“What are ye doin’?!” she demanded, beginning to struggle but stopping when he tightened the restraints.
“I’m makin’ sure ye daenae try to run off again before we get back to the castle,” he explained. “I’ve already told ye, I cannae trust ye.”
“And how am I to ken I can trust ye?” she snapped as he climbed into the saddle behind her.
“I’m the man that rescued ye from that tower,” he said, digging his heels into the horse’s sides and propelling them back toward the path. “And I’m keepin’ ye fed and clothed and safe. Ye daenae seem to appreciate that because ye’re stubborn and set on doin’ everythin’ yerself.”
“At least I ken me own motivations,” she argued, leaning forward as if she were trying to get away from him even now, even when she was tied to him.
“And that,” he said, his voice low and dangerous, “is precisely why ye willnae be leavin’ the castle walls again. Ever.”
Chapter Ten
The laughter of the guards outside Amelia’s door seemed to only make her mood more sour. While she was confined, a prisoner once more, they were laughing at a joke told too low for her to hear.
I should have kent better than to have hoped. Me instincts are never wrong.
“Amelia?” Jinny’s voice filtered through the wood, just as excitable as ever and therefore that much more grating. “I’ve brought ye yer lunch.”
Amelia stayed silent, but the maid entered anyway. As she crossed the room to the small table that sat next to the plush chair near the fire, she hummed to herself. Then, she turned to smile at Amelia.
“Laird Fraser should be back in a few hours,” she said, approaching her slowly.
“Excellent,” Amelia replied without any inflection, letting herself be herded to the chair. “I’m sure he’ll be glad to hear the report. I dinnae leave me quarters for the last two days, and I dinnae give the guards any trouble.”
Jinny’s smile faltered, but she fixed it quickly. “He’s only keepin’ ye here because he’s worried about yer safety. I cannae say that I blame ye for gettin’ upset with him since I still daenae ken what yer spat was about, but he doesnae want ye injured. That’s the only reason for this.”
“Is that what ye tell yerself because ye’re confined to this castle as well?”
The words were bitter, barbs meant to hurt. And they did. Jinny deflated a bit, her smile turning into something bittersweet. Softly, she replied, “I’m nae confined to this castle, but I choose to stay. The Laird doesnae ken how to be gentle, it wasnae how he was raised, but he protects his people, whether they live here or nae. Ye’re delightfully unpredictable and headstrong. He doesnae ken how to handle ye any other way.”
“Well, perhaps he should consult with someone else, then,” Amelia said bitterly, staring down at the meal she’d been presented. It looked delicious, but it made her stomach turn. “Keepin’ someone captive is nae the same as keepin’ them safe. It would do him well to learn the distinction.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she flinched internally. It did not matter how angry she was; Jinny had approached her with good intentions.
For once, the maid seemed to be at a loss for words. Her shoulders sagged a bit, making Amelia immediately regret the way she was behaving. Then, softly, she said, “I can relay the message. I’ll be back in an hour to retrieve your tray.”
Amelia watched Jinny go, a knot forming in her stomach. She perched in the chair, staring at the meal in front of her. Her mouth tasted like ash, but she forced herself to eat it anyway, staring into the fire as she chewed each bite for longer than she usually would.
Eventually, she finished her plate. Then, she stood, surveying the room for something to keep her mind occupied. She didn’t want to sit with her thoughts for too long, unable to stomach that there might be some truth to what Jinny had said.
The room was terribly bare. Despite the luxurious nature of the furniture, it had been stripped of anything that could be classified as a personal effect. That was the case when she was brought here—it was a blank slate, meant to house temporary guests.
With a sigh, she began going through the drawers of the nightstand and vanity, coming up short on her search. Then, she shifted her attention to the chest of drawers. She’d had no reason to open it since she’d arrived with nothing more than the gown on her shoulders.
“There it is,” she said, a triumphant smile spreading on her face when she found a book of tales, the same one her mother hadread to her when she was just a wee lass before her mother had succumbed to illness.
She settled in right there on the floor, opening the book in her lap and beginning to read from the very first page. Allowing herself to get lost in the imagined worlds, time slipped away from her. The sun went from blazing above the castle to dipping below the horizon without her noticing. It wasn’t until there was a knock on her door that she realized just how badly her back ached from being bent over the text for hours.
“Enter,” she said, not bothering to ask who was there. It was nearly time for supper, judging by the way the last rays of light painted her walls.
The footsteps that crossed the threshold were too heavy to belong to Jinny. When she lifted her head from the pages, forcing her eyes to focus on the room, her stomach turned. Standing there, seemingly refusing to come further into her space, was Darragh.
The anger that she’d managed to keep at bay for the better part of the afternoon returned with a vengeance. She saw red, standing up and letting the book clatter to the floor in front of her. It took everything in her not to cross the room and slap him for daring to enter her space. The only thing that stopped her was the promise of harsher confinement if she put a toe out of line.
“Ye’ve a lot of nerve comin’ in here,” she practically spat, her hands balling into fists at her sides. “This is the one place in the castle that is mine, and ye intrude upon it.”
“I’m comin’ to check on ye,” he argued, taking a small step forward, stopping when he saw her teeth.
