“Nice and easy. Just like I showed ye.”
Nodding, she took the first step, tentative at first, but with each following step, her confidence bloomed. Her steps became steadier and more sure-footed.
“Ye are doing great, lass,” he urged, providing words of support to spur her on the rest of the way. As she neared the mid-point, he called out, “Ye’re halfway thr—.”
The board under her right foot snapped, loosening from the rope of the bridge, and crashed to the rocks below. “Alana!” Rory yelled, his heart lurching, but Alana kept her composure, took a deep breath, and continued to cross. She didn’t scream. She didn’t cry. In that moment she was stronger than him.
Rory’s heart raced with each step she took that brought her closer to him. He wanted to tell her to hurry, but was afraid if she hurried her pace, she would slip. Instead, he watched her intently, sending a silent prayer to the lord above for her safe crossing.
Stepping from the last board, she jumped onto solid ground and into Rory’s waiting arms, a huge smile stuck on his face, a triumphant look on hers. He steadied her and their eyes locked. Both of them breathing hard. Their chests rising and falling against each other’s.
“I didnae think ye could do it,” he muttered, burying his nose in her hair, losing himself for a brief moment, forgetting his earlier vow to not succumb to his feelings.
“I didnae either,” she admitted, burrowing her face in his chest.
He wanted to stay in this position forever. Pride flickered in him at her strength. She was stronger than he had given her credit for and he found that realization annoying. His underestimation of her capability was shameful. It said far more about him than it did her. And he realized he was guilty of treating her in much the same way her family had. Not seeing her as enough.
When she was far more than enough.
Coughing, he broke contact and stepped away, tamping down theemotions that had begun to consume him once again. He kenned better. The more feelings that he allowed to surface, the angrier it made him. Alana Duran could never be his. He would be wise to remember that.
He tried to brush off how perfect she felt in his arms. “We need to get moving,” he snapped, not willing to delve into what he was feeling right now. It would do him no good. “We’ve got a lot of ground to cover today,” he said gruffly.
Alana fell into step beside him, walking with the confidence of a thousand warriors. He remembered her feet and the blisters that had formed. It had been a few days and they’d mostly healed, but he couldn’t ignore how she hadn’t complained. Not once. Even when she had every right to.
As they walked on, he couldn’t help stealing glances at her. His gaze lingering longer than it should. Longer than was proper. He watched the surety of her steps. The square of her shoulders. The stubborn jut of her chin.
He was impressed at her tenacity. Moreso than he would ever admit.
Chapter Ten
After another dayof traipsing through the beauty of the Highlands, they made camp near a quiet lake. Tension still hung heavy in the air betwixt them. A remnant from whatever had passed betwixt them earlier.
For a moment, after she’d crossed the bridge and landed straight into Rory’s strong arms, she had dared to dream that Rory was her betrothed. But, he had quickly squashed that when he had realized what he was doing.
But she had noticed the way he held her with all the care of a fragile being. The way he nuzzled her hair. Those weren’t actions of someone who cared naught for her. Nay, those were actions of someone who cared greatly for the person they were embracing.
She’d reveled in those brief seconds. Burning the feeling into her memory so she would have it to latch on to when she was given over to her true betrothed. Wrong as that may be.
Alana may not ken much, but she didn’t have to think very hard to ken that her husband-to-be would never hold her so gingerly.
And that made her angry. Why could she not be given the chance to love and be loved? She walked to the shore of the lake and sat down on the pebbly sand, looking out over the dark blue water, so different from the water at the Falls of Fae they had climbed to. A gentle wind blew, causing slight ripples to run across the surface afore gentlylapping the shore. On the surface, the clouds reflected on the lake, slowly moving away from her to the other side. She wished she could escape her predicament like the clouds could escape their reflection. If she could, she would run far, far away. Where she couldn’t be found, and no one would ken her name.
Lost in thought, she didn’t hear Rory approach and pick up a pebble. She watched as he skipped it across the surface. It made four hops afore it sank into the dark blue depths.
He looked at her but remained silent. Waiting.
She sighed. She didn’t like the blanket of tension that had been hovering over them all afternoon. Looking up at him, she squinted. “Will ye sit with me?” She asked quietly.
He pondered her question for a long moment, his lips pressed into a thin line afore finally nodding. Dropping down beside her he bent his right leg at the knee and rested his arm on it as he looked out at the water, avoiding her gaze, and waited.
Taking a deep breath, she decided to let him in. To see the person that she was inside. Not the one he thought he kenned when he’d been sent to escort her to her new home.
“Less than two months ago, I found out aboot my betrothal,” she began. “The news took me completely unawares as I hadnae seen it coming. Nor did I expect it. I was told ’twas time I performed my duty for my family. For our clan. My father had sought an alliance to secure the safety of the Duran clan. We are one of the smaller clans and with the English to the South and larger clans surrounding us, we needed protection. An alliance to a strong clan that once ’twas announced we had joined forces, the constant attacks of our land would stop. The price for that alliance was my hand.”
Rory scoffed and shook his head. “Ye’ve lived in a gilded cage all this time. I am sure yer new husband will provide ye the same type of life ye are accustomed to.”
Alana bristled, not liking his accusatory tone. “Ye are naive if thatis what ye believe.”
