Page 83 of The Icy Highlander's Virgin
"Aye. That's why it's me favorite place in the castle." She moved to a small altar where dozens of candles flickered in the gentle draft. "I come here to forget... and to remember."
"Erica—"
"It's all right," she said, her voice stronger than he'd expected. "I've found so much strength since I became lady. And more so since ye've been at me side."
With practiced movements, she lit two new candles from the flame of an existing one. "For me parents," she whispered, placing the first. "And for Leo's lost soul," she added, setting the second beside it.
"Will ye say a prayer with me?" she asked, turning to him with hopeful eyes.
Lachlan shook his head slightly. "I'm nae much of a prayin' man, lass."
"Then will ye share a quiet moment with me? Just... be here?"
He nodded, settling beside her on the worn wooden kneeler. The silence that fell between them was comfortable, peaceful even, broken only by the soft whisper of wind through the windows and the gentle flickering of candle flames.
For several minutes, they sat in companionable quiet, each lost in their own thoughts.
The chapel door burst open, and a guard rushed in, his face flushed with urgency and fear.
"M'lady! M'laird!"
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
"Forgive the intrusion, but ye need to come right away," he panted. "It's about Ewan, m'lady. That guard from yesterday—he's got a blade to his throat in the courtyard."
The peace of the chapel shattered into fragments as Erica leaped to her feet, her face going pale.
"What guard?" But even as she asked, she knew. The angry young man from their patrol. The one she had merely exiled, despite Lachlan's warning her that pardoning a traitor never turned out well.
They rushed through the corridors, Lachlan's hand on his sword hilt, until they burst into the courtyard where a crowd had gathered in a tense circle. At its center stood the dark-haired guard, one arm wrapped around Ewan's throat, a dirk pressed to the older man's neck.
"Lady McLaren!" the young guard called out, his voice shaking with rage. "Come to save yer precious councilman?"
"Let him go, Tam," Erica said, her voice steady despite her racing heart. "Whatever grievance ye have is with me, nae him."
"Me grievance is with what ye've done to this clan!" Tam pressed the blade closer, and a thin line of blood appeared on Ewan's throat. "Councilman Boyd is me father, and I kent how he loved and served yer father faithfully, then Laird Leo, and ye just dismissed him like he was nothin'? Like his years of service meant nothin'?"
Lachlan took a careful step forward. "Lad, put down the dirk and we can discuss this?—"
"Shut up!" Tam's voice cracked with desperation. "This is yer fault! Our plan was goin' well until ye came and filled her head with ideas!"
"What plan?" Erica demanded.
"To restore proper leadership to this clan! Me father kent how to run things, kent what Laird Leo would have wanted." The blade trembled in Tam's grip. "He would never have dismissed a loyal councilman just because he disagreed with another councilman!"
"I dinnae dismiss yer father because of Ewan. He dinnae show me the respect I deserved as his lady. And Leo is dead," Erica said firmly. "I'm the lady now, by right of inheritance."
"I daenae care about yer rights!" Tam backed toward the wall, dragging Ewan with him. "Ye want yer precious guard captain to live? Then renounce yer title. Step down and let me father return to his rightful place."
The crowd murmured uneasily, some faces showing horror at his methods. Erica could feel the weight of their watching eyes, and she knew that how she handled this moment would echo through the clan for years.
As Tam continued backing toward the wall, neither he nor the watching crowd noticed the slight movement at a window above. Frederick had slipped around behind, using his knowledge of castle layouts to position himself.
"Tam," Erica tried again, "ye're makin' a mistake. Put down that dirk."
"Nay!" The young man's voice grew more desperate. "I willnae until ye return him to his duties. He served us faithfully while ye were off playin' wife to another clan!"
"I never went to play. I was tryin' to save all of us," Erica said quietly. "Just as ye're tryin' to save yer father now. But this isnae the way."
