Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

Leo started at the sound of his given name on Flora's tongue. A sour sensation grew in his stomach, as though he'd sipped on something foul. Agnes also seemed taken aback.

Leo went to speak, to tell Flora to mind her tongue at his table, when someone suddenly slammed a hand down on the table. All the plates rattled, and every head in the hall seemed to swivel to look.

Kristie. His younger sister, round and red-cheeked, beautiful as their ma in her fury. She was a mountain lion protecting her young as she snarled at Flora.

"What do ye ken, Flora Grierson?" She stood up and shook off Fergus's hand. "Nay, Fergus, I've had enough. If ye dinnae think I havenae noticed ye bein' rude to me new sister, then ye have even less sense than I kenned ye to have seven years ago."

"Pardon?" Flora said and put a hand to her chest. Her lip trembled. "I havenae the faintest idea of what ye mean, Kristie."

"Ye do," Kristie said and put both hands on the table, trembling all over. "And ye clearly forgot what I told ye after ye hurt Leo, so…"

Fergus stood up and laid a hand on his wife's back, and Leo frowned. What did she mean?

"Nay. I told ye—I warned ye."

To Leo's shock, Kristie suddenly had Fergus's dirk in hand, and the blade glinted as she leveled it at Flora. There were shouts of surprise as Kristie cursed her in Gaelic and then slammed the dirk into the table.

"Ne'er call him Leo again," she said in clear, ringing English, "or else I will cut out yer tongue."

With that, Kristie turned and swept away from the table. But not before Leo saw the tears on her face, the hectic color in her cheeks. He felt his heart quaking. Part of him roared with joy and satisfaction at Kristie defending him so, his little lioness of a younger sister. But part of him felt dismayed.

If Kristie had been a man, she would have had to duel with Grierson…

"Ach, pregnancy," Fergus tried to joke as he grunted and pulled his dirk from the table. "‘Fraid Kristie's been in a bit of a temper." He stumbled back a bit as he finally pulled the dirk free and twirled around. "I'd be a bit more careful, Lady Flora."

With that, Fergus left, and Leo glanced at Grierson, who seemed stunned. Beyond him, his uncles and aunts seemed dazed, while Granny Ro fought a smile and winked at him.

"Of course, she'd be protective," Flora said into the silence. "I ken, I ken." But her voice shook, and there was a bright color on her face. "I dinnae blame her for?—"

"Flora," Grierson said, his voice filled with warning.

"Nay, Daddy, I must…" Flora turned tear-filled eyes and a trembling smile to Leo. Leo raised an eyebrow. "Ever since Leo and I broke off our betrothal, I've had seven years to realize that I'll ne'er find a man like him."

If Flora had pulled a blade and challenged Agnes to a duel, she could not have caused more shock to ripple across the table. Leo felt a dull thud inside of him, then a swell of rage, and then Agnes stirred. Another thud went through him, and panic shot through his chest.

Nay, Agnes, it's nae ? —

"D'ye ken now, Agnes?" Flora asked, all earnestness, but her lips curled into a malicious smile. "And to think—och, is that a kitten?" She trilled with laughter again. "How adorable, but a lady really shouldnae have pets at her table, do ye nae think?"

"I do," Agnes interrupted and stood up, Dusty cradled against her chest. "In fact, I must attend to him."

"Och, I dinnae want ye to leave," Flora fretted, and Leo felt like he was watching a sinking ship from the shore. "I didnae mean a thing by it. Och, tell me ye dinnae feel bad."

"Why would I feel bad?" Agnes asked, straight-backed and impassive, though her eyes flashed with green fire. "What do I care for his past? I am his wife now ."

The bite in his wife's voice caused a smile to spread across his face, but then Agnes hurried off, and he could see the tension in her shoulders. Damn it all, but he should have protected her better. He should have anticipated that Flora would be nothing but mischievous and malicious.

Pride and bitterness filled Leo as he looked at Flora, letting contempt fill his gaze. She met it with a smile at first, but then she faltered, and her face turned pinker. For a long moment, he looked at her and realized that any affection he might have had for her was truly dust.

Often, he'd wondered, and relief filled him. Thank Providence that Flora had been too selfish to wed him long ago—and that he'd ended their betrothal. He'd almost gone to Grierson and asked the man to force his daughter's hand, thinking that he and Flora could live separate lives after she had a child.

But deep down, he'd balked at such a thing. Whether it was his soul or just common sense, Leo had never been able to go through with it. Sometimes, he'd doubted that wisdom, wondering if he'd be foolish not to put his people first…

Now he knew.

"That wee English lady, me Sassenach, is the only woman I've ever met who is worthy of being Lady MacLarsen," he told her. Flora's blue eyes went cold with rage, and he huffed out a laugh. "Ye may lament that we were ne'er wed, but I cannae say I share the sentiment, Flora."

Her mouth dropped open in outrage. "Ye dinnae mean such a thing, Le—Me Laird."

"Aye, I do," Leo said in clear dismissal. "If ye were a man, I'd cut out yer heart for speakin' to me wife like that." Grierson started in outrage, while Flora went white. "Since ye are a woman, or at least a viper in a woman's skin—" At that, barks of laughter rippled through the room, and Flora shook all over with rage. "I shall let ye live. But I want ye off MacLarsen lands by the time the sun reaches its peak."

"Ye cannae—" Flora spluttered.

"I can," Leo said and let some of the Beast of Briorn emerge, his lip curling. "I am Laird of these lands, and ye have long outstayed yer welcome." He glanced at Grierson, who looked as though he were about to be sick. "Leave if ye value yer sorry skin."

