Page 25 of Love Beyond Time
“I caught the two of them kissing only hours after the wedding. I could no be near her, and I dinna want the entire castle learning what she’d done.”
“Ach Eoin, if ye dinna stand several feet over me, I’d be knocking that pretty nose of yers back up into yer skull.”
Eoin raised his eyebrows and Arran grinned slightly as Mary continued.
“I doona care if ye walked in on the lass lifting her skirts for the entire village. Ye know very well it is unacceptable for ye to leave her down there.” She squinted her eyes at Eoin, each circle of gray saying more than her tongue ever could, and stepped to the right so that she was in front of Arran.
“And as for ye, boy! Ye better explain this situation to Mary right fast before I keel over at the stupidity of ye both!”
Arran cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably on his feet before answering. “Well, truthfully, I canna say for sure what happened. I’m ashamed to say I was too drunk to properly tell which way was up or down, and I wound up at Eoin’s bedchamber door, thinking it was me own.”
“Eck hmm . . .” Mary cleared her throat disapprovingly and motioned with her hand for him to continue.
“Blaire must have heard me outside the door. She opened it, and I fell in on top of her. She could see I would no make it to me room without help. She helped me and I kissed her, I’m no too sure about the details.”
Mary briefly rolled her eyes before shooting Arran another disapproving look, then slid back over to stand in front of Eoin once more.
“I’ll no be letting that poor girl stay down there, Eoin. I doona care if ye never sleep in the same room, or if ye are never seen together except in public for the rest of yer life. Ye have to know she canna stay there!”
Properly beaten and ashamed, Eoin slowly nodded, trying to swallow his anger at the situation.
“I’ll no be letting ye retrieve her from the dungeon either, Eoin. I’m sure the poor lass is scared to death of ye after being down there for days. I want ye to leave. Right now. Go for a ride, clear yer head, and only come back when ye are ready to apologize and make whatever peace ye want to with the lass. But there will be peace, do ye understand? I’ll no have shouting day in and day out just because yer father is no here to keep the two of ye in line.” She quickly marched around Eoin and gave him a hard shove in the back. “Get on with ye. Now. Ye can find the lass in the lavender room, later.”
“What about him?” Eoin jerked his elbows in Arran’s direction, suddenly feeling as if he was eight years old once again, and not understanding why his punishment differed from his brother’s.
Mary shifted her gaze back and forth between both brothers before continuing. “I doona see why it’s any concern of yers, but just so ye will both be satisfied, Arran is going to leave for a few days. Ride out with Kip to pick up a few more horses for the stables. He’s leaving now, aren’t ye, Arran?”
Arran lowered his head and made his way to the door, only pausing to address both Mary and Eoin. “Aye, Mary. I’ll go. And Eoin, I am sorry, brother. Doona take it out on Blaire. The blame is mine.”
Eoin turned, intent on making it to the stables before his brother left to meet Kip. “Aye. I’m sure ye put the lass in a difficult situation, but she should no have behaved as she did. I’ll speak to ye when ye return, Arran. Safe travels.”
With that, he turned and was gone. Arran and Mary following silently behind him.
* * *
A familiar voice caused me to stir from the restless and—thankfully—dreamless sleep I’d fallen into after hours of unsuccessfully trying to figure a way out of this hellhole.
Exhausted, filthy, and most of all frightened, it took me a moment to realize that the voice belonged to Mary. I swallowed a hard lump that rose in the back of my throat, bringing with it tears of joy, which came from the almost certain knowledge that she would not let them leave me down here.
“Ach, lassie! Ye sure have managed to upset the men around here. One’s yearning for ye so much he has no stayed sober in days, and the other’s calling ye a whore, and that’s the nicest of it! Now, stand up! I’ve sent both of the boys away for a bit. I’ll bring ye back up and place ye in his late mother’s chambers, and ye can get yerself cleaned up. I expect ye’ll have some time alone. It will take the lads a wee bit o’ time to calm down and realize how foolish they’ve both been.”
I stood a little more shakily than was warranted. Physically, I was fine. Mentally, I was so confused and pissed off that the effort it took to stand seemed almost too much. My voice cracked when I spoke. “Mary, I need to know exactly what’s going on here. You have to tell me what you know.”
“What did ye say, dearie? Wait until we get ye settled in yer new room, and the two of us will have a nice, long talk.” Mary motioned to the guard standing at the end of the passageway, who obviously knew better than to question her. He retrieved the cell key from his belt before he made his way to the door and obediently opened the lock.
Now released from my cell, I gladly followed her into a beautiful bedroom directly across from Eoin’s. Mary left after depositing me in the room, but within minutes she returned with a trail of servants carrying steaming pitchers of water to fill the tub. After laying out some fresh clothes, she sat down on the edge of the bed and crossed her arms, resting them on the fullness of her stomach. She waited until the tub was filled with steaming water and the servants had retreated before she spoke.
“Alright, dearie. I know ye must be scared to death after the last few days ye’ve had here. I apologize for no explaining what I knew before the wedding, but there just was no time. And believe me, dear, I dinna know where Eoin had placed ye. If I had, I would’ve retrieved ye immediately.”
I smiled gently and stood watching her intently. “I know, Mary. Thank you. But, please, tell me what’s going on. How did I end up here?”
Mary uncomfortably crossed her arms, only to cross them once again as I watched her struggle to find the right words.
“Well, the truth of it is, dearie, that I doona know all that much. Before Alasdair’s death, he told me a long story, but at the time I put most of it up to his injuries. But then, I saw ye, strange as ye could be, and as ignorant as a wee lamb, and I knew everything he’d said was true.”
“What did he say?”
“He said that his sister—she was a witch, ye see—placed a spell and someday soon a young lass in the likeness of Blaire would be brought into our lives. He begged me to watch over ye and to help ye in any way that I could. He said that ye would save us all from something horrible. What he meant by that, I’ll never know. I expect more answers could be found in Morna’s basement, but I canna read myself and never thought to look.”
