Page 83 of A Highland Bride Forgotten
River was there. His child was there.
“How? When?”
“I daenae ken,” said Keir. “But we’re workin’ on it.”
“River?”
Keir gave Archer a steady look and it was all he needed to know the truth. She was there. She was there and he was too far away from her to do anything to save her.
“I’m goin’.”
“Archer, nae!” said Keir as he tightened his grip on Archer’s shoulders. Archer, though, was quick to to shove him back and pick up his dagger from the floor, holding it tightly in his palm.
This wasn’t an accident; he knew it, deep in his heart. This was an attack, just like he had been attacked twice. This was a calculated move. Someone from within the castle was trying to hurt him, only this time, they were using River to get to him.
River and his child.
“We need ye alive!” Keir called after him as Archer forced his way through the crowd, but he ignored him. How could he think about himself when River was in danger? How could he ever consider anything, anyone but her?
Before he could get too far, though, Archer fell right into Arya and Colby, who were standing in a small nook in the corridor, clinging onto each other. Their eyes were filled with tears, their faces red, as if they had been crying for a very long time, and soot covered their skin and clothes.
They had been in the middle of the fire. They had been there and they had escaped.
“Archer!” Colby cried, rushing to him and grabbing his legs, holding onto him tightly. Arya followed close behind, her hands trembling, her gaze empty save for a bottomless grief.
“It’s alright, calm down,” Archer told them, patting Colby’s head gently. “Tell me what’s wrong. What happened?”
“Someone attacked River,” Arya said. “Someone is tryin’ to hurt her. We saw him. He was wearin’ a cloak, I didnae see his face, I?—”
“I ken him,” Archer said, though he didn’t quite know the man’s identity. All he knew was that it had to be the same man who had attacked him. “Did ye see River? Is she alright?”
“She saved us,” said Arya. “Please…please daenae let anythin’ happen to her.”
“I’ll find her,” Archer promised. “I willnae let her get hurt.”
That seemed to calm both children down a little, though not enough to stop their cries. Archer glanced over his shoulder and found Keir, calling him over.
“Take care of them,” he told him. “Daenae let them out of yer sight.”
Keir nodded dutifully, and then Archer was gone once more, running through the castle corridors. The closer he got to the eastern wing, the less people he saw, though those who were there had a purpose—they were all trying to put out the fire with any means they could.
The fire had spread. He was still far from River’s chambers and yet there were flames everywhere, consuming the entire place. Archer knew the castle like the back of his hand, though, and he took a different route to get to her chambers, one that didn’t seem to have nay people—or fire.
Whoever had done this had made sure to have a way out for himself, too. And that could only mean that he knew his way around the castle just as well as Archer did.
“Me Laird!”
The familiar voice stopped him dead in his tracks and Archer looked up to see Finlay up ahead, gesturing at him to approach.
“It’s River!” the man called as Archer rushed to him. “Ye must help me, me Laird, she’s trapped.”
“Aye, of course,” said Archer. “Let us hurry.”
He stepped ahead of Finlay to lead the way, though the man had to know it, since the eastern wing was his home, too. Just as he passed by him, though, he saw the glint of a blade, just the smallest hint of light that alerted him to an attack.
Archer turned just in time to stop Finlay’s blade with his own. In the dim light of the corridor, the man’s eyes glinted with hatred and bitterness, and Archer was stunned to find himself under attack by none other than him.
He couldn’t understand why. He also didn’t care. If Finlay had lost his mind, that was the last of Archer’s priorities. All he cared about was saving River.
