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“Over my dead body, Keira,” her father replied, attacking Eric as he easily dodged the blow. She fought violently against the hold of the man who had her arm clasped, but he refused to budge even though she kept shouting and trying to claw at his chest. She somehow needed to stop her father. She already knew Eric won’t think twice before hurting him, and she could not allow that to happen.
She watched as her father attacked, but Eric easily shielded all his attacks. Just as he struck himself, his sword hitting on her father’s arm, and blood began to flow. Keira was no longer wiping her tears as she watched the scene unfold before her, her heart beating fast. She needed to do something, but she had never felt more helpless.
“Faither, please stop,” she sobbed but her father was beyond listening to her.
He attacked again, and Eric once again dodged, turning around quickly, and attacking himself, his sword easily plunging through her father’s abdomen as he immediately pulled the sword out back. Keira stopped moving entirely as she saw her father’s sword drop from his hand as blood began to gush out with uncontrollable speed from his body, his eyes widening as he registered the attack. Eric, too, looked stunned at his own accomplishment and moved back almost immediately as if he had not realized what he had done.
“Faither,” Keira shouted, tears rushing out of her eyes as her father turned to look at her before falling to his knees, his body no longer able to support his weight.
“Keira,” he whispered, falling to the ground, his eyes closing.
“Faither,” she shouted again, tugging violently at the hold of the man on her who miraculously let go of her, and she ran towards her father. “Faither, wake up. Nothing will happen to ye. Nothing at all.”
“I am… sorry… I,” he stuttered.
“Shh,” she quieted him, “Please do nae speak. I will save ye. I will nae let anything happen to ye.”
“I wish… I could… have… saved ye,” he whispered through gritted teeth as if trying to control the pain which he must be feeling.
“I will save ye, I promise,” she sobbed, empty promises on her tongue, for she knew the situation was already out of hand. She would never be able to save him.
“I… love… ye,” he whispered one last time before his entire body went suddenly limp, and Keira knew he was no more. She burst out crying even more violently while continuing to shake him to bring him back to consciousness, but she knew it was to no avail.
Her father had died because of her. He had given his life to protect her while she had stood there helpless. She knew she could have done nothing in the situation, but she would never be able to forgive herself. It was all because of her. She limply allowed Eric to hold her arm once again as he led her toward the waiting carriage. Keira no longer cared about the whole thing. All she knew was that her father was lying dead in front of her, and she had no way to even take his body with her.
CHAPTER22
The moment Christianreached back to his castle, he immediately made his way towards the drawing room, hoping to find Keira there. If she had brought her father here with her, she could be nowhere else but there, yet he was surprised when he found the drawing room to be entirely empty.
Where was Keira?
He looked around the castle and checked every parlor and hall, but Keira was still nowhere. She had not been present at the inn, and he could not find her home either. What was even more worrying was the fact that Christian could not find Josh anywhere either. If it had been any other day, Josh would have been waiting for Christian himself, wanting to hear the updates on the fight and knowing how it had been solved. Yet, Josh was nowhere to be found either.
“Harriet!” Christian called out to Keira’s maid, quickly making his way upstairs toward her bedchamber.
“Me laird,” Harriet walked out of the bedchamber almost immediately as if she had been waiting for Christian.
“Where is Keira? Is she okay?” he asked Harriet, feeling relieved as he realized that Keira must be inside.
“She is nae inside, me laird,” Harriet shook her head. “She did nae come with ye?”
“I went to the inn to check on her, but they told me she was nae there, which only made me assume that she must have returned home with her faither,” he informed Harriet, beginning to worry even more. If Keira was neither home nor at the inn, where was she?
“She never returned, me laird,” Harriet informed her, “I did ken that something was amiss. Something just did nae feel right.”
“What do ye mean?” Christian asked the maid, noticing the worry in her voice.
“After ye both left, another note arrived from the inn addressed to me lady,” Harriet told him.
“What note?” Christian asked, clearly confused. His worry for Keira was making it impossible for him to understand anything, and the fact that Josh had not arrived yet as well was just as worrying.
Harriet walked inside Keira’s bedchamber wordlessly, and Christian followed her. She picked up an envelope from the table and handed it to Christian, who noticed how it had arrived in an envelope from the inn and how the letter was neatly written and sealed by the Laird O’Donnelly himself. This stood in stark contrast to the note Keira had shown him, which forced Christian to imagine the worst. The note had never been from her father in the first place. It was a trick to lure her to the inn. Just as it had been a trick to send Christian away to solve a feud exactly at the same time. It made complete sense but did nothing to lessen Christian’s worry; instead, only increased it.
“Did Josh return since?” Christian asked.
“Nay, me laird,” Harriet replied, “what do ye think the matter is? Where could they be?”
“I do nae ken for sure, Harriet. But I do ken both just might be in deep trouble,” he replied, immediately turning around as he marched downstairs, Harriet walking right behind him. “If either Keira or Josh arrive back at the castle, send me information immediately. If any letter or note arrives here, keep it safe. I will hopefully be back soon.”
