Chapter 5

Four years later. Cairndow, Highlands

"Aye, a merry life it shall be!" Callie finished singing and chuckled to herself as she mixed the medicine. Raising the pestle and mortar to her nose, she inhaled the scent of peppermint and rosemary. It filled her nostrils, making her feel calm. "This shall help Lady Scarlett." She placed the medicine back down on her workbench and looked around the room.

The night before, she had dreamt of the past again. She saw the stranger, Avery, and the fight in the inn. Her heart still hurt at the memory. From all the bad things she had done, stealing, seducing awful men . . . the sacrifice Avery had made for her was the one thing plaguing her soul. Her biggest sin. And in the light of the day, it had not been very easy to forget the memory and look to the future instead. She had a habit of ignoring the memories these days, as if they were shadows always hanging at her back.

"It's the only way tae be," she reminded herself. "I must keep smiling and carry on." She looked away from the benches full of herbs and medicinal apparatus, then turned to the pestle, tipping the ground herbs into a vial of water and vinegar and whisking them together—the scents of the herbs infused the air even more intensely.

"A merry life, indeed," she sang, adding a line to the song she had often heard the castle children singing. Somedays, it was not so easy to sing. The past might have felt distant, but how it revisited her so vividly in her dreams reminded her that the past was still alive. "Maybe I am cursed," she whispered, "and danger follows me wherever I go. It would explain the danger here in the castle last year."

Her good friend Lady Scarlett of the Chattan Clan was mistress of this castle. Her husband, Laird Noah Chattan, had faced a battle in his own castle grounds the year before, fighting the man who sought to destroy the tranquility of castle life. It was a battle born of old rifts and anger, yet Callie had felt the curse she was sure hovered at her shoulders might have had something to do with it. She was the one who had seen to the wounded's injuries, for she was the castle healer. She had seen firsthand the injuries and bloodshed that had been caused.

"Nae more," she murmured. "There will be no more danger now. The past is in the past." She spoke aloud, trying to convince herself it was true as she glanced at the good luck symbols she kept around the room. She had pressed horseshoes and a four-leaf clover between the pages of a medicine book to dry out. There were stones with holes in the middle too, which she kept by door, for she had once heard a local woman say they helped to keep bad spirits away by making it difficult for them to enter a room.

I fear it is all nonsense.

Sighing, Callie collected the medicine and poured it into a small glass vial. It would help Lady Scarlett's morning sickness. She then left the room, glad to have one reason to smile these days, at least. Her friend was with child, and tonight Scarlett and Laird Chattan planned to tell his brother, Ian, and their visitor that they were to have a baby.

Their visitor, from the Maclaren clan, was Lady Scarlett's brother. He'd missed the wedding the previous year, so Callie had not seen him. From what she understood of her friend's whispered words, the brother was a man who kept secrets.

Lady Scarlett and her brother had only met for the first time the year before, as she had long been estranged from her twin sister and brother, divided thanks to their mother's fears about talk of witchcraft after she bore twins. Those fears were long in the past now, but Lady Scarlett, who did not know her brother as well as she wished to, had often spoken to Callie of her fears about the secrets he carried.

"May the secrets nae darken his heart, that is all I ask."

Callie dashed through the castle, leaving the tower she called home and crossing the courtyard to the keep. Even though it was dark now, the grounds were still busy. She waved to some of the laundry maids returning from washing linens in the river before entering the keep. Servers were just leaving the great hall, where the dishes for the night"s feast had been laid out.

Callie entered the room, calling to her mistress, knowing she couldn"t put off the delivery of the medicine any longer.

Scarlett has been suffering from her sickness. I pray this will help her.

The table was full of food, with saffron-infused vegetables and golden capons. Mead flowed freely, and Lady Scarlett, who had been raised a tavern girl, poured out the drinks for the men around her. For a lady, she did not put herself on a pedestal and did not trouble the servers to help her with a task she knew she could easily do herself. When Lady Scarlett caught Callie's eye, she turned to her with a smile, her blue eyes widening. Her auburn hair fell back behind her shoulders as she greeted her.

