“Have fun!” she called from the steps. “Mayhap we’ll still be in the drawin’ room when ye get back. If we are, I want to play a round of chess with ye.”
Marissa assured her that the second they were back, she’d try to find her, before turning to face Arthur.
“What are we goin’ to the loch for?” she inquired, trotting to keep up with him as he started walking.
“Ye’ll see,” he said simply.
Marissa was dissatisfied with the answer. After the events of the night before, she just wanted a little bit of predictability. She was tired of surprises.
But she didn’t want to seem immature, so she kept her pouting to herself.
The walk from the castle to the loch seemed to take much less time in the day, and before she knew it, they were breaking through the dense trees at the edge of the castle and stepping onto the rolling shores that met the water.
“What did ye want to show me?” she asked, putting her hands on her hips and staring out at it.
“Do ye trust me?” he asked, his eyes glimmering with mischief.
Despite her apprehension, Marissa nodded. It was the truth. She did trust him. How could she not?
But when Arthur looked down at his hands and she followed his gaze, she suddenly wished that she had lied. From his pocket, he’d pulled out a handkerchief, and he lifted it.
“I need to tie this around yer eyes,” he said.
Immediately, she backed away and started shaking her head.
“Nay,” she protested, fear coiling deep in her belly. “I dinnae want to be blindfolded.”
“Ye said ye trusted me,” Arthur reminded her, his tone growing impatient. “I need ye to show it.”
She glared at him. “Just because I trust ye, doesnae mean I need to let ye take me sight away from me! What if I fall? I’ll go tumblin’ right into the water and drown.”
“Ye’re nae goin’ to fall. I’ll hold ye every step of the way.”
She placed her hands on her hips. “And what happens if ye fall? Ye’ll be too busy fussin’ over me that ye will hardly be able to pay attention to where ye’re goin’, and we both go tumblin’. What happens then?”
Arthur threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. “Then we both drown, and Cody and Joseph can go sing our tale as a tragedy to warn everyone away from ever usin’ blindfolds again. Throughout Scotland, they’ll sing the tale of the lovers who diedtragically in this loch, and we’ll haunt it for centuries. How does that sound?”
Marissa laughed despite herself, his agitation getting the better of her. Shaking her head, she stepped forward. “Ye promise ye’ll be careful?”
Sensing her defeat, Arthur heaved a sigh of relief.
“Aye,” he said. “I promise that I will be careful. And if it looks like either of us are goin’ to trip, I’ll throw meself into the water and sacrifice meself for ye. Does that sound like enough for ye?”
She rolled her eyes, the corner of her mouth quirking up into a smirk. “There’s nay need for ye to be dramatic,” she muttered playfully. “I was always goin’ to let ye do it.”
A growl of exasperation sounded low in Arthur’s throat, but he didn’t argue further. He turned his finger, gesturing for her to turn around.
Doing as she was asked, Marissa waited with bated breath as he reached around her. The handkerchief fell over her eyes, blocking out the late-morning sun.
It grew tighter around her head as Arthur knotted it. And, slowly, she became accustomed to standing there without being able to see.
She was suddenly hyper-aware of all the sounds and smells around her. The lapping of gentle waves as they met the shoreline. The leaves on the trees rustling as they were stirred on a breeze.
That same breeze carried with it the smell of late summer flowers, as well as the scent of the loch.
“Be careful,” Arthur warned, his large hand wrapping around her arm as he started to guide her to whatever destination he had in mind.
She stepped more hesitantly than she likely should have, listening to every one of his barked commands as they made their way.
