A soft cough sounded, barely audible over the roar of the fire. Lucas and Flora didn’t react, but they weren’t likely to realize that Amelia’s discomfort ran as deep as he suspected.
“Aye,” Darragh agreed, shifting his gaze, but not his attention, away from Amelia. If Laird Mackenzie was personally visiting lairds as he expanded his territory, he was looking for someone. It didn’t seem like a coincidence that she was reacting in this way. “But we’re in nay state to have these discussions. I believe it’s time for us to call this evenin’ to an end.”
From the corner of his vision, he caught Amelia’s body going even more rigid. She was rubbing her hands together harder now, her nerves demanding to be expressed. As if sensing that he was looking again, she glanced over her shoulder and then stopped her fidgeting.
She’s just told me far more than she meant to with that.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Saints, I daenae think I could have stood another minute in that room.
Amelia paced in circles around her chambers, attempting to level her pulse. She’d been unsettled since the messenger interrupted the soft atmosphere in the solar. Even before he’d spoken, she’d known that he came with disastrous news.
“It’s nae coincidence,” she muttered to herself, forcing her body to stop moving, so she could sit in the window seat and look out over the grounds. “He doesnae lose investments nor leave loose ends.”
Her leg vibrated incessantly. Even when she pressed the flat of her palm against her thigh, it continued to bounce. It was almost as if her body was trying to expel every one of her racing thoughts.
Before her father, Laird Mackenzie, sold her to the hunt, he’d spent weeks wandering the castle, murmuring under his breath about streams of income and unacceptable claims on his estate. The trade deals falling through had upset him in a way that frightened her. The mentions of claims on his estate were directed at Amelia, who had a stronger claim to them. Her mother’s family had a stronger legal claim on the lands and alliances her father relied on. Nothing about his behavior hinted at what he’d do.
Without a second thought, he sent me away to the man willing to pay the most for me. He likely thought I’d die, that it was a necessary sacrifice.
Her eyes scanned the forest in the distance as if she would be able to catch a glimpse of him. She searched at first for the cavalry, for his guards carrying the crest as he led them toward their next conquest. He wouldn’t bring all those people into the woods in the middle of the night, though. It would just be him and the jet-black stallion that he loved more than anything else on the planet.
He’s stronger than ever; he always finds a way to thrive.
The words echoed in her mind, the threat unstated but not unheard. He didn’t abandon what he considered his, and if his crest had resurfaced here, then it was not by chance. This was intentional proximity.
“Does he ken that I live?” she asked herself, rising from her seat once more, unable to stay still for more than a few seconds.
Needing to do something with her hands, Amelia began going through the chest of drawers in the corner of her room. It had been slowly stacked with spare linens, the gowns she’d been fitted for when she’d gone to the village, and several gowns that she didn’t recall ordering that had arrived nearly a week after the original batch. Perhaps she could sort through it all and impose order on it.
Is there any point? If me father is nearby, I willnae be stayin’ here much longer.
She ignored that thought, deciding that there was no use in dwelling on that at this very moment. She was here now. This was the environment that she had control over. It had become hers, and she didn’t want to leave it before she was forced to.
Her fingers danced upon the soft bedsheet, lighter than the sheets her father kept in the linen closets up north. She’d never known him to travel to the south, always citing his preference for the cooler evenings.
I cannae imagine he’s suddenly decided to tour the south purely for pleasure. It’s nae as if there’s nae neighbors further north.
“He’s thorough,” she said thoughtfully, carrying the linen to her bed. “If he’s visitin’ everywhere personally, the Fraser lands willnae be overlooked. He could already have his visit planned, and we willnae ken until he arrives.”
A full-body shudder ran through her as she realized what that would mean. He’d wear a smile. He’d walk into the halls as ifhe had been invited, soaking up the cordiality from the staff like he’d done something to deserve it. Then, he’d see Amelia. And then… what?
“What could he possibly want from me?” she asked, folding the linen with much more propulsion than necessary. She took a moment to inhale, forcing herself to be more controlled in her movements. “Is he comin’ to apologize? Or perhaps there’s another transaction?” She slammed the sheet on top of the growing pile with a huff. “Nay. If I ken anythin’ about him, he’ll be comin’ with some sort of marriage arrangement meant to repair his reputation.”
As she carried the stack of newly straightened fabric to the chest, she told herself that it didn’t matter what he was coming for specifically. She knew better than to try to predict his next move. His intention would be the same, regardless of the action he took.
If he kens I am alive, he wants to use me somehow. Again. Or worse.
It felt as though the walls of her chamber were closing in on her. The phantom pressure danced across her skin, cool prickles that made her feel physically ill. She slid forward, her palms sweaty against the stone sill of the window. Taking in a slow, deep breath of cool night air seemed to peel the suffocating jacket of anxiety from the surface of her flesh.
Just this morning, the room at her back had been luxurious. It was the first place that she’d felt truly at ease in months. Butnow, it was just another cage. She was being held here, within the keep, waiting for her father to come and collect her.
Havenae I kent it would be like this from the second I arrived?
She chewed on the inside of her cheek as she carefully assigned the sheets a spot in the chest. For a few minutes, she was able to quiet her mind. The act of arranging the contents was meditative. When everything had been painstakingly folded and tucked into place, Amelia stood, feeling as if she could look at this with a clear head.
“I cannae tell Darragh me name,” she muttered, speaking through the thoughts in an effort to find a solution. Perhaps saying things out loud would give her a perspective she was failing to see. “Even if I asked him to allow me to hide durin’ the visit, it’s nae as if we’d have any warnin’ me father was comin’. And if Darragh kens who I am, he may allow me father to charm him into givin’ me over.”