"Lady Scarlett, here ye are." Callie stopped at her side and offered the medicine vial, lowering her voice to a whisper. "This should help ye." She had kept Lady Scarlett company that morning throughout her sickness. No matter how much Callie assured her friend the sickness would pass, it clearly worried her, and Callie was desperate to soothe her worries.

"Ah, thank ye." Scarlett took the vial and placed it beside her mead goblet.

Callie was ready to leave. She had delivered what she needed to, and though, sometimes, Scarlett would ask her to stay and join them for their meal, a kindness which had always flattered her, she knew tonight no such thing could happen. They had guests and Callie would not stay to impose; it was inappropriate.

At the thought, she raised her eyes, looking at the stranger sitting at the table.

The dark hair was familiar. It may have been a little longer now, curling further down his temples, but it was just the same. The strong jawline was memorable, as were the high cheekbones. Those dark blue eyes may have been looking forward as he took a gulp of his mead, but Callie knew him from just his profile.

Nay, nay . . . it is nae possible. I thought he was dead! I saw it with my own eyes.

Callie could have been back four years ago, watching Wallace plunge a knife into Avery"s chest, as the candles on the table flickered as if a breeze passed through the great stone hall. She could have been sitting on that horse on the track, staring in horror as smoke billowed out from the inn.

Nay. He is dead.

Her hand curled around the back of Lady Scarlett's high-backed chair, using it to keep her body standing.

And then, Avery looked toward her. It was a bland look, then he did a double take, his head jerking back to her sharply. They stared at one another openly, ignoring any other conversation going on around them. His lips parted, and he plainly recognized her, as she did him.

I thought ye were dead.

The words nearly escaped her lips. Somehow, Callie managed to keep them in. No one could know of that night and what had passed four years ago. For if others were to learn of it, Callie would surely lose her position in the castle as healer, something she had worked so hard for. And most importantly, they would hate her if they knew she had left the only man who had ever helped her find his death doing so.

I must pretend I dinnae ken ye. Imagine the questions!

She jerked her head away, suddenly realizing that all in the room were staring at her and Avery. Scarlett gawked, Laird Chattan had his hands steepled together, his eyes flicking between the two of them, and even the laird's brother, Ian, was watching them curiously.

"Have ye met before?" Noah asked, his gaze still darting back and forth.

"Nay." Avery's voice was as deep as she remembered it. He answered fast and looked away from her.

Something about his denial cut her deeply. She may have been prepared to keep their acquaintance a secret, but his obvious wish to deny knowing her hurt, nevertheless. Callie felt her cheeks warm so much, the blush must have been clear to all. She stepped back from Lady Scarlett's chair, praying that the further she withdrew from the candlelight, the more difficult it would be to see her red cheeks.

Lady Scarlett's penetrating gaze was so intense that Callie knew she had to explain herself. It was too awkward a silence to let it continue.

"Nay, yer brother just looks like someone I met long ago. My apologies. If ye would excuse me." She made her voice light, dropped into a curtsy, and hurried from the room.

She moved fast, not once glancing back, though she felt the eyes on the back of her neck as if they were burning into her skin.

"Nay, nay, this cannae be happening," she muttered repeatedly to herself. Stumbling to a stop in the great hall, she saw the laundry maids had now stepped into the keep, ready to return their laundry. She couldn't face calm conversation at that moment. How was she supposed to be cheerful and appear unaffected by the reappearance of the man she had feared was dead for so long?

She hurried into the shadows between the candelabras and ran for the back door. One maid saw her and called out to her, but Callie pretended not to hear. She ran through two more doors until she reached the one leading out to the gardens, sprinting out into the moonlight. The wind buffeted her, and a light rain fell, but she didn't stop. The wind was bracing, making her body shiver, but she embraced it.

"He's alive. Thank the wee man above, he is alive after all!"

