Page 18 of A Highlander Bound by Oath
"Good night, Owen," she called from the bed.
"Good night, lass," he turned again and stared into the black abyss. Something she had said about her father had bothered him, but he couldn't understand what it had been. He'd never met her before, but she seemed familiar. And he was fairly certain that he would have remembered her father. Sighing heavily, Owen shut his eyes and tried to get some sleep.
"Owen."
His eyes shot open as she spoke again. "What?"
"If you were a dog, I would have named you Brock."
"What?" he said again, with a hint of confusion in his voice. "What are ye talking about?"
"You said earlier that you're like a dog sleeping on the floor. I was just thinking that if you were a dog, I would name you Brock. I don't know why. It just seems to suit you somehow."
"Charlotte," he called to her when she eventually stopped talking.
"Yes?"
"Go tae sleep." Owen smiled and fell asleep, thinking about the sound of her sweet voice.
The flames licked at his face as he shielded his eyes against the blaze. There was nothing he could do to help the young girl who was screaming for dear life. He tried his best to find a path to her as the heat pushed him back. The men who had run away had left her in the middle of the flames. He coughed a few times as the thick black smoke billowed in droves. The scent of burning flesh filled his nostrils.
He took a step back when another man came running past him, throwing himself into the flames without a care for his own life. "Charlotte!" he heard the man screaming again as towers of billowing smoke choked his breath. The flames cleared enough in front of his face to reveal the young woman kneeling beside the man. He was lying motionless on the floor at her side.
"Papa!" she screamed hopelessly, clutching at his face. Her long blonde hair clung to her face as she screamed.
Seeing that the fire was spreading even further, he quickly leaped through a gap in the flames and made his way over to the girl. He grabbed the man's neck and checked for signs of life. It was then that Owen suddenly realized that the man had a large gash across his head. Blood had seeped down his face and onto his chest.
"One of the carts fell over and hit his head," the girl sobbed uncontrollably. "I don't know what to do. Please help him!" her bright green eyes pleaded with him.
He struggled to focus on her features as the heat obscured his vision. "Go intae the castle and get some help!" he yelled at her over the crackling of the fire.
She did as he said and picked a path through the flames, jumping into the air as she cleared a smoldering pile of wood. Her dress was badly burned and clinging to her flesh at her side and her long blonde her was singed at the ends.
He quickly looked back down at the man's still body and felt for a pulse.Nothing… His breathing had ceased. Looking around, he took in the scene that lay before him.
A man lay dead, bloodied and beaten; his death was not caused by the fire. He looked down at his hands and noticed the blood covering them.
His mind flashed back to the man's bruised face as he'd landed blow after blow. Allowing his anger to take control and cloud his judgment. Tiny hands gripped her shoulders, tugging at him as a distant voice pleaded for him to stop.
He shook his head again and focused back on the corpse that was in front of him.
I did this…He suddenly realized.I caused the deaths of four of the most prominent Lords in England…He looked to the right, where another man's body lay burning in the fire, unable to escape and succumbing to the blaze.
I beat one of them to death with me own two hands…. And allowed the others tae perish…
The thoughts tumbled in his mind as the scene swam back and forth out of focus. Screaming and shouting filling his ears.
"Owen!" A woman called to him through the smoke. "Owen! Owen!"
He suddenly stirred as a gentle hand touched his face. "Owen," the woman said again. "You were dreaming, it's all right," she stroked his cheek with the back of her fingers. The heat from her body was waking him up, bringing him back to consciousness.
Blinking a few times, Owen tried to adjust his vision to the dim light pouring through the window. He wasn't entirely sure where he was, or if he had even escaped the fire. "Where am I?" he asked the beautiful entity who could very well have been an angel with her bright blonde hair.
"Shhh," she soothed him again. "It was just a dream; the sun is almost up," her voice sang in his ears like the song of a siren.
He felt his breathing ease as she gazed down at him. The early light hit her face in a way that lit her radiant skin. She wasgorgeous in every way he could possibly imagine, with elegant cheekbones and a button nose that reminded him of the Fae. The side of her body radiated heat as her hip touched his.
"There," she smiled warmly as he reached up and held the hand touching his face. "This is real. Feel your heart beating," she took his hand in hers and guided it to his chest, placing his palm directly over his heart with hers on top. "This is reality. The rest was only a dream," her lips parted in a sensual manner as she spoke.
