I turned so that my back faced Mary, discreetly scooting the dress down off my shoulders so that my breasts sprang free and I could rope them into place with the bra. Reluctantly, Mary had washed all of my modern clothes for me. They’d started to get pretty ripe after weeks of not seeing a washing machine.
Slipping the dress back on, I faced her, triumphantly. My breasts filled in the new v-cut in the dress perfectly, and the cleavage was just enough to draw attention, without completely giving away the farm. “What do you think?”
Even Mary couldn’t hide her amazement at the difference it made. “Aye, lass. I regret what I said before. Do ye think we could make me one? I believe I underestimated the size of yer breasts, lass. They’re a good deal higher now.”
“I told you. And I bet you could fashion something that would work the same way. Just look at what you’ve done with this dress!” I spun, feeling dainty and beautiful, and my nerves subsided slightly until I heard a knock on the door.
“Ach, lass, there he is.” She paused and came to place a hand on each of my shoulders. “Doona worry, lass. If he tells ye anything other than what ye want to hear, then I doona know the lad as well as I think I do.” She gave me a brief hug and surprised me by giving me a quick swat on my bottom. “And ye look beautiful. Have a good time.”
With that I opened the door to him, and as he took my hand, I followed him outside.
* * *
Ach, the lass looked beautiful! But what had she done to the top of her dress? Did she want him to take her right in the middle of the hallway? Nay, he would not allow himself to have her until he’d told her all that he needed to, and she’d chosen him as her own.
If she rejected him, he would take her to do the spell tonight. He didn’t think he could bear to have her stay here even a moment longer if he knew she didn’t want him in the same way he longed to have her.
It was a long walk to the cave at the base of the shoreline, and he was anxious to get her there quickly. Each second of wondering was more torturous than the last. It was a chilly evening, but the small cave blocked the wind and provided a perfect place from which to watch the waves as the tide rolled.
As he led her onto the sand, he smiled as she paused to hike up her dress, gathering it in her arms and revealing the pale skin of her legs. He didn’t know of another lass who would so unashamedly expose her legs while walking, but he’d expect no less from his strange lass, and he loved every odd thing about her.
He could only hope she loved him in return. As he led her into the candlelit cave, he breathed in a deep ocean-filled breath for courage. It was time for the truth to be known.
* * *
Eoin said nothing as we walked away from the castle, and while I knew we were headed to the shore, he gave no clues as to where he was taking me.
He seemed nervous, and it did nothing to help my nerves. Part of me wondered if he was dragging me away to tell me privately just how ready he was for me to return home. It was easy for my mind to always drift to the worst scenario.
When we reached the sand I jerked loose from his grip, apologizing as I kicked off my shoes and gathered the bottom of my dress. I didn’t care how ridiculous I looked waddling through the sand with fabric gathered up in my arms; I wasn’t about to dirty this dress after all the work Mary had put into it. She would’ve killed me, no doubt.
It was getting darker along the beach, and I found myself hoping that we’d reach our intended destination soon. In a horror film, this was exactly the point in which the man would turn around and kill me, tossing my body into the approaching waves.
Eventually we made our way inside a narrow cave hiding along the rocky coast at the back of the beach. It was filled with candles, which illuminated the circular haven. And with an assortment of cushions and blankets lying on a rock ledge near the back, most of my fears subsided. It was a romantic setting, not the kind of place you would take someone before sending them away, and not the kind of place you would take someone before chunking their lifeless body into the ocean.
Inside the cave the ground was rocky, and without the fear of sand getting caught in the dress, I relaxed my arms and let it fall down to my feet once more. Eoin smiled and took my hand as he led me to the blankets at the back of the cave. Once I’d comfortably crawled on top and situated myself next to him, he turned to me to speak.
“Lass, I need to confess something to ye, but I’m no so sure I can bring myself to tell ye.”
