if there was anyone in the castle capable of taking care of themself, it was him.
She pulled on her boots, grabbed a shawl, and grabbed the lantern from the table, lighting it with matches. She left the room, holding the lantern out in front of her.
“Cole?” she whispered. “Please be safe. Let me be imaginin’ that somethin’ is wrong.”
The castle was full, but most were asleep. Some would be awake, mainly down in the kitchens and those who were working around the clock to make everything perfect for the wedding, but the castle’s interior was silent. Holly padded down the stone corridor, straining her ears for any sign of danger.
She went straight to Cole’s room. He had been given a small room not far from hers and a simple bed. Upon seeing it, he declared that it was the best bedroom he had ever seen.
Holly got to his door, and it was slightly ajar as usual. She listened for a second before pushing it open with her free hand. She moved quietly into the room, not wanting to wake the boy if he were sound asleep. She saw his shape first and then his pale skin as the lantern light fell on it.
“Och, ye look like an angel in yer sleep. Ye are a bonny, wee lad.” Holly watched him for a moment more before she retreated and closed the door.
Still, something inside warned her of danger. She walked through the hallways, hoping to find what troubled her.
“Felix is gone now. I’m safe. Elias took care of it. He took care of me.”
Since she had gone to seek the Laird’s help, she had not been worried one bit about Felix. She should have been. He was gone now, so there was really no need to worry.
Holly was drawn downstairs. She held the lantern out in front of her, feeling like a woman in a ghost story she had once read, wandering a castle with a lantern only to discover at the end of the story that she had been dead all along.
What am I doin’? Will I wander the entire castle lookin’ for danger? There are guards for that, and the castle isnae empty. A noise must have woken me.
Then, the smell hit her. It was the most delicious smell she had ever smelled, and she could not turn back now. It came from the kitchens, and it was a smell she had not encountered before—perhaps something for the wedding. The wedding was still a few days off, so maybe a trial run of something.
An unexpected and the oddest thought occurred to her. She had a mind to go to the kitchens and ask to try whatever they were baking. She was, after all, the lady of the castle. Maybe not officially, but she would be, and she knew she earned respect through that.
Aye, I’ll go to the kitchens and investigate, and enjoy whatever delight the cooks have whipped up.
Holly licked her lips, and the source of her concern was revealed. She had not seen Ollie in four days, and there he was, emerging from the kitchen.
