Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Blair leaned in and hugged Agatha. "I'm not sure the answers I got on this journey were the ones I wanted, but now I have 'em. It wasn't yer fault."

"Go girl, before he leaves ye behind," she replied with a worried smile.

Blair hurried back across the clearing, up to the horse. Before she could even lift her skirts to climb up, James grabbed her around the waist and lifted her up and onto the horse's back. She plopped down rather abruptly, startled by his own body thrown behind her. He reached around her and grabbed the reins, clicking his tongue. The horse whinnied uncomfortably and began to trot, heading back into the woods.

Looking back as they rode off, Blair watched as Agatha disappeared out of view. She had gotten what she wanted. She had finally found the old wise woman and gotten answers. Even after all of that, though, she couldn't figure out why she felt completely unfulfilled. On top of all of that, the whole meeting ended in a very confusing way. Blair had always known that James had a past, but she didn't think it would have anything to do with the wise woman, or her future. She didn't know to what extent it actually did have to do with her, but she had a strange feeling it was more than James was letting on.

Just as she had dreaded would happen, Blair ended up leaving Agatha's home with more questions than before. Only the questions she had were more to do with James than her father or sisters. With James' body rigid behind her, she knew it wasn't the right time to ask, but she also knew that by the time they returned, it would be too late to ask. Still, she stayed quiet for a while, riding faster than they had when they were looking for Agatha's cottage.

Beams of light cascaded from the canopy above them creating streaming spotlights through the beautiful forest around them. On the way there, Blair had not taken the time to notice the woods around them, focusing her attention on the stream. Her fingers slid through the horse's hair as they rode, snaking around the seemingly perfectly spaced tree trunks. By the time Blair could feel James' body relaxing behind her, it was well past midday.

Blair had been so focused on James behind her, watching the way the dust sparkled in the streams of light, trying so hard to have a few moments of peace before returning, she hadn't even realized they had left the snaking stream far behind them. "Wait, where are we going? The stream, it'll lead us back to the camp."

"We're headin' around and over to the road. I figured if they came this way to look fer us, they would be a bit confused that they hadn't run into us."

"Oh," she replied, staring straight ahead.

Blair sat for a few more moments, the words on the very tip of her tongue, trying to build the courage to ask. She closed her eyes for a moment and blurted it out. "James, what was Agatha talking about back there?"

"I told you, my brother lives in the castle," he replied gruffly.

Blair shook her head, twisting her body far enough to see him. He gripped her waist and the horse slowed. James furrowed his brow. "You're going to fall off."

"I know you're not tellin' me the whole story. Why are ye hidin' the truth from me?"

James clenched his teeth and for a moment, Blair thought he was actually going to open up. However, as his eyes cascaded over her face, the thought in his expression turned cold, and his eyes returned to the path ahead. "The road should be comin' up anytime now. We'll have a bit of time once we reach it, but we won't know who's listenin'. I want the story straight before we get there."

The horse came to a stop and James hopped down, reaching up for Blair. Irritated at his change of subject, she rolled her eyes and hopped down on her own. "Why are we stoppin'?"

James flung his cape back and pulled a large knife from his waist. Blair stepped back, her eyes shifting back and forth between the blade and James' straight face. "It's not gonna be very believable if ye come back lookin' pristine. The story is, ye were abducted in the night. I heard it and followed after ye. I tracked ye until I found the camp. I snuck up on two of the thieves thinkin' they could get coin fer yer return. The third one I fought and won, but not before we fought it out…"

James tore the sleeve of his tunic, cut a hole in the front and lightly scratched the blade across his bicep. He winced as small droplets of blood dripped down his skin. When he walked forward toward Blair, she put her hands up and stumbled backward. James grabbed the bottom of her skirt and ripped the ends up toward her calves. He grabbed a handful of dirt and rubbed some over her shirt and cheeks. Reaching up, he ruffled her hair a bit, only making eye contact for a brief moment.

Blair could feel the warmth in her cheeks as he finished and stepped back. James nodded and put the knife back in its sheath. "The cuts on yer face from the branches the first night will make it more believable. Now, tell me about yer captors."

Swallowing hard, Blair nodded. "Um, well two of the men were just a bit older than me, one older, maybe their father. They spoke mostly Gaelic, and I couldn't understand it. They didn't wear any colors or clan insignia. They threw me over the horse and rode as fast as they could. They taunted but didn't touch me, not really."

James nodded. "Good. The men probably won't ask much more than that, but if all else fails and ye don't know what to say, cry. The guardsmen aren't the best when it comes tae women cryin'."

Blair chuckled, looking down at the ground. For the first time since they left, James smiled too, reaching up and moving a piece of hair from her face. She smiled shyly, reaching up and pressing her palm to his hand. She closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of his touch. That warmth spread through her whole body as her heart began beating faster and faster. James took a step closer and cupped her face in his hands, tilting it up toward his. He looked deep into her eyes, the evening light casting a golden glow over them.

They both knew they shouldn't, but neither of them had the will to stop. James leaned down and pressed his lips to Blair's. She gasped as his tongue moved over her lips, pulling her body against him. Her hands smoothed over his sides and around to his back, as he pressed his mouth harder to hers. A breeze blew through the forest, twisting around them, and Blair felt as if her feet were going to float right off of the ground beneath her.

