by Eliza Knight
“Where is he?”
“Castle Buchanan. He had a meeting with your uncle Samuel and sent word he’d like to know when ye arrived.”
“Ah.” Strath nodded, wondering if that was his father’s way of keeping an eye out for him.
“Lorna was hoping for a visit from your Aunt Catriona, but she and Samuel are expecting their first grandchild any day now, and she canna leave her daughter’s side.”
Strath did grin at that. “My mother will be much the same when my sister goes to her childbed.”
“I suspect Lorna will, too.”
Strath grew somber once more, thinking of mothers and daughters. “What should I tell Eva?”
“Do ye have to tell her anything?”
“If it were me, and I’d been unsure of whether my mother was alive, aye, I’d want to know. Besides, there is also the matter that she might be able to get some information from her da.”
“Good point. I think when it comes to matters such as this, the straight truth is the best. Keep it simple, keep it concise. Dinna dally. Just tell her. And then answer the questions when they come. Shall I come with ye?”
“Nay, I want to tell her on my own.”
“I’ll sit with her da, then,” Jamie said. “Mayhap I can make sense of it. My grandda was like that, and though jumbled, there is some measure of truth in what they say.”
The men made their way up the stairs to the next level. A guard was stationed outside the chamber door, and he nodded as they approached.
“Is the lass inside?” Strath asked.
“Aye, she’s not left.”
“Thank ye.” Strath eased open the door, not wanting to startle either of the parties inside.
Eva sat in a chair with her back to the door. She didn’t turn when he entered, though he did see her shoulders tighten, and she sat up a little straighter. Her father lay on the bed, covered in a blanket and fast asleep. His face was flushed as though he had a fever.
Jamie stood by the door as Strath approached Eva. He placed a hand on the back of her chair, though he wished it were on her shoulder. God, how he wanted to offer her comfort.
“Lass,” he whispered.
“You took longer than I thought.” There was none of the joy or spirit in her voice he’d come to look forward to in their exchanges.
“May we speak in private?”
She hesitated in answering.
“My uncle will sit here with your da. If he wakes, he’ll come and find us.”
“All right,” she said.
Strath held out his hand. She took it as she rose and followed him out the door and down the hall to an alcove covered with a curtain. Inside, were two benches that faced each other and an arrow-slit window that looked out over the bailey.
“This is cozy,” she said, a half-hearted smile on her face.
Strath found it hard to return the smile. The news he had to impart weighed heavily on his mind. She sat across from him, making a bigger deal out of arranging her skirts than he’d ever seen before. Her hands trembled as she ran them over the fabric, making his heart lurch. He wanted to pull her into his arms, to hold her while he told her this dark secret.
“When was the last time ye ate something?” he asked.
“At breakfast.”
“Ye should eat something.”
“I’m not that hungry.”
Damn it. Here they were talking about food, and if she wasn’t hungry now, he knew as soon as he imparted this news to her, she would not be hungry at all. But he couldn’t force her to eat, and making her wait to hear the news was cruel.
“I have discovered something today when speaking with Belfinch,” he started, waiting for her to say something.
She bit her lip, eyes rounder than apples. Mo chreach. It was best she heard it from him.
“Don’t keep me waiting, please, Strath. You’re scaring me.”
He nodded, recalling what his uncle said. Just as it was best to yank out a bad tooth rather than letting it fester, so too did he need to yank this truth from his heart.
Drawing in a deep breath, he let it all out in a rush. “Your mother did not die of a fever.”
“So it’s true? She’s alive?” She narrowed her eyes. Her fingers clasped so tight in her lap, her knuckles had turned white. “Who told ye this? Was it my father? I’m not sure we can trust him.” Her words came out in a tumble, like waves crashing on the shore.
Strath leaned forward, cupped her cheek, and met her gaze. “It was not your father, and I believe there is a great possibility that your mother is alive. And she is with my king. A relation of yours.”
