“No, I mean Astrid,” Finn laughed.
“Well,” Sitric pretended affront, “Astrid, as you’re the favorite, why don’t you show our guests to their quarters?”
“Happily.” She flashed an exuberant smile at Sitric before ushering the Fianna toward one of the large halls.
“This way,” Sitric held out his hand to Cara.
Cara looked at him, but didn’t take it. She moved to walk beside him, keeping her hands clasped behind her back. If her dismissal offended him, this time he made no mention of it.
“Was your trip pleasant?” he asked as they turned to walk around the perimeter of his estate. In the distance, thunder cracked, an ominous grey cloud rolling in from the west. Sitric appeared unconcerned at the impending storm.
“Very, thank you.” Cara took another look at the buildings before her, watching with some measure of amusement as Astrid appeared to give Cormac a talking-to. What he could have possibly done was beyond Cara. Of all the Fianna, he was the slowest to anger, the most patient. A gentle, quiet soul. Who had somehow incurred the wrath of the spirited Astrid.
“She’s just making certain they know who’s in charge,” Sitric commented wryly. “I tease her constantly of behaving more like the hounds than a princess, asserting her authority with loud barking, but as you can see, it has done little to sway her. Perhaps she’ll listen to you.”
“If she’s found some fault in Cormac, I daresay there’s none who could sway her.” Even from this distance, Cara couldsee Cormac’s jaw clenching—something she’d never imagined possible.
Sitric tilted his head to regard her. “You find Cormac pleasing?”
“I find his temperament pleasing,” she replied carefully. She’d already made such a mess of this introduction, the last thing she needed was Sitric believing she lusted after one of the other men. “He’s reserved and soft-spoken, he makes rational judgments and seems altogether a fair man.”
Sitric frowned. “I find him to be rather a bore.”
“Why do you have two halls?” Cara asked, hastily changing the subject.
“One is for guests, the other for family. Both are a bit more extravagant than strictly necessary, but I had the land to add extra rooms.”
“They’re lovely,” Cara told him honestly. “I can’t wait to see the inside. I’ve never been in a Fin Gall home before, unless you count the inn to the north.”
“Ostman,” Sitric corrected gently. “We call ourselves Ostmen, not Fin Gall.”
Cara mentally berated herself yet again, though she had no way of knowing such a thing without being told. “My apologies, I had no idea.”
“I wouldn’t have expected you to,” Sitric replied. He didn’t sound upset, but Cara knew this wasn’t going well. “So how do you feel about the marriage?”
Cara forced herself to breathe evenly, not to show any outward signs of distress. She should have expected such a question, especially from such a seemingly open man. As far as she could tell, Sitric wore his feelings as he did his clothes—plainly for all to see.
“I look forward to it.” She hoped he believed her. “Brian was smart to make such a match, and I think it will work in everyone’s best interests.”
Sitric’s eyes narrowed. “Aye, it will,” he agreed, though Cara sensed a riot of unspoken thoughts between them. “I admit, I’m not overly fond of the idea of marriage. For such a beautiful bride, however, I may be willing to make an exception.”
Cara’s stomach flipped at such an intimate statement. “You flatter me,” she said, trying to brush away the uncomfortable topic.
“You are a virgin, are you not?”
“I beg your pardon?” Bile rose up from her belly. What did one say to such a brazen question? As her suitor, he of course had the right to such knowledge. But she had hoped this particular conversation would take place much later—certainly not the very day she arrived.
Sitric stopped walking as they completed their circuit, turning to face her curiously. “Well, now. That’s interesting.”
“What is?”
He leaned toward her, uncomfortably close. “Virgins blush when I ask that. You got angry.” He gave her a knowing look, one that told her he as good as knew her secret, before opening the door into the hall. “Perhaps you have more potential than I thought.”
Irritation flared in her veins as Cara floated gracefully into the warmth of the hall. Her mistakes may have made her more interesting to him, she fumed, but his superficial interest in her made him wholly unappealing. What had initially been an unpleasant duty was quickly becoming a thorn in her side. And that was if she could even get him to agree to the betrothal after their rocky introduction. Summoning what remained of her tattered dignity, Cara followed Sitric into his great hall.
Chapter Six
More than anythingshe’d seen over the course of their journey, Sitric’s hall took Cara’s breath away. Warm, vibrant, and well-appointed, it was evident from the moment she entered that someone took great care with the maintenance of this grand building. Everywhere she looked, furniture and walls were covered with furs, silks, tapestries, and cushions. A large hearth fire burned bright in the center of the rectangular room, a boar roasting on a spit atop it tended by a pair of servants. On each end of the hall, a pair of large trestle tables ran length-wise down the central aisle. More intimate clusters of chairs and stools dotted with flickering braziers lined the edges of the room. Four doors stood equally spaced on each of the long walls, no doubt leading to private quarters for the family. The entire room glowed a deep, golden-flecked bronze, a wonderland of wood and firelight.
