Page 34

L esley grabbed a willow bark from the cupboard and placed it gently into the cup of hot water, watching the steam rise and fill the apothecary. A smile spread across her face, and she reached into the cupboard again, looking for other roots she could add.

Suddenly, the door flew open and crashed against the wall, causing her to jump on the spot. She jerked her head out of the cupboard, ready to mouth off to whoever had just barged in on her like that.

She found Keira standing in the doorway, a flimsy shift hanging over her frame.

She swallowed and moved closer. “Keira,” she said, her voice soft. “Keira, what is it?”

Keira remained standing in the doorway, her eyes wide, her face pale with utter shock.

Lesley narrowed her eyes and reached for her friend’s arm. “Keira.”

Something about the way she called her name triggered something inside her, and Keira couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. Her eyes filled up, and she started to cry.

Distressed by the choked sob that escaped her friend, Lesley dragged her into the apothecary.

“It’s Evander,” Keira sobbed, before Lesley could close the door. “I dinnae ken what happened to him, but he’s struggling to breathe. Come, please.”

Lesley sprang into action immediately. She stuffed some roots and flowers in a bag she snatched from the cupboard and asked her friend to lead the way.

The cold night air slithered across their skin as they hurried up the stairs to the Laird’s quarters.

“What happened?” Lesley asked, as they quickened their steps.

“I dinnae ken. He just started to claw at his throat and couldn’t breathe. This cannae happen, Lesley. Nae again.”

Lesley swallowed as they got closer to the door. Keira pushed it open, and they walked in. Evander still lay on the bed, trying his best to breathe. He writhed violently above the mattress, his hands still clawing at his throat.

Lesley heaved a long sigh and moved forward. She walked to his side of the bed and sank to the floor. As she pulled out some roots from her bag, she turned to Keira. “Lock the door.”

“What?”

“We cannae let anyone walk in and find him like this. Has anyone seen this yet?”

Keira shook her head slowly.

“Good. We’ll do everything we can to keep it that way, do ye understand me?”

Keira nodded, her back stiff against the door as she watched everything unfold.

Was she cursed? Was that why this was happening to her? Was she destined to always have a dead husband on her wedding night? Was Fletcher’s death even a coincidence?

“Leave,” Lesley whispered.

Keira inhaled sharply. “What?”

“Grab a clean dress and leave, Keira. I ken that multiple things are going through yer head right now, and it’s nae proper if ye keep standing there, watching me.”

Keira shook her head. “But it’s late. Where do ye want me to go?”

“Go back to yer old room or out for a ride. Just leave. Seeing him like this will only make ye panic further.”

A rough groan escaped Evander’s lips at that moment.

Keira nodded and stepped out into the corridor. She made her way back to her previous room, ignoring the searching looks from the few maids who were finishing their chores for the day.

She wouldn’t be able to sleep, but at the very least, she wouldn’t have to keep looking at Evander anymore. For now, she needed a break, and one way or another, she was going to get it, even though from all angles, she was completely doomed.

One was a coincidence. Now, it had happened twice.

She ground her teeth as she headed downstairs to her old quarters and prayed.

Please, Evander, push through this.

She didn’t have to deal with a lot of faces till she got to her room.

That was where she stayed for most of the night, unable to sleep.

She looked out the window at the bright moon that sat high in the starry sky, her heart pounding a million times a minute.

She paced back and forth, her hands clasped together as she continued to pray to God and whoever could hear her that her husband make it alive.

She wouldn’t be able to deal with the backlash that would come from this. She did not know the exact moment she fell asleep. All she knew was that one minute she was walking back and forth, her feet digging into the hardwood floor, and the next she was sitting on the edge of the bed.

She didn’t wake up until the sun was high in the sky the next morning. The rays spilled into her room, bathing the space in a warm golden hue. She rose to her feet and walked out of the room, ignoring the maids who walked past her.

She quickened her steps as she made her way up the stairs to the Laird’s quarters, ready to receive one news or the other. Some maids walked past her, and she ignored them again. Except this time, she could hear their whispers.

Something about their tone made her freeze, and she turned to them. They weren’t fully gone. One whispered into the ear of the other while they continued to look straight at her.

“And what is that about?”

“Apologies, M’Lady,” the maids responded quickly and walked briskly down the stairs.

A mild frown creased her brow, but she didn’t think too much of it.

She continued up the stairs, the Laird’s quarters already coming into view.

It wasn’t until she passed two more maids that she began to realize something was going on.

They either stared at her with immense disdain or with complete disregard.

She had thought she had been ignoring them this whole while… until she realized they were ignoring her, too.

She swallowed and moved to the door. She knocked gently. “Lesley?”

No response came.

