Gifts of Desire (20 page)

             
Ceann
took her chin in his hand and gently tipped her face up to look at his.  “Where d
o
you
come from, lass?”

             
Ella
ret
urned his steady gaze.
  She thought she might drown in
the depths of his haunted sea-
green eyes.
  “I can’t
tell
you
that.
 
You
must understand
,
I
made a vow.
  I never break a vow.
”

             
He pulled his hand away from her face,
those same eyes sparking with
sudden
anger.
 
“Then I won’t
let
you
go
.
”

             
“
I
know
it
”.
 
To be honest, she didn’t want to go
anyway
.  This man, as gruff and unreachable as he
seemed to be
, alre
ady had a hold over
her.  Already it would be
too
hard to leave him behind, knowing she might never see him again.
  The woman in her
was aching
to comfort him, to reach through his defe
nses until h
e would laugh again, smile for her
.
  Sh
e
knew that if ever that smile reached all the way to his eyes, she would be
truly
lost. 

             
She arched a mischievous
eyebrow at him.  “I suppose
then
I should settle in for a long visit.  Good day, Laird.”  She turned back to the garden,
still swinging the basket
.

             
Ceann
watched her go, her hips swaying gently as she walked
.

             
Ella
stroll
ed through the garden, her basket full of
the
herbs that she
had
offered to gather.  Collected all summer long, they would be hung to dry for the long winter to come.
 
If she were still here then, she would be able to use them to make medicines.  Esme had taught her all of the ways of herbs and healing…  Esme, she missed her.
.. and Malcolm,
and her friends,
and even Duncan, though he never said much.
  Would she ever see them again?  Would she be able to go back home when she found... whatever she was supposed to find? 

             
As had
now
become her habit, she looked
closel
y for any sign of a hidden door or
a secret open
ing; anything out of place.
  She was beginning to fear she would fail at her
task
, and she could not let that happen.
 
Not when the people she loved had trusted her with it. 
By o
ffering to assist with so many different things
, she could
search unsuspected throughout
a large part of
the castle, and she truly enjoyed
the
helping.  But as days went by and she found nothing, she grew more anxious. 
She would not have been sent here at such a risk if it w
eren’t terribly important.
 
It was all so very frustrating
.  She let out a breath.  She would just have to work harder, and trust in her abilities. 
After all, she hadn’t searched the
entire
castle yet, by any means.  Weren’t things usually foun
d in the last place one looked? 
Of course they are, you ninny, because then you stop looking
.
 
She went into the large store house at the edge of the garden, where the herbs would be tied in bundles and hung to dry from the rafters.  She was startled from her thoughts when
she saw someone else was already within.  She gasped and put her hand to the chest
, laughing
. 

             
“O
h Mairi
!
I didn’t
know
you
were in here!”
  She had
befriended
Mairi only that morning
while
helping carry out laundry
, but had instantly liked her.
  Mairi was her own age, twenty summers, and shared her
wry
sense of humor
along with her
interest in herbs and gardening.
  Ella thought her quite pretty, with her brown curls and hazel eyes. 
 
 

             
Mairi
smiled
sheepishly.
“I admit I may have lingered a few moments just for the peace and quiet.”

             
Ella
grinned back at her.  “Aye, there isn’t much peace to b
e found within the castle walls
.
”
  In fact, it was fairly bustling all of the time.  Servants hurried about, mothers scolded after laughing, playing children, men trained with swords in the yard, tradesmen worked their crafts…
 
“
But
the clan prospers,
anyone can see that,
and the din is but a consequence of that prosperity.”

             
Mairi nodded in agreement
,
as she helped
Ella
spread the herbs on a table and began tying them into bundles.  “Aye, life is good here, for the most part.  It could certainly be much worse.  We are lucky that we have a str
ong l
aird who keeps all of our needs
so
well met.”

             
Ella
pursed her lips
.  “Strong, aye, but
a bit
prickly and dour.”

             
Mairi laughed as she hung up the last of the bundles and they started out the door.
  “Och
, you noticed that, did
you
?  But f
or all that, he’s
still
a good man
.” 

