Chapter 12

12

M aeve spent yet another night curled up alone on her bed, the dirk her mother gave her pressed close to her chest.

She did not think Archer would come tonight either. Since she arrived at Devlin, she had not seen him until earlier that day in front of the healing chamber. She had gone in there to find Quinn for some tonic to help her sleep, not to treat her wounds, and seeing Archer had completely flustered her.

Maeve recalled how her heart raced the second he placed a hand beneath her chin and raised it up, so she could meet his gaze. Her pulse raced again just from thinking about it. She felt her entire body flush with heat, and a hand moved to her cheek.

A soft knock on her chamber door made her sit upright quickly. Maeve hid the dirk under her pillows, smoothed down her hair with both hands, then sucked in a deep breath.

"Me Lady?" Quinn called from the doorway before she entered Maeve's chamber fully.

Maeve smiled immediately and cleared her throat to get rid of the flush she felt.

"I brought ye a tonic to help ye sleep," Quinn explained as she walked to Maeve's bed and handed her the small vial. "It is very potent, so ye only need to take a little."

"Thank you, Quinn," Maeve said with a smile. She stared at the vial for a long time, feeling her chest rise with the full weight of her breathing again.

The past few days, all she could think and worry about was why Archer would not come to her. She went to supper each day hoping he would show up, but he did not, then she came to her chamber every night and hugged her dirk close, thinking he would come to her at night.

"Is there anythin' else ye need that will make ye feel comfortable? Perhaps ye need me to stay with ye until ye fall asleep?"

Quinn's suggestion made her smile again. Maeve was used to sitting by her sister's bedside to watch them sleep every night while they were in England. Every night, she would make sure they well fast asleep before she went to her own chamber.

Lord Hampton's son always preferred to send for her at night and have her attend to his every whim when he could have a servant handle those things for him. Maeve had not cared about any of that. She only cared that her sisters were protected from all of it.

"Actually," Maeve whispered, "I would like ye to do somethin' else for me…But I need ye to promise nae to tell anyone."

"Anythin', Me Lady," Quinn answered breathlessly, and Maeve gathered the courage to show her back to Quinn.

Once she let the night dress she wore slither down her body, she turned to Quinn and showed her scars.

"Do ye have any ointment I can use for this? It hurts too much."

"Goodness," Quinn gasped, and drew in a sharp breath. "Me Lady…who did this to ye? Does the Laird ken? Heavens, this is …"

"Quinn," Maeve called for her again then covered her back with her dress, "I need you to not tell anyone about this, please. No one should know the extent of my wounds."

Maeve swallowed hard as she said the words. Archer had noticed her pain while they journeyed to Scotland, but he did not know the full extent of the wounds that covered her back in whip lines.

She did not think he would have let her keep it to herself if he knew that those whip lines were also on her thighs, and she had some healed scars under her feet.

"All right…I willnae tell anyone," Quinn agreed after some time, and Maeve saw her eyes tear up before she sucked in a deep breath and rose to her feet. "I have a salve ye can apply. I will bring it."

It took some minutes for Quinn to return to Maeve's chamber, and once she had applied the salve to her back and thighs, Maeve relaxed on her bed and closed her eyes.

"Goodnight, Me Lady. I shall be in my chamber if ye need anythin' else."

Maeve lay still on her bed for a long time after Quinn left her chamber, and she tried to shut her mind down, so she could sleep. She held the vial tight in one hand and her dirk in the other.

A part of her wished Archer would come to her chamber tonight, and she did not want to be fast asleep when he did, so she did not drink from the vial.

Maeve held her breath for a long time as she lay there, her insides tensed till she couldn't think of anything else but Archer.

What is happening to me? She kept thinking of the little moments she had stood close to him in that bush during their journey and the feel of his hands on her skin each time he stroked her cheek or lifted her chin up.

Why will he not come? Or speak to me? She could not understand it…or understand him. He saved her from Lord Hampton, then acted like he cared for her, then he promised to protect her once she joined his clan, and now, he would not even speak to her.

Heat drowned her as she closed her eyes again, and right then she could not stand any more of it, so she jerked up from her bed, put a coat on over her night dress, and hurried out of her chamber.

Maeve rushed to Archer's study because she knew he would be in there. After one soft knock, she pushed the door open, peeped in, and spotted him behind his desk, his attention buried in the scroll he read.

"Maeve?" He got up from where he sat as she marched in, and he walked around his table to meet her half-way. "Are ye all right? Did somethin' happen?"

"You stay away from me," Maeve began, her body trembling lightly. She wrapped her arms around herself and tried to suppress the quakes edging through her. Maeve did not back down as she stared at him.

"What do ye mean?"

"You married me and took me from my home even though I have not been there for six years…You brought me here, and now, you will not even do me the courtesy of sharing supper with me or speaking to me."

As Maeve's outburst began, she realized she could not hold back her words. "Why did you marry me and bring me here if this is how it would be? If our marriage would be you here and me over in my chamber doing whatever pleases me?"

"Maeve…"

"If you do not like me…If I displease you in anyway, then you must tell me. You must tell me because I do not want to live the rest of my life scared of what I might have done to…"

"Stop it," he thundered, cutting her short before she could say anything else. Maeve noticed his eyes then, saw that they held an intensity she had never noticed before.

He raked his fingers through his hair before he began pacing around. "Ye dinnae ken what ye speak off," Archer said as he turned his back to her.

"I do know that you seem to not want to be around me."

"That isnae true…"

"Then why will you not eat with me? Why will you not look at me?" Maeve took a bold step towards him as she shook his head. "Did I do something wrong? Perhaps I …Did I disobey you in anyway and …"

"This isnae about ye!" he thundered, and the reverberating boom of his words shocked her to the core.

Maeve gasped and staggered back from him as his nostrils flared, and his breath fell out of his lips harshly. The shivers in her right then had nothing to do with fear though.

Her heart pounded as she realized she was frozen to one spot.

"This isnae about ye…" Archer repeated as he drew closer to her. "I dinnae want to stay away from ye, Maeve…I want to ken ye and speak with ye, and …. I cannae do any of that because I am tryin' to protect ye."

Now, his words did not make any sense to her.

"Archer," she began, taking a step towards him instinctively as she reached out to touch his chin.

"Heavens," he whispered again before groaning and snaking his arms around her waist to pull her to him. Maeve gasped from the sudden contact of their bodies, and her parted lips gave him the chance to slide his tongue into her mouth and kiss her.