“Nothin',” she said and quickly moved away from him to the window to search for a passerby.
She heard Ian release a sigh of frustration, but she didn’t turn to him.
“There! Melissa! Hello there!” she shouted out the window.
Ian moved to her and pressed his body against her side. She felt his heat radiate through her. He called down below, his voice louder and more robust. “Melissa! Up here. We are locked in the library! Get Flynn!”
But Arianna could not concentrate on his words to Melissa; she only felt him. His strength, his muscular form.
“There, she heard, and we will be rescued,” he said.
“Aye,” Arianna said, but it came out in a weak whisper.
He turned to her and looked down at her. She swallowed as she looked up at him. Their gaze locked.
“Ye will be free of me soon,” he said.
“Will I?” she said, understanding the double meaning of his statement. “And if I daenae want to be free of ye?”
“Do ye not? It seems to be that is the case,” he said.
“I… I think that…” Arianna said.
A loud pounding came at the door. “Me Laird! I am here!” Flynn shouted.
Ian moved to the door and began to give the orders. “The door is jammed. Try to push from that side while I pull on this side.”
Arianna observed as Ian and Flynn set the door free. But now she was locked in another turmoil, of the heart.
The following morning, Arianna walked slowly through the upper corridors of the castle, her steps quiet against the worn stone floor. She had no particular destination in mind, only a restless feeling that kept her wandering from hall to hall. Her thoughts were still tangled from the conversation with Melissa the night before and from continuing to feel useless.
As she rounded a corner, the sound of voices drifted toward her. Arianna slowed instinctively when she realized the voices belonged to servants standing just beyond the bend. They could not see her where she stood, hidden by the stone arch of the corridor. At first, she intended to walk on, but what they spoke of made her pause.
“I’m tellin’ ye, the council spoke of the marriage contract,” one maid whispered. “I heard them say so when I brought in their tea.”
Another servant gave a soft gasp. “The lady has only been wed a short while.”
The first maid lowered her voice further. “Aye, but they’re worried about the heir for some reason.”
Arianna’s stomach tightened.
“That’s nae our business to discuss,” the servant replied.
The first one huffed softly. “Perhaps nae, but the entire castle’s whispering about it now.”
A third voice joined the conversation, a boy judging by the rough tone. “I heard the steward mention the contract when he was speaking to a council member in the library. Something about the terms of the marriage.”
Arianna felt her pulse quicken.
“What kind of terms?” the second maid asked uneasily. The boy lowered his voice even more. “I didnae hear it clearly… only that the council seemed mighty concerned about the heir.”
“Well, of course they are,” the first maid muttered. “That’s how these clan marriages work.”
The second maid sighed. “Still, it feels unkind to gossip about the Lady like this.”
The boy chuckled awkwardly. “I’m nae gossipin’, I’m only sayin’ what I heard.”
Arianna remained frozen behind the stone corner, her breath shallow.
