“Then I will nae ask,” she said. A small line appeared between her brows. “Though I reserve the right to think ye are being stubborn about it.”
He snorted despite himself. “Ye may think whatever ye like. So long as ye daenae pry it out of me men, either. They answer to me.”
The line between her brows smoothed. “I would nae do that.”
“Good,” he said. “Second. Nay careless approach, unless there is true need.”
Her lips parted. “Approach?”
“To me,” he clarified. “The keep is large. There will be times I am in council, or with the men, or… simply in need of quiet. I daenae want ye bursting in on a whim.”
“Bursting in,” she repeated, sounding faintly offended and faintly amused all at once.
“Aye,” he said. “If ye seek me, there must be cause. Summon me proper, or wait until I am done. Unless there is an emergency. If someone is hurt, if the walls are breached, if the roof is on fire, ye come straight to me and hang the consequences.”
A smile tugged at her mouth before she caught it. “So. Nay interrupting yer brooding unless the world is ending.”
His eyes narrowed. “I daenae brood.”
“If ye say so,” she said lightly.
He chose to let that pass, mostly because she was not entirely wrong and he had no interest in debating the point.
“Third,” he said, a little more firmly. “Ye will perform yer duties as lady of me keep.”
She sat up straighter. “Duties, such as?”
“Seeing to the running of the hall,” he said. “Approving the meals. Choosing the servants. Inventory of the stores. The care of guests when they come. The well-being of those in our charge. They will look to ye for guidance in such matters. Me men ken me. The children and the women folk daenae. They will ken ye first.”
She nodded, a flush of something like purpose coming to her cheeks. “I can do that.”
“I expect ye to,” he said. Then he hesitated.
There was another expectation. One he would not, could not allow to stand between them unspoken.
He looked at her directly. “There is one more thing I should make plain.”
Her fingers curled slightly on her skirt. “A fourth rule.”
“A truth,” he said. “So there is nay misunderstanding.”
She went very still. “Go on.”
“I daenae want an heir,” he said.
The fire cracked in the silence that followed. Outside, the wind hissed faintly against the shutter.
Her expression faltered. Her eyes dropped, then lifted again, searching his face. “At all?”
“Nay,” he said. “At all.”
“But…” She swallowed. “Yer line. Yer clan.”
“I have an heir,” he answered. “Hunter is me heir.”
Ariella seemed to take that in. Something small and bright in her gaze dimmed, though she smoothed her features quickly. “I see.”
He almost explained. Almost told her about blood on snow, about a boy’s arrogance and what it had cost, about the vow he had made over cold bodies that he would never put another life at risk for his own selfish wants.
