Ulfric’s jaw worked, pride warring with self-preservation. Finally, he lowered his head stiffly. “Aye, me jarl. Me apologies, Lady Thorsen.”
“Accepted,” Erik said coolly. “See that ye remember it.”
Erik remained standing until Ulfric disappeared into the crowd, his posture rigid with barely leashed violence. When he finally lowered himself back into his chair, the movement was deliberate, controlled—a wolf deciding not to pursue fleeing prey.
His hand found hers beneath the table, grip tight enough to border on painful.
“Fierce,” he said quietly, the single word carrying weight.
“Aye, well.” She tried to sound unaffected, though her heart still hammered. “Ye married a MacKenzie. What did ye expect?”
His voice dropped lower, intimate despite the noise around them. “I expected hatred. Defiance. Maybe a dagger in me ribs when I wasnae lookin’.” He paused, studying her face. “I didnae expect tae be… proud of ye.”
The admission stole her breath. Claricia opened her mouth to respond, when Aksel appeared at Erik’s shoulder, leaning down to murmur something too quiet for her to hear.
Erik’s expression shifted—frustration flashing briefly before settling back into careful neutrality.
“Time tae go,” he said, turning to her.
“Och fer the love of… what is it now?” she asked, reaching for a piece of bread. “I’m starving, can I just?—”
“The envoy wants us tae dae our duty.” His hand found the small of her back, steady and warm and unmistakably possessive. “Come along then, wife. Let’s face what comes next.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“So that’s it, then.”
Claricia’s voice came out smaller than she’d intended, swallowed by the chamber’s heavy silence. She stood near the hearth, staring at the massive bed that dominated the room like some ancient altar built for purposes she couldn’t quite name.
“We’re… married.”
“Aye.” Erik closed the door behind them with a soft click that made her jump. “We are.”
She could hear the fire crackling, feel the weight of his gaze on her back like a physical touch. Outside, wind howled across Skye’s cliffs—wild and lonely—but inside this chamber the air felt thick enough to choke on.
“The envoy,” she said finally, still not turning. “He said talked of proof, about the sheets…” Heat flooded her face even asconfusion swamped her. “Can ye remind me again... what did he mean exactly?”
She heard him move—the sound of his sword belt being unbuckled, leather hitting wood with a dull thud. “He means the marriage needs tae be consummated.”
“Consummated.” She tested the word like it might bite her. “Me faither mentioned that. Said it was me duty tae submit tae me husband. But he wouldnae explain…” She finally turned to face him, lifting her chin despite the fear clawing at her throat. She opened her mouth, closed it. Heat flooded her cheeks, burning hotter than the fire crackling behind her.
Tell him… just tell him the truth.
“I…” she swallowed hard, forcing herself to look at him even though every instinct screamed to look away.
He’d removed his tunic. Stood there in the firelight wearing only his trews, all those tattoos she’d glimpsed in the training yard now fully visible—the raven spreading its wings across his shoulders, the ancient tree over his heart, Norse knotwork spiraling down his arms like living things. He looked like something wild, primal and utterly male, barely contained in human skin.
Her mouth went dry.
“I need tae… confess somethin’. Earlier, when ye said ye couldnae wait fer taenight, I… I may have led ye tae believe that I understood what that meant. But the truth is…” Her hands twisted in her skirts.
“What dae yethinkhappens?” His voice was gentler than she’d expected, patient in a way that somehow made everything worse.
“I dinnae ken!” The admission burst out sharp with frustration and embarrassment that scalded like shame. “Me maither died before she could tell me anythin’, and me faither turned red as a rowan berry when I asked. The servants just giggled and said I’d find out on me weddin’ night.” She wrapped her arms tighter around herself, nails digging into her own flesh. “So aye. Here I am. On me weddin’ night. Completely ignorant except that apparently it involves blood and mysterious rituals that everyone’s too embarrassed tae explain.”
Erik didn’t move for a long moment, just watched her with those unsettling grey-blue eyes that saw too much. “Ye truly dinnae ken, dae ye?”
“Would I be standin’ here feelin’ like a complete fool if I did?”
