“’Tis habit,” he explained, sharing how they had spent ample time together during the war. He also revealed that Edmund wasn’t his half-brother but might as well be.
“Then I’m glad Ada and her children have you two helping to free them.” Realizing her gaze lingered on his face, she averted her eyes again.
“Ye dinnae need to do that with me, lass,” he said gently. “Ye dinnae need to look away.”
When she didn’t reply, not sure how she should respond, he made things surprisingly clear.
“Though yer dowry is important to helping my clan, please ken that after we marry, if ye wish to go yer own way, I willnae stop ye.” He shook his head. “I dinnae want to deny ye love if ’tis what ye seek. I can, however, offer ye friendship, respect, honesty, and protection.”
“I do not seek love,” she replied, shocked he made such an offer. “I do believe in friendship, though, and would…like that…with you.”
She hadn’t meant her response to sound so stunted, but in all honesty, she wasn’t sure such was possible. Could men and women be friends? Had her mother and father been such? She supposed so.
“Good.” When he smiled, her heart skipped a beat. “Then, I look forward to getting to know ye better, Greer.”
She met his smile. “And I, you.”
“Ye ken what that means, aye?”
Her heart sank. What did it mean? What was he going to say? Was this some sort of pre-cursor to lust?
“Just hear the man out before jumping to conclusions,” Margery would say. “As it were, I think if he expected something more personal from you, he would be sitting a whole lot closer.”
“No, what does it mean?” she asked him, bowing her head.
“First, stop doing that as well.” When he tilted her chin up, she pulled back instinctively.
“My apologies.” His tone was as gentle as his touch. “I only meant for ye to look me in the eye as yer equal rather than at the ground as if ye’re my lesser.”
“I…” She searched for the words but simply couldn’t find them. So she fell back on what usually worked. “I’m sorry.”
“Ye’ve nothing to be sorry for.” Though she got the sense he wanted to sigh, he didn’t. “What I meant to say from the start and should have been clear about is that yer days of apologizing for nothing are behind ye. As are yer days of not saying what ye want to say when ye want to say it.”
She looked at him, unsure. “Truly?”
“Truly.” He smiled. “How else will I get to know ye? The real ye?”
Honestly, she wasn’t sure who the real her was anymore. The her before what had happened years ago. The her before her uncle, then her previous husband, and now Bartholomew. She recalled a time when she was more like her mother, but it almost felt like a different life.
“’Twill take time,” she murmured.
“Will it, though?” Margery would have said. “With a man like this, I would think it takes little time at all.”
“I understand,” he replied. “Take all the time ye need. Not just here but as we travel, then at my home. Yer new home.”
“In Scotland,” she said more to herself than him. It seemed such a foreign concept.
“Now, you are just telling yourself falsehoods.” Margery would have rolled her eyes. “At one point in time, we talked about living there. We were going to go on grand adventures, remember?”
She blinked back sudden tears, remembering all too well.
“Are ye all right?” Teagan asked, concerned. “I didnae mean to put so much on ye at once. Truth told, though, there isnae much time left if we hope to get out of England whilst Bartholomew is away.”
“No, all’s well.” She shook her head and stood. “I take no issue with leaving within a fortnight, nor of going to Scotland. I was just…” Though tempted to leave it at that, she found herself telling him the truth. “I just recalled a time when living in Scotland was not such a strange concept.”
His brows perked with good reason. “Really?”
“Yes.” This time she did leave it at that and asked him to join her on the path back to the castle. “Whilst I frequent this spot often, ’tis always best, as a rule, that I do not linger overly long.”
Teagan nodded in understanding. “Now that Bartholomew is gone and I am nae being watched so closely, I expect to be here more often until we leave.” He glanced her way. “How else will I get to know ye?”
She blushed, looking forward to it despite herself. When was the last time she had looked forward to something?
“It has been far too long,” Margery would have said. “And about time.”
“So how are we to sneak out of here with Ada and her children when the time comes?” she asked. “One can see a great deal of the surrounding countryside from the castle walls.”
“Aye, so we will keep to the forest,” he replied, “in the dark of night.”
“Ah-ha!” Margery would exclaim. “Be gone riding off into the sunset! ’Twill be a gallant, dangerous hero by night after all.”
“What about the jewel?” she asked. “Randolph will pursue us if you don't leave it. In fact, I expect both him and Bartholomew will be after us.”
“Aye,” he agreed. “Though Edmund will see it delivered to Randolph, we fully expect Randolph and Bartholomew to pursue. Randolph so that he might retrieve his other gems, and Bartholomew out of wounded pride. Therefore, we will be going on a wee bit o’ an adventure before we head to MacLauchlin Castle.”
“What sort of adventure?” she asked, a little breathless. She envisioned all sorts of exciting things. Stealthy, late-night attacks, then open battle in the bright sunlight. She would wield a blade as she’d long imagined, riding on a steed faster than the wind. Gone would be the time when she cowered to a man. Instead, they would cower before her, shaking and trembling and…
“Greer?” Teagan asked, looking at her curiously.
“Yes, what is it?”
“Nothing, ye just seemed somewhere else for a moment.” He smiled. “I do that often, too.”
“What?”
“Think more than most,” he enlightened. “Anyway, as to this adventure, ’twill keep trouble clear of MacLauchlin Castle. We will join up with and possibly fight alongside enough men to make it clear Randolph and Bartholomew best never seek ye and yers out again.”
“Your men, I take it?”
“Mine, Edmund’s, and an allied clan who have agreed to help us.”
“You understand my uncle and Bartholomew have a substantial amount of warriors, yes?”
“Aye.” He grinned. “But, we’ve got the MacLomains.”
“They count many, then?”
“Aye,” he confirmed. “And warriors dinnae come much fiercer.”
“We can only hope.” She shook her head. “Forgive me but—”
“Nay, no more sorry’s or forgive me's,” he interrupted. “Those arenae words ye need use with me.”
When she looked at him, still unsure, he reiterated that he wanted her to speak plainly without fear of consequence. He wanted her to speak her mind.