Someone was in the room, and it wasn’t Theo. He would have brought with him a calmness to the room, not the static grating on her nerves.
Determined to face her fear, she bolted upright, bringing the furs to her chest as her pulse roared in her ears.
“Theo? This isnae funny. And if that’s ye, Amber, ye can show yerself. I dinnae mind ye bein’ here.” Her voice cracked the silence like a stone thrown into a dry well. It was too soft. Too hopeful.
Silence answered, and she swallowed the fear down her parched throat.
Mustering her courage, she cried out Theo’s name before gulping in as much air as she could. Her nerves were shot. The silence was too heavy, too deliberate.
She peered into the shadows in the far corner of the room. It was a movement out of the corner of her eye that drew her attention to the door. The unease in the room settled heavily on her shoulders, sinking its claws into her.
Her body trembled as she tossed the furs off herself and collected her shift from the floor. It wasn’t much, but at least it would cover her nakedness. The last thing she needed was to bolt out of her chambers as bare as the day she was born.
No, she was Lady McGowan, and she’d present herself as such.
Slipping her arms through the sleeves of her robe, Lavina moved to the balcony door. The cool night air might be enough to chase away her troubling thoughts and lingering feelings. Surely there was no danger here. She was with Theo now. His keep was secure and safe.
No, it was nothing but a night terror that could be easily dispelled with a hard slap of fresh air.
The night was boggy and did nothing to brighten her mood. She glared at the pile of stone that the lightning had struck on her wedding night. She wondered if Theo would ever have it fixed, or if it would be permanently a part of their home now.
But Lavina hadn’t come outside to ponder over the ruins at her feet, but the worry that continued to twist her stomach into knots. Why couldn’t she shake the feeling that something bad was brewing?
Every inch of her body tingled as a dread she couldn’t explain coiled in the pit of her stomach.
A thought began to torment and tease the frayed edges of her mind. It was a thought she didn’t want to voice, but somehow instinctively knew it would claw its way out sooner or later.
A soft, muffled sound pulled her out of the mire of her thoughts. She glanced over what was left of the railing and screamed.
“Guards! Breach!”
Terror and panic assaulted her like marbles bouncing off cobblestones. Out of the chaos, only one thought rang out clearer than any bell.
“Maisie.” Her name tumbled off Lavina’s tongue like a prayer.
Her gaze flicked to Maisie’s window. At first, she saw nothing but the curtains. But then, there it was—movement.
“Nay!” she cried out as she turned on her heels and made a beeline for the chamber doors. Her worst nightmare had become a reality. “Maisie, I’m comin’. Please, God, nay.”
“Lavina!” Theo’s voice rang through the madness, firm and true.
Lavina paused to give him a moment, but that was all she could afford. Maisie’s life was in danger, and there was no way she was going to stand by and do nothing.
“Lavina, ye need to get to the council chambers. Stephen will show ye the way,” Theo urged, grabbing her by the shoulders.
Lavina couldn’t hear a word coming out of his mouth. Her mind was unraveling far too quickly for her to keep up.
“Maisie… There’s someone in Maisie’s room. He’s come, he’s here, is he nae? Micah’s found us.”
“Stephen, take her to the council chambers,” Theo barked with a glare.
Both men seemed to be having a silent conversation, but it wasn’t until Stephen had thrown her over his shoulder that she understood what they had discussed.
“Nay, put me down! Theo, ye cannae do this. Please, I need me sister,” Lavina pleaded.
“Aye, and I’ll get her for ye, I swear. But I cannae be worried about ye as well. Now, be the Lady McGowan our people need ye to be. Can ye do that?”
Lavina bobbed her head.
