Page 37 of Her Scot of Bygones
She stood a short distance away, timidly, if not obediently, and I didn’t blame her. Both her husband and mother-in-law were terrifying. She, however, was the opposite, with her softly pretty features. Although there was a sadness in her thickly lashed, deep olive-green eyes that hadn’t been there when we were younger, she was as kind as ever when our gazes connected. There was also worry I suspected had everything to do with Evan.
It was clear neither Dugal nor Elspet had figured out we’d met before, so I was careful not to respond like I wanted to and give her a big hug.
“Welcome to Sutherland Castle,” she said cordially, also acting as if we’d never met while urging me to follow her up the stairs. “We have a chamber prepared for ye.”
“Thank you,” I replied just as cordially, despite wanting to ask her so many questions.
Was she okay?
Evan?
What had they done to him?
Had she been the one to drive our father away from the clan years ago?
If so, how and why?
I knew most of the MacLeods, well, except for Aspen, questioned whether Lilias could be trusted or not. Now, having remembered our past together and meeting Lilias again, I agreed with Aspen.
She was on our side and in danger so long as she remained here.
Lilias said nothing else when she led me into a great hall as spacious as MacLeod Castle’s, yet it had a different vibe. Tapestries of nature hung on the walls instead of dragons. I found that interesting because I would have thought they would depict even more ferocious, turbulent, wild images than the MacLeods. Unless, of course, they did it on purpose to seem less threatening. Perhaps a means to make their fellow Scots less wary of them than their rival clan.
Lilias led me up more stairs and down several corridors, quiet even when we were alone, and I sensed she did that on purpose. She proved it too when I caught her eye and she shook her head once ever so subtly, telling me I was right.
We were being watched.
“This is it.” She ushered me into a simple chamber with a bed, a few wooden furnishings, and one small windowoverlooking the forest. “I will show ye where there are more appropriate clothes.”
What was the matter with the ones I wore? They were era-appropriate.
“Yet they’re MacLeod colors,”Lucas muttered.
I couldn’t help notice that although Lilias had left the door ajar, the trunk she led me to was against a wall that put us just out of sight.
“Here is a new dress and our clan’s plaid.” When she handed them over, her gaze flickered from the folded clothing to me, making it clear something was tucked inside. Then, she leaned close, her voice dropped to a whisper, and she blinked back tears. “Evan’s still alive, but they have not made it easy on him.” She closed her eyes, wiping away a tear before looking at me again. “Please dinnae let him die, Hazel.” She squeezed my hand, the pain in her gaze making it clear how much she still loved him. “Please, sister.”
Before I had a chance to respond, she spoke normally again. “I will await ye in the hallway. I suggest ye make haste.”
She squeezed my hand one last time and left without saying another word. I assumed so that whoever watched us wouldn’t be suspicious.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,”I said to Lucas, relieved when I discovered Evan’s blade, now a dagger tucked inside the clothing. It seemed Flame had found his way to Lilias, confirming she could be trusted.“What does she mean by not letting Evan die? What have they done to him?”
“I think the better question is, what does it have to do with you embracing your dragon for the first time?”Aspen responded, her concern for me subtle but there, however hard she tried to hide it.
“I agree,”Lucas added as I wrapped my hand around the hilt of the dagger to set it aside, only to feel Lucas grow closer still, comforting me in a whole new way, and he soon revealed why.
“Thanks to the blade, your inner dragon has allowed mine to see through your eyes,”he said.“’Tis telling and verra good news.”
I didn’t need to ask to know what he meant. My dragon letting him in like that meant the chances of us being fated mates were better than ever. It also meant whatever had lain dormant in me for so long was right there beneath the surface now, without a doubt, ready to break free. I could only pray when she did it, it was for the right man.
“’Twill be,”Lucas assured as I hastily dressed and tried to figure out how to keep the blade with me.
“Dinnae,”Broderick counseled, yet again a good sign my dragon was close, allowing more MacLeods the ability to speak to me.“’Twill only cause more harm than good if ‘tis discovered, and have no doubt, Elspet will discover it.”
Trusting him, I tucked it back in the chest and joined Lilias, who directed me to follow her down several more hallways and up seemingly endless stairs. Strangely, things became more familiar with every step, which made no sense because I’d never been here before.
“But I have,”Aspen said, her internal voice a little off and with good reason, when I felt her growing distress.
