by Katy Baker
“So ye sold yer soul,” Logan said. “And betrayed yer clan.”
“Betrayed my clan? Hardly! I saved the clan! Who else came up with a way to defeat the raiders? Ye? Camdan? Finlay? Nay, it was I who found the means to defeat them!”
“And promised to give this creature war and chaos in return for his help betraying yer kin. Ye are a liar and a coward, Eoin MacAuley, and ye will bring ruin to our people. I will kill ye for this.”
Quick as a flash Eoin drew a long dagger from his belt. “Kill me, will ye? Nay, cousin, it will be the other way around.” He lunged at Logan but a force suddenly slammed him back into his seat.
“How dare ye?” the Fae said softly. “Do ye not remember the terms of our bargain, Eoin MacAuley? Yer cousin’s life is mine to do with as I wish. Ye willnae touch him.”
“Ye will let him live?” Eoin spat. “Then ye are a fool! Ye should have killed him when ye first had the chance!”
“Killing is easy, human. I prefer despair. It is much more potent. When I am finished Logan MacAuley will be set free to wander the world alone, watching as everything he once loved turns to ashes. That is what it means to truly take a life.”
“Aye,” Eoin breathed, looking at Logan thoughtfully. “Mayhap ye are right. I will take great delight in watching that.”
“But until then he canna be allowed to interfere with our plans,” said the old man. “Good night, Logan MacAuley.”
The force holding Logan to the chair suddenly intensified. Then a blow of power hit him in the side of the head with all the force of an upper-cut. Darkness descended and Logan knew no more.
Chapter 16
Thea woke slowly, rousing bit by bit from a deep and dreamless sleep. She lay still, eyes closed, savoring the moment. After the small cot in Logan's cottage the huge bed felt luxurious in the extreme and the feather pillows finished it off perfectly.
But this wasn't why she'd slept so well. She and Logan had explored every inch of each other last night and she guessed it was almost dawn when they'd finally been sated and had fallen into exhausted slumber. Now her limbs felt a little achy but she'd take that any day as payment for the night she'd spent with Logan.
Thea stretched her arms over her head and opened her eyes. Sunlight was pouring in through the window and the sounds of a waking castle came from the courtyard below. She rolled towards Logan only to find his side of the bed empty. Sitting up, she looked around but he wasn't in the room. His clothes were gone from the floor.
Thea shrugged it off. He was probably off getting some breakfast or seeing to Stepper. She felt a little pang of disappointment that he wasn't here when she awoke but she knew Logan was an early riser and probably wouldn't have wanted to wake her.
She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and then yanked off a sheet to wrap around her naked body. Like this she crossed to the dresser where there was a bowl and a pitcher of water and began washing. The water was freezing but it helped to clear away the last vestiges of sleep. When she was done, she dried herself with the sheet and dressed. She found herself humming as she sat at the dressing table to brush her hair. Glancing in the mirror she saw that there was a healthy pink blush to her cheeks. She was looking forward to starting the day.
The door opened and Thea turned around. “I hope you’ve been to fetch some breakfast—”
She trailed off as she saw it wasn’t Logan standing in the doorway. It was Eoin. His expression was one of sadness.
“What is it?” Thea asked, standing so suddenly her chair tipped over. “What’s happened? Where’s Logan?”
Eoin closed the door behind him and stepped into the room. He held something out to her. “He’s gone, Thea. He left at first light this morning. He asked me to give ye this.”
Thea stared at him in uncomprehending silence. She blinked. Gone? Left? What the hell was he talking about?
“Here, take it,” Eoin said.
She glanced at the object in his hand. It was a letter, neatly folded and sealed with a blob of wax. Thea’s arm trembled slightly as she took it.
Eoin smiled sadly. “He asked me to take care of ye and I will. A MacAuley always keeps his promises.”
With that Eoin left the room. Thea stared at the closed door for a long moment then looked down at the letter in her hand. Her brain didn’t seem to be working properly. Logan had left her? How ridiculous! Of course he hadn’t!