One minute she was staring at him incredulous and he was nodding his head, and the next, she was slumping forward, and he was catching her limp body against his.
“That could have gone better,” he mumbled to himself. “Tomaidh?” The man was never too far.
From a distance, he could hear the clipped boot heels of his mate coming down the hall.
“Aye, my laird?” Tomaidh peered behind the curtain, brows rising when he spotted the lass.
“Bring me a wet cloth and some whisky.”
Tomaidh gazed on with sympathy. “Did ye have a chance to tell her?”
Strath frowned. “Nay, she swooned because I’m such a handsome devil,” he said sarcastically. “Of course I told her. Well, partly.”
“I’ll be back straight away.”
Strath stared down at the lovely lass in his arms. The love of his life. The woman he desired above no other. When she woke and they found out what had happened to her mother, what then? Would she want to go be with her? Did that change things for the two of them?
Ballocks, he couldn’t let her go that easily. He’d sooner give up his lands and castle than part with her. Even if he had to live in the land of heathens.
Chapter Twenty
“Lad.”
Strath jerked his gaze toward the entryway to Eva’s room. His father stood on the threshold, windswept hair more the color of clouds than the gold it had been in his youth.
“Da.” Strath stood up from the chair he’d pulled to the side of Eva’s bed where he’d been waiting for her to wake fully. She’d come to shortly after collapsing into his arms but had subsequently fallen back into a fitful sleep. It was as though her mind did not want to come to terms with what he’d revealed.
“Is this Lady Eva?” His father walked into the room, staring at Eva with a scrutinizing regard.
“Aye.” Unconsciously, Strath puffed his chest, and he understood why. He would protect Eva, even from any judgment his father might pass down.
But there was no need. His father broke out into a smile. “She is bonny. What happened?”
Strath let out a low breath. He should have known his father would not find Eva lacking. No one could. And what a relief to know his father trusted his choice in a woman, given what had happened before.
“She swooned upon hearing some rather shocking news.” Strath nodded his head toward the door. Though he hated to leave Eva, he didn’t want to talk about her as though she weren’t there simply because she was not awake.
His father followed him out into the corridor, where Strath explained all that had happened. From his arrival at Northwyck, Belfinch’s fall, Eva offering herself up instead of her father. The journey to Scotland, their arrival. Her love of kittens, even. He told him everything. Well, not everything. There were some private moments he preferred to keep to himself. But he did tell his father he loved her and wanted to marry her. That he’d offered, and she had accepted. How Belfinch had arrived, and the lies that had come out of it. How the poor lass had believed her mother dead, and then came to be unsure, and how just today they’d found out that the lady was alive and in Scotland.
“I knew ye’d find someone,” his father said with a smile, grasping Strath’s shoulder and giving a firm squeeze. “Your mother will be excited to have another English lass in the family, even if she is only half.”
Strath’s
gaze fell back through the doorway toward the bed where Eva lay curled up on one side, her hand fisted beneath her cheek as though even in sleep she was ready for a fight. “If she’ll still have me.”
“She will, son, she’d be mad not to.”
There was a clatter of hooves in the bailey, followed by the booming of voices from the great hall. Hurried footsteps sounded on the stairs, and a moment later, Tomaidh came into view.
“The king is here.” He drew in a ragged breath, looking nervous. “With…Lady Northwyck.”
Strath glanced at his father, finding it hard to form words. Eva’s mother was here? Several reactions vied for purchase inside him. He should be elated that Eva was going to be reunited with her mother. But he was also distraught over how Eva would react. She’d fainted upon hearing her mother was alive. What would happen if she saw her? He had to be there for her, of course. Help her see this through.
The Earl of Sutherland clasped his son around the shoulders. His green eyes, the same in everything but color as Strath’s, bore into him. “Courage, lad. The king admires ye. Have faith in that.”
But there was something he had to do before they went downstairs, before the opportunity was lost. Something he’d promised himself he’d do when he saw his father again.
