by Elle Clouse
“Where is the enclosed?” Kiera flipped the single piece of paper over. Brogan turned to the cabinet where he had found the original letter and continued to search. From a basket filled with assorted cleaning rags, he pulled another few pages of paper that looked to be from a book, not loose leaf like her mother’s missive.
“Journal pages.” Brogan handed them to Kiera, but she didn’t want to touch them.
“Ayden’s handwriting,” she countered. “You read it.”
Brogan looked the pages over. “He’s bragging.” His eyes fairly flew across the lines. “About how he realized Lachlan had inherited the wolfkin curse and he was going to secure his place on the throne. He was going to separate the two of you”—Brogan made a motion toward Kiera—”and guarantee that Lachlan never saw the sun again.” He lifted his eyes to Kiera. “That must be why your mother ran. She knew that you were next after your father.”
“King Roudri did seem to think that it was my presence that calmed Lachlan down,” Kiera whispered. Ayden had tormented her that day on purpose, to make Lachlan come to her rescue and to lose his temper. Once he lost control, he was gone to all reason. No wonder he had begged to be let out of the library. “Ayden wouldn’t let Lachlan out of the library.”
“What?”
It was time for her to tell someone. The only three people who really knew had never told another soul. Ayden had never told because he was protecting himself, Lachlan because he wasn’t lucid enough to speak, and Kiera because she couldn’t remember.
“Ayden,” Kiera said. “He knew that Lachlan was going to change, so he picked on me so horribly that Lachlan came to my rescue. Ayden antagonized Lachlan until he was in a rage, then tricked him into a secluded library where he knew my father would be.” Brogan rubbed his chin. “Ayden killed my father, and all this time I blamed Lachlan.”
“Perhaps that is why your mother helped you forget. So that you wouldn’t lay the blame where it was not due and so you could find the evidence you needed to clear Lachlan’s name.”
She could only nod in response. If she had grown up thinking Lachlan had truly been guilty, it would have warped her, changed her into a spiteful and hateful person. Someone incapable of having a happy life.
“I need to find Lachlan. He needs to see this.”
Brogan nodded and handed her the pages of the journal.
“How did your mother come to be in possession of these anyway? Ayden couldn’t have been so foolish as to leave a journal outlining his deeds in the open.”
“I don’t know.” Kiera folded the letter and the pages into a tight bundle. “She always did have a way of getting just what she needed or what she wanted. I’m more surprised that Ayden was stupid enough to write down his misdeeds, but I suppose even a megalomaniac needs to brag somewhere. He was probably twelve years old and didn’t know any better.”
“Where are you going?” Brogan asked as she spun on her heel and marched out of the room.
“If I walk quickly, I can make it to the castle before nightfall.” She went to her own room, grabbed her cloak, and slung it over her shoulders. She would have to run for a bit to make it on time, actually. The hour was later than she’d thought.
“Wait,” Brogan said. “Just wait.” He seemed hesitant to speak the next words. “You’ll find Lachlan in a small camp just up the road. He’s been there for a couple days now. I can have him here in less than half an hour.”
Kiera glared at him. “When were you going to tell me this?” she demanded, irked at her cousin’s presumption and more irritated that he had been right to keep Lachlan close.
“When you were ready,” Brogan admitted. “He has been next to lost without you. I have never seen a man so torn apart. All you have to do is drape a red cloth outside your window and his scout will see it.” Kiera looked at the window in her room. It overlooked the path to the main road. Someone could easily be hiding in the thick forest that surrounded her parents’ home and she’d never see them. She looked back at Brogan. He was holding out a red kerchief for her.
KIERA HAD THROWN THAT red kerchief back in Brogan’s face and marched out of the house. She wanted to use the established signal, but a brisk walk in the cool air would calm her down enough for the chat she was going to have with Lachlan. Plus, she wanted the meeting on her own terms.
She was only a few yards from the house but knew that the lookout had already sent word she was on her way. The most likely place to camp between the house and the road was a clearing about halfway down the path. The forest was so dense you wouldn’t see the clearing until you walked into it; any campfire light or noise would be muffled by all the foliage. Only in winter, when all the leaves had fallen, could sound travel well enough in the forest to hear someone approach.
Kiera’s quickened her pace, and she found herself in the clearing in only a matter of minutes. She would not have used the word small to describe the camp. A tent the size of a cottage dominated the clearing, a large campfire crackling before it. It looked as though the guards had taken to sleeping on bedrolls around the fire. The men were standing alert, waiting for her arrival. Just as she set her sights on the tent, Lachlan pushed aside the heavy flap and stepped out.
Their eyes met.
