“I will give ye a choice, Ailis,” her father said. “Consent to marry Lord Duncan now or ye will marry the man who next enters my keep.”
She couldn’t help herself. She looked to doors of the keep across the chamber. Closed because of the storm raging outside, ‘twas almost as though everyone witnessing this expected the doors to crash open and a man to enter as if told beforehand to do so.
After that did not happen, she turned back to face her father. Certain that, if given time, she’d find a way to change his mind on this declaration, Ailis decided to agree with his demand. Aye, there would be time to allow her stepmother to soothe his temper as she seemed to in times like this one.
“I will marry the next man through the door, Father.”
‘Twas her father’s turn to be surprised and his expression showed him so. Davina whispered out a warning, but Ailis would listen not. Ailis spoke her words louder so all could hear.
“I will accept the next man through the door.”
Would her father call her bluff or accept it? He stared for a long moment before nodding. Chances were that any man entering was someone in their clan and married already. Content that she would have more time to chip away at her father’s demands, she glanced at Lord Duncan.
God bless him, the man appeared relieved at this development. Ailis didn’t doubt that the man, nigh on sixty years of age, was silently thanking the Almighty for saving him. When her father took Davina’s hand and led her back to table, Lord Duncan followed. Ailis returned to her seat and held up her cup to be filled by the servant. She’d barely settled on the wooden chair when one of the doors blew open with a bang. Ailis jumped to her feet and wondered if the fates had called her to task for her bold bluff.
A form appeared there; tall, swaddled in layers of soaking plaid. She squinted across the smoky chamber, trying to determine who it was. Her father rose and called out.
“Come ye inside!” he said to the stranger. “Come ye forward into the light and the warmth of my hall.”
Her stomach roiled as the person walked slowly into the chamber. The gasps rippled as those closest got a better view of this man. All she could see was the plaid that covered his body and head. With the shadows thrown by the hearth and the lanterns around the hall, she could see little but his shape.
What had she done?
The world around her faded. She stared as the man approached. He could tear that world apart, she knew that much. When he reached the bottom of the steps, her father walked to the edge and called out.
“Tell me the name of the man who will call my daughter wife!”
“My lord?” the man said in a hoarse voice.
“My lord!” Davina called out as she rushed to Ailis’ side and pulled her close.
“Father!” she whispered as shadows as dark as the man before them rose up to claim her.
