The silence in the room was palpable, then the king chuckled and everyone breathed again.
“I am not here to wed you myself, but to wed you to him.” He tilted his head and nodded toward Tearloch. The latter took a few steps, and the king stopped him again. “Ifyou will have him.”
Kenna looked at Tearloch with unfathomable regret in her eyes. “Nay, Sire.”
Her beloved folded his arms and planted his feet wide. “Why?”
She sighed. “He will not want me, when all is said.”
Tearloch pushed past the king’s arm and came to stand at her shoulder, to loom over her. His breathing was deep and steady. “I assure ye, he will.”
“Tell her all of it, damn you!” Duncan’s voice again reverberated through the chamber as he took a step toward Tearloch.
“One bite at a time, Duncan,” the king said. “We do not wish her to choke.” Then to Tearloch, “It appears ye’ve lost yer best man to her.”
As Kenna watched, Duncan avoided his leader’s gaze as did Jamie and Leland when Tearloch looked around the room. There were also some of the king’s own guards whose eyes fell to the floor.
“Aye. I have lost more than one, but already ye’ve lost a few, Yer Majesty.”
“Weel, so I have,” Malcolm smiled, unconcerned. “Now…”
“Nay, Yer Majesty, we’ll discuss nothing else until she agrees to be my wife.” Tearloch held her gaze and spoke as if they were alone. “Kenna, I love ye. As ye surely love me. Wed me and let me make ye happy. If ye havenae learned it by now, I cannae live without ye.”
Kenna felt that old melting feeling from the rumbling of Tearloch’s brogue. His “r”s always tripped harder when he was upset or impassioned. Her body shook at the contradiction of longing for his touch and shrinking from him. Her eyes rested on his chest, but the cloud of her despair made the world a bit wooly.
“Lass, lass. Look at me. Do ye think that whatever has happened to ye since ye left Lochahearn would have changed my heart?”
When his question finally penetrated her brain, she steeled herself.
“Nay, but it is about to.”
“Ye’re wrong, oh so wrong. But so be it. I will not leave yer side, come what may.” He turned and stood at her shoulder, and together they faced the king.
She raised her eyes to his. “I promise that if ye still want me, after all is said and all is done, I will be yer wife. If there is a breath left in me, and I’m a free woman, I will marry ye.” She gave him a pitying smile and then turned to the king. “I am ready now, Your Majesty.”
Malcolm returned to his kingly chair and indicated that Kenna could sit, but she shook her head. He inclined his head and waved a hand. “Tell us what happened from the moment you were taken by Gair Balloch.”
She told them everything she could remember but stopped before she got to the part about the marriage ceremony.
The king produced a large parchment and held it before him. “We found this marriage contract aboardThe Temptress. The marriage was between Gair Balloch and Kenna Carlisle.” He looked at her for confirmation and she nodded. “Tell me about the ceremony.”
She told him how it had happened, leaving out the details of the leering crowd.
“You never agreed?”
“Nay, Sire, but ‘tis my signature.”
The king smiled. “Will you add this to the fire?”
Kenna walked forward and took the parchment, her marriage contract, and looked up at her king in question.
“Ah, Kenna, there is no marriage where there is no consent.”
Kenna carried it to the hearth and pushed the paper into the flames.Could it be he does not know Balloch is dead?Or did they know everything and they were simply waiting for her to confess?
It was too exhausting, too painful—this breathing in and out. She was ready to have it done.
She did not return to face the king until the last piece of the wretched lie had turned to ash. When she was again next to Tearloch, he took her hand, pulled it around his arm, and placed his hand firmly on top of hers, telling her she would have his support whether she welcomed it or not.
