Page 80 of A Fearless Rebel

Once inside, they walked up the stairs to the bedchamber.

Thankfully, a cheery fire burned in the hearth and they went to stand in front of it. Keithen met her gaze. “What did ye hear?”

Ava repeated what she’d overheard.

“After learning she was who’d severed the rope because of her keen skills, I wondered if she’d been the one to also shoot my brother. But there were so many archers there. I am shocked to know she could get so many shots off that close together.”

“She is without compare. Even our head archer always lost against her in competition.”

A thought went through her, too hard to bear. Ava closed her eyes. “Did she kill my father?”

Keithen came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling Ava against his chest. “No.”

Sagging with relief, she stared into the flames. “I am not sure how to feel.”

“Get some rest. We can discuss more in the morning, if ye wish. I hope that, eventually, ye and Esme will not be at odds.”

She doubted they’d ever be cordial and certainly they’d never be friends, but Ava decided not to mention it to her husband. Alastair had died because he’d not accepted the truth of his injuries. If he’d lived, he would have never functioned properly as a man. Esme had known how to purposefully shoot him in a way to maim him forever.

It would be impossible to see her without thinking of what she’d done.

“From now on, we should be honest with each other,” Keithen said, his fingers under her chin. He pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “Is there anything I should know?”

Ava shook her head. “No. I promise.”

Once undressed and in the bed, she waited for Keithen to join her. He was a bit slower moving, but his leg was healing, and he moved about unaided now. According to the healer, it was possible he’d have a permanent limp.

A lifelong reminder of her actions. Being reckless and impulsive. Ava considered that if Keithen had died, then Esme was right to blame her.

Her actions had, indeed, caused everything.

Every instinct screamed at her to leave, to get away to somewhere where no one knew her and start over.

Then, Keithen’s arm came around her waist and he pulled her close, her back against his chest. “Stop thinking. Everything will work out. Ye will see.”

The glow from the fire lit the room enough that she could see. A sudden thought struck her. She’d left the bundle of clothes with the horse. If they were discovered, Keithen would know a truth about her that she’d not revealed. She should have burned the clothes. Her rebellious actions, riding out, and fighting against men, having saved Keithen a couple of times, was not something he would understand. No man wanted a wife who fought, wearing a mask and acting like some sort of renegade.

Then again, perhaps if he recalled her saving him, he’d not mind.

Ava let out a breath. In the morning, she’d retrieve the clothes and decide what to do.

The sun had barely risen when Ava hurried to the stables. She walked straight to her horse’s stall and squeezed in, looking around. Her bundle of clothes was not there. She scrambled to recall the night before. She’d grabbed them before going outside the gates, which meant she could have dropped them while deciding what to do.

Pulling her cloak tight, she hurried toward the gates and slipped out. There were several people already arriving from the village. It still struck her as strange that the clanspeople seemed to have no qualms visiting the laird on a regular basis.

She hurried along the wall, peering down, but did not see the clothes. Perhaps they’d been taken by someone on patrol.

Perhaps it was for the best. If the clothes were gone, there was no reason to tell Keithen about it since she had no plans to ever do any kind of sword fighting again. The only thing she’d kept was her sword, which was stored in her trunk. If it was ever found, she’d claim it had belonged to her father or brother.

“Is the Mackenzie woman still here?” a woman asked another as they ambled to the front door. The pair was not aware she was behind them.

Her companion huffed. “Aye, and from the looks of it, she has bewitched Keithen Fraser. Tis sickening.”

Ava stopped walking, not wanting to be noticed by the women. Although she knew the clanspeople did not accept her, knowing and hearing it were two different things.

Following the flight of a bird, she tracked it until it disappeared. “Ye heard them.”

The last person she wanted to speak to at the moment was Esme Ross. Ava kept her gaze on the horizon and shrugged. “Tis not as if I did not know how most people feel.”