Page 30 of The Highlander's Alluring Spy
Fear shot across Greta’s face. “I ken ye’re English. Dinnae get me wrong, I ken it isnae yer fault. But we cannae stand another attack. I cannae bear to lose me boy as well as me husband. It’s the last thing Me Laird wants, too.”
“Nobody is coming,” Magnolia told her soothingly, though she had no idea how true that was. What Greta was telling her made no sense. The way she described it was as though there was no plot at all. As if the MacFoihl Clan were actively looking toavoidwar.
It gave Magnolia a hard lump in her stomach at the thought. Could she have been in the wrong this whole time? Her father, the Duke, the Marquess, the Viscount: had all of them been wrong?
I was sent here to uncover a villain. Are we perhaps the villains instead?
But no. No. Magnolia could not let a momentary kiss, and the words of a loyal subject, turn her against her Crown and Country. She would not let these things turn her against her father. Magnolia was sent here for a reason, and it was still her duty to discover what Nathair was hiding behind those forest-green eyes.
When Elaine came back inside and took her by the hand, insisting it was time for them to visit the rest of the village, Magnolia left with her gladly. She liked Greta a lot–rather too much–but being here was making her uncomfortable.
The poor woman was too honest, too loving, too genuine to be lying. But she simply could not be telling the truth, because that would change everything, in a way that Magnolia could not begin to understand.
As she and Elaine said her goodbyes, the nanny was deep in thought.
Where are my loyalties? What do I do now?
That wasn’t a question at all.
You keep going, Magnolia. That’s what you’ve always done.
* * *
The rest of the trip to the village had been one of the strangest experiences of her life. Some of the clan had looked at her with wariness or open spite due to her nationality. Still, even these people had warm words for Elaine and sweet words to say about Nathair.
The MacFoihl Clan simply seemed to be kind people in general, something that made that uneasiness gnawing at her conscience only grow. If Nathair was plotting in secret with the other Lairds to attack Magnolia’s home, then his people knew little or nothing about it.
And yet, if it comes to war, these are the people who will suffer. Old men, widows, and children.
But there were old men, widows, and children a-plenty in England too. They were equally threatened by war, equally at risk from the fighting. She could not forget that. She would not.
Magnolia and Elaine had barely entered the castle doors when the little girl let out a screech of happiness and cried, “Dadaidh! There ye are! I was worried!”
Magnolia’s cheeks were instantly pink again, and she cursed them for betraying her even as she curtsied. “My Laird,” she greeted in a low mumble. She couldn’t meet his eyes.
This was the first time she had seen Nathair since the kiss the night before last. To her shame, she could still feel the heat springing up instantly the second she glanced his way. Even when she wasn’t looking, his presence loomed in her mind.
He lives there now, in my mind. I don’t know that he’ll ever leave.
“Good eve, me wee chook,” Nathair said, scooping Elaine up into his arms as usual and kissing her cheek as she laughed. “And a better eve now that ye’re here.”
“Dadaidh, ye arenae sick anymore?” Elaine asked, worried. “Maggie hasnae been as sick as ye thought, but I was worried about ye.”
“Have you experienced a touch of fever, My Laird?” Magnolia asked. Despite the awkwardness, she couldn’t help but tease him slightly, and she was rewarded by his skin reddening to match his beard.
He met her eyes then, and her heart lurched in a way she had to admit was not entirely unpleasant. He frowned, but there was amusement there at her playful taunting, too. “Aye,” he said. “Aye, a fever perhaps indeed. I’ve been havin’ all sorts o’ strange dreams.”
“What kind o’ dreams, Dadaidh?” Elaine asked brightly. She did not seem to notice the energy sparking from her father as he stared at Magnolia, and the same from Magnolia as she stared right back.
He cleared his throat. Magnolia watched him, her breath held as she waited for his answer.
Nathair’s green eyes sparked with a meaningful look, and then he smiled at Elaine. “Och, all sorts. Yer fevered Dadaidh has been dreamin’ about doin’ things naebody in their right mind would be doin’.”
Magnolia knew she should feel relief at those words, but she couldn’t help a shiver of offense anyway. “Nobody in their right mind?” she echoed, a little accusation in her tone.
Nathair met her eyes again over Elaine’s head, but Magnolia couldn’t make out what his expression meant this time. “Aye,” he answered. “Dreams where a silly Laird steps out o’ line and does foolish things naebody could excuse him for.”
So he regrets it, then. He thinks he acted untowardly.
