She straightened, her chin lifting, defiance flashing in her green eyes. “Then neither will I. If they have no home there, then I have none either.”
The storm howled louder outside, but the silence between them was louder still, firelight painting their faces as their wills collided once more.
Rhodes’s gaze held hers, hard and unyielding. “I’ll not have beasts cluttering the keep. It’s no place for them.”
Her chin rose higher. “Then it is no place for me either. You’ll not have me live apart from who I am.”
“Bloody hell, Fawn, you are my wife,” he shot back, his voice sharp. “Your place is with me.”
Her eyes blazed. “Aye, and I am with you. But if you cannot accept me as I am, then what are we? Nothing but a worthless marriage, two people at war beneath the same roof. We must work together, not apart. Not separate, Rhodes… but as one. As we did when we joined together.”
Her words cut deep. His instinct was to command, to force her obedience, yet the memory of her body beneath his, their breaths mingled, their hearts hammering as one—she was right. That had not been war. That had been unity and something even stronger… love?
Still, his pride clung stubbornly. “And what then? Shall I allow an owl to fly through the hall, frightening half the women into fainting?”
Her mouth curved, stubborn fire in her eyes. “Why not? I want our children to grow with the forest in their hearts. To know its creatures, to care for them, not fear them.”
The word children struck him silent. For a moment, all he could do was stare at her, the image rising unbidden—fiery-haired little ones with her green eyes and his stubborn chin, chasing through the corridors, laughter echoing. His heart thudded hard in his chest, an ache he did not expect, nor know how to name.
Fawn studied him, and for the first time she saw the hardness in his gaze falter.
He spoke slowly, his jaw unclenching. “We’ll not have beasts ruling my keep.”
She waited to see if he would say more, offer balance to the problem.
The bite left this voice. “But… we’ll find a way.”
Relief flickered in her chest, though she kept her chin high, unwilling to give him all the victory. “A way that honors both of us,” she said firmly.
Rhodes leaned back in his chair, his dark gaze never leaving hers.Good Lord, help me,he thought, his heart twisting,she’ll be the end of me. And yet… I cannot imagine life without her.
Fawn lowered her eyes to her stew, hiding the small smile that tugged at her lips.Stubborn brute,she thought, her chest warm despite herself.I’ll not lose him. Not now.
The storm rattled the shutters, the fire hissed, and for the first time since their vows had been spoken, they both felt the fragile beginnings of something neither dared name… a true marriage.
Later,with the stew finished and the fire banked low, they settled beneath the furs on her bed. The storm howled outside, wind lashing against the shutters, but the small room held its own pocket of warmth.
Fawn lay curled against him, her head on his shoulder, his arm heavy around her. For a while she listened to the steady beat of his heart, letting the sound soothe her even as her thoughts churned.
At last, she lifted her head slightly. “Rhodes?”
He grunted in reply, already half-drifting in sleep, his fingers tracing idle patterns along her arm.
“Do you have any notion of who might have set the hounds on the sheep?”
His eyes opened, the weight of his gaze anchoring her. In the silence that followed, his hand stilled on her arm, and his thoughts turned inward.
She thought his silence was meant to dismiss the question altogether. Then his voice came low, taut with thought.
“Aye. Someone bold enough to challenge me. Someone who wishes to see me questioned in the eyes of my clan.”
Fawn saw how the slight scowl on his face made the few lines appear sharper in the firelight. “An enemy of yours.”
He gave a humorless grunt. “Every powerful leader has enemies, Fawn. Most often it is those once thought to be friends.”
“And you? Do you have friends you trust?”
He was silent long enough for her to know the answer before he spoke.
