Never Love a Highlander - Maya Banks [53]
“Laird, do not be angry. What she wears is a comfort to her. She needs that right now.”
Caelen turned in surprise at Sarah’s words. The woman stood behind him, watching Rionna with worried eyes.
“Think you I give a damn what she wears? I’m more concerned with her well-being.”
Sarah nodded approvingly and Caelen gestured her away.
He stepped softly through the snow, not wanting to frighten or disturb Rionna. He thought she resembled a doe, poised to run at the slightest sound or provocation. But as he drew closer, he could see the vacant, distant look in her eyes as she stared away from the keep.
Had the attack damaged her permanently? Would she never be right again? It was early to worry over such possibilities, but he couldn’t help but wonder at how deep the scars would run.
“Rionna,” he called softly.
He heard her quick intake of breath as if he had indeed startled her. She whirled around, her eyes a little wild until her gaze settled on him and then she quieted.
She went so still and continued to stare at him in a way that unsettled him. It was eerie. She studied him as if she were about to announce judgment on him and find him lacking. Perhaps ’twas his own guilt speaking volumes, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that she was angry. Very, very angry.
“ ’Tis cold. You should be indoors where it’s warm.”
He slid a hand over her shoulder and squeezed, trying to bring her comfort.
To his surprise she laughed. ’Twas not a joyous sound that bubbled from her throat. It was harsh and hoarse. It sounded pained.
“You probably think I’m daft,” she said.
“Nay,” he said gently. “Not daft.”
“You also probably think I’m a scared rabbit now, afraid to leave my chamber, afraid to venture outside for fear of being attacked again.”
“Nay, lass. I think what you need is time to heal. Your courage will come.”
She turned then and pinned those glowing eyes upon him until he felt unsettled by the directness of her gaze.
“I’m not afraid, Laird. ’Tis the truth I’m furious.”
Anger was an appropriate response under the circumstances, and she did look furious. Sparks fair shot from her eyes and her entire body trembled. For the first time he relaxed, relief sudden and fierce. He knew how to respond to an angry Rionna. But the beaten, worn-down, fragile woman who’d occupied her body for the last week baffled and confused him.
“ ’Tis good you’re angry,” he offered sagely.
She shot to her feet and spun around, glaring at him. Her fists were formed into tight balls at her sides, and she looked like she wanted to take a swing at him.
“Even if ’tis you I’m furious with?”
Now that he wasn’t prepared for. He frowned, knowing that he had to tread lightly here. The lass wasn’t right yet. Her emotions were all over the place, and he didn’t want to upset her further.
“ ’Tis sorry I am that I wasn’t here to protect you, Rionna. ’Tis something I’ll regret my life through. I should have better seen to your protection. ’Tis not a mistake I’ll make again.”
A garbled sound of rage roared from her throat. She looked as though she wanted to clench her fingers around her hair and pull.
“Nay, you shouldn’t have protected me better, husband. What you should have done was allowed me to protect myself!”
“You’re not making sense, lass. Calm down. Let’s go inside. You should be above stairs in your chamber.”
“Do you know what had just happened before those men attacked me?” she asked, ignoring his suggestion to return indoors. “I’ll tell you what happened. My sword had just been taken by Hugh because he said he didn’t want me to be harmed and ’twas not a womanly thing to be wielding a sword. He warned the other men that any who engaged me in swordplay would answer to him.”
She advanced on Caelen and poked a finger into his chest. “If I had my sword, those men would have never gotten close to me. They wouldn’t have shoved me to the snow. They wouldn’t have touched me. They wouldn’t have hit me.”
Ah, but the lass had worked herself into a fit of rage that was impressive to behold. It shamed him that he fair quivered with lust as she bore