Chapter 8

8

M aeve smiled when Erin murmured to her, "It is bigger than I remember." Erin's cheeks colored rose as she looked around the walls of their castle. Maeve saw her chest heave as she drew in a deep breath, and her eyes gleamed before she muffled a chuckle.

"Stop it," Ayda cautioned Erin and jabbed an elbow in her side before hushing her again. Ayda had let down her hair during the rest of the ride down here, and the wind had tousled all her strands over her face.

As force of habit, Maeve moved around all her sisters to make sure they were prim and presentable. Her insides hummed with the rush of her own excitement and also some other sensation she could not recognize because Laird Devlin kept staring at her.

"Maither," Flynn greeted first as she approached from the drawbridge to meet them outside.

Maeve gasped as she saw her mother. Blair Gibson looked the same to Maeve even though it had been six years.

"Oh Maeve," Blair sobbed. "Ayda…Erin…" She engulfed all three of them in her arms and squashed them to her chest as she sobbed loudly.

"Mama," Maeve whimpered, letting her own tears flow too as her heart lightened for the first time in years. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, wanting to savor the warmth of her mother's arms for as long as she could.

Everything will be all right now, she chanted in her head, knowing that she did not need to worry or fear anything else. When she opened her eyes again, she caught Archer's eyes on her. He regarded her closely, a frown marring those ragged but yet handsome features of his.

Before he looked away from her, Maeve felt his gaze move to her lips briefly, and it reminded her of the sweet moment they shared in the wild before her brother almost killed him.

A shudder wracked her, leaving a wake of undiluted warmth in its wake.

I cannot want a Highlander. That was one of the rules. But breaking them seemed possible for the first time ever. Being in her mother's arms, hugging her…all of that made it possible for her to relax and remind herself that Lord Hampton and his son no longer ruled over her life.

Thanks to him. Maeve let her gaze sweep over the man again, and her mother finally pulled back from their embrace. Ayda's hand brushed over Maeve's back just then, and she winced sharply, reminded that it was not over yet.

Lord Hampton's punishment for breaking the rules still lived with her.

"Are ye all right?" her mother questioned and began running her hands down Maeve's sides. "Goodness, bairn…it has been six years and ye are all grown and…"

Flynn stepped closer to them as Blair engulfed her daughters in another tight hug.

"Maither," Flynn called, and she moved away to hug him too.

"Thank ye for bringin' yer sisters home, Flynn…Thank ye," she chanted and hugged him tight.

"I had help, maither," Flynn stated after a long moment passed, and he drew out of his mother's embrace. "Laird Devlin, over here, helped me bring them home."

Maeve did not miss her mother's flinch at the mention of Laird Devlin. Her steely gaze shot from Flynn right to Archer, and the tense moment spanned out even though Blair said nothing.

"We shall begin the weddin' preparations at once because Laird Devlin needs to return to his clan. We only have two days. Laird Devlin, please come with me; we have much to plan."

Archer bowed his head to Maeve's mother, even though she still glared at him, then he walked towards the castle's entrance first.

"Flynn, I amnae pleased with this decision. Ye ken the man's reputation. How can ye put yer sister at risk?"

"I did what I had to do, maither," Flynn answered softly. "I am sure ye will understand that with time."

Flynn squeezed his mother's shoulder before he turned to Ayda and Erin, who were bubbling with excitement, waiting for the moment they could rush into their home.

"Show us the castle," Ayda said with hooting laughter as she grabbed Flynn's hand. "Is there a pianoforte? What about the moats…oh…and archery too?"

Flynn's laugh filled the air as he walked away with her sisters, and Maeve turned to her mother again, allowing her excitement to replace everything else.

"Mama…"

"Come with me, bairn," Blair said and took Maeve's hands in hers. "I have missed ye so much."

Maeve released a deep breath when she finally arrived at her bed chamber. She drew in a deep breath, lowered herself to the bedding, and smoothed her hand over it slowly, reminiscing over the years when this was her bed.

"I missed it here," Maeve told her mother who sat beside her again and took her hands. "It has been such a long time, but not much has changed here."

Maeve noticed her mother's wrinkle lines before she smiled and looked down at their joined hands.

"I ken yer brither said he did what needed to be done, but Maeve…ye still have a choice. Is this what ye want? To wed that man?"

Her eyes searched her mother's own for a while as she let her mind drift down to his caring touch when he helped take off her corset and his heated promise to protect her.

Even now, Maeve shivered just from the memory of being that close to someone and not trembling with nausea and fear.

"He saved us, maither." She found herself defending him to her mother. "Without Laird Devlin's help, Flynn would have failed yet again to bring us home."

Maeve lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "I will not dishonor Flynn's agreement. I want to see this through."

It took some time before her mother heaved out a deep breath.

"Then ye should have this," she said before reaching into the sporran that she always tied around her waist. Maeve's eyes widened as she stared at the dirk her mother handed to her. "For yer own protection, dear. Ye have been away a long time, so ye might nae ken this, but…Laird Devlin has madness in him."

"I do not understand," Maeve stammered as she touched the sheathed blade handed to her. A frown kissed her forehead, and she swallowed hard.

"His faither killed so many people in the mad war years ago. He hadnae reason…he simply liked to kill and ruin everythin' that stood against him. Many of the Highland clans dinnae associate with them anymore. Some say his son—that man that saved ye—is just like his faither. He fought the wars with his father at a young age, Maeve. He is dangerous. He isnae savoir or saint."

Maeve's mother closed Maeve's fingers around the dirk as her chilly words echoed between them.

"Ye are home now, and I shall visit ye every single chance I get, Maeve…I love ye."

"I love ye too, mama," Maeve whispered through a tight throat as she hugged her mother one more time and closed her eyes tight.

How could a man who had showed such gentleness and stirred such trust in her heart be the same dangerous laird her mother spoke off?

Maeve's mind conjured an image of Archer again—his deep green eyes and light touch. Her breath hitched in her throat as a renewed surge of desire swept through her, teasing her insides and senses till she felt a flush heat her up.

There's no way, she concluded, hoping that she was right because her fate now rested on the kind of man he was.