Maybe I was wrong about this being romantic. Maybe he was about to tell me he loved someone else, and he was ready for me to go home so that he could get on with his life. A million thoughts ran through my mind as all the fear from earlier came rushing back, and I suddenly felt foolish for thinking I would be brave enough to tell him I loved him.
Instead, I squeezed his hand, encouraging him to just get whatever he wanted to say over with. “Alright. You have to tell me now. Just get on with it.”
He could see that I was shivering, from nerves more than cold, but he couldn’t tell the difference. He politely wrapped one of the blankets around my shoulder.
“Lass, I know that ye have been searching for the ring so that ye can go home. While, we were away, Arran found it.”
“He did?” Shocked, I tried to normalize my expression as he continued.
“Aye,” he paused to retrieve it and held it out to me, eventually setting it in between us when I didn’t reach out for it. “I almost threw it in the ocean.”
“You what?” The pitch of my voice was oddly high and screechy, making me sound angry rather than shocked.
“Aye, lass. I’m verra sorry, but I dinna want to give ye the ring. I know that I canna keep it from ye, but I’d like to ask ye something before I let ye have it.”
“Of course.” My heart restarted as hope began to crawl through the fear rooted in my stomach.
“Doona go, lass.” He squeezed my hands tightly in between his own, and I was sure my heart was going to burst with happiness. “I’ve fallen in love with ye, Bri, and I doona wish to be parted from ye. If ye doona love me, I shall give ye the ring, but I could no let ye leave without telling ye.”
My voice cracked as I spoke to him, and a tear broke free from my left eye. “No.”
He didn’t give me a chance to finish. “I’m so verra sorry for keeping the ring from ye, lass. I just wasna ready to let ye go.”
I pried my hands loose and reached up to grab hold of his face. “No, listen. Let me finish.”
He stopped talking, pursing his lips awkwardly like a fish, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Its no so funny, lass. Ye’re breaking my heart. I only ask that ye do it swiftly.”
“Hush. It is funny. Your face looks ridiculous. I meant, ‘no,’ I’m not mad at you. I had something to tell you tonight as well.”
“Aye?”
“I was going to tell you that I wanted to stop looking for the ring. I can’t leave here. This is my home now and I’ve fallen in love with everyone. Mary, Kip, Arran, Griffin, even you.” I winked at him before continuing, “Before, I only thought I had to go back because of my mother and Blaire. She deserved the chance to return to her home, but she doesn’t want it.
“How do ye know, lass?”
“It’s the spell book. We can write messages to one another that cross over through time. My mother knows I’m safe here, and as long as she knows that, she’ll be okay with my decision. And Blaire, she said she wants to stay. That means I’m free, Eoin. I’m free to stay with you. If you’ll have me?”
“Have ye, lass? Did ye no just hear what I said to ye? I’ll have ye and ye alone.”
We fell into each other then, our lips meeting with a sort of elation that comes with knowing your feelings are matched with the one you love.
He undressed me slowly, marveling at my bra as he took in the lacy, blue material.
“Ach, lass! I dinna think it possible for a lass’s breast to look so wonderful, while covered. Is it expected that y
e wear such material in yer time?”
“Yes, but for goodness sakes, just get it off of me now.”
“As ye wish, love.”
And as he took me in his arms, we rocked our bodies together against the stones in a motion that mimicked the crashing of the water against the sand, expressing our love for one another through the night.
Chapter 34
Arran squatted behind the first building on the edge of the village, peering around the corner as he watched the runaway wait for someone to join him outside the ale house. The lad reached into a small bag he carried around his shoulder and removed an item which he’d wrapped in a cloth.
Arran knew he’d been right to follow him. The lad had been given no chance to acquire anything for trade, unless he’d stolen it from Kip or some other area of the castle.
Only a few moments passed before a man Arran had never seen before walked out of the ale house and extended a hand in the runaway’s direction. He watched as they spoke quietly for a few moments, ending their conversation when the runaway patted the stranger and handed the unknown item over to him.