Resolute, he glanced toward his mate. “Tomaidh, will ye sit with Lady Eva, and if she wakes, please come get me?”
“Aye, my laird. I’ll keep her safe, and come find ye as soon as she awakens.”
With Tomaidh in the room watching over Eva, Strath turned back to his father. He blew out a breath and ran his hands through his hair. This was a lot harder than he thought. But he could do hard things. He had done hard things.
“I want to beg your forgiveness, Da. For not seeing sooner what the Guinns were up to.”
His father narrowed his eyes, crossed his arms, and waited.
“For rushing off and dumping Jean and her lover with her father. There was likely a better way to go about breaking the betrothal that did not involve publicly humiliating the laird, which caused him to attack Dunrobin. Though ye’ve forgiven me before, I’d yet to find the will to forgive myself until recently.”
The elder Magnus pressed his hands to Strath’s shoulders and looked him square in the eye. “I forgave ye before, and I’ll forgive ye again. Dinna blame yourself. Hindsight always has us seeing different ways of doing things. If the man had been of sound mind, he’d not have attacked. What his daughter did, their attempt to cover it up, was enough to have me laying siege to his castle.” His father chuckled. “And hell, we’ve all learned a hard lesson when it comes to women. But it seems like ye’ve been gifted with another chance.” He nodded toward Eva, and Strath followed his line of vision.
His chest tightened with love and pride. Somehow, over the course of the weeks he’d known Eva, the armor he’d put up around his heart had melted. At his father’s words, he felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Everything seemed to be right in the world. Well, almost. There was still the bastard in the dungeon to deal with, her addled father, and of course, her mother coming back to life. But those things seemed easily surmountable if he had her by his side and his father supported him. “Aye, and with your blessing, I’m going to marry her, Da. I love her.”
Magnus grinned and clapped his son on the cheek. “Ye have it, lad. Even if she was not related to the king, I’d give ye my blessing. But as it is, ’twould seem we’re gaining a better alliance than that of Guinn.”
Strath chuckled and shook his head. “And a hell of a lot less treachery.”
“Aye, there is that. Now, let us go and greet our king.”
Feeling lighter than he had in a long time, Strath followed his father down the steps and into the great hall where servants ran frantically to and fro with food and drink.
Warriors, including those who’d fought in battle and sustained minor injuries, were waiting in line to greet their king, Robert the Bruce, who sat on the dais. Even in his advancing years, the king still cut an impressive figure. His hair was mostly gray, and so was his beard. Shallow lines creased the corners of his eyes, between his brows, and down the centers of his cheeks, making him look what he’d heard his mother call “distinguished”. Despite the gray and wrinkles, the Bruce’s body was strong, and his eyes sharp.
As soon as the Bruce caught sight of Strath and his father, he waved them forward. Strath bent a leg to his king and kissed the ring on his outstretched hand.
“Your Highness,” Strath said.
“Strath, good work in England, and here. Two less Sassenachs to torment our people. And I hear ye found Lady Eva.”
Strath bowed his head in subservience. His father might have a friendship with the king, having served him and helped him defeat the English more times than anyone could count, but Strath was still in awe of the king who’d brought this country closer to independence. So while his Da might clap the king on the back and tease him, Strath would remain where he was, head bowed, and offer up only his respect. “’Twas an honor to serve ye, Your Highness. I am as always your humble servant.”
“Humble! Bah!” The king laughed. “Sutherland,” he said to Strath’s father, “Your son is funny.”
Strath glanced up confused, seeing the king’s mirthful grin.
“There’s no need to be humble about having captured a menace, Strathnavor. Tell me how ye really feel.”
He’d not heard anyone call him by his title in a long time. Glancing at his father who nodded with a wry grin, Strath said, “I was glad to have caught the filthy bastard. I hope he rots in the dungeon.”
