Page 28 of Taken By the Savage Highlander

“I think that she’s willin’ to practice with ye,” Cameron said, unable to stamp out the warmth that crackled in his chest at the way the excitement on Margo’s face brightened further. “She can tell that ye daenae mean her any harm. It is just that her instincts are tellin’ her otherwise. She needs our patience.”

Margo hummed, staying quiet for a few moments as she gave the horse the attention she must have been starved for. Then, softly, she said, “More of us need more patience than you would think.”

Are ye talkin’ about yerself? Or are ye referrin’ to me?

After Cameron had left the stables, Margo found herself wandering the gardens aimlessly. Nearly every single person in the clan was doing something to help with the repairs; she could not make herself sit still.

And Cameron’s lesson in the stables made me even more restless.

As she walked, taking in the way both flowering plants and herbal remedies were grown together, her fingers tapped rhythmically against her chest. It was an old tune that her mother used to sing to her, and after a few minutes, she began to hum under her breath. With her free hand, she caressed the velvety petals of a bloom.

When she turned toward the castle, having decided to ask for a task, she spotted Eleanor running toward her. The girl had something in her hands and a strange look in her eyes. It wasn’t until Eleanor stopped in front of Margo that she realized what her sister had found.

I should have known leaving it in the pelts wasn’t a good decision.

“I found this,” Eleanor said, her voice hushed as she presented Margo’s pendant to her. “One of the kittens was climbing the pelts in the corner, and this fell to the floor.”

“Did you tell anyone else you found it?” Margo asked, her voice strained as she swallowed around the fear in her chest.

Ever since her mother died, she had guarded the pendant from everyone’s knowledge. The directive was so deeply ingrained in her that she feared even Tilly knowing about the object. She suppressed a shudder at the thought of Eleanor bringing it to anyone else first.

“No, I thought it was yours,” Eleanor replied as she ran her thumbs over the tarnished edges. “I don’t know why, but I felt like I should speak to you about it.” She looked up at Margo then, a slight flush over her cheeks. “Perhaps I should have put it away. I promise I was not snooping through your things.”

“I did not think you were,” Margo said, glancing back toward the castle before putting a hand on her sister’s shoulder. “Perhaps it is time that I tell you about that. Come, let’s sit a bit further in the garden.”

Eleanor nodded, letting herself be led to a bench surrounded by a bush covered in white flowers. Margo waited for her sister to sit first before she settled right next to her, pressing their thighs together. When she held out her hand, Eleanor pressed the cool metal against Margo’s palm.

“So, it is yours, then?” Eleanor asked softly, breaking the silence when she couldn’t seem to tolerate it any longer.

“It was Mother’s,” Margo said, unable to truly claim ownership over the object even though it had been in her possession for so long. “And before she passed away, she gave it to me and told me to guard it with my life. She said that it would protect us both. So, I kept that promise to her and kept it hidden. I do not know how I got so careless with it here.”

“Perhaps it is because of how calming the land is,” Eleanor said before quickly amending her statement. “If it weren’t for the storms. If they weren’t so destructive, I think that I’d find them soothing.”

“Perhaps,” Margo muttered, though she wasn’t sure that she quite believed it.

“But how is it meant to protect us?” Eleanor asked after a beat passed.

“I have not been able to figure that out yet,” Margo admitted. She ran her thumbnail along the edge, sliding the pendant open. A small key slid onto her palm. She held it up, letting Eleanor look at it. “I tried it on every desk and box I could find in Abbott Hall, and I still do not know what it opens.”

“The key could be symbolic,” Eleanor suggested, an almost whimsical quality to her voice.

“Or perhaps,” Margo said with a little laugh, “it’s the key to Laird MacLeod’s mind. I have no idea what my husband wants from me!”

Eleanor giggled, covering her mouth as the sound became stronger. Margo could not help herself, joining in with the symphony of sound. She was grateful to have Eleanor here with her, and she knew that she had Cameron to thank for her sister’s presence.

“He’s not a bad man,” Margo said when she got a hold of herself. “He’s simply… confusing.”

“I don’t think I have ever met a man that was not confusing,” Eleanor said, her voice so serious that Margo nearly burst out laughing once more. “I think you are lucky that confusing is all he is.”

“I think you may be right,” Margo said thoughtfully, replacing the key in the pendant. Then, as if compelled by the normalcy of sitting around and laughing with her sister, she added, “He kissed me, you know?”

“He did?!” Eleanor asked, he head snapping up to meet Margo’s gaze. “Was he gentle or was he… beastly?”

“Both?” Margo said, tilting her head to the side as she allowed herself to remember the closeness, the feel of his body against hers. “He pulled away like he refused to allow it to go any further.”

Eleanor was quiet for a long moment. Then, she muttered, “He is more of a gentleman than I expected.”

“I thought the same thing,” Margo sighed, tucking the pendant away in her bodice. “I did not expect the man who invaded our home and took me as payment to be so… patient with his people. It seems as if he can extend it to me, but I am at a loss when it comes to the way we interact with one another.”