Arran paced the room as if shocked by Eoin’s words. “Ye doona have a choice, Eoin! I know that ye care for the lass, but it is no fair to leave Blaire there. I willna let ye do it.”
“Ye have no say in it, Arran. And why do ye care about leaving Blaire where she is? She’s a wretched lass.” Eoin watched Arran prowl the room, struggling to rein in his anger. Arran’s passion on the subject confused him greatly.
“Blaire’s no so bad, Eoin. What makes ye think that Bri no longer wants to go home? Has she told ye that?”
The question threw him. It hadn’t until that moment crossed his mind that she wouldn’t want to stay. He knew he’d tried to make it sound as if he knew she was planning on leaving once they found the ring, but deep down he thought she’d choose not to go.
But Arran was right. She’d never said anything to him about staying here. Still, she’d shown him with her affection how much she cared for him.
“No, but I doona think she’s too concerned with finding the ring now. She will no mind having to stay.”
“Do ye really think so? Go and see where she is right now, Eoin. Ye will find her in the spell room, looking desperately for the ring that ye hold in yer hand. She will never forgive ye if ye keep it from her. She must at least be given the choice.”
Eoin stared down at the ring, not looking up as his bedchamber door slammed shut at Arran’s abrupt departure.
Surely Arran was wrong. After the long journey back from Kinnaird Castle, the lass would be too tired to search for the ring tonight. And after the way she’d cried out in his arms, letting him hold her through the night, would she even want to?
It didn’t really matter. Even if she still did want to return home, he knew he couldn’t bring himself to let her go. She’d captured his heart completely and he didn’t want to spend his life with any other. If she didn’t love him already, he could make her love him with time.
He just had to make sure she didn’t find out that Arran had found the ring.
With re-hiding the ring set as his task, he left his bedchamber to head for the outer wall of the castle, intent on chunking it into the ocean. He paused briefly at Bri’s bedchamber door, hoping to catch a sound of her moving about the room.
When he heard nothing, he quietly lifted the handle to peek inside, hoping to catch a glimpse of her sleeping soundly in the large bed. She wasn’t there. His heart sank as he took in the vacant room. Changing his path of direction, he turned to make his way to the spell room in search of her.
As he descended into the castle’s basement, he found himself hoping that she wouldn’t be there either. He desperately wanted Arran to be wrong.
He heard her moving about the room before he saw her. Frantically lifting books and shifting through shelves, she jumped when he spoke to her. “Ye should be in bed asleep, lass. It’s been a long day.”
“Eoin. Gosh, you scared the crap out of me. What are you doing down here?”
“I looked in on ye in yer bedchamber, but ye were no there.”
“Oh. Yeah. I’m about to go to bed. Here, wait and I’ll follow you up.” She blew out the candle and reached out for his hand in the dark.
He took it as he walked toward the staircase on the other side of the basement. “What were ye doing, lass?”
“Just going through the things in the spell room, looking for the ring.”
The words cut through him, just as if she’d run a dagger straight through his heart. He couldn’t keep the lass here against her will. Arran was right. He knew he had to give her a choice.
He stopped and pulled her close to him just before they entered the staircase. He wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head as she murmured into his chest.
“Is everything alright, Eoin?”
“Aye, lass, all is well. Tomorrow evening, would ye accompany me somewhere? I’d like to surprise ye with something.”
He felt her grin against his chest. “Of course. I love surprises.”
Tomorrow he would tell her everything; tell her that he found the ring, tell her that he loved her, tell her that he didn’t want her to leave. He would place his heart in her hands. And the choice would be hers.
Chapter 32
I woke early the next morning, anxious to get to the spell room to see if the message had worked and Mom had replied. I did my best not to get my hopes up, but it didn’t work well as I threw on the simplest dress I had and hurried down into the basement.
Carrying the lantern from my room, I shared the flame with the candles scattered around the work table and waited for the room to light up as I nervously glanced down at the parchment.