A rush of heat washed over her. Before she really registered what she was doing, she was running to him. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into the privacy of his tent and in the protection of his arms.
His lips fell upon hers, and the world faded away. The scurrying guards disappeared, the heavy canvas tent about them was no more, and the autumn chill no longer bit. He kissed her breathless.
“Please forgive me,” he breathed as soon as they broke apart. “I should have told you.” He did not loosen his embrace, though, and she did not want him to. Her anger was gone now, replaced with a love made all the stronger by what they had endured.
“No more secrets,” she said, more of a demand than a suggestion. He nodded, then drowned her in more kisses. He hugged her tight, and her toes left the floor.
“My life is an open book.”
The pages of the journal sprung to her mind. Unwillingly, she paused. Lachlan noticed immediately and set her down again. “What is it, my love?”
Wordlessly, she pulled the pages from her bodice, unfolded them, and handed them to him.
Lachlan’s eyes moved down the page. He read quickly and silently, and when he was done, his shoulders slumped.
“I had blamed myself,” he said, “for all those years.” Kiera remembered what he had said in the caves, that he had been responsible for someone's death. It made sense now that she knew the whole truth. “These are in Ayden’s handwriting. Where did you get these?”
“My mother. She found out the truth, then had to protect us from more of Ayden’s plots. She had this hidden at the house. Preserved it, even.”
Lachlan smiled. “I guess the best place for a sorceress to hide is where she can’t use her own gifts. I’m just glad that he never found you.” He cradled her face in his hand, and his smiled widened. A genuine, unbridled smile just like when they were children. “Gods, Kiera. I’d spend another ten years down there to make sure you were safe.”
“Do you still want to marry me, then?” Kiera asked, knowing she had a sly little grin on her face.
“In a heartbeat.”
“Good.” She pushed him back onto his fur-covered cot. “Because you’ll have to make an honest woman of me after tonight.”
KIERA WOKE IN LACHLAN’S arms, deliciously loved and finally at peace. Only when it neared noon did Lachlan rise from the cot and get dressed. She followed suit, pulling her dress on, then donning her cloak to follow him outside.
Lachlan ordered his men to pack up the camp; they were to return to Cearbhall at once. Then he took her hand and led her down the road to a clearing overlooking the castle.
The crisp early-winter wind swept over her face, and she adjusted her fur-lined cloak to keep her snug and warm. Lachlan stood next to her, eq
ually bundled up. Together, they looked down at the half-burnt remains of the castle.
“All of the royal suites have to be rebuilt,” Lachlan said. She could see the damaged section blackened by the now-dead flames. “I will have everything put back the way that it was before.”
“But all of the memories that were lost, and paintings, and...” Kiera gasped as she realized. “All those books!” Tears welled up at the thought of all those tomes reduced to nothing but ash.
“I’m sure that you will have no problem filling the library with books.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
Kiera sniffled, then raised her head. “I will make it the best library in the land.” She was already beginning to compile a mental list of the collections she would want to order first. “And we have to do something about the education system.”
“Sounds like you have some goals.”
“Well, with a new queen, there should be some new laws,” Kiera said with imitated pompousness.
He turned her to him, then and kissed her. It was so wonderful to be carefree once again. Although a lot had been lost in the fire, more had been gained in allies and alliances. The town would continue to thrive now that their monarchy was secure.
“We should get married right here,” Kiera said. “Overlooking the castle. Keep it small, just close friends. The forest can be our cathedral.”
“I love that idea.” Lachlan smiled and kissed her until her toes curled.
He gazed into her eyes and asked softly, “Do you think that anyone in the whole world is as happy as we are?”
“I don’t think anyone could be as happy as I am now,” Kiera sighed. “I fear I might burst from so much joy.”
“Well, don’t go doing that. I can’t keep putting you back together.”
“Oh, hush.” She burrowed deeper into his arms, relishing his masculine scent. “You got the girl in the end, so what are you complaining about?”
He chuckled and pulled her close. “And I will never let you go.”
About the Author
Elle has been writing fantasy and science fiction romance for years and an avid participant in the NaNoWriMo. Her first novel, Stealing the Wolf Prince, is a 2016 RONE Award Winner for Best Fantasy Sci-fi Novel.
Elle is happily married to a martial arts instructor. She’s also the mother of two small boys and is constantly talking her husband out of adopting a new pet. She knits and stamps in her spare time as well as feeds a latte addiction.
http://elleclouse.com
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Also by Elle Clouse
Chaos Factor Series
Unrequited
Requited
Besotted
Tales of Northam
Cost of a Kiss
Star-Crossed
Wylderland Chronicles
Stealing the Wolf Prince
Deceiving the Bandit Lord
Watch for more at Elle Clouse’s site.