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“I have been here all this time, Astrid. All these past ten years. I too lost hope and track of time. I wished for death to come for me every day. I hoped and prayed for death, but it never came. I think now that I have met ye, I can finally die a happy man,” he cried, and Astrid pulled away from him at his words.
“Die? Yer nae going to die, Aiden. Neither of us will die. We will find a way out of here,” she replied, wiping away the tears from her face. She still did not know how she had come here or who had brought her in.
“There is nay way out of here, Astrid,” he told her hopelessly. “I warned Myles to nae kidnap ye when he told me he was planning to do just that. I told him he would suffer, but the old bastard didnae listen to me.”
Astrid was immensely confused at the mention of Myles. “Who is Myles?”
“Laird Gallagher,” he explained, and her eyes widened in recognition.
She knew who Myles was, but her confusion still persisted, for she did not know why he had kidnapped both her and Aiden.
“It was Myles who kidnapped ye ten years ago? And not the MacKie clan?”
“Nae!” Aiden replied. “It was always Myles since the first day. This was all his plan to begin a war between the two clans, and during the war, he continued to capture villages from both our clan and Laird MacKie’s clan. He didnae expect them to ever find out, but they did find out and met with him together to threaten him to return their villages. This didnae sit right with him, and he kidnapped us to offer us for ransom in order to receive half of the O’Donnely lands and half of the MacKie lands, so he can become the most powerful man in the country.”
Astrid listened quietly to everything Aiden was telling her, unaware of everything that had been happening around her. Had her father only known it was Myles who had Aiden kidnapped, her brother would have been found ages ago. She could not believe Myles would go to such lengths just to make sure he got some villages to add to his territory.
“He will force Faither to give him his lands by ransoming ye and me, but he cannae do that with Flynn,” Astrid said, knowing Myles could never blackmail Flynn into doing such a thing.
“He has kidnapped ye to force Flynn, since ye two are betrothed now,” her brother explained, and Astrid once again realized how smart Myles was.
Flynn would do anything for her, and she knew that, but despite it all, she also knew he was smart enough to never fall for this trap.
“What should we do? Is there really no way to escape?”
“None,” Aiden replied, having tried everything he possibly could think of to get out of this dungeon.
“We will wait, then.”
“For whom?”
“I ken for a fact that Flynn will come to save both me and ye. He isnae dumb enough to fall for the trap Myles is laying out for them and would never give that cruel man his lands and his people,” Astrid assured her brother, having complete faith in the man she loved.
“I truly hope that is the case, Astrid.”
CHAPTER21
Flynn stoodoutside the O’Donnely castle beside Billy, wondering what he would say to Murray when they met. He knew he needed to ask his permission to marry Astrid, but the vehement denial that was waiting for him at the other end of this castle door was well known to him.
Murray would never agree, and Flynn was not certain where that would lead him and Astrid. If only he was concerned, he couldn’t care less about Murray’s agreement or disagreement, but he knew for a fact that it mattered to Astrid.
As a daughter, she would wish for her father to be present for her at her wedding and to have his complete blessing and support throughout. If she agreed to marry Flynn without her father’s permission, it would take away both those things from her, which was the last thing Flynn wanted or wished for. He was praying and hoping that whatever happened turned out be in her best interest.
“Flynn!” Billy called out his name exasperatedly, just as he had been doing for the past half hour. “This is the first time I am lookin’ forward to going inside the O’Donnely castle, and this time yer takin’ too long. Ye should get it over with, Me Laird. Yer thinkin’ too much about it.”
“Yer right,” Flynn agreed, straightening up. He was the Laird of his own clan, and a very powerful clan at that. He could look Murray straight in the eyes and tell him he loved his daughter. “Let’s go inside.”
The two of them finally walked inside the castle, and the butler, although shocked to see them, did not stop them. Instead, just as always, he led them straight towards Murray’s study.
Flynn knocked on the old man’s door.
“Come in,” Murray bommed, and Flynn entered, his gaze momentarily adjusting to the darkness inside the stuffed room before settling on Murray, who stood by his desk, a sealed envelope in his hand.
Flynn could not help but wonder who the letter was from, but he was here for entirely different purposes.
“Murray,” he greeted the old Laird, whose eyebrows furrowed as he gazed at Flynn and Billy.
“What are ye doing here? Have ye received a letter from Myles as well?” Murray asked, glancing towards the letter in his hands.
