Page 88 of The Laird's Secret Bairn

Dougal arched an eyebrow. “Yer sister seems to be enjoying herself.”

Skye sighed. “Ye have no idea.”

Freya was going to tease her about this later when it was just the two of them. She was sure of it.

31

Everyone moved inside into the main hall.

“Now, let’s dance.”

The lessons with Freya had half paid off. Skye managed not to stumble, but if she had, Dougal would have caught her. He would have looked down at her with that charming, roughish smile that had captured her heart from the first time she had seen him at Castle Muir.

This time, no one dared to whisper behind his back. They were in his castle, invited to celebrate Lily. There were stares, yes, but they were different this time.

Skye could feel eyes on them as they danced. She had missed him so much, but hadn’t had a chance to tell him properly, since he had arrived after the guests.

His palm settled warm on her waist, sure even through the fabric of her gown, and the tension between them was so thick that she could hardly draw breath, let alone remember a single step Freya had taught Lily that week.

“Ye’re doing it wrong,” she whispered, missing her turn and nearly treading on his boot for the second time in as many minutes.

It was bold of her to assume that Dougal was doing something wrong. She was the one who needed a guide on how to dance.

Briefly, her foot caught in the skirt of her dress, and she did stumble this time. Dougal steadied her, the corners of his mouth quirking into a smile.

“I’m nae doing anything. Ye’re the one fighting the music instead of following it, same as ye fight everything else put in front of ye.”

Skye frowned. How dare he insinuate such a thing? But when she opened her mouth to argue, the words died on her lips.

“I did warn ye, before agreeing to any of this, that I couldnae dance a step to save me life.”

“Ye did warn me. I didnae listen, just as ye didnae listen to me. I think it’s fair that way.” His mouth curved, though his eyes stayed serious, fixed on her in a way that made the rest of the courtyard blur soft at the edges—the torches, the fiddler, evenLily spinning somewhere nearby with her skirts flying and her ribbons catching the firelight. “I missed ye, lass. More than I ken how to express in words. I thought of little else the entire ride home.”

She wanted to believe him. That was the problem. She wanted to believe every word that came out of his mouth these days, no matter how many times she reminded herself of the bargain they’d struck.

Lily had missed him something terrible, crying for him every night. Skye never let it show that she missed him because once she allowed herself to miss him properly, tears would follow, and there would be no stopping them at that point. She did not know if she would be able to stop until he came back to the castle safe and sound.

He had promised them both. He would never break a promise to Lily, but in war, there was always a chance. Men in her family had fallen in battle, leaving their wives and daughters heartbroken. She did not want to experience that.

“Ye couldnae have thought of little else. Ye were meant to be settling a war, Dougal, nae mooning over a lass ye left behind.”

“Aye, and even then, ye were at the forefront of me mind the whole while, distracting me from matters that should have had me full attention.”

She shook her head, trying to focus on the steps and failing, her feet betraying her with every turn she attempted. “I cannaeunderstand half of what happened while ye were gone, if I’m being honest with ye. Angus arriving here as though he were some honored guest, welcomed through the gates with open arms after everything he did and threatened… Ye speaking of treaties and poison in the same breath, as though the two belonged comfortably together… Ye’ll have to explain it to me properly before the night is through, because right now none of it makes a lick of sense to me.”

“I ken it doesnae. I’ll explain what I can, lass. I give ye me word on that.”

“But nae all of it.”

“Nae all of it. Nae yet, at any rate.” His grip tightened on her waist, just slightly, his gaze flicking past her shoulder toward the crowd gathered near the hearth and narrowing on one face she hadn’t noticed before. “There’s someone here tonight who kens more than he rightly ought to about what happened to Lily. I mean to see the look on his face the moment Angus walks through the door as a guest rather than the enemy he expects.”

"How could ye possibly ken that?"

"Stephen marked him asking too many questions while I was away. Which servants tended Lily, what the healer had said, whether Angus had been the one behind it. An innocent man grieves and worries. He doesnae interrogate half the household for details he's got no business wanting." His jaw tightened. "I mean to see the look on his face the moment Angus enters this room."

Skye wished he had given her prior notice. She wished he had told her about his plan, but he would speak on it no further.

The Great Hall had gone quiet, the pipers lowering their instruments mid-note when Dougal raised his hand.