Page 51 of The Veiled Wish of a Highland Bride

“What do ye mean,Bram?”

“He was the one who was outside the stable. He had heard that ye had fled yer room and presumed ye'd need a horse. The stable was the first place he checked,” Clyde said, whispering despite the battle raging around them.

Clyde had done it again, gotten into trouble on Mia's behalf, and she felt deeply emotional at the thought of how much battering he must have willingly taken from his elder brother just so she could get away.

“I needed to be sure that ye had gotten away before Bram had a chance to enter the stables so I fought with him. For the first time since we were bairns, I raised my sword against my own brother.” Clyde's eyes darted around uncomfortably although his expression still remained blank. “As he hit me again and again, after he had knocked my sword out of my hand, he said to me, ‘Ye didnae really love her the way ye claim ye do'.”

Clyde shifted on the ground where they sat, avoiding her disbelieving gaze. Like a soldier who had lost his honor.

“He said to me, ‘I see how close ye both are, and I ken ye love her like a sister. But I doubt the sincerity of that love if ye would let her go into the lion's den alone'.” Clyde chuckled disbelievingly, as though he could not fathom how Bram could have said those words. “It was then that I realized that ye were truly all alone, and I decided it was best for Bram to go get ye back. I am so sorry, Mia, but I told him exactly where ye went.”

Mia felt no resentment towards Clyde for ratting her out. None at all. She wasgladthat they had come. No matter how much of a fighter Maeve had become, Mia doubted that she could take on Dallas and twenty other men on her own.

“Clyde… Och, forget it. At least we are rescued now. Come! Come help me untie Archibald,” Mia said, hastily getting off the ground and making a beeline for the man she loved, ducking out of the way of the fighting. Clyde followed, making sure to slash any soldiers that spotted them.

After untying him, Mia wrapped him up in an embrace.

“Ye'll be needing a bath after this,” she joked, trying the diffuse the tension. It was then that she noticed her mother stood by her side, letting the men do their thing.

Mia could not help but notice that Maeve looked white as a sheet as she stared at the battlefield. Dallas' men were almost all either dead or incapacitated. The noise was slowly fading. The only men left standing were Bram's soldiers and Dallas.

The moment he could breathe, he turned to his wife. “Mia! Ye little—" His expression mirrored Maeve's as he caught sight of her. “Maeve?”

What? Do they ken each other?

Bram seemed to stagger towards Maeve, completely ignoring the bloodied Archibald and Mia who stood looking quite perplexed. How was it that Bram recognized her mother faster than even she did?

Bram placed his palm on Maeve's teary cheek, tracing the outline of her face as though he could not believe it was her. Mia had never seen Bram so affectionate.

What was going on?

“Bram. Och, Bram,” Maeve sobbed into his palm.

“What is happening here? I dinnae understand. How do ye ken each other?” Mia inquired, anger bubbling up in her as she thought about years of having to endure an unaffectionate husband only to watch him being affectionate with her ownmother.

“Mia.” Maeve stepped away from Bram to take Mia's hands in hers. Mia did nothing but stare at them both intently, her eyes narrowed. “Bram… Bram was the man I told ye about. The man I fell in love with.”

Mia’s stomach twisted into knots at the fact that she was married to her mother's lover. Bile rose in her throat.

She had tried to seduce the man her mother must have spent nights with. Her mother had carried hischild… Mia’s skin was beginning to crawl at the thought, as she tried to suppress her shivering.

“Wh-what do ye mean?” she asked incredulously.

Bram moved a little closer to them from where Maeve had left him “Aye, Maeve.” He looked so full of hurt. “Ye left and ye never came back. Ye never sent word.Naething.”

Maeve said nothing in response and kept talking to Mia. “My bairn, there was a part of the story I told ye just a few minutes ago that I left out.” The tears fell from her eyes. “I lost the bairn that night. The very night I left.” She was sobbing. “I lost everything. Both of my bairns.”

Bram looked sick.

“Ye were with… my bairn?”

“Aye. I am so sorry, Bram. My plan was to come to ye that night and never leave yer side, but when I saw the blood dripping I kent there was naething to save.” She crumpled to the ground and wept. “I could nae go back to ye after I had lost my child, and going back to Conrad was nae an option, nae anymore. My only wish is that I had taken my daughter along with me.”

Archie still sat on the floor, his back resting on the same tree he had been bound to. He looked as though he didn't have enough strength to stand. He had lost a lot of blood, and Mia was almost as worried about this as she was as worried about all that Maeve had gone through.

Mia had to ask. “Did ye ken, Bram?”

Bram still wore a stunned expression. Mia could see pain in his eyes.

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