“What did ye say to make her smile like that?”
“I only gave her some advice about a boy she seems rather smitten with.”
Olivia stepped in front of me and shook her head. “Did she tell ye who ’tis she fancies?”
“No.”
“’Tis Marcus, Silva. Ye just pushed her towards yer wedding-time lover.”
Chapter 14
One Week Later
* * *
Marcus arrived in the dining hall early hoping to meet Silva when she entered. He knew just visiting with her would cheer him up.
Their trip had been a pointless one. The man he’d read about in one of the castle’s many books was dead—and had been for over twenty years. He’d known it was possible—probable even—but he still believed it worth checking in to. Had the man lived, he would’ve been a good source of information. An expert in faerie lore, Marcus had hoped that he might be able to give him some idea of how to free Freya from Machara’s grasp.
She entered the room just after Nicol, and he hurried to her side before anyone else showed up to pull her away.
“You’re back!”
It pleased him that she was glad to see he’d returned, and he smiled as he walked her over to the table.
“Yes. I’m afraid it was a wasted trip.”
“I’m sorry.”
He dismissed it. He didn’t want to speak about him. Each day while away, he’d wondered how she was doing, if she was enjoying her time at the castle, if she would decide to stay.
“It’s fine. I’ll find what I need to in the end. How are you and Olivia finding everything here? Are you ready to leave yet?” He pulled out a chair for her before sitting down at her side.
“No, not at all. Both Olivia and I have settled in quite well.”
Her smile was bright but her tone seemed off. He searched her expression for the words she didn’t say. It was one he recognized from his early days at the castle.
“The people are nice, the grounds beautiful, but you’re bored out of your mind?”
She turned and tipped her head to the side as she frowned suspiciously at him. “Are you sure you don’t read minds?”
She had no idea how much he wished he truly could read hers.
“Quite sure. I just remember what it was like here at the castle before my powers started showing up. Back when we thought Morna sent us here just for Laurel, I had no real purpose, nothing to pass the days with. It’s not an easy thing when you’re accustomed to being busy. You were running Allen territory on your own. I’m sure that you never had a moment to yourself. Even if you are in need of some rest, it has to be strange to change your pace so quickly.”
She looked at him for the briefest moment without saying anything. In the small space of silence, he swore he could feel her soul reaching out to his.
“I keep hearing so much about this Morna woman. I hope one day to meet her, and yes, the sudden change in activity is hard for me to deal with.”
He could scarcely believe that Silva hadn’t met Morna either.
“I have absolutely no doubt that you’ll meet her one day. She can’t seem to stay out of anyone’s business for very long.”
She looked away from him as the table around them filled. Knowing they would have little chance to visit once the meal began, he leaned in to make her an offer he hoped she wouldn’t refuse.
“I could use some help if you’d like something to keep you busy.”
She reached out and squeezed his hand underneath the table. “Absolutely. What is it?”
“Meet me outside the stables after dinner, and I’ll tell you all about it. You can decide then if you’re interested.”
She retracted her hand and smiled at him. “I’ll be interested.”
He hoped so. It would give him more time with her, which he wanted more than anything, and he truly could use the help.
Marcus’ arrival back at the castle and his offer was a godsend. Three times over the last week, I’d gone to Raudrich and begged him to give me something to do, but each time he insisted that he still felt guilty for putting so much work on me in Allen territory and that all he wanted for me now was to rest and enjoy. He seemed to be deaf to the fact that resting never brought me much joy.
Dinner lasted no longer than usual, but it seemed to drag on forever. I was anxious to talk to Marcus. I was pleased that by the time I reached the stables, he was already there waiting for me.
“Okay, what is it? I’m ready to start helping now, if you wish.”
He waved me over. As I approached, he grabbed my shoulders to position me in front of him so that my back was against his chest. With his arms reaching around me, he pointed through the glassed-in garden to a spot near its center. I hoped he couldn’t feel or hear the acceleration of my breath as his arms brushed my shoulders.
“Have you met Freya yet?”
I knew the story of Murray Castle’s ghostly resident. Raudrich had told Ross and me everything long ago.
“No. Laurel mentioned that Nicol stays with her at night, so I didn’t wish to intrude on their time together.”
“He should be, but lately he’s been more and more absent. I come to visit with her on the nights he is away.”
He didn’t step away as we watched her, and secretly, I was glad. The evening air was cool and his arms were warm around me.
“Is that what you want me to do? Visit with her when Nicol is away?” He reached for my shoulders once more and spun me toward him before stepping away towards the garden. “No. How much do you know about Machara and our purpose here?”
While I knew the story surrounding both of them, Machara and Freya were the only two residents of the castle I’d yet to meet. It had never felt right to interrupt Nicol and Freya’s time together—not when I believed they actually were spending time together. And both Laurel and Raudrich had insisted that Machara was now weaker than she’d been in years. The fact that they’d all vowed to stay away from her and leave her in total isolation only added to her weakened state. Since I had no desire to do anything to help the bitch, I’d been able to curb my overly curious nature and stay away from her.
