“I am certain ye can kill whatever fire is in her,” MacFinn answered. “I just want her back and married.”
“How does she feel?”
“What?”
“What is her opinion of this marriage?”
MacFinn narrowed his eyes. “Heropinion?”
Jack frowned, shuffling his feet. “Ye didnae ask her?”
“I want her wed,” MacFinn responded. “And I want the peace we bartered.”
“Peace,” Jack echoed. “I will have it, but I will have it stand. It willnae stand on a lass dragged by the arm.”
“Then let me fetch her,” MacFinn pressed. “She trusts me.”
“She trusts ye to trade her,” Jack shot back.
MacFinn’s head jerked back a fraction. “For peace.”
“For peace.” Jack nodded. “Aye. Then trust me to win what ye have bought.”
“She isnae a purchase,” MacFinn protested.
“She is a pledge,” Jack said. “I ken very well the weight of one.”
MacFinn’s shoulders relaxed, and his voice cooled. “Are ye certain ye can bring her back?”
“Do ye doubt me, MacFinn?” Jack asked, tilting his head.
He turned away before the older man could respond and made his way to the door. He could feel eyes on him as he crossed the threshold, but he didn’t stop to question any of it. Instead, he moved out into the cold afternoon.
“Let us see exactly what ye’re made of,wife,” he muttered to himself, tightening his fist around the hilt of his sword.
CHAPTER 2
Branches slapped her arms,and leaves tangled in her hair, but Emma did not care. She continued to run anyway.
The wind was colder beneath the trees, and the canopy dimmed the light, but everything under her feet felt louder. The leaves, the twigs, the way her breath grew more jagged as she continued to run, the sharp pull of her bodice against her ribs.
She could hear everything twice as much as she used to.
The hem of her skirt snagged on a broken branch. She yanked free and heard the fabric tear, but she kept going.
The castle had already disappeared behind her. No chapel. No crowd. No altar. Nothing but the thick forest and the frantic pounding of her heart.
Still refusing to risk anything, she kept running.
The ground dipped and shifted beneath the leaves, causing her slippers to grow slick with mud. She stumbled once, caught herself, and pushed forward harder.
Then, she heard it.
Footsteps. Loud and firm enough for her to take the wildest guess of who could be running behind her.
She bit back a curse.
“Ye do realize this was a mistake, do ye nae?” came his voice behind her.
