“Ye will dae it,” he cut her off tersely. “Unless ye wish tae watch him die?”
“Dinnae dae it, Ava.” Kai called up to her. “I dinnae care what happens tae me, just dinnae say ye’ll marry –”
“I’ll dae it.” A tear slid down Ava’s cheek. “I’ll marry ye, if ye vow once we stand up in church that Kai will be released, unharmed.”
“Then we have an agreement.” Laird Grant’s malicious smile made Ava’s heart tremble in her chest.
Kai knelt at the end of the church aisle, with Peters still standing behind him, a sword at his back. More than once, Kai had tried to undo the ropes that bound his hands together, but it was no use. He had been tied up too well and each time he shifted, those ropes cut a little deeper into his skin.
He was being forced to watch a nightmare.
Before the altar stood Ava and Laird Grant. Ava had been placed in some gown, a dress that she never would have worn herself. It was heavily black, ornate, with gold fringe. Even her blonde braid had been tucked up into a coif and hood, the kind she never wore.
He is making her intae the woman he wants.
Kai’s glower shifted to Laird Grant.
The man stood tall before the altar, beckoning to the dithering priest.
“Begin,” he ordered.
“Me laird.” The priest’s voice shook just as much as his body did. “Is this legal? We need witnesses.”
“We have witnesses.” He nodded at Peters behind Kai, and also the two guards which stood off to his right. One pulled a sword, making it plain that if the priest objected much further, he would be wounded for his troubles.
“Aye, aye, there are.” The priest swallowed nervously, his pitying look falling on Ava. “The bride is crying…”
“She is overwrought, that is all.”
“Ye think so, Laird Grant?” Kai found his voice. “Maybe she is crying because the man she actually wants tae marry is at the end of a sword!”
“Be quiet!” Laird Grant spun around, his eyes flashing in fury. “Or ye will be run through in this church.”
“Blood… spilt in a house of God?” The priest trembled, gripping to his bible hard. “Me laird!”
“He willnae dae it,” Kai assured the priest. “Kill me now and ye lose yer leverage over Ava tae make her marry ye. Ye willnae kill me… yet.”
His added word made Ava turn to look at him from the altar. Her cheeks were indeed very tear stained. Her lips trembled with the effort to try to stop them.
When Kai had touched him briefly before he had been struck, he had read the emotion in Laird Grant as if it was a beacon of flames.
Murder is in his heart. He intends bloodshed.
The moment they were married, Kai believed Laird Grant would advance toward him, probably take the sword from Peters and run him through there on the flagstone floor before Ava’s eyes.
A look of understanding passed between them. Ava nodded, ever so subtly, but Kai didn’t know what else to do. Even if going through with the charade of the wedding bought them time, Kai still had no way out of this. He couldn’t break the binds holding his wrists together, and if he did, Peters would surely strike him down.
“Let us begin,” Laird Grant said again, waving a hand at the priest.
Clearly, this time, the priest didn’t see the point in arguing. He shot an apologetic look at Ava but began.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…”
Kai kept his gaze on Ava. She didn’t look at Laird Grant but stared at Kai. Growing impatient, Laird Grant took hold of her chin and forced her to look at him. She pointedly closed her eyes, refusing to.
“Wife, look at me!” he hissed, talking over the priest who just continued on with the opening prayer, doing his best not to shake and drop the bible.
“I am nae yer wife yet,” she spat back, still keeping her eyes firmly closed.