She swallowed thickly and then broke the wax seal and unrolled the parchment.
We could never be together safely. I willnae put ye at risk. Eoin will take care of ye now. Forgive me. Logan.
It was Logan’s writing—she’d seen it often enough in the ledgers he kept for the smithy. Thea stared at it, unable to believe what she was seeing. She read it a second time. And then again. By the fourth time her heart was hammering in her chest and she felt tears gathering in her eyes. She blinked them away mercilessly. Then she ran to the door, yanked it open, pelted along the corridor, down the steps and out the main doors of the castle. She didn’t slow until she reached the stables.
One of the stable hands looked up in alarm as she skidded to a halt in front of him. “Can I help ye, my lady?”
“Yes, you have a horse in your care called Stepper. I’d like to see her please.”
The stable hand looked puzzled. “I dinna know any horse by that name.”
“A white mare, tall, fine-looking. Oh, never mind.” She pushed past him into the stable, hurrying down the aisle until she reached Stepper’s stall.
It was empty.
She looked around frantically, examining every horse whilst the stable hand watched her, nonplussed. She reached the end and doubled back, checking them all a second time. It did no good. Stepper was gone.
“If ye wish to go riding, I could have one of the laird’s ponies saddled, my lady,” the stable hand said.
She glanced at him. “What? Oh. No. Thanks.”
She staggered out into the courtyard and leaned on the stable wall as the world tilted crazily around her. Stepper was gone. Logan was gone.
No. No, no, no. This could not be happening!
“My lady? Thea? Are ye well?”
She looked up to see Rian standing in front of her, a worried expression on the young maid’s face. “I...um...I don’t feel so good.”
“Come,” Rian said kindly. “I’ll help ye back to yer room.”
Thea nodded dumbly as Rian took her by the arm and guided her back through the corridors of the castle and to her room. Once inside Thea couldn’t help glancing at the rumpled bed sheets, sheets that Logan had slept on only a few hours ago.
He couldn’t be gone. He wouldn’t do that to her. He wouldn’t abandon her. Would he?
Rian began straightening the bed covers. "Is the room to yer satisfaction, my lady? If not, I can move ye to one of the other guest chambers, although this one does have a lovely view of the valley."
"What? Um, no. I mean, yes, the room's lovely, thanks. And please don't call me 'my lady'."
Rian nodded. "Very well. Thea. Have ye come a long way to visit with the laird? I dinna recognize yer accent."
A long way? Thea thought. You have no idea.
"Yes," she replied. "A long way."
Rian came over and patted her hand. "It must be very daunting being so far away from home but I'm sure yer long trip will be worth it. The laird seems quite taken with ye. I'm sure things will work out well between ye.”
Thea blinked at her. What did she mean? Her brain was too foggy to make sense of it. "Yes," she muttered. "I'm sure."
Rian knelt by the fireplace and began laying a fire. Thea gazed out of the window. On the horizon she spotted a lone horseman making his way up the road out of the valley. Was it Logan? Was he standing there looking back at her? She shook her head. Don't be idiotic, she told herself. That's not Logan. He'll be long gone by now and if he's given you a second thought, it's probably only to think how relieved he is to be rid of you.
Her heart twisted and a s
hot of anguish went through her. She leaned on the window sill, fighting back a sob that threatened to escape her. Sucking a deep breath through her nose, she steeled herself.
Information. She needed as much as she could get if she was to figure out exactly what the hell was happening to her.
She turned to Rian. "Do you know the laird well?"
The woman looked up from where she was laying sticks in the fireplace. "Aye. My family has served the laird's family for generations. I've been working in the castle since I was sixteen. My ma is a cook and my da the stable master."
"So you were here when the previous laird was around?" Thea asked. "What can you tell me about him?"
Rian's brow furrowed and her eyes took on a faraway look as though searching for a memory she couldn't quite grasp. "I...I dinna remember," she said at last. "There was...someone...before Laird Eoin, I'm sure, but I canna picture their face."
Only Eoin seemed to know who Logan really was. Why? There were so many questions here, questions she had to find the answers to.