"Me Laird!" Flora cried, tears in her voice.

Leo did not look back as he bit out, "And ne'er return."

Unlike the night before, Leo did not find Agnes easily. More than a quarter-hour passed before he found her outside, down at the shore of the loch. It was tucked at the edge of the small woods, nearly invisible from the castle, and he cast an uneasy look around. While he knew the guards patrolled the loch and the castle grounds with even tighter rotations since the fire, it was not a spot for his wife to be alone.

However, he thought he might keep that thought to himself when Agnes did not look up as he approached. As rigid as the large, wide rock she sat on, she stared out at the water. A restless breeze whipped at her hair, yet she did not seem to notice. She didn't even look down as Dusty mewed and pawed at her knee.

Leo glanced out at the gray water, then glanced south, where the sky had darkened as though night approached from the wrong direction. Ach, but he needed to resolve this quickly and get Nes inside before she caught a cold.

"I had a devil of a time findin' ye, Nes," Leo said, and she flinched. "But at least it gave me plenty of time to think of what I want to say to ye."

He sat on the edge of the rock, facing toward her and the castle, rather than the water. Agnes barely looked at him as she spoke.

"Come to scold me, I'm sure." She lifted her chin. "Well, get on with it."

"Scold ye?" Leo shook his head in bewilderment and almost laughed, but Agnes still had not looked at him. The green of her eyes was flat and shadowed, and he felt a small twinge of fear. "Nay, lass, I couldnae be prouder of ye as the lady of our castle."

She shifted her gaze to him, but no smile brightened her face. Leo's hands clenched on his knees, for he had the sudden feeling that if he reached for Agnes, she would not be there. She had the same look on her face, that distant, hollowed-out dread in the Wells' garden, during their wedding breakfast.

"You will not lock me away from the world."

Dismay shot through Leo, and his tongue felt heavy in his mouth. But Agnes had gone to that dark room in her head, and he wasn't sure how to call her back. But he had to try.

"What is wrong, sweet?"

Agnes drew back as Leo reached for her, and he faltered. She'd never done so, save for that time she thought he might strike her. Always, she'd seemed to race toward him, to throw herself fearlessly into his arms—his world. What the hell had happened?

"Tell me, please," he said, his voice strained. "If this is about Flora—about nae tellin' ye about her…"

He almost laughed and shook his head.

It couldnae be about that, Agnes wouldnae ? —

"Is she not why you made your rules, Leo?" Agnes asked in a voice that made him withdraw. He almost put a hand to his chest to see if she'd drawn blood. "Is this why you wanted to consummate our marriage in the dark?"

"We consummated our marriage in candlelight, Nes," Leo said. "Last night, ye were there. Ye asked me to let them burn, so I did."

"But you did not want to," Agnes said. Her eyes seemed too dark, and the wind rose. Leo felt a hint of foreboding and glanced up at the rustling trees, the way they seemed to echo her misery. "You wanted the dark the whole time, didn't you? Was it so that you could pretend it was her?"

Leo jerked back and almost fell off the stone as he stared at Agnes. Her lips trembled—no, her entire body did. Had she not heard a word he'd said last night? Had she not felt him come undone? He'd barely restrained the beast as he'd taken her—over and over.

"You wanted her all along, I see that now," Agnes said. "You've been longing for her…" Her voice cracked, and her eyes closed. "Did she leave you when MacLarsen Castle was burned down to the ground? You thought I'd be the same—maybe you wanted me to act the same…"

Leo moved closer, but Agnes drew back, and her eyes were filled with tears as she looked at him. She looked at him with such despair, but also a dull kind of knowing. As though she should've known better—and that broke something inside him.

"Ye are wrong, Agnes," Leo said in a low voice. "Flora and I had a hasty betrothal after me parents' deaths and the loss of MacLarsen Castle, aye. But we werenae goin' to marry for affection, but as allies. Grierson offered us protection when we had nay home—nay hope. It was prudence, nae?—"

"Do not lie to me, Leo."

He lost his words, struggled for a moment, and then huffed out a breath before he continued. Each word was as careful as a horse making its way up a rocky incline.

"Aye, Flora was someone I'd once thought of courtin'. But it ne'er came to fruition. Me parents ne'er cared for Grierson, but after the raid…" He made an impatient gesture. "None of that mattered in the end. For after Flora reacted poorly to…" He gestured to his face and looked away. "I ended the troth. She didnae leave me—I knew I could ne'er wed her. She wanted the lad who died that night, if she ever wanted me at all."

"None of that makes any sense," Agnes cried out. "You heard her."

"She is a selfish and cruel woman, Nes," Leo said and looked up, trying to make her hear him. "That is why ye dinnae understand. Yer heart is too good, too noble—it abhors such machinations. I dinnae ken what she is up to, but it is mischief. That's why I was proud that ye held yer own."

"Held my own?" Agnes's chest rose and fell. "I could barely speak. And I ran. Because all I could think about was that you set those rules, Leo, because you were in love with another woman and always would be. And now she sits at our table, preening as though she is meant to be Lady MacLarsen." She struck her breast. "Not me. Never me."

"Agnes, nay," Leo said, making to reach for her and then stopping. "Lass, I dinnae ken why ye believe all these falsehoods. But please, hear me out. And I would ne'er break me vows—I told as much to Tasgall and the other elders."

"But not to me."

"I…" Leo was at a loss for words.

"And they're not falsehoods , Leo." Her head dropped, and her tears fell as she stared at her scarred hands. "I could not learn how to be a nun. How can I ever hope to learn how to be a lady, never mind one married to a laird? Especially a laird in love with someone else?"