Lady Eilean

Chapter 9

On a balmy, bright morning in late May that was both my birthday and the date of Walther's secret wedding to Bess, Alex arrived at the stables and timidly presented me with a bouquet of wildflowers.

"I hope I can do better by you this birthday than I did the last time I was here to celebrate it," he said shyly.

I took the bouquet, amazed. Between the two of us, it was unclear who was more affected by the exchange. My brothers, hovering around and saddling their horses, tried their best to give us privacy. Well, some of them did. Rupert and Timothy snickered and pantomimed a passionate embrace. They fell into a pile of hay and writhed around on the ground, howling.

"Ignore them," I said, even as I felt my face turn a violent shade of red.

Alex, pink himself, said loudly, "I wanted to make sure someone around here remembered you on your birthday." He stared down at my brothers and they answered his challenge with a beleaguered chorus of well wishes. It was obvious that without this reminder, they would have had no idea it was my birthday at all.

I beamed, already enjoying this birthday more than any of the others that had come before it. "The flowers are lovely, thank you. And I appreciate you providing an example to these lowlifes on how to behave." I tucked the blooms into my belt.

Alex leaned against the neck of my horse, stroking its mane. "Have you heard about Walther's....event...tonight?" He asked me in a whisper.

"Wedding?" I said, matching his quiet tone.

"Yes, are you going?"

"Are you?" I asked, surprised. The last I had heard the ceremony was to be small, private. I was under the impression that I would be the only witness.

"Walther extended the invitation to me last night."

"I'll be there," I said, "I'm glad you will be, too."

Alex looked over his shoulder to where Walther was mounting his horse. We only had a few more minutes until my brothers would complain that we were wasting daylight. I made to get on my horse, but Alex grabbed my wrist, holding me still. He grinned at me wickedly, "Get out of whatever lessons you can, today. I have a plan to help the newlyweds celebrate."

I looked at Ian, who was watching us closely. When I challenged his stare, he looked away. Turning to Alex, I grinned. "What did you have in mind?"

~

After lunch, Alex met me in my rooms. He brought a large cloak and told me to wear it.

"Ian is going to be livid when I don't show up to our lessons," I said, throwing the garment over my shoulders.

"I don't care," Alex said, laughing. "You can use the excuse of your birthday and wanting to wish Walther marital bliss if he demands answers."

"Why did you bring this cloak?" I asked, fastening it at my chin.

"I was under the impression you were still confined to the grounds, and that's why we ride so early in the morning."

Rolling my eyes, I grunted. "I think we ride so early because Ian is a sadist." There was no stopping my smile, however. The freedom and knowledge Ian had given me was a gift I could never repay. While I might have griped about the hours and the exhaustion, I was glad he had found me at the bottom of my dark abyss. There was light and wonder and magic in my life again.

Alex chuckled, "Confined to the grounds or not, who can resist the allure of a disguise?"

"Fair point." I threw the hood over my head and adopted a severe limp to go with it, doing my best to clamp down on the laugher that bubbled up in my throat. We left my chambers and devised a plan for the guards — should they dare ask questions of Lord Leslie. By the time we reached the main gate, our story was quite elaborate. Alex had spilled some ale which caused me, a kitchen maid, to wrench my ankle. He was only doing the gentlemanly thing in escorting me to my mother's house in the nearby village.