* * *

"Will ye nae ask who that was?" Ian asked with mischief in his eyes.

Avery shook himself, struggling to make sense of what he had just seen.

She made it to a new life after all!

He last saw her fleeing that inn chamber four years ago. He had been unsure whether she had escaped the highwaymen safely. The dagger thrust into his chest had resulted in significant blood loss, and with the fire spreading, he"d had to climb out the window to find safety, dropping to the earth below. Strangers had found him and taken him to a healer.

He raised his hand and rubbed the spot on his chest where he had the scar from that night. It was a miracle he had survived. That highwayman would have stabbed him through the heart if he hadn"t angled his body just right. Avery had been far too hasty. He"d shifted enough that the dagger slid harmlessly between two ribs and into flesh. Little damage had been done since the blade was so short.

"Avery?" Scarlett said, shaking him out of his reverie.

"Och, aye." He pulled at the collar of his waistcoat, feeling strangely hot in the room. The sister who had once been unknown to him, stared openly at him. He longed for closeness between them. There was a bond, certainly, but he knew if he stayed at the castle long enough, that bond could grow yet. She was looking at him curiously, her blue eyes, which were a little like his own, were wide. "Who is she?" he asked, trying not to sound too interested in the woman who had just left.

"Callie, our healer," Scarlett explained, her eyes hooded now.

"And her treatment for ye? What is that for?" Avery gestured to the vial beside Scarlett's goblet. Despite his question, Avery was finding it hard to concentrate.

He had seen Callie again, and she was much changed. She was no longer a girl, but a woman. Her body had filled out, and though she was slim, she had curves too. Her gray eyes were as bright as he remembered them, though there was something different to them now, something intoxicating that had him pushing away his goblet of mead.

I need nae more of that.

"Well, I shall tell ye then, but ye two must keep this a secret for us. We dinnae wish for the clan tae ken yet," Noah warned Avery and Ian, looking between them. Avery shifted his focus to Laird Chattan, trying to focus. He'd been thanked again that afternoon by Noah for saving his life the year before. Avery had shrugged off his gratitude, knowing any other good man would have done the same thing.

"I can guess what it is," Ian said, lifting his own goblet. "Let me say this, will the sound of tiny running feet be sounding through the castle corridors soon enough?" When his brother glared, he clapped, rather victoriously. "I kenned it!"

"Ye are with child!?" Avery suddenly understood and leaned forward towards his sister.

"Shh! What do ye nae understand about nae wishing the whole castle tae ken?" Scarlett waved a hand at him, trying to make him quiet.

"Aye, I'm sorry, but congratulations tae ye both! I'm delighted." Avery laid a soft hand on her shoulder, thrilled for her. She smiled in such a way, he knew she was truly happy.

"Thank ye. As are we," Noah said, sharing a smile with his wife.

"So, we may have an heir tae the clan soon enough." Ian lifted his cup, preparing to make a toast. "Now that is something we should toast. Tae the future of the clan and yer child, may they be as happy as ye two are now."

Avery raised his cup in the toast along with the others, but he was distracted. As he uttered congratulations and sipped from his cup again, he stared over the rim of the goblet toward the door through which Callie had left.

I need tae see her; I must speak tae her.

They all lowered their cups and conversation began again.

"I wanted tae tell ye," Ian said to his brother, leaning toward him, "I have friends traveling in the region tomorrow. I was hoping tae invite them tae the castle."

"Aye, of course." Noah nodded. As the two fell into conversation, Scarlett leaned toward Avery, whispering to him. Her quiet words caught his attention, persuading him to pull his gaze away from the door at last.

"Are ye well, Brother?" she asked softly. "I'd say ye were quite disturbed my healer's presence just now."

"It is nothing," he assured her. "I was simply worried for yer welfare." He lied, and Scarlett appeared to accept it as they returned to their food. Despite his words, he couldn't let it go, and he repeatedly looked at the door throughout their feast.

I have tae speak tae her. Tonight.