“Clearly,” Lillith’s grandmama said, then waved a hand at him. “Follow me. It will not do for her to be seen in this state.We’ll take her to her bedchamber, if you do not mind aiding me?”
“Nae at all.” He rather enjoyed having Lillith pressed so close to him.
Lady Marion chuckled at that and gave him a long, scrutinizing look before she nodded, as if deciding something. She turned on her heel and led him along a narrow path that skirted the main building of the castle, eventually reaching a small door that opened onto a servants’ stairway. They climbed in silence, save for the soft snoring now coming from Lillith, until they reached a corridor Rory recognized as being near the family’s private chambers.
“Her room is there,” Lady Marion said, indicating a heavy oak door at the end of the corridor.
Rory followed Lady Marion to the door and then entered the bedchamber after Lillith’s grandmama. The room was warm with a fire crackling in the hearth, and he moved toward the bed to gently lay Lillith down. Her eyes fluttered open for one moment, and when she looked at him and smiled, his chest tightened. Then, she closed her eyes, turned on her side, and curled into a ball as Masie jumped on the bed beside her and nestled into the crook of Lillith’s legs.
There was a blanket at the bottom of the bed, and Rory drew it up over Lillith and tucked it around her chin before brushing her hair back from her face. She looked so fragile in sleep that protectiveness rose in him.
When he turned around, he found Lady Marion watching him with an expression that mixed surprise with something that might have been satisfaction.
“You want her,” she said. It was not a question.
“I think I do,” he replied honestly. Despite her shooting him, despite her sharp tongue and fierce independence—or perhapsbecause of those things—he found himself drawn to her in a way he could neither explain nor deny.
Marion tilted her head, surveying him. “I will not endorse the marriage unless she chooses you, too.”
“I understand,” he said, thinking he truly did. Lady Marion seemed a formidable woman from what he’d seen so far.
“My son promised the lasses they could wed for love.”
He felt his eyes widen at that. “I see.”
“Lenora loves another,” Lady Marion said into the silence.
Rory did not feel the slightest bit of disappointment. “I’m happy for the lass.”
Lady Marion smiled at that.
“Lillith tells me she does not wish to wed,” Rory stated, hoping to glean the reason.
A troubled look settled upon Lady Marion’s face. “Yes, she’d long said so. She claims she wishes to be a warrior.”
“Ye do nae approve?” he asked.
“If that’s what she really wants, she could be wife and a warrior, but I think it’s an excuse.”
“To avoid wedding?”
Lady Marion nodded.
He opened his mouth to ask why, but Lady Marion spoke. “I don’t know why. I wish I did. I suppose now that will be up to you to figure out. Come.” She turned and moved out the door.
He looked to Lillith, and a peace settled over him. He barely knew her, and yet he thought he knew; it had to be her. He closed the door softly behind him and stood face to face with her grandmama. “She’ll fight you on this, so I would ask that you are sure.”
He nodded. “I do believe I am.” He did want to speak to his da, but there was no need to bring that up to Lady Marion.
Lady Marion patted him on the shoulder. “If you win her heart, you have my blessing.”
“And if I do nae?”
“I will continue the war for her right to choose.”
He frowned. “Continue it?”
Lady Marion nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. This edict has split our household—the women against the men.”