Inside, Blair could think of nothing more in the world that she wanted in that moment. And while she wished it could be forever, she knew it was her last moment in his arms before being escorted toward the man she would be married to. This time, when the thoughts of her impending marriage entered her mind, no guilt followed. Her heart was far too full to allow any negative emotion to enter.

James lingered there on her lips longer than he knew he should, embracing those magical golden moments far from reality. A rustle of the leaves behind them pushed James back from Blair. She covered her lips with her fingers as James turned, his hand on his sword, looking around. A mother deer and her faun walked through the leaves, never having been given any reason to fear either one of them.

"Huh," Blair whispered.

James turned back toward her. "What?"

She shook her head, still caught in the moment. "Such a small baby for this late in the seasons. These woods seem to be full of enchantment."

Her eyes shifted to his and he smiled at her before nodding toward the horse. "Come on. We should get back as soon as possible. We don't want to be travelin' in the dark fer too long. Not unless we want tae get ourselves stolen away fer real."

With a deep breath to ground her, Blair nodded, this time allowing James to help her up on the horse. The road wasn't more than a couple hundred feet from where they stood, and they rode together, until James began to recognize the path. James brought the horse to a stop and hopped down. "I remember that turn in the road. When we make it, we'll see the carriage and they should be right within the wood line. If they were out lookin' they'd have made their way back by now."

A whisper of nerves fluttered through Blair's stomach as they continued up and around the bend, finding the carriage and a faint glow from the fire in the treeline. As soon as Callum stepped out of the treeline, Blair went into acting mode. She realized as they rode up that she had a lot of practice at acting. It was more pushing all emotion to the side, and becoming a shadow of a person, but it was just about the same to her. She was pretending to be someone she wasn't, so much so, that sometimes she wondered who she would have become, had her father not died.

"Where the hell have ye been? We were gettin' close tae sendin' someone back to the keep tae get more help."

Callum rushed over, glancing over James for a moment and then up at Blair. Giving it her best, Blair acted as if she were pained, taking Callum's assistance to get off the horse. James nodded, walking the horse over and tying it with the others. "I've been searchin' fer her."

Callum narrowed his eyes and glanced back and forth between the two of them. "Did she run off?"

"I was taken," Blair said defiantly. "Where would I run off to out here?"

She could tell Callum was unsure but he led them both over to the fire where the other guards were waiting. He gave them both water and some bread, and sat down across from them, staring back and forth. James didn't leave Blair any chance to out herself by accident. He took control and explained the story they had rehearsed.

"When I heard her, I ran over in just enough time to see them rushing off into the woods. I didn't want to lose too much of the trail, so I just ran off after them."

Callum sat stone-faced with the other two guards, listening to the story. Blair would interject a few small details here and there, thinking of things they wouldn't expect someone lying to come up with. It was almost uncomfortable to Blair how well she had learned to lie. She took solace in the fact that it had always been for survival.

When James was done and sat there eating his bread, Blair watched the guards, glancing around at each other. She could tell they weren't completely on board with the story. She was beginning to get more and more nervous by the second. It took everything in her not to squirm and fidget nervously in her seat.

After several tense minutes, Callum finally sighed and shook his head. "Seems we all got lucky on that one, then. None of us were too keen on the idea of goin' back and tellin' the Laird we had lost Lady Blair. It's late, so we should retire, keepin' the lady close this time. In the mornin', you two can get cleaned up, change yer clothes, and we can head on. We should be there by tomorrow afternoon. Right on time, considerin' we had planned to take an extra day just in case."

Blair nodded as the guards got up, heading toward their bed pads. She glanced over at James who was staring directly in the fire. James was trying not to let out a breath of relief, and so was Blair. In reality, the story was believable enough for the guards to accept. They knew what would happen if they went back to her uncle with bad news. While Blair didn't want to reach her new home, not really, she was glad that was over.

She finished up her bread as James laid out her blankets. He nodded to her and disappeared back toward the carriage. The other guards were sitting up, none of them wanting to take the chance of losing her again. She wanted James close to her, but in the sparking night fire, Blair realized that time was now gone, and she was about to move on, into her new life. A life she was going to devote to getting her sisters back.

Her feelings for James, it seemed, would be ever locked away in the deepest part of her heart. She wasn't sure she could ever love her new husband, no matter what kind of man he was, as her heart already belonged to James. She laid down in her bedding and pulled her hood up, all of the emotions from the past few days overflowing. She pressed her lips tight and turned away from the light of the fire, letting the tears rush down her cheeks. From the news of her father to her feelings for James, and to the knowledge that her sisters truly would never be safe as long as they remained at the keep, Blair was overwhelmed.

What she wouldn't give to have James wrap his arms around her and give her the feeling of floating again. Blair clutched her eyes closed tightly, and quietly wiped the tears from her face. It wasn't the time to fall apart. She still had a job to do, and she had to stay strong for her sisters, no matter what she had to sacrifice along the way, even if it was her heart.