Page 15 of Heart of the Highlands: The Rose (Protectors of the Crown #6)
Abby gazed intensely at her target, her arrow at the ready. The light wind blew her hair into her eyes, but she did not let it distract her. Distraction, Leland had taught her, was the difference between survival and getting killed.
With her elbow raised high and her hand near her cheek, she released the string she had held tight between her fingers. The arrow buzzed through the air, hitting its mark.
“Well done,” Leland praised. “Yer dedication has paid off.”
“Enough to join the Guardians of the Crown?”
“Where did ye hear that name?” Leland asked, his voice filled with suspicion.
Abby cocked her head as if he should have known her long enough by now to know that Abby has a talent at finding things out long before she should have.
“Ye were eavesdropping again, weren’t ye?”
No one said eavesdropping wasn’t a talent.
“Oh, come on, Leland,” Abby’s voice cracked with desperation, her hand flailing in exasperation. “Ye have been training me to be a warrior long before I could e’en hold a sword! I’m no’ meant for the convent life like Ava and Isla. Do ye know what happens to unmarried women when they reach a certain age? They become servants and,” she stopped abruptly, eyes wide. “Spinsters, Leland,” she blurted out. “Do ye know what they do? They sit around all day knitting socks and brewing tea. Do ye know what that does to a woman’s sanity? I am meant to fight. Or at least get good at throwing knives while pretending to pray.”
Leland could not stifle his laughter.
“Ye’ve always been a wild one, lass. But I dinna think joining forces is what this is really about, is it?”
“I dinna want to talk about it.”
“Did he compromise ye?”
Abby’s head shot up; her eyes wide. “Nay, of course not.”
“Cause if he did…”
“Nothing happened. This has nothing to do wit’ him.”
Leland scratched the scruff on his face with disbelief in his eyes. He walked over to a fallen log and took a seat. Abby joined him.
“Abby, ye’ve been like a daughter to me and though she is my wife, I dinna always agree wit’ yer sister, Alys. She can be a stubborn one. I know ye look at yer gift as a curse, but from what I have seen o’er the years, yer visions have always been helpful. They’ve never brought on devastation, ne’er put anyone in harm’s way, in fact, ye’ve saved many lives, including mine. What I am trying to say is, what if yer vision of death, is no’ what it seems? We’ve misinterpreted them before, but they’ve always led ye on the right path. It pains me to see ye hurting, but yer no’ really living. E’ery day, I see ye going through the motions, but I dinna see ye really happy. And if it’s love ye seek, then maybe it’s worth exploring. Dinna give up on yer heart, Abigail. He’s a good man.”
Abby could taste the salt of her tears as they fell from her eyes. His words pulled at her heartstrings, causing an ache and emptiness to fill her heart, more than she’d felt before. She was certain she had done the right thing, pushing him away. Running and hiding is all she had ever done for fear of being hurt, fear of her vision. But perhaps, Leland was right, and what a fool she had been. Maybe she had it all wrong, and now she committed the worst sort of crime. Betrayal to both her heart and Aiden by pushing him into Bella's arms. Her stomach churned as if she had received a crushing blow.
Oh my God! Bella!
“They're getting married tomorrow!” she gasped, adrenaline pumping through her veins. Without a second thought, she sprang to her feet and dashed back toward the keep, her heart racing as she willed her legs to move faster than ever before. She had to stop them!
“Leland, quick,” she hollered, urging him to follow. “We must make it to Inverness by sunrise.”
“No!” her sister’s stern rejection against Abby’s return to Inverness cut through the air like hot steel.
“Alys,” Leland interjected. “Damn it, lass. God knows I love ye, but ye press my nerves. Ye cannae keep doing this to Abby. She’s stronger than ye think and much like ye at this age, if I recall. I know ye hate to hear it, lass, but yer no’ her mother.”
Alys shot her husband a seething look; her brows knitted together, lips pursed to a thin line before she turned her attention back to Abby.
There was a long pause between them. Abby knew her sister was torn between her desire to protect her and the reality of her fierce determination. In the end, she didn’t need her sister’s permission, but leaving without her blessing would equally destroy her.
“Alys, I have to do this. Ye dinna understand.”
“Abby,” Alys opened her mouth to argue again, but Abby cut her off.
“Whatever the outcome, whatever may come, I must do this.” Her voice was calm but stern.
Alys’s eyes softened and an exhausted sigh escaped her lips.
“Yer right, Abby. I cannae protect ye anymore. Ye are a grown woman.”
“Thank ye. I will always be yer little sister, Alys. That will never change.”
The two sisters hugged in a warm embrace. The tension in Abby’s chest, the uncertainty about the future, seemed to melt away, if only for a few seconds. When Alys finally pulled back, her hands lingered on Abby’s shoulders. She said softly, her voice thick with emotion, “Just promise me, that no matter what happens, ye’ll pay attention to yer visions. I cannae lose ye.”
“Ye won’t.”
“I’ll take ye and make sure ye arrive there safely,” Leland added.
After packing a small bag, it was not long before Abby and Leland were on the road back toward Inverness. She perched on the edge of the wooden bench inside the carriage, her nerves tingling with worry and excitement. She’d only inadvertently interrupted one wedding before—purely by accident.
She could still see the look on that poor bride’s face when Abby stood up in front of the whole congregation and mistakenly accused the groom of kissing another woman just hours before the ceremony, when, in fact, that man wasn’t the groom after all, but his twin brother. It was not her finest moment. But who would have ever guessed that the man was a twin? Then again, she was only ten and fairly certain the ceremony had continued, though so embarrassed by her actions, Alys had set her straight to her room without even a slice of cake.
This wedding, however, was different and she had a very good reason to stop it. Of course, as for the bride, she may never forgive her.