Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

" R un!" Elara's voice erupted from her.

Kaden wrapped an arm around her waist as fast as he possibly could, pinning her tight to him.

"Nay, nay!" she kept on shouting, kicking out, doing her best to escape.

Kaden reached out with his other hand but was too slow to stop the sister. Lydia burst out of the door and sprinted across the courtyard. The guard that was in the courtyard was busy trying to help a maid carry a load of laundry to notice. He wasn't expecting to have to guard the castle from the inside.

"Ye fool," Kaden barked at the guard. "Get after her."

The guard hurried to bow his head to the maid, then turned and ran after Lydia, though even at this distance, Kaden could see he was falling behind. Lydia tossed another laundry basket from one of the maids into the air. It collided with the guard, knocking him to the cobbled ground of the courtyard, allowing her just enough time to burst out of the gate which led down to the river.

"Let me go," Elara squealed.

"Nay chance." Kaden turned her in his grasp. "God, fer one so small, ye have power, dinnae ye?" He had to adjust his stance as she made a firm kick with her knee and tried to strike him between the legs. "Now, is that anyway tae treat a man, Elara?"

"Tae treat ye? Aye, it is." She shifted in his grasp, ending up with her back to his front as he pinned both of her arms to her sides. "Let me go!"

"Why? Clearly, ye cannae be trusted." He lifted her in the air, listening as she screamed again.

For a wild second, Kaden thought about releasing Elara and letting her run after her sister, then he remembered all the information she had that he needed. If she had seen anything of the assassination attempts on her brother, then she could hold the clues to his parents' murder.

I cannae let her go. Nae yet.

"This is kidnapping," she said loudly as she kicked high in the air and he carried her down the corridor, back to a main stairwell.

"Is it? Strange ye should call it that," he said gruffly as he carried her, straining to stop her kicking out at every wall they passed. "For ye went a long way last night tae break intae this castle. Have ye nae just got what ye want now?"

"Release me."

"Nay." Yet Kaden was forced to stop at the bottom of one of the stairwells leading out of the servants' quarters when he found three guards running toward him. At the front of the group was Marcus. "What's happened?" Kaden asked, putting Elara's feet on the step before him, but still keeping her pinned toward him. "Stop wriggling, lass."

"Ye may be used tae women following yer orders, but I am nae one of them," she seethed, though she stopped fighting momentarily, clearly tired as she panted to catch her breath.

"Me laird," Marcus said, cutting into their discussion. "It's Elspeth. They knocked her out."

Kaden flinched. He could feel Elara had done much the same in his grasp.

"What did ye dae tae her?" He abruptly turned her around, his hands on either side of her waist. He determinedly didn't think of the petiteness of that waist against the soft curve of her hips. "She is an innocent. Whatever fight ye have tae pick with me, Elspeth is a maid in this castle. She doesnae deserve any pain."

Elara didn't answer for a few seconds. Her lips had fallen open, the astonishment plain.

"She isnae hurt," she said eventually as he continued to glower at her. "She will come round soon enough. I had tae dae it, fer Lydia's sake."

"Lydia?" Marcus repeated. "Where is she?"

"Gone." Kaden jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "She escaped toward the river. Go after her."

Marcus nodded and beckoned the guards to follow him as they ran down the passage.

"Ye hurt me maid?" Kaden seethed, rounding on Elara again, releasing her. She backed up, though she had to move up the stairs to get away from him, as he blocked her path the other way.

"She isnae hurt," Elara said again, her cheeks blushing fierce crimson. "I had tae dae it. I dinnae ken who I can trust in this castle. I brought me sister intae this place, and I will nae see her hurt. I was prepared tae dae anything tae see her safe, far away from here."

Somewhere deep in the back of his mind, he registered that this showed how loyal Elara was to her sister, but he could not think straight enough to recognize this feeling. Chiefly, he felt rage, pure fury at the thought that his maid could be hurt by this woman.

"Clearly, ye cannae be trusted." He bent down and pushed his shoulder into Elara's hip once again.

"Nae this again!" she cried over his shoulder, pounding her fists into his back. "Put me down, ye brute."

"Nay chance of that. Ye cannae be trusted running around me castle. So, until we have sorted this whole mess out, I will nae risk the lives of any of me maids in attendance tae ye. From now on, I will keep an eye on ye, day and night."

"Wait, what?" Her hands froze on his back as he continued to march up the stairs. He dimly registered her fists bundled tightly in his waistcoat. That grip was a little too alluring, even when he was this incensed. "Ye're going tae keep me with ye…. day and night?"

"Ye didnae seem tae mind last night," he pointed out as they reached the top of the stairs and marched her down a corridor, still carrying her.

"That was all an act," she reminded him, going back to pulling sharply on the back of his waistcoat.

