Page 94 of A Wife for the Highland Villain
Instead of responding, Lily lifted her hand to the back of her neck, wincing as she pressed gently.
“Did he hurt ye?” Alasdair asked, watching her closely.
“I’ll be fine.”
“Are ye certain?” His voice dropped.
She nodded. “I said I’ll be fine. But me neck is hardly the matter here, is it? Someone tried to murder me in the middle of the cèilidh. What in God’s name just happened?”
Alasdair exhaled. He was also struggling to make sense of what had just happened. “I daenae ken yet. But I’ll find out. I kent there were protests when I became Laird, but I never thought they would take it this far.”
Lily’s eyes snapped to him. “Wait. Did ye just say that the people werenae satisfied with ye becoming Laird?”
“Aye.” His tone was clipped. “At first, I thought it would pass. Rumors, drunken talk. But then came the archer in the woods. And now this.” He shook his head. “It makes me think…”
“Makes ye think what?”
Alasdair swallowed. The thought tasted bitter, but he couldn’t hold it back. “It makes me think that someone in this castle is helping them.”
Lily’s lips parted, and her breath caught.
“Think about it,” he pressed. “How else would they ken exactly where ye were in the woods? They had to follow ye close, ken yer steps, ken the moment to strike.”
Her hand slipped from her neck. “I told nay one except Sorcha.”
“And do ye believe Sorcha sent a man to kill ye?” he asked, his tone flat.
“Nay,” Lily said firmly. “She had nay reason to. And she couldnae have sent word so quickly. It had to be someone nearer. Someone watching.”
Alasdair could see the terror on her face and hated greatly that he had added to it, even if just a little. He moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her.
“Ye will be fine, Lily. I willnae let anything happen to ye.”
To his surprise, and perhaps for the very first time, Lily leaned against his chest, closing her eyes.
It was not lost on Alasdair that this was the first time a moment like this had occurred between them. Especially one that wasn’t born out of passion or some heated mistake. This was just her trying to feel safe, and he was determined to do everything in his power to ensure that.
A knock shattered the moment.
Alasdair’s jaw clenched, his arms falling from her waist as Nathan stepped into the room.
“Everything is being taken care of,” Nathan said, glancing between them. “The guards are moving the bodies and clearing the hall.”
Alasdair nodded once. “Good. Keep pressing them. Someone kens how they got in, and I want their name. It has to be someone among us.”
“Aye.” Nathan’s expression tightened. “I’m questioning them now. I’ll have answers soon.”
When Nathan left, the silence returned.
Lily stepped back, smoothing down her dress. The softness Alasdair had glimpsed earlier was gone. She had reverted to her guarded self. The Lily he was familiar with.
“I shall retire too,” she said. “It has been a long night.”
Alasdair studied her. He hated the thought of her walking away, hated the idea that she would go back to her chamber and lock the door between them as though nothing had changed.
“I’d feel better if ye slept in me chambers,” he admitted. “Or if I stayed in yers. We cannae trust the threat is over.”
Her lips curled into a small smile. “I still havenae made up me mind about staying here. I’m nae sleeping in yer chambers.”