“Belfinch will be hanged in the morning for his crimes against Scotland,” the Bruce continued. “And the other man, Lord Northwyck—”
“Your Highness, beg your pardon, but the man is not well,” Strath interrupted. “An illness of the mind.”
“How so?”
“The man canna seem to recall the last two years.”
The king grunted, staring at Strath. “Mayhap that will change soon.”
Strath knew he had to be referring to Lady Northwyck. Strath bit his tongue. He wanted to ask about Lady Northwyck but didn’t see any ladies present, and he wasn’t certain how to broach the topic. If he didn’t broach it now though, there might not be another chance, and he had to do it for Eva. The lass deserved to know where her mother was.
Clearing his throat, Strath dove right in. “Your Highness, if I may, Belfinch told me about Lady Northwyck. When the lady was stolen and presumed dead, Northwyck killed Belfinch’s father, at which point the newly titled Belfinch began blackmailing Northwyck.”
Robert the Bruce nodded. “A messy affair. I’m glad my cousin is safe. We tried to get her daughters more than once, but then we found out about Jacqueline’s marriage and Eva’s death. She’ll be relieved to know her daughter is still alive.”
Strath tried not to be frustrated at the response. “Your Highness, with the blackmail in play, I am uncertain Northwyck was behind all the attacks on the border. There’s no doubt he is guilty of funding Belfinch’s assaults, but it is my opinion that a man under duress should not be held to the same level of accountability. This does not mean I think there shouldna be some form of punishment however.”
The king studied him for several moments. Would the king be angry for what he’d said? Possibly. But it was the truth, and there was no one here to plead for Eva’s father but him.
“Ye speak your mind with ease,” the king responded. “I admire that. No more of the humble ballocks ye were spouting before. I am in agreement with ye. Though I think the reason ye pursued the topic is because of the lass, is it not?”
“Aye. I wish to marry her.”
“I’ll allow it.”
Strath blew out a breath, having just experienced a moment of panic.
“And ye can assure her that her father will not receive the same punishment as Belfinch, though he will have to face his crimes.”
“Aye, Your Highness,
I thank ye.”
Despite what he’d told the king he knew, there was one secret Strath kept to himself—the information regarding the key. The more he thought about it, the more he decided it was only right to send the key and the coin purse to Eva’s sister, who could make certain the people of Northwyck were properly repaid. As much as he loved his king, Strath knew for certain he would want to take the bounty for himself. Wars were expensive, so Strath could not blame his king for wanting to garner more coin to pay for it. This, however, he needed to give back to Eva’s people. Which brought him to the next bone of contention he’d been holding back from.
“Your Highness,” Strath said. “May I ask where Lady Northwyck is?”
“I am here, sir.” The voice was melodic, a fair mixture of English and Scots.
When Strath turned around, a beautiful woman who could have been Eva two decades from now approached them. She had the same silky golden hair, identical bright-blue eyes, and skin the texture of fresh cream. The resemblance was uncanny. The only difference he could make out was that this woman was at least six inches taller than his wee Eva.
“My lady.” Strath bowed to the woman.
“Stand, sir, please. I understand you saved my daughter.” She regarded him behind a serene mask.
Strath stiffened. “Aye.” He had saved her from a fate this woman had left her to. “She was relieved to find out ye lived.”
The woman’s eyes glistened, but she didn’t seem taken aback by his words. “I tried to tell her.”
Strath held his tongue, wanting to ask a whole lot more, like why she hadn’t she tried harder to get to her daughter? He felt the eyes of his king boring into his spine. He had questions for him, too. But alas, the tongue of a vassal must be held, and he’d already pushed too much when it came to his liege.
Clearing his throat, Strath returned to face his king. “If ye will excuse me, Your Highness?”
Robert the Bruce nodded, and Strath strode from the great hall, certain his father and uncle would keep the king busy. He had a very strong urge to gather Eva up and take her away from here. To hide her from the torment of knowing her mother was not only alive, but very well.