"You know, I'm feeling a little restless," she said to Rian. "I'd like to stretch my legs and maybe get to know this place a bit."
And look for Logan, she thought. He can’t have just left me here. He can’t.
Rian grinned. "Then how about I show you around the castle? I know it like the back of my hand as my ma likes to say. We'll soon have ye feeling right at home!"
Thea smiled. "Thanks. I think that’s exactly what I need."
Rian stood, wiping her hands on a cloth. "This way then, my lady, um, Thea I mean."
Thea followed Rian out of the room and down the corridor. She soon realized how fortunate she was in having Rian as her maid. She really did know the castle like the back of her hand and Thea would no doubt have been utterly lost within minutes without Rian to guide her.
First, they went to the Great Hall where Malcolm and Margaret greeted Thea warmly. She asked if either of them had seen Logan but they both shook their heads and said they hadn’t seen ‘her companion’ since the day before. Despite serving Logan when he’d been laird, neither of them remembered who he was.
Next they visited the kitchen where Thea met Rian's mother, Magda, and the stables where her father Baldwin, ruled. Everywhere they went they had to step around piles of weapons and supplies and weave their way through groups of armed men. The castle was bursting with warriors with more arriving by the hour.
"Dinna worry, my lady," Rian said as they stood on the steps and watched a group of ten mounted men ride through the gates. "It isnae usually like this. They're here for the muster and when this business with the MacKinnons is over, they'll soon go back to their homes and the castle can get back to normal. There's going to be a battle. The word is that the day after tomorrow the laird will ride out against the Laird MacKinnon. He's been mustering at Drover’s Pass for weeks. Men must have their wars, regardless of whether they make us women widows. Damned fools the lot of them if ye ask me."
Thea muttered in agreement, watching the newcomers as they swung down from their horses and led them towards the stable. The day after tomorrow. That didn't leave much time for Thea to figure all this out.
"Come, we'll go through the back entrance," Rian said. "And avoid all this rabble."
She led Thea along a narrow path through rose bushes that hugged the base of the castle and to a small door that was used by the serving staff. Inside the passages were narrower and the decor plainer but somebody had gone to the trouble of hanging bunches of dried flowers from the rafters so their delicious scent wafted through the corridors. They made their way up a winding staircase heading back to Thea's room. Halfway up they passed a small half-landing which housed a large door with a thick padlock.
"What's through there?" Thea asked.
A strange look crossed Rian’s face. "The laird's private study," she replied. "We dinna go in there. It's out of bounds."
Rian began climbing again. Thea paused for a moment, looking at the door. Then, on impulse, she laid her palm flat against its surface. The wood was smooth and oddly warm. A tingle flared along Thea's palm and an image suddenly flared in her mind. A wind-lashed sea and tall stones rising into the night. Something moving through those stones, searching for her... Thea gasped and snatched her hand away. She hurried after Rian.
She was glad to reach the door of her room. She was just about to follow Rian inside when a voice called behind her.
"Ah! Lady Thea!"
She turned to see Laird Eoin approaching. His corn-yellow hair was tied at his neck by a leather band and he wore riding gear as though he was just about to go out. Thea clasped her hands and turned to face him, forcing a smile onto her face.
"Laird MacAuley."
He waved a hand. "Pah! Call me Eoin. I hope ye are feeling better."
Better? Thea thought. What a stupid thing to say. How can I feel better knowing your cousin has left me?
But all she said was, "Yes. Thank you. Rian has been most helpful."
"I should hope she has!" Eoin laughed. He stepped closer, closer than Thea would have liked but the wall was behind her and she couldn't back away. His eyes were a pale icy blue as they looked her over. "Ye will join me for dinner tonight. As my honored guest."
Thea stifled a groan. Dinner? That was the last thing she wanted! All she wanted to do was curl up on her bed and cry. But she remembered Kara Harris’s warning. There was a war coming and Thea had to figure out how to stop it if she was to ever have a chance of going home. Dinner with Eoin might just provide the opportunity for some information gathering.
