“May!” her mother scolded. “Dinna be so bold.”
“He is the one who has been practicing fer six years and never giving up,” Elspeth said. “He just needed a clear path to follow.”
His mother laid her hand on Elspeth’s. “Ye are that clear path. His face is lit with direction.”
Elspeth shrank back an inch. No one noticed. She wanted to ask if the direction was toward battle. She wanted to ask…nae, beg him not to go.
How could she beg him not to fight for his king after she helped him train to do it? She sat for as long as she could, thankful when May complained of cramps in her legs and Ewen came to whisk her away.
“Do yer parents not mind that Ewen fancies May?” Elspeth asked her husband when he came to sit next to her.
“Why would they?” he asked. “Because he’s no’ a noble?”
“Aye,” Elspeth answered honestly.
“’Tis May’s life. Ye try tellin’ her differently.”
“Why would I?” Elspeth put to him and then broke into laughter without knowing why.
For the hundredth time, however much a hundred was, she thanked God for bringing Logan Cameron into her life.
“I dreamed of ye often, husband,” she confessed and curled her arms around him tighter.
“What did ye dream aboot?” he asked in between laughter at her giggles.
“In one dream, ye pined fer me good and proper, seeing that I was dead.”
“What? Cease! I dinna want to hear anymore, Elspeth.”
“Verra well,” she pouted, shrugging her shoulders.
Someone banged on his door. He went to it and opened it to his brother.
“Ealar, what are ye doin’ here? ’Tis no’ yet sunrise.”
“Would ye prefer me to wait until sunrise to tell ye—” his eyes opened wide and full of happiness when he saw Elspeth awake in bed. He forgot his brother and went to her.
“’Tis good to find ye awake, fair swan.”
Elspeth laughed softly into her hand. “Ealar, ye ferget yerself.”
“I remember perfectly,” Ealar went on.
“Brother,” Logan said before his brother said anything else. “I think the fair swan is tired since ’tis the middle of the night. What did ye come here to tell me?”
“Och, aye,” Ealar said, remembering. “I found Helen.”
Logan stood up. “Where is she?”
“In the lower cellar.”
Elspeth swung her legs over the side of the bed, but Logan stopped her. “Nae. Ye stay here. Ye are still recovering and ’tis filthy doun there.”
He made certain she stayed in bed and then hurried out of the room.
Alone, Elspeth left the bed and went to the door. She pressed her ear against the wood, and not hearing anything, she opened the door and stepped outside.
Someone stepped in her way.