She knocked again. “Lesley, are ye in there?”

More silence.

Perhaps her friend had gone back to the apothecary to get something.

She shuddered as another thought crawled into her mind.

Perhaps he was dead and no one wanted to tell her anything. She was about to knock again when a voice rang out from the end of the corridor.

“M’Lady!”

Keira froze and turned in the direction of the voice.

Stella was running toward her at a speed that seemed to signify urgency and danger itself. Keira furrowed her brow as she watched her approach.

“M’Lady,” Stella panted once she got close enough.

“Stella,” Keira returned, her voice firm. “Can ye tell me what’s going on?”

“They’re coming, M’Lady. They’re coming to take ye,” Stella gasped.

Keira’s frown deepened. “Who is coming?”

“They think it was ye who did it. They think it was ye who killed the Laird.”

Keira staggered backward, the shock hitting her like a fallen tree in a forest. Chills ripped through her body as she stood there, her mouth gaping open, Stella’s words ringing in his ears over and over again.

“They think it was ye who killed the Laird.”

“What?!” she finally managed to say, despite the trembling in her knees.

“The news has been spreading around the castle for a while now, M’Lady. Everyone kens that the Laird had some kind of heart failure while he was in bed with ye last night,” Stella explained, her voice meek.

Nay.

Of course, that explained the looks Keira had gotten from the maids today. They knew. They all knew.

“How did it even get out? I thought?—”

“That doesnae matter. I ken ye didnae do anything, but others dinnae think so. Everyone in the Great Hall is angry. The people who attended the cèilidh think ye tried to kill their Laird for power. Like ye…” Stella trailed off.

“Like I what?” Keira prompted, her heart pumping.

Stella swallowed noisily. “Like ye killed the former Laird.”

“There she is!” another voice suddenly rang out in the corridor, interrupting their conversation.

Keira’s eyes snapped up, and she caught Shona walking toward her. Beside her, a tense look on his face, was Hudson.

“Hudson?” she called out, disbelief thick in her voice.

“They’re coming for ye, M’Lady,” Stella whispered one last time, before stepping to the side.

Shona and Hudson stopped right in front of her.

“I kenned ye werenae exactly happy about this wedding. But what I didnae ken was that ye were mad enough to kill him,” Shona snarled, venom spouting from her lips.

“Shona, ye have to believe me,” Keira started, her eyes darting urgently between her and Hudson, who still had a tense look on his face.

“Ye ken what ye have, though? Guts, Keira. A lot of them. Ye should have escaped during the night after ye tried to kill him. Somehow ye’re still here. Are ye trying to see if yer work is done, ye power-hungry witch?”

Keira gasped. Her world was crashing down around her, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

She gaped at Shona, who continued to rant about how she would do anything to keep the castle, even going so far as to kill any men who tried to take it from her, including her own husband.

“Shona, ye have to understand. I didnae do this. I would never hurt Evander.”

Shona bared her teeth, her eyes flashing with fury. “Was that nae what everyone thought before ye killed the former Laird as well?”

“Please.” Desperation swept over Keira, and she turned to Hudson. “Please, ye both have to believe me. I didnae do this. Last night, when it happened, I hurried to the apothecary and asked Lesley to help me. I cannae hurt Evander. I have never hurt anyone in me life.”

“Save yer crocodile tears for the dungeons,” Shona spat. “Because that is where ye’re going. We cannae have ye walk around the castle, in case ye decide to kill someone else.”

Keira’s eyes flicked to Hudson, whose hands were clasped together. He gave her an utterly helpless look. One that seemed to say, I apologize, but it is out of me hands.

“Arrest her and take her to the dungeons. She is too dangerous to be left out,” Shona barked.

“Nay, Hudson. Please dinnae do that. I didnae do it, I swear.” Tears welled up in Keira’s eyes again.

Hudson took a step closer, then another. Each step he took seemed to reflect her last chance at freedom.

This was happening, and she couldn’t believe it. How had she gone from celebrating her wedding just the previous day—one she never even wanted, by the way—to now getting escorted to the dungeons as a prisoner in her own castle?

Was this life’s way of playing a cruel prank on her?

She wondered once more whether she was cursed as Hudson took another step toward her. Was she truly cursed? First Fletcher and now Evander. Who did she need to appease?

Hudson stopped a few inches from her. “Ye have nay idea how sorry I am about this, M’Lady, but there is nothing I can do.”

Keira’s eyes snapped shut as he reached for her hands and tied them with a thick rope behind her back.

“Take her to the dungeons and make sure she is watched,” Shona ordered, her voice on the edge of cracking.

Hudson nodded and led Keira away from the door, Shona, and her maid.

Away from her freedom.