Forcing a smile, she inclined her head. "Dinner. Yes. Great."
He grinned then reached out and curled a strand of her hair around his finger. "Until tonight then."
Chapter 17
Thea felt about as uncomfortable as she could ever remember. The dress she was wearing—sent to her room as a gift from the laird—was so tight around the bodice she could barely breathe and the neckline so low she'd be afraid of leaning forward in case she spilled out the front. Never had she appreciated the simple dresses Ailsa had leant her, nor had she ever missed her friend as much. She wondered how she and Rhodry were faring and whether Anna had recovered yet.
She pushed away a sudden pang of longing and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. She was following Rian through the castle on her way to meet with the laird. She'd been a little surprised when, instead of leading Thea downstairs to the Great Hall, Rian had turned left up a set of winding steps to a level above, which was even more lavishly furnished than the guest quarters below. Rian stopped at a door and knocked.
"Come!" came the laird's voice from within.
Rian smiled at Thea. "Enjoy yer dinner, my lady. I'll come to help ye to bed a little later."
Thea swallowed thickly, set her hand to the door, and pushed it open. Eoin was seated at a rectangular table with a goblet in his hand, one leg thrown over the arm of his chair. He stood when he saw Thea, putting his goblet down on the table. His eyes swept over her, lingering on her cleavage longer than was necessary.
"Lady Thea," he breathed. "Ye look...beautiful."
Thea didn’t reply. She realized there was nobody else in the room and the table was set with only two places. So, she was to dine with Eoin alone. Great.
Eoin gestured to a chair opposite his. "Sit, please."
Thea slid into the chair. Eoin poured her a goblet of wine before resuming his seat. He eyed her in silence for a moment.
"So, how do ye find Dun Ringill?" he asked at last.
"Big," she replied honestly. "And a little overwhelming."
He barked a laugh at that. "Aye, I imagine it is. Still, ye will soon feel right at home I'm sure."
“I’m sure.” She cleared her throat. “What exactly did Logan say to you when he gave you that letter?”
Eoin put down his wine glass and sighed. “Thea, ye must waste no more thought on my cousin. He is gone, that’s all there is to it. Ye know he’s c
ursed. He’s done ye a favor by leaving.”
Really? Thea thought. Then why does it feel like my heart’s been torn out?
“But why now?” she persisted. “You know what a stickler for honor Logan is. Why would he leave without saying goodbye? It makes no sense. It’s almost as if something happened to make him leave so suddenly.”
“Enough!” Eoin said sharply, annoyance flashing in his eyes. “Will ye ruin our meal with talk of my damned cousin?”
Thea was saved from answering by a polite knock on the door and then several servants entering bearing platters of food. Thea watched as they laid out the meal, feeling Eoin's eyes on her the whole time. To cover her discomfort, she took a long gulp of wine and found it surprisingly good.
"I dinna stand on ceremony," Eoin said when the servants had left. "Please, eat."
He followed his own advice and began tucking into the meal. Thea looked down at her plate. It was piled high with roast grouse in some sort of sauce and glazed vegetables. She found she had little appetite but she forced herself to place some in her mouth and chew mechanically.
While they ate, Eoin spoke. He regaled her with tales of his hunting prowess and how he had beaten Laird Campbell in a wrestling match that spring. Thea listened closely, hoping that she might learn something useful, but when she tried to steer conversation towards the coming clash with the MacKinnons, he gave only vague answers. Of Logan, he said not a word.
Thea said, "I was surprised when you recognized Logan, seeing as nobody else remembers that he used to be the laird."
Her words had the desired effect. Eoin paled, his grip tightening on his goblet and a wary, calculating look came into his eyes. "How much did he tell ye?"
Thea shrugged. "He told me about his bargain with the Fae and the curse that followed. He didn't tell me how it all came about though. Do you know?"
He stared at her for a long moment. “That is between myself and my cousin," he said at last. He rubbed his chin and the gaze he fixed on her was sharp. "I’m more interested in ye, Thea Thomas. Who are ye? Where do ye come from?"