“I know everything. Raudrich told me much of it before, and over the past week, Laurel, Kate, and Myla have filled in the things he left out.”
He nodded as if he expected as much. “Freya is fading right along with Machara. I can’t just let her die without trying to help her. As I’m sure you’ve learned in the past week, we rotate duties in the castle. We do our best to spread our work evenly, but it seems that I have a penchant for working the garden that the other men do not. It has been my full assignment for some time. I was wondering if you’d like to split my daily garden work with me. For the first few weeks I can teach you. Once you’re comfortable, I can use the time you’re tending the garden to continue my research in the library and search for some clue as to what we can do to save Freya from her fate.”
“Does anyone else know?”
“Only Brachan.” He smiled and then teased. “We all know you’re good at keeping a secret. I knew it would be safe to tell you. I don’t want any of the others to know until I know whether or not it’s even possible. I don’t want to get Nicol’s hopes up, and I don’t want anyone else to try and talk me out of at least trying.”
“I’ll help. I’ll be glad to.” I could think of nothing more useful that I could do at the castle. I didn’t know anything about plants, but I could learn anything with the right teacher.
“Great. Then, let’s go meet Freya. You’ll love her. Everyone does.”
Freya opened her mouth to speak, but Marcus quickly held up a hand to stop her. “Wait until she’s gone, Freya.”
He watched as Silva made her way out of the garden. Once the door closed behind her, he faced Freya.
“She’s lovely.”
“She is.”
“And ye are certain ye only mean to teach her to garden to relieve her boredom? It has nothing to do with yer desire to be nea
r her?”
He shrugged unapologetically. “Perhaps it’s both.”
She smiled. “I hope she deserves ye. God knows ’tis yer turn.”
He only hoped he was deserving of her, and that with time, she would see it.
Chapter 15
December
* * *
They say time heals all wounds, but I never quite believed that until I came to The Isle of Eight Lairds and Murray Castle. While I now knew that I would never stop missing Ross, I could sense that my need for him lessened with each passing day. Something about The Isle and its strange, but kind, group of men, something about the time to myself, something about the minimal responsibility of tending to Freya’s gorgeous garden for a few hours each day, was slowly working to bring me back to life.
It was November when I first noticed it—the sudden realization as I lay down to sleep that Ross hadn’t crossed my mind until that point in the day. Or at least, if he had, the memory hadn’t been so painful that it knocked me to my knees.
It didn’t take long for Olivia and me to settle into our individual routines on The Isle, and before long, days became weeks that became months.
Each morning, I would rise at dawn and Olivia and I would walk the path on the outer edge of the castle grounds where we would gossip and catch up—fill each other in on our plans for the day. After parting, I would start my shift in Freya’s garden, working diligently until midday when Marcus would collect me. Then the two of us would walk a similar path.
While my conversations with Liv were easy, I wasn’t sure Marcus knew how to be with anyone in such an easy and superficial way. It seemed to me that if Marcus wished to talk, he wished to talk meaningfully. It was easy to see why Laurel adored him so completely. He truly cared. He wanted to know, wanted to understand, wanted to help in whatever way he could.
I was constantly surprised by the way his mind worked, by the thought he put into everything he did and said, by the questions he asked me. By the time the first snow fell on Murray Castle, I had begun to wonder if anyone else in my life had ever sought to know me in the same way Marcus did.
A fortnight before Christmas, I knew the truth.
I was in love with him.
The trouble was, every time I let that one dangerous thought slip in, I began to hate myself.
It was too soon for me to feel this way about anyone. Ten months surely wasn’t enough time for me to grieve, not when Ross had been my entire world for so long. Each flutter of my heart when Marcus brushed against me, each time I longed to reach out and grab his hand, I felt as if I were betraying Ross’ memory.
“So? What do you think?”
I wasn’t sure how long I’d been zoned out, but I knew it was long enough for me to not have a clue what he was asking me. It took him only a moment to read my guilty expression.
“Where are you, Silva?”
“I’m so sorry. What did you ask?”
“It was nothing. Hey, you look as if you need to get out of here for a bit. Want to help me with something after dinner tonight? I’m afraid it’s not going to be a fun task.”
Anything was more fun than being stuck in my own head.
“Absolutely. What are we doing?”
“Spying on Nicol. Freya is convinced that he’s taken a lover. That on nights when he’s not with her, he’s in the village with someone else. I don’t want to believe it, but he has become more withdrawn lately, more angry, and he visits Freya less and less.”
“What will you do if Freya’s right?”
“Nothing, but I’d like to know all the same.”
“I’m in.”
Nicol wasn’t with another woman. We followed him to a part of The Isle I’d yet to see and stayed back when he dismounted and walked to a snow-covered hill where he dropped to his knees and called out to someone unseen.
“Take me. Return Paton to us and ye can have me forever. I’ll not ever stop coming here. Canna ye see it? I will shout through this veil until ye hear me and come.”
