"I was just being strict."
"Ye were just showin'yer true nature," Ewan interrupted. "And I'm done toleratin' it. I want ye out of me castle. Today. If I see ye here again without an invitation, I'll have ye escorted off the premises. Am I clear?"
Laura's facehad gone from pale to red, her hands clenching at her sides. "Ye cannae, me faither is on the council."
"Then I suggest ye go cryin'to him about how unfair I'm bein'." Ewan's voice was cold as winter. "I'm sure he'll be very sympathetic when I tell him his daughter has been harrassin' a ten-year-old child and insultin' me betrothed."
For a moment,Laura just stood there, trembling with rage and humiliation. Then she spun on her heel and stormed from the hall, her footsteps echoing in the sudden silence.
Maia sat frozen,her heart pounding, unable to quite process what had just happened.
Ewan had defended her.Had actually stood up for her, had thrown Laura out of the castle, had called Maia his betrothed in a voice that brooked no argument.
It shouldn't matter.This was all pretend, all a convenient fiction to solve the problem Maia had created.
But it mattered anyway.
"Thank ye,"she whispered, not quite able to meet his eyes.
Ewan returned to his seat,his expression softening slightly. "Ye daenae need to thank me, lass. She was out of line."
A beat of silence,then?—
"That was brilliant!"
Kian'sexcited voice shattered the tension. The boy was practically bouncing in his seat, his dark eyes shining with admiration. "Did ye see his face, Maia? Did ye see how cool me faither rlooked when he told her to leave?"
"Kian—"Ewan started, but the boy was already talking over him.
"And the wayye said she couldnae come back without permission! That was perfect! I want to be just like ye when I grow up, faither. Exactly like ye, brave and strong and nae afraid of anyone!"
Despite everything,despite the shame still burning in her chest and the tears still threatening, Maia felt a smile tug at her lips.
"Yer uncle is rather impressive,"she agreed softly, finally daring to glance at Ewan.
He was watchingher with an expression she couldn't quite read, something warm and concerned and complicated.
"Eat yer breakfast, lad,"he said gruffly to Kian. "And ye too, Maia. Ye barely touched yer porridge."
Maia looked downat her bowl, but the thought of eating made her stomach churn. Laura's words kept echoing in her head, mixing with every cruel thing her uncle had ever said.
A womanof yer size willnae be able to satisfy him.
It was true,wasn't it? Even if this betrothal were real—which it wasn't, she reminded herself firmly—why would someone like Ewan want someone like her? He could have his pick of women. Beautiful women like Laura, with slender figures and perfect faces, and the kind of grace Maia would never possess.
Why wouldhe settle for too plump, too plain, too much Maia Ferguson?
He wouldnae.This is all pretend. Ye're just a convenient solution to a problem.
The thought should have been comforting. Shouldhave reminded her not to get attached, not to start hoping for things that could never be.
Instead,it made her chest ache with a loneliness so profound she could barely breathe.
"I'm nae very hungry,"she heard herself say. "May I be excused?"
Ewan frowned."Ye need to eat somethin', lass."
"I'll eat later.I just, I need some air."