"Aye, was it now?" he said huskily. "Fer I could have sworn ye kissed me back." He wasn't sure what had made the words escape his lips, but the moment they were out, he regretted them. For one thing, they seemed to make her even angrier than before. She started pounding against his back. "Dear God, lass, ye'll be the death of me."

"Me? Ye are the murderer."

"I am nae a murderer." Kaden halted in the middle of the corridor. It was an odd scene, him standing perfectly still as she continued to rant and rage over his shoulder. "Well, this is dignified."

"Ye monster," she muttered.

"Aye, aye, I ken what ye think of me by now." Kaden kept his arm firmly fixed around the back of her knees so she couldn't kick into his stomach. "Let's try this another way. I wanted tae keep ye and yer sister here so we could help one another in discovering what happened tae our parents. Plainly, that cannae start if ye still dinnae trust me. So, what will it take tae persuade ye tae believe in me innocence?"

She stopped pounding against his back.

"At last," he muttered. "I'll have enough bruises as it is."

"Let me search yer study," she said quietly. "Let me dae that, and I'll believe ye, though we both ken ye willnae let me dae it. Ye have things tae hide. Ye wouldnae let a stranger searched yer study – wait, where are we going now?"

"Ye'll see." He had turned on the spot and started walking in the other direction. They even passed one of the guards in the corridor, who merely smirked and chuckled at what was happening. "So dignified," Kaden muttered again as Elara pulled on his waistcoat.

"Why would a murderer bother about being dignified?" Her cutting words he chose not to respond to.

When he reached his study, he kicked the door wide open. In the middle of the room, he bent down and gently put her back on her feet. Elara pushed away from him at once, though with his great strength, she just succeeded in nearly knocking herself over, rather than him.

He drove a chair against the door of the study and sat down, resting his feet, crossed at the ankles, on a stool nearby, then he gestured to the chamber.

"There. Ye have yer wish."

Breathing heavily, her blonde hair mostly fallen out of its plait, she looked around in alarm, clearly realizing exactly where they were.

"Wait… ye are allowing me tae search this room?"

"Aye, I am." He levelled his glare at her, all too aware of the way she was looking at him. It wasn't the same fierceness now, more of a burning curiosity.

Ye can look at me like that all day long, Elara.

"Yer clan and mine have been at peace fer years. I have nay wish tae jeopardize that." He slowly shook his head. "So, if this is what it takes fer ye tae believe me, then this is what it will be." He gestured to the room. "Search as ye like." He folded his arms and slumped down in the chair, watching her.

She didn't hesitate. With great purpose, Elara searched the room. She started with his desk, going through the papers there, then she reached for a stack of shelves on a wall nearby, bearing innumerable scrolls and bound volumes. She sifted through them all, clearly searching for something in particular.

"Dinnae forget that shelf up there." He pointed to the one at the very top. She glowered at him, before moving to climb up the shelves to reach it. "Ye want some help?"

"I dinnae need yer hands on me again, thank ye."

"I was just going tae offer tae reach the shelf fer ye, but if it's me hands ye've been thinking of…" He trailed off, watching as she glared at him yet again. He didn't miss the heated blush.

She feels it.

It struck him as suddenly as that blush had appeared. She could say that her performance the night before had all been an act, but she had kissed him back, and now she blushed when he flirted with her.

She's attracted. As I am.

He tried to clamp down on the feeling, not sure much good could come from it.

Once she had all the papers together, spread in a complete mess across his desk, she read them avidly. Kaden wasn't sure how long they were there in the end, but he sent for drinks, unblocking the door for long enough to take the tray from a maid who came to deliver them.

"How's Elspeth?" Kaden asked the maid.

"She's come round," the maid said with a smile. "She says she feels completely fine."

"Good." Kaden closed the door again, still unsure exactly how Elara had managed to knock the maid out. He placed a flagon down in front of Elara. When she still didn't drink but read his papers he pushed it toward her. "This one isnae drugged."

"How can I be so certain?"

Pointedly, he reached for the flagon and tipped it toward his lips, taking a large gulp.

"There." He placed the flagon back down in front of her. "I already ken ye dinnae mind where me lips have been."

She snatched the flagon away, her cheeks burning scarlet once more.

As Kaden returned to his seat, sipping his own drink, his mind went on a merry wander. He pictured seeing Elara blushing in other ways, those crimson cheeks stark against her blonde hair. There was one very intense way he was sure would make her blush, that he hoped would make her pant his name, moan in pleasure. He imagined raising her skirts, teasing the tops of her legs, then bending down toward her, offering a kiss in the most private part of her –

"There's naething here." She spoke suddenly, dropping many of the scrolls to the desk. "Naething."

"What were ye looking fer?" he asked.

She slowly sat down in his chair behind the desk. She looked quite overawed, planting her hands in her hair.

