Catriona and
Algaria watch Heather dejectedly walk away from the manor and sit on
a fence. They know that something's gone wrong between her and Tim,
but they don't know what and aren't sure how to fix it. Fortunately
for them, the deus ex machina, I mean Lady gives Lucilla
instructions. Lucilla is one of Catriona's herd of children and will
become the next Lady of the Vale. Her twin is Marcus and he's
supposed to be the next guardian of said Lady. So, superpowers.
Meanwhile,
Heather is still feeling beaten down. She looks at the manor and
thinks about how much love is there and how she wants a house just
like that and she could have built one with Tim but now he's leaving
forever and oh the sadness! But she hears the women in her family in
her head telling her to stop being dumb and to go fight for what she
wants. What she needs. So, she decides to marry Tim after all and
take the chance that she can lead him to love her, and to admit it.
Catriona said that Heather would have to risk her heart to win Tim's
and this must be what she meant. But how to do this?
Oh, hello
Lucilla and Marcus. They're towing Tim between them and he,
apparently, doesn't know how to get away. So Heather watches them
grow closer. She wants to talk to Tim, yes, but not in front of the
twins. They get closer and the twins let go of Tim's hands to run
over to Heather. She sees his uncertainty at whether or not he'll be
welcome and that makes her realize that he's hurting as well.
Anyway, the twins run up and grab Heather's hands. She expects them
to pull her forward, so she shifts her weight back to compensate.
Except they don't pull her forward. So she falls back onto the
ground on the other side of the fence. She's a little startled and
embarrassed, but no worse for wear. It's all good. Until she
notices the bull in the enclosure that looks ready to charge.
Tim leaps over
the fence and hoists Heather up over it to the safe side. Then he
starts climbing as the bull charges, but Tim isn't quick enough. The
bull's horn went clean through him. Really, reader. I'm not making
this up for once. The bull circles, getting ready to charge again,
as Heather and Marcus try to pull Tim over the fence. Lucilla goes a
ways down the fence to distract the bull with a song. She's the
future lady, so I just assume she has magic whenever she needs it.
Or something.
Finally, they
get Tim over the fence. Heather presses down on the wound in his
side and sends the twins back into the manor to get help. It's a
really nasty looking wound. Heather uses Tim's jacket, and her lawn
petticoat to try to staunch the bleeding. ...whatever makes a lawn
petticoat different from another one. Anyway. Heather yells at Tim
for risking his life and getting himself hurt, and he replies that if
he dies, she'll be free from having to marry anyone. Yeesh. So,
Heather forbids him to die, again, and says that she wants to marry
him and also that she can't live without him. Then she starts
talking about how she'll be such a terror of a wife, and she notices
that her rambling is distracting him from the giant gash in her side,
so she spills a lot of word vomit about how she'll redecorate his
houses and basically how she wanted their life together to be. Then
Heather yells at Tim again about risking his life to save hers and he
replies that he can't not do that, especially after how he's kept her
safe this far. And then it finally clicks in Heather's brain.
His
protectiveness, which she overlooked because her brothers and such
were all the same way, is how he was showing her that he cared. You
know, like her brothers and such do as well. So, since Tim's
defenses are low, Heather pushes to get him to say what she wants to
hear. Kind of brutal, but I'm not surprised. Tim says that after
all those years spent protecting her from everyone, even him, there's
no way he'll let some bull kill her. Then he takes her dreams, and
modifies them to fit what he wants. He also talks children. So,
yes, because he is possibly bleeding out, Heather finally really
listens to what his words mean and realizes that he really, truly
loves her. Finally, as Tim is slipping out of consciousness, the
rest of the household shows up to help him not die. Heather backs
away to let Catriona and Algaria work, but then realizes that she
needs to help save Tim's life the way that he saved hers.
...and scene!
So...remember how I said Tim and Heather would be bull-headed in this
chapter? I guess I was only half right. Anyway, the next chapter
will be Tim getting better and we'll finally get to see him and
Heather when they both realize that they're in love and accept the
other person's love. I don't think we'll see too much of the missing
cup in the highlands, but we might see a little. Perhaps a glimpse
of one gem stone.
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