Page 53 of The Runaway Bride and the Highlander
Maxwell could not discover the truth. Knowing such a thing about one’s future could send one quite mad. Nor could she tell him she was leaving for his own good. He would only come after her and beg her to return. This circumstance was difficult enough. She simply did not believe she had the willpower to refuse his pleas and not return to the castle with him if he did so.
After some consideration, Skylar knew what she must do. Her words needed to be so dreadfully harsh, so damning and cruel in their intent, that reading her letter would entirely break his heart. Cutting him so deeply was the only way she could stop him from coming after her.
Though it pained her so desperately to do it, she began writing the note, ensuring the message was clear and leaving no room for any other interpretation. She needed to portray her unhappiness and make certain he knew it was all his fault. What would hurt him now would save him in the long run. It was the only solace she had, and as she wrote the dreadful words, Skylar kept that reasoning at the forefront of her mind, for not one word she penned was anywhere near the truth.
When she was finally finished, she folded the note in half. The guilt made her feel sick to her stomach, and trying to convince herself that this was all for the best was more than difficult. Skylar sighed heavily and with great sadness. He had said many words that night before they had made sweet love, but a particular sentence came to her mind.
“The intensity of my love for ye scares me tae death, and tae try and protect myself from getting hurt if I ever lost ye, I pushed ye away.”
He had opened up his soul to her with his words, leaving himself disarmed and vulnerable. It had taken a great deal of strength for him to do it, and now she was going to tear at the softest parts of him, the parts he had struggled to reveal to her. He had been terrified of losing her, but the day after he had finally plucked up the courage to tell her how he had truly felt, she was going to rip his heart to pieces.
Throwing a heavy plaid around her shoulders, Skylar lifted the small cloth bag and finally the note from the desk. For one last time, she hesitated, but the feeling of doubt passed quickly. Turning from the room, she left her bedchamber.
Maxwell was still sleeping soundly when she reentered his room. Approaching him silently, she watched his broad and muscular chest rise and fall with each easy breath. It was that same chest her fingers had caressed only hours before and that same chest the vision had shown her would be pierced fatally if she did not now leave. A huge wave of sadness and despair washed over her, and tears sprung to her eyes. She had to clamp a hand over her mouth to stop the sound of her sob as it left her body.
Leaving the letter on her pillow, Skylar walked around to his side of the bed, gazing loving down at him.
“I will always love ye, Maxwell Macleod. Perhaps we will meet again in another life.”
With that, she lowered her lips to his and kissed him softly. A tear fell from her eye, landing softly upon his cheek. She dared not wipe it away for fear of waking him. But it did not really matter. It would be long gone by the time he woke—just like her.
Skylar snuck down the stairway and kept close to the walls of the hallways, trying her best to avoid any guards. Now knowing the secret tunnels of the castle, she was successful for a while. Yet, just as she was about to leave through a small and barely used door that led out onto the courtyard, the sound of her name being called stopped her in her tracks.
“Lady Macleod?” a familiar voice called out her name.
Turning slowly, she looked at Kendrick who stood there, clearly waiting for her to answer. As usual, his expression was far too difficult to read, for the old man never gave anything away unless he desired it.
“Are ye going for a midnight stroll?” he asked, closing the gap between them.
Skylar watched him take in her appearance, his eyes flicking to the cloth bag over her shoulder before returning his attention to her.
“Nae, nae,” she said, shaking her head far more fervently than necessary. Feeling the nervousness heighten at his question, she was barely able to stop herself.
Yet, as desperate as she was to try and find a reason for her leaving the castle at such an ungodly hour, nothing was coming to her, and she suddenly began to panic. If she could not find a reasonable answer, Kendrick may take it upon himself to call the guards or, worse still, waken Maxwell. Her husband’s life was in the balance. She needed to go.
“Trouble sleeping?” he asked again, raising an eyebrow as he regarded her.
“Aye.” Skylar nodded, grabbing onto that suggestion. It seemed the best option in that moment, particularly as she could not think of one single thing to say to explain her behavior.
“I see. I do have a tonic, if ye would like tae try it. It’s likely more effective than going out in the dead o’ night alone.” His knowing tone gave away that he knew she was lying. She had known from the moment she had met him that he was an astute man, not that one needed to be astute to know that the reason she had given for sneaking around the castle was completely false. One did not take luggage with them when they had trouble sleeping. But she still could not tell him the truth.
“I might come and see ye tomorrow if the symptoms are still as bad,” Skylar replied.
“But ye willnae be here tomorrow, will ye, Skylar?” he concluded.
She sighed heavily then. What was the point in lying? He knew already, at any rate. She might not be able to tell him the truth, but nor did she have to treat him like some sort of fool either.
“I have tae go someplace,” Skylar admitted eventually. “I cannae explain it tae ye, Kendrick. Ye just have tae trust me.”
“Oh, it isnae ye I dinnae trust, my lady. It is the men outside the walls o’ this castle that still want tae snatch ye away that I dinnae trust. Or perhaps, ye are running tae them.”
“Indeed, I am nae!” Skylar spat vehemently.
He smiled and nodded then. “Now, that is the truth,” he said emphatically. “Well, if ye are nae running tae something, perhaps ye are running awayfromsomething,” he offered.
“Perhaps my reasons are for good, and my actions are the best solution for everyone involved,” Skylar replied, a slight sadness in her tone.
Kendrick’s expression changed then, showing evidence of a realization occurring. As he took a moment to process her meaning, he stared at her intently. “Ye have seen something,” he nearly whispered, “something that isnae good.”
