Elsie’s mouth curved into a small, knowing smile and she tossed a curl over her shoulder. “I am always in danger. I live with ye, savage laird that ye are.”
Selene bit the inside of her cheek trying to hold in a giggle.
Halvard’s lips twitched. “Dinnae be clever with me.”
“But ‘twas ye who taught me cleverness, ma love,” Elsie said gently.
She reached out and smoothed a wrinkle from his sleeve with the familiarity born of a loving marriage. “Ye insisted I should be observant. Tae listen. Tae read men’s moods. Now that we ken that Aidan is our enemy, dae ye truly believe I would be safer here, imagining every shadow, fearing tae ride abroad. I would be far better beside Selene and Kenneth where I canseethe threat and meet it?”
“And ye would meet the threat without a sword or a weapon?” he snapped.
Elsie’s eyes glinted and she shot him a cheeky grin. “Nor would ye let me carry a weapon here even if I stayed.”
She stepped closer still, lowering her voice. “Ye ken Kenneth will guard us. Ye trust him.”
“I trust him tae die trying,” Halvard said grimly.
“Exactly,” Elsie replied promptly. “And ye have always said there is nay safer shield than a stubborn Highlander with something tae lose.”
Kenneth coughed, switching his gaze to a series of intricate wooden carvings along the wall.
Halvard paced to the end of the study, then back, then once more. “If ye go, I will only permit ye tae stay as long as the wedding. Nae a day longer.” he insisted. “I will nae risk losing ye tae Aidan’s vengeance.”
Elsie followed him, undeterred. “Ye will nae lose me. Ye will only miss me fer a short while.”
He stopped and turned suddenly, so that she bumped right into him. Spreading his arms wide he seized her in a bear hug.
“That,” he said quietly, “is nae the same thing.”
Elsie looked up at him then, her eyes bright but steady. “Nay. It isnae. And ye ken which would hurt ye more.”
A thick, ponderous silence settled over the room. Halvard held Elsie close.
Selene’s heart pounded.
He’s wavering.
Halvard’s shoulders sagged almost imperceptibly. “Ye are a most difficult adversary,” he said hoarsely.
Elsie smiled, soft and utterly unrepentant. “Only tae the people who love me.”
She slipped her arm through his, resting her head briefly against his shoulder. “Let me go with me dear sister. Let me see her safely settled. Then you may scold me fer the rest of me life.”
“Fer the rest of mine,” he muttered.
She kissed his cheek.
He closed his eyes.
“God help me,” Halvard said, opening them again, “Ye will be the death of me.”
“Nae today,” Elsie said brightly.
He straightened, drawing in a long breath. “Very well. I shall permit ye tae travel with Laird Kenneth on two conditions.”
Kenneth’s head snapped up and Selene drew in a sharp breath, her heart stuttering.
Elsie would be coming with her, after all.
