Page 45 of Captured By the Highland Devil
Rubbing a hand over his head, Elijah said, “It was a good way to disguise meself.”
Stepping into the cottage, she looked around; it was neat, with a curtain separating the main room, sitting place and kitchen firepit, from the sleeping quarters. He pulled out a chair for her and she sat next to the small round table.
Elijah pulled a wineskin out and eye her, “Since when do ye drink spirits?”
“Since I came here,” Paige admitted, her gaze roaming over him, as if to convince herself he truly was alive. Her eyes trailed out the window to the wide, pastoral lands beyond the hut.
Her voice was quiet and hollow. “A part of me wants to believe father is innocent of what ye all told me, but I kenned it was senseless for a laird to invade his neighbors with nay reason.”
Elijah leaned on the table and folded his arms, his expression turning grave. “I had to run, Paige and I am sorry for the hurt I allowed ye to feel, but I couldnae send any word to ye or give ye a hint that I was alive. If I had, yer father would stop to nothin’ to silence me for good.”
She placed her palm over his work-worn hand. “I ken. I am simply overjoyed to ken ye are alive. I mourned ye, Elijah, I mourned how ye were cheated of a fulfillin’ life, one with a wife, and children and love.”
“I’ll find that, eventually,” he said while moving to unpack the basket. Slipping an eye to her, he asked. “Speakin’ of love, what do ye feel for our laird?”
She went red and he laughed. “Heavens, has he seduced ye already?”
“I wouldnae say that,” Paige muttered.
He handed her a platter and took his head. “I cannae imagine what ye felt when ye received the missive by the king to marry a man ye thought was yer worse enemy.”
She reached for a sliver of beef. “I felt as if me life was dyin’ before me eyes.” Paige admitted. “Everythin’ inside me wanted to hate him…”
“But?” Elijah prodded her.
Embarrassed, Paige admitted, “But when I got to ken him, I realize something was wrong. Nay one would answer me questions until Ruben took me to that room yestermornin’.”
“And now?” Elijah asked, “And now, what do ye feel?”
“I question what else father has lied to me about,” she dully. “I am afraid to find out what other evil things he has done.”
Brushing the breadcrumbs from his fingers, Elijah asked, “If ye do find out, do ye think ye can find it in yer heart to forgive him?”
“I suppose we’ll have to see,” she swallowed.
As she headed back to the castle, Paige deterred from the beaten path and wandered around to find patches of vegetables and her gardens.
A few of the healers, clad in their namesake grey, were working in the fields, but there was another there too. Norah was nestled in a patch of burdock, carefully pulling out the weeds.
Moving to her, she walked slowly so she would not startle, and when she looked up to see her, Paige came closer. “Did ye plant all these?”
“Aye,” Norah said, while pulling another weed. “T’is an easy distraction from the dullness that goes on day by day around here.”
Looking at the plants, Paige asked, “Would ye mind if I join ye?”
Struggling with a stubborn weed, Norah replied. “Even with the mats—” she looked to her left where a pile of cloth mats were stacked, “— ye’ll ruin yer pretty dress, me lady.”
“I can wash it out,” Paige said, as she took a mat, folded her skirts and kneeled. “Speakin’ of pretty dresses, a little girl at the orphanage admired a yellow gown I had worn there. I promised her I’d make her one just like mine.”
Norah’s head lifted and something—almost a bereft look—crossed her face, before she ducked her head and handed Paige a small spade. “Ye’ve been to the orphanage?”
“Aye,” Paige said. “Unfortunate little dears, are they nae? We had some orphanages back home and I used to visit with me maither, but after the war, Faither told me it was nae safe to go back there.”
Norah didn’t say anything which made Paige carefully considered her next words, “Aside from drawin’ and gardenin’, what else do ye like to do?”
“Nae much,” Norah said quietly.
Biting her tongue, Paige gently pushed, “Ruben told me about what happened to ye. Do ye think that even with all that… that perhaps ye will find any urge to regain some semblance of yer old life?”
