Page 87 of Highland Crown
“I promise.” She kissed Jean’s hand and stood.
Her life, the future Isabella had imagined she’d be building in Halifax with all of these people, was quickly fading. The two young women she’d traveled north with would make their own plans. John Gordon was better off staying in one place until the scars in his mind had a chance to heal. Dalmigavie Castle was a fortress in the mountains, safe. It could provide a sanctuary for John… and perhaps for her as well. She hoped he’d be allowed to stay here, along with her sister and stepdaughter. No matter what Maisie and Morrigan thought right now, they would need time to form a rational plan for their future.
Standing by the railing and looking down into the great hall, she thought of Cinaed. Her love for him warmed her. For so long, she’d thought she hadn’t the freedom to decide her own future. Things seemed to be changing. Her fight was not over, but she now had the power to decide her own road. But would the man she wanted wait a year, six months, or a month for her to join him in Halifax… or wherever he’d set sail for?
She started toward the room she’d be sharing with her family, but Cinaed suddenly stepped in front of her.
She hadn’t expected him to come here. As she reached for his hand, Isabella knew he was the light of her life, the air in her lungs, the blood in her veins. She could notdo without him. Regardless of everything facing them, the thought of being apart from him was too painful to imagine.
“Come with me.”
There’d been nothing to indicate his arrival—no cheering, no sounds of excitement.
“Does anyone know you’re here?” she asked when he pulled her into an empty room.
“No one knows but you.” He closed the door behind them and took her in his arms.
She held him. She pressed her face against his chest and held him tight. Their love for each other was the only certainty she had now in this tumultuous life.
“The lasses. How are they?”
“They’re fine. Both girls have been well taken care of by your clan.” Isabella looked up into his face and cradled his cheek. “You’re upset. What did Lachlan tell you?”
He shook his head. “First, I want to hear about your family. Are they anxious to go? And Gordon? How is he faring?” He paused. “Are you ready to leave?”
A fist squeezed Isabella’s heart as she relayed the conversation she’d had with Maisie and Morrigan. “They need time. And it’s the same with Jean’s nephew. It would be best if he wasn’t moved right now. But I don’t want to abuse the Mackintosh clan’s hospitality.”
He caressed her face, looked into her eyes. “Doyouwant to stay here?”
Shewantedto go with Cinaed, but she couldn’t. Not yet. Her voice struggled, but she cleared it. “I need to stay, if your uncle allows it. I can’t leave them, any of them. They need me.”
Perhaps it was her imagination, but Isabella saw some of the tension lift from his shoulders. He nodded and rested his forehead against hers. His hands cupped her face. Their lips were only a breath apart. She’d felt the storm raging through him before. Now that seemed to have passed, but the respite was momentary, and clouds appeared in his eyes.
“What did Lachlan tell you?” she asked again.
“Stories and fairy tales about my parentage. None of which I believe.”
She wanted to know all of it, and she waited.
“He claims… he says… he imagines…” Cinaed stepped away from her. Going to the window, he looked outside.
Isabella hated to see him so tormented, but she didn’t know how to soothe the pain.
“He believes in a lie.” He turned around to face her again. “He’s asked me to stay here at Dalmigavie until my mother arrives.”
“Your mother?” she asked, surprised. “I thought she was dead.”
He shrugged. “I guess that was another lie. I was told today that she is well and making arrangements to come to the Highlands.”
“Who is she?”
He shook his head. “She’s either a brazen liar or a queen. And my father was the son of… of Bonnie Prince Charlie.”
Isabella found herself unable to utter a sound. Questions on top of questions whirled in her brain. But amid the storm of confusion, she thought about the way Cinaed had been received by those in power when the twoof them had entered Searc’s drawing room. She recalled the way those far less fortunate were drawn to him. So many times, she’d heard the wordsson of Scotland. She’d even heard them on Hudson’s lips.
He walked back toward her. “I left Lachlan, ready to go where you go, be there at your side, wherever our lives lead us.”
Emotions choked her. Tears sprang to her eyes.
