He shuddered and glanced up at Evander. “We should have the healers look her over.”
Evander nodded. “Very wise, but I think I ken what they’ll say. Lost memories are difficult. They may return, or they may nae. All we can do is wait.”
“I remembered something,” Skye volunteered.
Both men glanced at her, their eyes widening.
“What?” Creighton asked eagerly. “What do ye remember?”
“Dancing at the Leanan Festival. I remember…” She paused, glancing over at Evander. “I remember ye. Meeting ye, that is. I remember how much I distrusted ye.”
Evander gave a huff of amusement. “Aye, I could tell. Ye glowered at me as if ye wanted to bite me head off. I remember how yer face lit up when I agreed to dance.”
“Ye always did love dancing,” Creighton murmured softly, his hand twitching out as if he wanted to draw Skye into an embrace again.
She barely glanced at him. Her gaze had locked onto Evander’s, green and ice blue meeting together, and somehow she could not separate them.
Why is he staring at me so intently? Do I look ugly?
She lifted a tentative hand to her cheek, the grazed one that she was sure had a little grime on it. Did she smell? Almost certainly.
Did I spend an entire year in this dress? Where did I go? Who took me? And why? Why, why, why?
Creighton spoke again, and Skye flinched, dropping her gaze at once.
“Nora wanted to come see ye, but I told her to wait,” he was saying, oblivious to how abruptly he’d shattered the strange moment between her and Evander. “I didnae ken what stateye would be in, and she doesnae need any scares, nae in her condition.”
“Her condition?” Skye repeated. “Wait, Nora? Do ye mean the woman who was yer false betrothed, swapped in place of me?”
Creighton lifted one smudgy eyebrow. “She’s no longer mefalsebetrothed, lassie. We’re wed now, and she’s with child.”
Skye blinked, conjuring up an image of the tall, red-headed woman with steely eyes. She’d only met Nora once and wouldn’t have imagined she would be the one to capture Creighton’s heart.
“Was it political?” she asked reluctantly, glancing over at Evander.
Could it be that she and Creighton had decided to marry their betrotheds after all, just to solidify the alliance? It might even have been herownsuggestion.
“Political?” Creighton repeated. A faintly dreamy look came into his eyes. “Nay, lass. I loved her. Iloveher.”
Well, that wasa surprise.
Skye blinked, finding herself entirely at a loss for words.
“Ye are in love?” she sputtered. “Ye?”
Creighton gave a wry laugh. “Aye. It’s a shock, is it nae?”
“Nae a shock, exactly,” she responded, recovering. “But I am surprised.”
He chuckled, nodding. “So was I. I cannae wait for ye to meet her. Properly, I mean. Now, Hunter will be on his way, but I should warn ye that Aunt Helena’s health isnae good and she doesnae travel much. Once Hunter kens that ye are safe, he may delay his journey for a while.”
“Maither is ill?”
“No more ill than usual. Ye ken how she struggles.”
Skye bit her lower lip.
How did Maither feel, kenning that I was missing and that no one could find me? Sick and tired in that old keep, with Hunter probably going crazy and tearing up the walls in his frustration, how did she manage it?
