"Boyd," she whispered, hating how broken his name sounded on her lips."Why?Why did ye not come?"
For a long moment, he said nothing.Just stared at her with those cold, pitiless eyes while the woman on his lap watched with curious amusement.
Then he laughed.
It was a cruel sound, devoid of any warmth she'd ever heard from him before.He took a long drink of his ale, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and finally spoke.
"Why?"His voice was rough, mocking."Why would I wed a spoiled, high-born lass who thinks herself above everyone else?"
Bella felt the words pierce her heart."What do ye mean?Boyd, I dinnae understand."
"Dinnae ye?"He stood abruptly, dumping the tavern wench off his lap.He towered over Bella now, and she realized with a jolt of fear that she did not recognize this man at all."Let me make it clear for ye then, mistress.Ye were a wager amongst friends."
The tavern erupted in laughter.Someone whistled.Someone else made a crude jest.
"No," Bella breathed."No, ye love me.Ye said—"
"I said what ye wanted to hear," Boyd cut her off, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper that only she could hear."Did ye truly believe I'd shackle myself for life to a haughty, deceitful bitch like ye?That I'd throw away everything for some highborn whore?"
Bella visibly flinched as if he had struck her across the face.
"I waited for ye," she said, her voice trembling despite her best efforts."I risked everything."
"Dinnae lie to me."His eyes were ice."'Twas I who risked it all for nothing.Ye might think I'm just a lowly blacksmith's apprentice not worthy to wipe dung off yer shoe, but at least I managed to bring ye down to my level."
His friends roared with laughter.The tavern wench rejoined Boyd's side, pressing herself against him with a victorious smirk.
Bella shook her head."No, I've never thought of ye that way.I've never been anything but truthful!"
"Be gone!"Boyd said, turning away from her as if she were nothing."I curse the day I ever met ye."
The world tilted.Bella's vision blurred, but she refused to let them see her cry.Refused to give them that satisfaction.
"Bella," Una's voice came from behind her, urgent and frightened."Come away.Come away now."
Una shot Boyd and his friends a filthy look, but Bella was already moving.Her legs felt like water, but she forced them to work.One step.Then another.She held her head high, kept her spine straight, even as her heart shattered into a thousand pieces inside her chest.
It was all a lie.The words whispered through her mind as the tears began to fall unbidden.
The laughter followed her out onto the pathway.Bella felt completely numb as she stumbled away from the tavern, grateful for Una's steadying hand and calming words."He's not worth it, Bella.Dinnae waste another tear on that miserable arse!"
Bella could only nod as her tears fell freely.
What Bella did not see, what she couldn't have seen as she walked away, was Boyd distancing himself from the tavern wench, his hands clenching into fists beneath the table.Something cracked behind his eyes, just for a moment, before he buried it deep and reached for his ale with shaking hands.
And she did not see the person watching from the shadows in the corner, with a satisfied smile on their face.
***