Arran couldn’t make sense of the strange transaction, but he knew he’d just witnessed the runaway betray them.
As he watched the runaway turn to head back toward the castle, Arran pulled his head back around the corner, out of sight from anyone walking by. He waited until the lad moved past him, then quickly ran up behind him, ramming his fist over the back of the runaway’s head. Arran caught the man around the middle, shrugging his unconscious body over his shoulder.
He’d take the betrayer to the dungeon, and he’d get the truth out of the lying bastard by whatever means necessary.
* * *
I moved about the spell room, putting away books and materials for what I hoped would be the last time. With my mind made up that I would be staying, and now knowing the location of the ring, I saw no reason to leave the room in such a state of dishevelment.
With each lift of a book, I was reminded of my activities the night before. I knew my back was covered in bruises from being pounded against the rocky surface of the cave, and every muscle in my body was sore from our nightly acrobatics. I’d never been so happy to be so uncomfortable.
As I continued to shuffle books around the room, I realized that the real reason I seemed so preoccupied with re-organizing the space is that I was doing my very best to put off the inevitable. I had to write to Mom and let her know I wasn’t coming home.
I was completely confident in my decision. Regardless of the unusual circumstances that had brought me into this time, it had landed me exactly where I was supposed to be. That being said, it didn’t make it any easier for me to go about saying goodbye to my mother for what was most assuredly forever.
The thought brought forth a familiar lump inside my throat. The same lump that had lodged itself into place when I’d attended my father’s funeral, the same lump that I’d been forced to choke down after laying eyes on Donal MacChristy.
I knew my mother wasn’t dying. She would undoubtedly go on to live a happy life, endlessly dating men either too young or too old for her, and traveling the world on whatever dig caught her fancy. But she’d not only been my mother but my very best friend for my entire life. And while I knew she would understand, I also knew it would hurt her to know that I’d chosen not to return to be her partner in crime.
Once I’d rearranged every book in the room at least twice, I knew it was time to sit down and just get it over with.
I tore a blank piece of parchment from one of Morna’s old journals and practiced what I would say to her.
Twenty-five drafts later, I knew that the truth was that it didn’t matter what I wrote. It was going to hurt her regardless. It was best that I keep it simple and only touch on the most important things: that I was safe, that I was happy, and that I hoped she would understand.
In the end, I wrote only four sentences, ensuring that I left room in case she wanted to write a reply.
“I don’t want you ever to doubt how much I love you, Mom, but I found it. That love you talked to me about at the inn? He’s here, and I have to stay with him. I’m safe and happy, and I know that’s all you’ve ever wanted for me.”
It was done. And while I knew I’d made the right decision, it had cost me the best mom in the world.
I was unsure of how long I sat there, staring blankly at the wall, feeling oddly cold and hollow. I’d been shattered when my father had been killed in a boating accident. Losing someone so suddenly wraps you in a sort of black shock that takes years to shake off.
Somehow, this seemed harder. It was just as sudden a break, and the knowledge that she was alive and well and would go on living and sharing her fun, witty, and wild self for the world to see, but not for me to get to witness, left me feeling utterly lost.
The hand that touched my shoulder was my anchor, and I gladly turned into his embrace. He too understood the grief of loss, with his father’s death occurring shortly before my arrival. He didn’t ask what I’d been doing. He looked around at the tidy room and at the words on the page and silently sat down beside me, wrapping me in his arms.
He held me without saying a word, silently stroking my back, bending occasionally to plant a gentle kiss on the top of my head, letting me know that he was there for as long as I needed him.
Eventually I pulled away and managed a smile to reassure him that I wasn’t re-thinking my decision. He smiled back and reached for my hand.
“I know it may no be customary. My parents kept separate bedchambers throughout their marriage, but how would ye feel about moving into my bedchamber? I doona like the thought of ye being so far away. I want to fall asleep each night with ye next to me, wrapped in my arms.”
