His hands curled into fists at his sides.
"Ye're goin' tae break that cup if ye keep grippin' it like that," Fergus observed.
Alpin looked down. He was indeed still holding his ale, his knuckles white around the metal. He forced himself to loosen his grip.
"I'm fine."
"Ye look like ye want tae murder young Hamish."
"I dinnae want tae murder anyone."
"Liar." Callum was outright laughing now. "Ye're starin' at him like he just insulted yer maither."
"He's holdin' her too close."
"He's barely touchin' her at all. Look, his hand's proper on her waist, nae wanderin' anywhere it shouldnae be. The lad kens better."
That was true.
Hamish was being perfectly respectful, keeping an appropriate distance even as they spun through the steps. But it didn’t matter. Because it should have been his hand on her waist. His hand she was holding.
Mine
"How long is this song?" he muttered.
It felt like an eternity.
Alpin forced himself to look away, to take a long drink of his ale, to engage in conversation with the council members nearby.
But his attention kept drifting back to the dance floor. To Mhairi's smile as Hamish said something that made her laugh. To the way her skirts swirled around her legs as she turned. To the careful distance she'd been maintaining from Alpin all evening.
She'd barely spoken to him since the afternoon. Had avoided his eyes during dinner. And now she was dancing with someone else while Alpin stood on the sidelines like a fool.
"She's afraid," Callum said quietly.
Alpin glanced at him. "What?"
"Mhairi. She's afraid." Callum nodded toward the dance floor. "Look at her. Really look."
Alpin did. And this time he saw past the smile, past the grace. Saw the tension in her shoulders.
The way her eyes kept darting toward the doors as if expecting Ashcombe to burst through at any moment. The way she held herself slightly apart even from Hamish, as though bracing for something terrible.
"She thinks she's bringin' danger tae us," Alpin said while still looking at her. "Tae me. So she's pullin' away because she thinks it'll help."
"Will it? Her faither wants her back. Ashcombe wants her back. Graham wants his money. And all of that puts us at risk." Callum's expression was serious now. "I dinnae agree with her reasonin', mind. But I understand it."
The song ended. Hamish bowed, Mhairi curtsied, and the lad reluctantly stepped away as another warrior immediately approached.
Alpin was moving before he consciously decided to.
He crossed the hall in long strides, reaching Mhairi just as the new suitor opened his mouth to ask for a dance.
"She's promised tae me," Alpin said.
The warrior––one of the older men, married with children––took one look at Alpin's face and wisely retreated.
Mhairi looked up at him, color flooding her cheeks. "Alpin."
