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For a moment, she debated running after him, but he’d looked irritated enough that she feared what might happen if she did. Not to mention that her thoughts and heart raced, and she needed time to calm down. She walked back to the window seat and sat. What had just happened? No, the better question was, what was happening between them? Something was, but she didn’t understand what. One minute the man was warm and kind, and the next he was cold and distant. Then he’d looked at her after she’d apologized, and his eyes had smoldered with desire.
The thought had her wrapping her arms around her midriff. Her body had responded eagerly to his touch, almost wantonly. Yet, she truly did not think she was a woman of questionable morals. Maybe she had simply not yet met a man who she would abandon her morals for until Cameron.
She ground her teeth, and when her stomach growled, she stomped over to the table and snatched up a hunk of cheese and bread. She took a bite and tried to calm her chaotic thoughts, but her heart still beat too fast from Cameron’s touch. She bent down and picked up the wine carafe, lifted it to her lips, and took a large gulp. She winced at its strength, nearly spitting it out. A cough racked her body once she swallowed the liquid, and when she was done, her belly felt pleasantly warm. The wine seemed to be working to ease her tension. She took another sip, but this time she exercised care with how fast and how much she drank.
The second drink made her feel even better than the first. Taking the wine, bread, and cheese, she made her way back to the window seat and sat for a long while, drinking and thinking about what had occurred with Cameron. She went to take another sip from the carafe and was startled to find it empty. Hiccupping, she plunked it onto the ground. She had sat and waited long enough for Cameron to send someone to fetch her. She’d make her own way back to her bedchamber.
She strode to the door, threw it open, and blinked in surprise when she saw Broch. He consumed all the space of the doorway.
“My lady,” he said with a gentle smile. “Cameron instructed me to see ye to Lady Marion in the healing room. She wants to look at yer head.”
Sorcha ran her fingers over the bandage that was still wrapped around her head. She’d forgotten it was there. She nodded at Broch, then gratefully took the elbow he extended to her. The room seemed to be spinning a bit, though, and when he started to lead her out of the solar, she realized just how wobbly she was and had to clutch onto him so she wouldn’t sway.
He frowned at her and paused at the stairs. “Is something the matter, Lady Serene?”
“My name is Sorcha,” she replied, immediately correcting him.
“My apologies,” he said. “Cameron referred to ye as Serene still.”
“That’s because he dunnae ken that I recalled my true name. I only did so after he’d left the solar.”
Raced away from her was more like it, but this man didn’t need to know that.
“Ah,” Broch replied. “I’ll tell him immediately. We’ve been instructed to relay any information ye recall to him the moment ye recall it.”
“I’m certain ye have,” she replied, feeling sour at the reminder that the only reason Cameron had lied to the king about her was so he could glean what she might remember.
“Are ye feeling unwell, Lady Sorcha?”
Broch looked at her with genuine concern. Couple that with the fact that he’d not agreed with everyone earlier in the great hall when they said she wasn’t to be trusted, and she decided that she liked him. She took a deep breath and said, “I believe I’ve drunk too much wine.” With that, she promptly hiccupped once again, and they both burst out laughing.
Once the laughter died, he tightened his grip on her arm. “If ye need to lean into me more as we walk, ye may.”
“That’s verra kind of ye,” she said, doing just that as he started them down the stairs.
She debated for a moment asking him to explain what the man in the great hall had said about her. The worst Broch could do was refuse to tell her, but maybe he would reveal something she needed to hear, and then she would know for certain what awaited her in the future. She had a niggling suspicion what the king likely intended, but she prayed she was wrong. Her stomach knotted as she wet her lips and gathered her courage. “Do ye ken what the man in the great hall meant when he said the king had plans for me?”
A disgusted look swept across Broch’s face. “I ken what he meant, but if Cameron has nae told ye, I dunnae believe that he will wish me to do so.”
She scowled at that. “Dunnae I have a right to ken my own future?” she demanded, her words coming out in sharp breaths.
His blue eyes widened. “Ye do. I kinnae argue that. However, ’tis doubtful ye’ll find the kenning pleasant. Are ye ready for that?” he asked as he led her out a door and into the courtyard. The day was gray and misty, which seemed rather appropriate for their conversation.
She nodded. “I’d rather ken my future and be ready than nae ken a thing.”
“Spoken like a lass with a braw heart,” he replied. He shifted from foot to foot and sighed. “I kinnae deny ye the right to ken what the king intends, so I’ll tell ye.”
She understood that the man may well be putting himself at risk for being punished by telling her. Despite how much she wanted to know, she could not ask this man to do something that would cause him harm. She set a hand to his arm to still his progress across the courtyard. He stopped immediately and turned to her.
“Dunnae tell me,” she said. “I could nae abide it if harm came to ye for my sake.”
Both his eyebrows arched high, and he surprised her by taking the hand that was tucked into his arm, raising her fingertips to his lips, and kissing them.
“Why did ye do that?” she asked, feeling only confusion and not the rush of desire she had when Cameron had touched her.
“Because ye are beautiful, compelling, and kind,” he said with a sly smile.
Irritation flared in her chest. Was he trying to lure her to him?
