Darlei licked her lips. Sorry? Nay. “What did the king fail to know?”
Rarely had she seen Father so angry. So indignant. “It has come to my ears that your bridegroom is…otherwise involved. He has a lover, and she is carrying his child.” Father hurried to add, “Chief MacMurtray did not know of this when he welcomed us here. The truth has only just come out.”
“Oh.” It was all Darlei could say.
“Rohr insists he wants to marry this young woman, and also insists the child she carries may well be the legitimate heir to Murtray. Moreover, the young woman in question”—Father made a distressed face—“apparently wishes you harm. That is the only reason Murtray saw fit to inform me of this.”
Darlei’s heart leaped violently. A way out. “Ah,” she said. “So—it is off, the marriage agreement? We are going home?”
“Nay, it is not so simple as that.”
“What? Why? If he is already pledged to someone else, if the heir is assured, what else is to be done? He does not want me.” Deathan did.I will find ye.
Father stopped pacing and fixed Darlei with a firm eye. “That does not matter. A threat put forward by a mere girl—how seriously can we take it? This marriage is by order of the king, a political matter for the benefit of a new Scotland. The king will have to be consulted.”
“Nay.” Darlei sprang to her feet, all the wildness she’d thought conquered leaping to the fore. “I want the agreement dissolved, done.”
“Unfortunately, daughter, it no more matters what you want than what young Rohr wants. Have I not told you this, time after time?”
He had, over and over again.
“Well, but—”
“I will myself travel to Forteviot and consult with the king. Urfet will accompany me along with half our men. I leave tomorrow.”
“Oh.” Darlei puffed out a breath. “The rest of us will return home?” Deathan would find her there, certainly.
“Nay,” Father said.
“I am sorry?” She must have heard him wrong.
“You shall remain here as a show of good faith and a sign that we are keeping to the king’s order, until I return with his decision.”
“I will not! I am in danger here.”
“Daughter”—he turned on her—“you will obey me in this. If it all goes to pieces, the king will know we Caledonians did all we could to fulfill his decree. It was the Gaels who broke the agreement. Understand?”
“I understand. But you cannot leave me here alone.”
“You will not be alone. You still have Orle. Some guards I will leave. You get on well with Rohr’s mother.”
“Yes, but Rohr does not want me here,” she wailed. “I feel myself in danger. If he chooses to eliminate me—”
“The fool has a broken arm and can scarce attack you. I think you are safe enough. His father is furious with him. Rohr will not dare come near you.”
Rohr would not come near her. But Deathan would.
She did not want to stay here, nay, especially without Father. But neither did she want to leave Deathan.
If she remained here—a sort of glorified hostage at best—she could see Deathan. Be with him sometimes. Watch the light come and go in his eyes. Mayhap touch his hand.
She dared ask for little more.
She drew a deep breath. “How long?”
“Eh?” Father had started pacing again.
“How long will you be gone?”
