Page 88 of The Cruel Highlander's Bride
Neither Elspeth nor Olivia had seen his wife since dinner, but both grabbed shawls and joined the search. Between the four of them, they searched the entire castle, every hidden alcove and room.
But after precious time had passed, they found nothing, not even a trace of Ciara, who seemed to disappear into thin air. He should have been here.
“She’s gone,” he whispered, his voice cracking.
Everyone had gathered in the kitchens after their search.
“We’ll find her,” Elspeth promised.
But Magnus knew it was an empty promise. They had no idea what had happened to her. Had she left? Was she kidnapped?
“How did she seem after dinner?” Elspeth asked Susanna.
“She was excited…” the maid trailed off. “To see ye, I believe.” She shot Magnus a chastising look.
The words turned his already hollow stomach sour. Had she waited for him tonight and then when he never showed up, decided she’d had enough? If she had left because of him and something happened to her, he might never forgive himself.
He could barely let himself consider the other possibility, that she might not have left with her own volition. The only thing that brought him some level of comfort was that none of the guards saw anyone suspicious approaching the castle tonight.
“Did anyone see Ewan, though?” Magnus asked, having noticed that his man-at-arms was also absent from his post.
Everyone shook their heads.
“Well, maybe he is with her. Maybe he’s takin’ her back to Clan Gunn,” Elspeth chimed in.
Magnus sighed heavily. “We can only hope.”
* * *
Ciara let the tears continue to fall. Ewan awkwardly patted her on the shoulder and then moved back to the front of the carriage to take her away from there.
Maybe with enough distance, this feeling in her heart would fade. But she knew it wouldn’t be that simple.
All her silly imaginings about what this relationship might be were shattered. Magnus didn’t want something real with her, she was just somebody to pass the time with. The pleasure he’d brought her felt cheap now, tarnished, as she considered how many other women had experienced the same treatment.
Had he learned how to do those things from the women he was with tonight? Did he touch them the way he touched her?
Her stomach roiled, and she thought she might be sick. The bumpy carriage ride was not helping matters.
Apparently, their vows meant nothing to Magnus because he so easily turned to others. Ciara laughed bitterly through her tears. She really was so naïve to think it would be any different.
She let herself be fooled by the Laird’s sweet words and masterful touches. But it was clear to her now that their marriage would never be more than a means to end this war.
The carriage trundled out of the village and through the surrounding woods. The quiet of the forest calmed Ciara slightly. She dried her tears with her handkerchief, but her heart still ached.
Rubbing at her breastbone, she thought back to all of Magnus’s lies, all of his unfulfilled promises. She didn’t understand why he would make it seemsoreal, when the whole time he was doing this.
She knew tonight was not his first night at the brothel, that was clear from his familiarity with those women. And she knew, just as well, how often he left the castle late at night. It wasn’t hard to put those two thoughts together.
That foolish part of her reminded her of all his kind words and the way they’d laughed together. But she was no longer listening to the silly voice that tried to convince her that there might be an explanation. Not when that little reminder of their joy had her tears welling up once more.
Through the haze of her thoughts and her tears, the amount of time she spent in the carriage niggled at her. Gunn lands bordered Magnus’s, and the castle was only a short distance away from the village the brothel was in. It felt like they’d been moving for longer than the journey should have taken…
She had just assumed that’s where Ewan was taking her—back to her family. But as the carriage continued rolling down the road, she began to doubt that that was their destination.
Ciara looked out the window, trying to see where they were, but there was no moon out tonight, and all she could see were the dark woods passing by. What was soothing at first now seemed rife with dangers.
She banged loudly on the roof of the carriage and called out to Ewan through the open window, “Where are we goin’?”