             
She lowered her voice conspiratorially.  “I think maybe he just lacks a good woman in his bed.  T’would p
ut any such
virile
man in a bad mood.”
She raised her eyebrows suggestively at
Ella
, who swatted her playfully.

             
“Oh,
you’re
awful!”
s
he laughed.  “Just because
you’re
betrothed to
handsome young
Robbie
you
look to see everyone else tied down
, even the laird
!”
 

             
The two of them
walked
,
laughing,
out into the yard.
  Then
Ella
turned thoughtful.  “I
know
something of he
rbs and healing
, and some
things
are missing altogether
from the still room
.  I think we should gather some
plants from the woods and moor
before
the
cold weather
comes and t
hey can’t
be found anymore.”

             
“Aye,
you’re
right.  Our old healer passed last winter, and now there’s just Maggie.  I
know
she can’t
keep up with it a
ll, as hard as she tries.  We can go this afternoon, it’
ll be fun…
ooh…
we can bring a picnic dinner!”

             
Ella
smiled.  “
That
would be grand.”  She paused thoughtfully.
“But the laird has said I can’t
go out of the castle walls without a guard.  We’ll have to bring someone with us.”

             
“But I go out all of the time…
it’s truly not dangerous, close to the castle.  The guards on the wall can see everything for miles.  It’s only if
you
go into the woods at the far side that
you
may run into trouble.  We shall stay in the open where…”

             
“
No Mairi”, Ella interrupted.  “
I think the laird is more concerned that I shall escape from his
charge
.  The guard is not to keep me safe, so much as to keep me
here
.”

             
“Oh.”  Mairi’s face lit up
again.  “My brother Colin!   H
e’ll take us.  He owes me a favor.”  She lowered her voice and leaned closer.  “I covered for him last week when he was nearly caught dallying with another man’s wife.  He is a rogu
e”, she stated matter-of-factly, with a nod.
  “I’ll find him and meet
you
back here in an hour.
”

             
“And I’ll pack us up some dinner.”

***

             
Ceann
left
the keep and
entered
the bailey like he had a thousand times before, but this time was different.  This time he
unexpectedly
caught sight of
Ella
and his heart leapt into his throat; for a moment he couldn’t breathe. 
Must she be everywhere he went? 
She stood speaking with
the lass
Mairi.  Her face was
ali
ght and her hands clasped the other girl’s as they laughed together.  For a moment
Ceann
wished he were the one
to make her laugh like that
, just once
. 
That her face would light up
just so when she looked at him. 
A
s he started for the
stables
, he saw that a man had joined the two women.  It was Colin, one of his
best
guardsmen.  One of his
best
guardsmen who was renowned for
his han
dsome face and his
wicked
way with the
lasses. 
Ella
was smiling at him, and he was taking her hand, kissing it, smiling back…

             
The red hot stab of jealousy was instantaneous and undeniable.  It was all he could do not to stalk over
there
and put his fist in Colin’s handsome face.  But he didn’t.  He took a deep breath and forced himself to keep moving toward the
stables
.  He couldn’t have her, didn’t need her.  Hell, he didn’t need any woman. 
It was only lust, nothing more
.  Lust, no matter how strong, was not worth entangling himself with this woman who was anything but simple.  His heart would
surely
end up broken
when she eventually betrayed him
, and he didn’t want to know
that feeling again.  It had been bad enough the first time with Brigid; the
lass
had nearly torn him to pieces with what she had done, and at the time, he had thought himself in love with her.
He would never
again
be that vulnerable to another human
woman
.
  Never.

             
Ella
and Mairi passed a pleasant afternoon together, collecting the plants
Ella
knew to be helpful, then
braiding flowers in each other’s
hair
as if they were children
,
and chatting while Colin
leaned back on the grass and
watched with a
n a
mused look on his face.  He was careful not to go too near
Ella
,
however.  He had
noticed
the
murderous
look on
the
laird’s face earlier and valued his life above even a
tumble with a
beautiful woman. 
And a broken nose would surely mar his
own
handsome face
, which would not do at all
.