Chapter Three
Ailis sat, silent with shock, as her father and this man bargained and bartered for her. How had this come to be? She feared she understood the truth but didn’t wish to accept it.
Davina flitted around, sometimes standing by her side and other times hovering over her father as he spoke to ‘Iain’. Ailis wanted to both shout at her to stop moving and hug her tightly as they used to do before … before all of this.
Should she refuse? Should she run away? Davina spoke just as Ailis was about to lose control and do something rash.
“Finnan, ye must listen to me.” In a voice and tone that Ailis had never heard before, her stepmother spoke again, “Finnan, ye must stop this and listen to me.”
Ailis had never heard Davina press herself forth in such a manner. Not in public. Unless this was their manner in private? She shook herself rather than contemplate that.
Her father faced Davina. One glance at her used-to-be-friend’s face and his gaze softened. He guided her into the alcove near the doorway to listen to her. Ailis could not look away from them. Since their marriage, he had changed. Though he had respected her mother, and loved her in his own way, Finnan MacKinnon never accepted her counsel the way he had Davina’s. He had never listened to Ailis either.
A sound from the man drew her attention. She watched him stretch his neck one direction and then the other. He reached inside his hood and tugged on the mask. A sigh not unlike the one she made when she removed her gloves at night echoed to her. The skin on her hands and arms itched then as though reminded of their discomfort.
What had happened to him? What did the mask and hood cover? Shouldn’t she know before they were man and wife? As though he’d felt her regard, he met her gaze and she thought his eyes might be blue. Mayhap like Lachlan’s were? The ever-present pain reared inside her and she looked away.
“Ailis,” Davina said. “Yer father wishes to give ye some time to acquaint yerself with this man before the marriage is held.”
Ailis stood quickly and nodded. “Several months?”
A strange grating sound drew her gaze to the man in question. If she didn’t know otherwise, she thought he might have just laughed. Why was his voice so rough?
“Nay,” Davina continued to speak for Ailis’ father. “Three days.” At her loud gasp, Davina waved her off. “If, after three days, ye have some specific objection, yer father will consider it.” Davina glanced at her husband and back to Ailis. “If there is no true objection, the marriage vows will be spoken on the fourth morning.”
Torn between thanking Davina for her intervention and screaming like aban-sidhe, Ailis sat down in the chair nearest the fire and tried to concentrate on finding a way out of this predicament. The scraping of wood across the floor brought her from her reverie. Glancing up, she realized that only the stranger remained.
“So, my lady, tell me honestly why yer father does this?” Iain asked as he slid a chair across the chamber and placed it next to hers. “Is he kenned for fits of madness?”
She couldn’t help herself. She laughed at his candidness before taking a mouthful of ale from her cup.
“He is the most sober and methodical man I’ve ever seen,” she replied. “But none of us have been the same since my mother died last year.”
“Grief can change a person, I think,” he said. “Has his own pain made him wish this upon ye?”
“Why does it matter, sir?” she asked harshly. “Ye walk in here and find yerself marrying a noblewoman. A wealthy one at that. I would think a man like ye would thank the Almighty for such a change in fortune.” She jumped to her feet and strode away.
Grief can change a person, he’d said.
She put the cup down and realized she had nowhere to go. Ailis realized the truth in his words. Grief for her mother’s passing had colored her feelings for the way her father had remarried so quickly. ‘Twas expected for a man of his position and age to continue to seek sons, but marrying her closest friend was a step too far.
And the worst blow of them all … Lachlan’s death.
Her conscience bothered her in a most disturbing way. This man, who had suffered grievous harm, didn’t deserve to be the target of her ire. He’d played no part in the events of this last year and shouldn’t be burdened by her rudeness.
“Sir,” she said without turning to face him. “I beg yer forgiveness for my rude behavior.” She let out a breath and turned. He stood before her, his height and breadth now apparent to her. She had to lean her head back to see his face, much like. … Ailis pushed the pain down once more and tried to make amends. “Ye played no part in what brought me and my father and his wife to this place.”
“May I ask again, what did?”
His voice was softer when he whispered, the hoarseness almost gone and she could understand his words clearly. Though he had dropped the plaid down onto his shoulders, the hood still covered his hair and the mask his face. Ailis should be afraid of this man who would lay claim to her in four days. Yet, she was not.
Mayhap the truth would make him reconsider this madness? Mayhap if he knew how vicious and mean she could be to those she cared about, he would refuse this devil’s bargain or be willing to be paid off to walk away?
“I pushed him into this fit of madness, as ye called it. I did it,” she said while gazing at the ties on his tunic. “I drove him to marry Davina and force me out of my home.”
It took a few uncomfortable moments for her look up to see his reaction. With his head tilted down and the hood low over his brow, it was difficult to see his eyes. For some reason, it felt better not to be able to see the certain censure in this stranger’s gaze.
After several moments, he canted his head as though studying her even more closely. Still wordless, she heard his breathing grow shallow until he leaned down and kissed her.
