Page 68 of The Highlander's Alluring Spy
She created a duplicate of this letter, too, and tucked both copied versions away safely. Then, she sealed the personal message to her father and placed it inside the larger letter meant for the Order at large. In the morning, she would take it with her to the outskirts of the village, where the Order’s man would be waiting to take it from her.
Though she had asked him for the privacy and was glad he had given it, she found that her bed felt strangely vast and empty without Nathair sleeping next to her tonight.
When she finally drifted into sleep, it was a troubled one, full of dreams of conflict and betrayal, and the slim hope that she was, at last, doing the right thing.
* * *
Nathair complicated everything slightly by turning up at her door to say goodnight. At that point, neither of them could resist his coming inside. Now, as the light of summer dawn woke Magnolia, she gazed at his sleeping form next to her and wondered once more how on Earth things had ended up this way.
Not, she reflected with a soft smile as he snuffled in his sleep like a puppy, that she would change anything. She couldn’t possibly regret the moments she spent with the Laird, her love. Nor could she ever regret getting to know and care for Elaine, or every moment she had spent in this ethereal wonderland, so near, yet so far from home.
Can I really stay? Can I really give up everything I’ve ever known?
She walked to the window and her desk under it and withdrew the copies of the letters which she would be delivering to the Order’s man this morning. Sir Spindrift raised a sleepy head as she passed him.
“Hush, boy,” she told him in a whisper. “It is not yet time to wake. Later, you and I shall play with your brother and with Elaine like always.”
Sir Spindrift couldn’t possibly understand her words exactly, but he let out a low contented growl and tucked his head back under his paw. She smiled at him and glanced out of the window.
The loch. Where I saved Elaine, and in a way, where everything began.
The loch had been the first thing she noted from her window that first day, and it was the first thing she noted now, shining in the pre-morning sunlight like an exotic gemstone. It was not green like an emerald or blue like a sapphire, but rather somewhere between the two.
It had been a temporary feature in her life for four weeks now, beautiful and mysterious and fleeting, just like the country. But Nathair grunted and rolled over in his sleep in the bed behind her, and she couldn’t help but wonder.
Perhaps it will be temporary no longer.
Perhaps. Or perhaps not. Regardless of all of that, Magnolia had a job to complete first.
Magnolia dressed quickly but quietly, making sure she did not wake the Laird, glad it was summer so she could wear the least number of layers. She slipped out, closing the door behind her as quietly as she possibly could.
Sleep well, Nathair. I will be back once I finish changing my life forever, one way or another.
* * *
Magnolia didn’t know the man who sat eating breakfast in the tiny tavern, but she knew he was there for her. There were four customers, but only one wore the tell-tale elegant rose brooch on his lapel.
The tavern-keeper’s daughter was up and about, and Magnolia pulled her hood up over her head. She was doing nothing wrong by being here, she knew that. Still, she would prefer to not advertise the fact she was having a meeting today, especially at this hour.
Later, she would wish she’d taken better stock of the occupants of the other tables, but for now, her focus was all on the spy. She approached him and sat down across from him.
“Are you here for breakfast, good sir?” she asked quietly. “And do you mind if I join you?”
He grunted. “I’m waiting on someone,” he told her in an unmistakably English accent. He gestured to the brooch on his lapel. “A rose is a rare beauty,” he mused.
The code words. “Yes, but its beauty belies its thorns,” Magnolia replied.
The man nodded. “You have something for me?”
She took out the large folded letter and passed it across the table. “It contains two letters,” she told him. “The larger one as requested, and a smaller for my Father’s eyes. Can you please ensure he receives it?”
The man simply grunted as he tucked the letters away inside his cape.
Magnolia knew that she must avoid suspicion, so she stayed to eat breakfast with the informant. However, no words passed between them other than what was necessary. It would have been too strange to enter such a place at this time without making a purchase.
After she had eaten, she stood and bid him farewell then exited the tavern, feeling a massive weight lifted from her shoulders.
At last, the plot is done. Now what?
