“Then ye should wed her,” he said. “Perhaps if ye try tae explain all this to Maither and Faither the way ye did tae me, they’ll understand better.”
James could only hope that would happen. The thought of leaving everything behind frightened him, of course, but he was prepared to do anything it took to be with Freya—even if it meant stepping down as the heir of the clan. He didn’t want to do it, he didn’t want to part from his family and his people, but if his parents gave him no other choice…
“Why did they bring the Campbells here?” James asked then, as the question had been bugging him ever since he had seen Evelyn and her uncle. “Why the hurry? They were supposed tae wait fer me tae return. Especially once they found out I might not even be alive.”
“They insisted,” Edward said. “Evelyn was Maither’s first choice and when the Campbells found out, they were very eager taecome here. And once they were here, we couldn’t just send them off after the news of yer possible incident.”
James frowned at that. He didn’t like the sound of it at all, as it could only mean that they had a lot to gain from the union—or perhaps a lot to lose if it didn’t happen. It would only complicate things for him and Freya if Alastair and Evelyn tried to get in the way.
“Dae ye ken why they didnae leave?” James asked.
“Nay,” said Edward. “But I can only assume it’s because Evelyn is the last of them. They need her tae wed and have an heir.”
“Nay braithers? Cousins?”
“Nay one,” said Edward. “Alastair Campbell is the last male of their line. Nay bairns of his own. He’s been acting as the laird of the clan, but the council wants her to find a suitable mate, as far as I ken.”
And who could be more suitable than someone who was raised tae be a laird?
“I see,” James said. There were only so many men who could fill this role for Evelyn and out of all of them, it wouldn’t surprise him if he was her best option. If they had set their sights on him, there was a good chance it would be difficult to get out of the arrangement without throwing both clans into chaos andcausing a war no one wanted to fight. If the Campbells felt disrespected by his decision, then they wouldn’t take it lightly.
“Just talk to them,” Edward urged him. “See what they say. There’s still time.”
“I just wish they wouldnae have done this without consulting me first,” James said. “I was out there, lost at sea fer days, and they were planning me wedding. I lost me memory… what if I had never returned? What if I had never remembered who I was?”
Edward only shook his head with a sigh. He had nothing to say to that and neither did James. Had he simply disappeared, the Campbells would have accepted it, eventually, and returned to their home empty-handed. But now, with him there, there was no telling what they would do.
“Will ye come with me?” James asked. Their parents were unlikely to listen to Edward if they didn’t listen to him, but he thought his presence in the room might be calming to everyone involved.
“Sure,” said Edward. “Let us go.”
The keep was larger than anything Freya had ever seen. Even the convent, which had always seemed cavernous and awe-inspiring to her, paled in comparison to this.
As Morgana led her through the hallways, Freya looked around at her surroundings with wide eyes, taking everything in. She could only describe the place as opulent, more so than any other place she had visited. Not only was the castle large in size, with tall, towering ceilings and walls that seemed to stretch forever, but it was also lavishly decorated with tapestries rich in color and embroidery, and paintings so intricate that their subjects may very well have been alive.
“These are all former lairds of the clan,” Morgana said as they walked down a corridor decorated with portraits. “The last one is our grandfaither… but I dinnae like this place very much. I always found it… unsettling.”
Freya could see why. For all its glory and grandeur, there was a certain strangeness to the keep, a severity that caused the guest to feel as though under scrutiny by all those eyes in the paintings, and the effect was nowhere as strong as in that hallway. That was what Freya had always liked about her modest hut—it had been a cozy place, one that had all the warmth a home should have. The keep was not designed for warmth, but rather for making a strong impression and as an exhibition of wealth.
“These will be yer chambers,” Morgana said as they reached a door, its wooden surface intricately carved with floral motifs. When she opened it, revealing the rooms on the other side, Freya breathed out a sigh of relief. It wasn’t their size that caused it, though they were, indeed, large—a sitting room, followed by a spacious bedroom that had everything she could ever need. Rather, it was the fact that unlike the corridors they had passed, the room did feel welcoming, with plush rugs on the stone floorsand colorful tapestries that continued the floral theme of the door.
Someone had taken care, it seemed, to make this room as comfortable as possible.
Still, there was something that bothered Freya; something she couldn’t quite get used to.
“This isnae necessary,” she said, though she made sure to give Morgana a grateful smile. “It is truly too large fer me. I am only one person!”
Morgana tilted her head to the side, looking at Freya as though she couldn’t comprehend what she was saying. “It is a normal sized room,” she claimed.
I think me definition of normal and her definition of normal may be different.
“Right. Of course,” said Freya rather than trying to argue with that. She supposed that, for Morgana, at least, this was a normal sized room.
Walking hesitantly inside, Freya looked around, trying to familiarize herself with the space. How long would she spend in that room? James had promised her that she was the only one he wanted to marry, but would he buckle under his parents’ pressure ? Would he change his mind?
“Is it tae yer liking?” Morgana asked, following her inside.
“Aye,” Freya said. “Of course! It’s more than I have ever had in me life.”
