Page 62 of The Cruel Highlander's Healer
She opened her mouth to say more, but her stomach gave a loud, grumbling growl that interrupted her. It was only then that she realized she had not eaten.
The combination of alcohol and embarrassment had been a potent one. When she’d woken, her stomach had been so soured with the mix of it that she’d been unable to eat before they’d’ begun their journey back. Then, when she’d arrived at the castle, she’d been too rushed to put distance between herself and the Laird. She had not once spared a thought for food.
Kate chuckled. “Neglectin’ yerself to take care of the bairns? I wonder if that’s a healer’s trait.” She draped her arm through Eliza’s, guiding her out the door and into the corridor. “Let’s go. I’ll take ye to the kitchen and get ye somethin’ to eat. Supper is still a ways off.”
Eliza nodded, grateful for the woman who every day she was considering more and more of a friend.
She and Kate were silent for a moment. Footsteps echoing off the stone behind them was the only thing that let them know Eliot had followed – their own silent sentinel.
Perhaps it was the comradery, or maybe it was the fact that she had not seen the Laird for most of the day. But she felt the tension she’d been holding, the apprehension over what had occurred the night before, start to ebb.
“I’d like to ask,” Kate finally said, breaking through the silence with her gently spoken words. “If it’s nae an imposition. Ye and the Laird? I noticed a bit of…”
Her words trailed off and Eliza glanced at her. The apples of Kate’s cheeks turned pink as the other woman struggled to find the words to ask whatever question had been plaguing her.
Eliza waited, giving the other woman space to formulate her thoughts.
“Animosity,” Kate finally supplied, although the way she said the word made Eliza wonder if it was the one she’d wanted to use. “Between the two of ye. Things seemed rather tense.”
Eliza paused before she answered, chewing on her lip as she considered.
She was beginning to think of Kate as a friend, but was she fully there yet? Did she want to trust her with everything that happened?
There was no one else Eliza could tell, really. She absolutely couldn’t speak to her mother about it. No, Marissa would run wild like a banshee if she knew everything that had occurred between her daughter and the Laird.
Who else could I confide in, if nae her? And it might be nice to have someone to discuss these things with. What else do I have to lose?
Glancing behind them, she found Eliot still standing a few paces back. He was doing his best to appear as if he wasn’t listening. But he was close enough that he could absolutely overhear them.
“Will ye walk a ways behind us?” she asked, keeping her eyes fixed on the man-at-arms.
Protests rose on his lips, but Eliza quickly cut him off.
“We will nae be far,” she explained. “Never far enough for anythin’ to happen. I just would like to talk to me friend without pryin’ ears.”
His eyes darted to Kate, who gave him a nod. Eliza waited until Eliot had fallen far enough behind them that she was certain she wouldn’t be overheard if she kept her voice low enough.
“Somethin’ happened last night,” Eliza began, brown eyes fixed on the woman beside her.
Kate’s eyebrows raised as they looked at each other, and she knew that the other woman hadn’t missed how Eliza had put an inflection on the word ‘happened’.
“Oh? And that somethin’ would be…” Kate stammered, but she didn’t need to finish the question for Eliza to know what she was asking about.
Immediately, Eliza began to shake her head.
“Nae, we did nae perform the act,” she admitted. “But what occurred was close enough. I would have, though. If he hadnae…”
She gulped past the words, the sting of shame hitting the back of her throat like a knife. The same shame she’d felt since before falling asleep coiled in her belly anew.
But as she looked at Kate, at the other woman that Eliza had decided to trust, there was no judgement in the depths of her eyes. There was only a deep, profound understanding.
She was spurred on by Kate’s open, honest expression. And the entire story began pouring out of her.
Some bits were redacted. She couldn’t entirely bare telling the other woman exactly how the Laird had been on his knees and feasting upon her. But she told her enough.
By the end of it, the muscle in Kate’s jaws were ticking as she considered the information.
“Daenae misunderstand me,” Kate began, resentment leaking into her words. “I am loyal to me laird. He is a good laird, and a good man to work for. But that? What he did to ye? Well, Eliza I am so bloody sorry.”