I stood and pulled him toward the doorway. “I would love to. I’d already asked Mary this morning if she would have someone move my belongings across the hall. In my time, it would be uncustomary for us not to share a room. Besides, I don’t want to be alone tonight.”
Chapter 35
Kinnaird Castle
“What does the lad want with me?” Ramsay marched from his bedchamber, furious that someone would dare have the nerve to arrive unannounced.
“I doona know, sir. All he said was that he must see ye straight away. He had an item to give ye.”
“The damned fool had better be bringing me Eoin Conall’s head on a spike if he’s to wake me at this hour.” Ramsay burst through the doors of the study where the father of his two stable lads stood uncomfortably at the end of the room. “Well, what do ye possibly have that ye think is warranted to disturb me?”
“I…I met with the man ye sent to Conall Castle. He gave me this ring to give to ye. Said it’s the signet of the late Alasdair Conall, and he believed it could be of some use to ye since Eoin has asked that the MacChristy clan gather at the castle as well.”
“Give it to me.” Ramsay thrust his hand eagerly in the man’s direction. He knew he’d done right by sending the man. The lad was a quick thinker, and he’d just proven that he was worth more than Ramsay had previously expected. He studied the ring, recognizing Alasdair’s signet immediately. “Thank ye, lad. Now, get out.”
The man’s face dropped, obviously disappointed at a lack of reward, but he retreated quickly, leaving Ramsay alone with one of his messengers in the study.
“Dress in the colors of the Conalls and take this ring to MacChristy Castle at once. Doona give this ring to anyone but Donal, do ye understand? Ye will have no trouble gaining an audience. Donal will welcome any Conall. Once ye have given him the ring, tell him that Eoin no longer requires his men or his presence for the battle. The situation has been taken care of, and there is no going to be an attack.”
“Aye. O’ course, sir.”
With one less clan to worry about, Ramsay was certain his plan to annihilate the Conalls would succeed. In three days’ time, he would gather his men and everyone at the castle. Together they would march to the aide of the Conalls,
gladly assisting them in their bloody deaths.
* * *
Conall Castle
“I assure ye, lad, I’m in no hurry. I’ll gladly spend as many nights down here with ye as ye wish. But we willna be leaving until ye tell me what it was that ye gave to the stranger in town and where ye got it from.” Arran threw a fist into the stomach of the man who was now strung up by both wrists in the center of the dungeon.
The runaway groaned painfully as one of his ribs snapped at the impact of Arran’s fist. “I already told ye. The man was my uncle, and I was only returning an item I borrowed from him.”
“Ye lie. The man was no old enough to be yer uncle, and ye had no such item when ye arrived here.”
“I did so. I keep it in my bag. Ye dinna search me when I arrived. I’ve had it with me all along.”
Arran thrust another fist forward, this time hitting the man’s other side. “What was the item ye borrowed from him?”
“Only…” the man paused as a cough racked his chest, sending blood spewing out onto the dungeon floor. “It was only a coin.”
Arran shook his head at the runaway’s pathetic attempt to lie, this time sending his fist for the man’s jaw. He wrung out his hand as the runaway spit up a few of his teeth. “Like I said. Doona expect to see daylight until ye tell me truth.”
Chapter 36
The days following my decision to remain here passed by in a blur of hurried activity, with everyone in the castle and village rushing to make preparations for the arrival of the MacChristys and Kinnairds as well as preparing for the upcoming battle.
It was the night before the expected attack, and while both Eoin and Arran seemed confident all would be well, I found my anxiety building. They’d not seen the devastating ruins of our home, as I had. And while I knew that having two clans join us for the fight increased our chances, knowing what happened before made me uneasy and it made me wonder why there were still ruins on Mom’s side of time, if we were going to succeed in battle.
Morna's Legacy: Box Set #1 Page 18
