Page 16 of The Highlander's Virgin Nun
Perhaps she was a picky eater or not prone to hunger. He did not want to probe any further, for fear of making her self-conscious, so he left her to it a few moments more. But before he could strike up a new conversation, she finally spoke.
“Thank ye very much for all of this—the food, the dress, the bedroom. But I’m afraid I’m quite tired after such an eventful day. Might I be excused?”
“Oh dear,” Alexandra began, and Caelan could tell his sister was about to ask more questions.
“Of course,” he cut in. “Ye are free to go.”
With that, Rosaline stood up, gave everyone a final nod goodnight, and left the Great Hall.
Caelan tried to ignore the sadness he could see in her eyes. He had been so focused on what he could offer her here in exchange for marrying him and giving him an heir that he had forgotten what she had run from. He did not know what or who that was, but it must have been bad for her to be so frightened of being caught again.
He could not get too close to her, but he could be considerate of her feelings.
“Do ye think she’s all right?” Alexandra asked sympathetically.
“Aye, she’ll be fine. She’s had a long day.”
Alexandra said no more, although he could tell she was desperate to go seek her out. She had known the woman even more briefly than he had. However, as compassionate as his sister could be, she had to give people space, too.
“Ye can see her in the mornin’,” he said, sternly.
Caelan finished his meal, spoke a little longer with some of his clansfolk, and then retired from the hall early, as the day had caught up to him, too. He said goodnight and headed up to his rooms. As he reached the top of the stairs, he heard some unfamiliar noises. He walked down the corridor and gradually identified the noise as whimpering.
The gentle, quiet, but distressed sound was coming from Rosaline’s bedroom.
He would not become her confidant or her friend—it was far too dangerous—but he did not want her to feel such pain from being here. He could at least reassure her that he didn’t intend to hurt her and that he was not going to keep her locked up in the castle forever.
Caelan knocked gently on the door, but there was no answer. The whimpering continued, and he knocked slightly harder to no avail. Softly, he pushed open the door, and after a pause, he poked his head inside.
He found her on the bed, furs thrown off, her body bent in disturbed slumber. Her back was turned to him as she shuddered and sniffled. Caelan felt his feet carrying him forward, further into the room, until he reached the bed. Her whimpering continued, undisturbed by his footsteps, so he rounded the bed.
Her body, wrapped in a thin silk slip, was exquisite. He had to tear his eyes away from the silhouette that the nightdress so perfectly defined, shadowing in her dips and glowing at her peaks.
As he gazed at her face, he saw a tense jaw and a tense brow. Her face looked tight, uncomfortable, and distressed. Her body jerked and jolted as pained moans escaped her lips. Her hands clung to her elbows, making her body as small as it could be.
Gradually, her moans turned into the word “nay,” uttered over and over.
Just as he moved his hand to wake her from her nightmare, her eyes flew open and landed on him. Caelan jumped at the sudden change, and was about to apologize for intruding when he realized something strange about her eyes.
They were directly staring into him, the pupils blown, but they seemed not to look at him. They were focused on the space just inches in front of his face. When he shifted slightly, her gaze did not follow him.
Her eyes were open, but she was not awake.
“Monster.”
Caelan furrowed his brow in confusion. He feared that she could see him, that she already thought him a monster. She had seen him kill a man, after all. But her gaze remained glazed over, although intense. Her body continued to jerk, and she tried to make herself even smaller.
Caelan covered her body in some heavy furs, not for warmth but to smother her jerky motions. He hoped that it would gradually dispel her nightmare. Then, he walked back to the door before looking back at her one more time.
Whoever had given her such nightmares, whatever horrors haunted her nights, was a monster.
Someone had hurt this woman badly. This was the horror she was running from. It was his duty to protect her, both here and from whoever had caused her such pain.
“Dinnae worry, lass,” Caelan whispered from the doorway, biting down his anger that brewed over such treatment of someone so pure. “I swear to ye, the people who hurt ye will meet their punishment. I will bring it upon their heads.”
CHAPTEREIGHT
The pale blue skirts of her dress trailed a little on the stairs behind her as she descended for breakfast. She had noticed the evening before that Alexandra’s frocks were slightly too big and slightly too long for her, but the underskirt of the evening dress had lifted it. Her less formal daytime dress, however, had no lift and so dragged somewhat on the floor behind her. She tried to tuck it into the bodice as a temporary fix as she neared the doors of the Great Hall.
