Page 101 of Promised to the Forbidden Laird
Roy looked back over his shoulder. “Somewhere without councilors.”
“Such places exist?”
“I have heard rumors.”
The trees opened. Donaldina drew her reins tight. Water fell in a bright silver sheet from the rocks above, striking a deep pool surrounded by dark stone. Mist rose from the impact and drifted through the clearing, catching the late sunlight in pale fragments. Rowan trees leaned over the far bank, their red berries vivid among the green, while moss softened every rock not polished smooth by water.
The place seemed removed from the rest of the Highlands. No road reached it. No watchtower overlooked it. The cliffs and thick woodland closed around the pool, concealing it from anyone who did not already know the path.
Donaldina dismounted slowly.
“I have lived upon MacNicol lands all me life.”
“And yet ye look surprised.”
“I didnae say I had seen all of them.”
Roy tied the horses beneath a sheltered ledge. “Lachlan brought me here once.”
The mention of her brother no longer struck like a blade. It still hurt, but the pain softened around the edges, allowing memory to exist beside it.
“When?”
“During the first winter after the accord was signed. We rode the boundaries together.”
“And he never brought me?”
“He said ye would complain the water was too cold.”
Donaldina looked toward the pool. “I would nae.”
Roy removed his cloak and laid it across a dry stone. “Then prove him wrong.”
Before she could ask what he intended, he walked down the sloping bank and stepped directly into the water still wearing his boots.
Donaldina stared. The water reached his ankles, then his knees as he continued without hesitation.
“Roy.”
He turned. “Donaldina.”
“Ye are clothed.”
“So are ye.”
“That is generally advisable outdoors.”
His mouth shifted. Then, he walked deeper. The water climbed to his waist, darkening his shirt and trousers. He drew a sharp breath as the cold reached him, though pride prevented any further reaction.
Donaldina folded her arms with a smirk. “Enjoying yerself?”
“Immensely.”
“Yer face suggests otherwise.”
“I possess a solemn manner of pleasure.”
She remembered using those words against him at the festival.
