Page 13 of Highlander's Rebellious Affair
“I am not insane, no one believed me then either when I told them about the Laird,” she said and turned to Hope. “How is he? Laird Galloway? When I left, he was ill and he was more concerned about my safety than anything else.”
Ian shook his head, and Hope walked over to Orlaith and sat with her. “He is better, Aunt, so much better now.”
Ian finally understood why she was living alone far up in the mountains. Orlaith wasn’t called the village’s witch just because of her knowledge in herbs and healing.
She had clearly lost her mind.
* * *
Or maybe she hadn’t? He wondered… it was obvious that she was a strange woman, so why did he pay attention to whatever she said?
He moved to walk away from her after accessing her for a few minutes, but she stopped him. “How is Laird Galloway?” she asked again, and this time Ian touched her.
“Tell me what ye ken about Laird Galloway,” he said and she blinked, looking confused.
“We were in love,” she replied and a smile spread out on her lips. “When we first met, I was in the village, and he was nothin’ but kind to me. I couldnae believe he was the Laird, he cared so much about his people.”
Ian swallowed. He remembered that about his father himself. He was a very kind man who cared about the well-being of his people. He took frequent rides into the village to see how they were faring, made sure the farmers never had a reason to fight over their lands as this would have led to lack of food if they didn’t have the means to plant.
“I was a healer, he had a wound, and I treated him. That night he came to find me in my cottage, and I was at first amazed at how he found out where I lived.”
“Did he say anythin’ to ye about his family?” Ian wanted to know if his father had ever mentioned him or his sister. Could Orlaith recognize him? He didn’t know what to think of the woman. She acted odd, but yet there was something about her that made him listen to what she had to say.
“He did… said he had a son and daughter and they loved to ride. When we spent time together, we hardly ever spoke of Galloway… he made me feel special, and it was easy to fall in love with a man like that.”
Ian slipped his hands into his pocket and concentrated on her face. Her eyes rang with sincerity, and he could tell she was being honest.
“What happened the last time ye saw him?”
Orlaith shook her head, and her hand moved to a gold band on her neck. She played with it, and her eyes lost focus from his and wandered around them. “Can ye tell me what ye ken about the last day ye saw him?”
She shook her head. “He told me to run and not come back. He said he would find me, never did.”
There was a long moment of silence between them, and Orlaith turned away from him and started to hum the song about the treasure. Ian walked away from her, humming the same song in his mind. He was still confused about Orlaith.
Was all she just told him a lie? How could he tell?
Orlaith waved them goodbye from her porch steps as they rode away. Ian decided they leave in the evening of the day so they could make it to Drummond by the next morning.
“She hasn’t lost her mind,” Hope defended as she sat in front of him. Ian had still not been able to dismiss Orlaith’s words from his mind even though she spoke like she wasn’t in her right state of mind.
She had continued to talk about his father for the rest of the day. The battles he had presented and those he had fought, but whenever he asked her any question, she fell silent and said nothing else. He didn’t tell her he was James’ son, he had to be sure she knew what she was talking about first, so he made a mental note to ask some of his father’s men about Orlaith when he returned home.
For now, he had to focus on getting back to Drummond and announcing his wedding. Hope continued to talk about Orlaith. “Was any of what she said real? What if there is truth in what she says and she actually knew yer faither?”
His jaw tightened and he said nothing. He didn’t need Hope talking to him about his father, so he held onto the reins of the horse with one hand and placed the free one on her shoulder. She gasped and turned her head to the side as he replied her, “I was little when my faither died, Hope. If he had a mistress then it would have been a secret and I wouldnae ken about it. I intend to find out from trusted men who knew my faither well.”
“I think that is the right thing to do,” she replied and he removed his hand from her shoulder. It was getting darker as they rode further toward the outskirts of Cawdor. Hope was wearing his cloak and the same dress from three days ago when they fled Drummond, but her hair was no longer styled on top of her head with pins. She also did not wear the cover of the cloak over her head, so the breeze brushed the strands over his face.
It didn’t snow that night; it was the reason he set out on this journey with hopes of arriving Drummond by morning. Hope yawned and he slowed down the pace of the horse by pressing his feet against the sides of the horse.
“Would ye like to rest?” he asked and she nodded. Ian dismounted the horse first after he galloped to a corner of the clearing he saw in the forest path, then he stretched out his hand to Hope.
She placed hers in it, and he used one arm to support her waist as he pulled her down from the horse. The movement pressed her against his chest, and she gasped again.
His gaze immediately wandered down to her parted lips, and then they moved back to her wide eyes. “Ian,” she whispered, and the sound of her shaky voice sent his entire body into a spiral wave of sensations and a strong desire to claim her luscious lips.
In a split second, he gave into the desire and pressed her against his chest harder as his lips came crashing down on hers. His hand left hers and swooped around her waist and he pulled her even closer, sealing every space between them.