“What is he doing?” I whispered the question in Marcus’ ear and then turned my ear toward his mouth so he could answer me.
“He’s calling for Machara’s father. The veil is thinnest here. It’s where Paton sacrificed himself for Kate. He’s trying to get him back.”
“Will it work?”
Marcus seemed so certain that it broke my heart a little to see Nicol screaming at the top of his lungs for nothing.
“No. Paton promised Machara’s father three years. We will not see him one day before then.”
After calling out to Paton’s captor, Nicol knelt in silence.
“Then why does he do it?”
“Helplessness is not an emotion anyone handles well. Nicol can’t help Freya, and he knows it. Perhaps he believes that if he can help Paton, the sacrifice of himself would be worth it.”
We watched him until nearly dawn. Nicol never moved, and Machara’s father never answered him.
When we finally turned to leave him, Marcus solemnly whispered, “We can never tell anyone about this. This is his secret. His alone.”
I never wanted to speak of it again. Nicol’s entire life was one of suffering and guilt. The last thing he needed to feel was embarrassment for trying to help in whatever way he could.
“I know.”
Chapter 16
“I got you something.”
I hadn’t heard him enter the garden, or even approach, but I didn’t jump at the sound of his voice. I merely smiled and brushed the soil from my hands before pushing myself up from my knees so I could face him.
“The fountain over there really drowns everything else out. I like it.”
He laughed and I noticed that his hands were behind his back. “It’s pretty enough, but I can’t listen to the running water for more than half an hour without needing to pee.”
I pointed behind his back. “Whatcha hiding?”
“Your Christmas present.”
“You do know that Christmas is still ten days away, right?”
He nodded but didn’t move his arms. “I do, but Brachan and I are getting ready to leave again. A while back I wrote to one of Brachan’s contacts back in the town where he grew up. Brachan thought perhaps his friend might know the name of someone who could help us. He’s replied. He knows of a couple who lives on the western coast of the mainland that might be able to help us. I’m afraid the trip will keep us away over Christmas, but we should be back by the new year.”
I couldn’t hide my disappointment that they would be away, even if it was for a good reason. “Are you sure you can’t wait until New Years’ to leave? Laurel and Kate have all sorts of celebrations planned over the next few weeks.”
“I know exactly what they’ve got planned. While I will be sad to miss it, I’ve spent many Christmases with them, and I’m afraid the couple we seek never stays in one place for too long. I don’t want to risk missing them while we know where they are.”
Eager for something to lift my suddenly blue spirits, I attempted to reach behind his back, but he quickly moved out of the way.
“Hey, now. No, you don’t. No peeking.”
I dropped my hands and stood still. “Well, are you going to show me or not?”
He nodded and slowly moved his hands to the front. A beautiful red afghan draped across his left forearm.
“You mentioned a while back that one of the things you missed most from home was our softer fabrics. I remember thinking what a remarkable thing it was for you to say. You could’ve said television or hot running water, but all you really wanted was something truly soft to wrap yourself up in.”
He shook his head and I couldn’t tell if he thought me ridiculous or admired my response.
“Anyway, there’s a woman down in the village that makes all sorts of bedding and linens. I had her send for some softer fabric weeks ago. I won’t pretend I made this myself, but I did have it made just for you.”
I reached for it and buried my face in the fabric
as I brought it close.
It was the most wonderful thing I’d held in ages.
“It’s perfect. Absolutely perfect.”
He opened his arms to me as I hugged him.
“I’ll run this over to your cabin before Brachan and I leave.”
“Are you leaving right away?”
“Yes, we are. See you around New Year’s?”
“Marcus.” I continued to hold on to him as I spoke. “Promise me that you guys will stop somewhere at night. Find an inn each night so you can escape from the frigid weather. It’s dangerously cold out there.”
He rubbed my back gently. “I promise you we’ll try. I have no desire to stay outdoors during winter, either, but I’m afraid it’s not as easy as us just deciding to stay somewhere.”
“Why is that?”
He pulled away and pointed to himself.
“There were still many places in the twenty-first century I didn’t always feel welcome, but here…” He hesitated and shook his head. “Well, we are still many, many years before things even start to get a little better for black people.”
I felt foolish that it hadn’t occurred to me before. The Isle was such a secluded place. With Nicol and The Eight serving as complete authority on The Isle, they were able to create the world they wanted here. It was easy to forget the rest of the world didn’t work the same way.
“Is it…is it safe for you to leave here?”
“Definitely.”
His tone was confident and that helped to ease the knot in my chest slightly.
“I’ll be fine. I can promise you that. I have magic. So does Brachan. No one is going to harm either of us. It’s just not always pleasant. There’s a good chance we will be turned away from wherever we try to stay.”
Just knowing it was a possibility infuriated me. “I hate it.”
He nodded. All I wanted to do was throw my arms around him once more and beg him to just stay here. Or at least let me come with him so I could kick anyone’s ass that gave him a hard time.
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