"I thought there would be a payment tae a mercenary. Some proof that ye hired someone. Maybe a letter of communication about the deed." She waved a hand at where all his letters were bound. "But every payment in yer account books is labeled. There is nay one unaccounted fer."

"That is because I am nae murderer, Elara," Kaden said heatedly, putting down his flagon. "Having ye arrive in me life tae tell me that me parents were murdered…" He hesitated, that sudden lump back in his throat. He looked away from Elara, clearing his throat, trying to cover up the pain. "It changes everything."

"Ye really didnae ken?"

"Nay."

"Then… ye are innocent?"

"That's what I've been trying tae tell ye," he spat at her. "Or did the fact ye have been completely safe in me company all night count fer nothing?"

She shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"Ye did drug me," she reminded him, irritably.

"Tae calm ye down. I also never laid a finger on ye." He raised his finger, illustratively.

"Ye carried me tae yer bed." She jerked her chin a little higher. "That was more than a finger. They were yer hands."

"Well, we've already established ye quite like me hands."

"Ah, ye are unbearable." She stood, rounding the desk. He said nothing more, watching her, for she was very ill at ease now, pacing up and down. "Ye mean, I have spent the last two years convinced that ye killed me parents, and ye did nae? Another is responsible?" She looked blankly at him, her eyes wide.

Slowly, he nodded.

"I'm a fool," she whispered. She stepped back, colliding with his desk, her hands over her mouth.

"This is the moment where ye should apologize fer thinking me a murderer. Maybe apologize too fer attacking me last night."

"Ye liked that kiss, and ye ken it," she said, hurriedly dropping her hands from her lips.

"That wasnae the attack I meant." He rubbed the back of his head, reminding her about where he had struck her across the back of the head. "Look, ye struck me, and I drugged ye, how about we call it even and start again? That's if ye dae actually manage tae apologize fer thinking me a murderer."

"Why are ye making this apology so difficult?" She heaved a sigh.

"It probably has something tae do with a mad woman running wild about me castle, knocking me and me maids out."

"I am nae mad." She stepped forward. "I just… I was so sure ye were guilty. That there was something here." She waved her hand at the papers. "Yet there is nothing."

"Let me speak plainly, Elara." He downed what was left in his flagon and stood from his seat. He towered over her in the room. "Me parents were two of the most important people in me life. I was devoted tae me faither, fer there was never a greater man born on this earth, and me stepmaither… ye would have found it harder tae find a kinder soul. I love them both, I miss them, and every day, I wish it was me who had burned tae death in that fire, and nae them."

Elara shifted her weight between her feet uncomfortably and lowered her hands from her hips.

"I didnae realize she was yer stepmaither. Ye still loved her?"

"Aye. She was me second mother. Devoted." He smiled sadly, though it didn't last. He was thinking of what an awful son and stepson he'd been, burying his parents, believing they had died in a dreadful accident. "I havenae avenged them. I made nay attempt tae find justice. I didnae ken there was a justice tae fight fer."

"Ye…" She cleared her throat, suddenly looking very awkward indeed. "Ye feel very deeply."

"Did ye expect to find a man made of stone when ye came here?" he scoffed, shaking his head.

"Maybe I did."

"Well, I was hardly expecting ye tae be the fireball ye are when ye approached me at the inn last night."

"Ye liked that about me," she said, suddenly smiling. "We both ken that."

Kaden just raised an eyebrow. She had a habit of flirting perfectly with him. Even now, he was thinking of kissing her again, even when he knew how inappropriate and wrong it would be.

"Here is me suggestion." Kaden stepped toward her, keeping all thoughts of kissing fiery Elara at bay. "Ye and I work together tae find our parents' killer. Ye stop attacking me and me maids, and I will lend ye nae only all me power in discovering the truth, but the use of me soldiers and guards too as we hunt fer vengeance. Dae we have an accord?" He held out his hand toward her, offering to shake.

"Ye wish tae shake me hand?" she said slowly in surprise.

"It was nae the first suggestion that came tae mind, but it's the one I'm going with."

"Nay more talk of anything like that or of what happened last night." She shook her head.

"Ye have brought it up as much as I."

"Then it is the last I will bring it up," she insisted, stepping toward him. "I pray ye are being honest with me, fer help in discovering our parents' killer isnae something I can possibly refuse." She reached out and took his hand.

Her fingers were slim and slender compared to his own, her palm petite. As they shook, it struck Kaden that neither one of them were pulling away. They both just shook hands, staring at each other.

"What is it?" she whispered after a few seconds, not retreating from him.

"Just marveling at what peace is like in yer company. It is a rare thing." He was the first to pull back from her, watching as her expression contorted into anger again.

"So, if ye are going tae help me tae find this arsonist, what dae we dae first?" she asked. "Ye were the only possible culprit I had. I had heard of nay other suspicion."

"First… we eat."

"We eat!?" she spluttered.