“You are blood of my blood from this day forward. Bone of my bone. Flesh of my flesh…”
The words hung there between them, as he gazed down at her. Her heart twisted in her chest. Could a man like that ever really agree to such a promise, and mean it?
She stared at him, trying to read his expression. She was only standing there, after all, to escape the fate her father had chosen for her. Who was to say that he didn’t have similar motivations, something darker and less honest than she could read? If his past was anything to go by, she struggled to trust that he could even begin to mean-
"I give you my body, in this life, and my spirit in the next. Forever, I am yours…"
He flicked his tongue out over his lips before he finished, as though savoring the words.
“And you are mine.”
His? She was his? Her heart thudded in her chest at the thought. Perhaps he was not a pious man, perhaps he only saw this as a way to get her into his bed…
Though she supposed she was not much better than him, given the way she was using him to avoid the fate her father had chosen for her.
She stuttered out her vows, tripping over the words a few times before she managed them in their entirety, but he slipped the ring onto her finger, a binding in gold, she could see the satisfaction in his eyes. He had her right where he had wanted her from the day they had danced together at that ceilidh.
And now, she was his to do with as he pleased. Though what exactly that meant remained to be seen.
A carriage was waiting for them outside, to take them back to the Fraser estate, half a day’s ride away. Amelia and Arran came out with them to their transport, and Amelia pulled her sister into a tight hug before she went.
“You’ll write as soon as you get the chance, won’t you?” she fussed over her, picking a strand of hair from her dress where it had slipped from between the violets. Mary nodded.
“Of course I will…”
“Aye, if she finds the time,” Kiernan cut in, a devilish smile on his face. Mary’s lips parted in shock, and Arran bristled with anger, but Amelia took his hand and squeezed it tight, silently warning him that now Kiernan was part of the family, any quarrel he had with him would have to wait.
Kiernan offered Mary a hand to help her into the carriage, and, soon, the two of them were off. Mary peered through the window, towards the Aitken Keep, which had been her home for so long now. She was leaving behind her sister, her nephew, her family, everything that she had known, for a man she scarcely knew. Had she made the right choice?
To her surprise, she felt his hand cover hers where it sat on the seat between them. She glanced over at him, and she could sense from the way he was looking at her that he could feel her doubts.
“Have ye traveled much around the Highlands? Away from the Keep?”
She shook her head.
“There’s much of this fine country to see, lass. And ye’ll find plenty to like in it, I’m sure.”
His words were almost tender, catching her off-guard for a moment. In all the time she had known him, as little as that was, she had not known him to be a man who offered comfort when he sensed it was needed. He tightened his grip on her hand slightly, giving it a comforting squeeze, and she managed to offer a small smile back to him. It might not have been much, but she would cling to any vestige of kindness she could from her new husband.
As the carriage carried them over one of the large hills that surrounded the Aitken estate, she peppered him with a few questions to pass the time; about where he had grown up, what it had been like here for him, how the people were. She avoided conversation about his father, knowing it might have edged too close to a sensitive subject, but he answered her queries with an ease and openness that surprised her.
“You’ve never been to England?” she asked him, slightly surprised when he confessed that he had never left Scotland. He shook his head.
“I cannae say I have.”
“Perhaps we’ll travel there together one day,” she suggested. “And I can be your guide.”
He eyed her for a moment, amusement flashing across his face.
“Aye, maybe you will.”
Soon enough, they arrived at the Fraser Keep, an imposing building, slightly larger than Arran’s estate that sprawled across the top of one of the largest hills and looked down upon a scattering of villages and farms below. A river looped aroundthe bottom of it, the water dark under the dimming sky above them. It looked as though it could have gone on forever, there, under the starry sky, as though there was no end to the depths it reached to.
The carriage drew to a halt outside the large wooden door that led into the Keep, and Kiernan climbed out first, once again offering her his hand to help her down. She glanced around, drawing in a deep breath, trying to remind herself that this place was to be her home.
Two men stood at the doors, and they opened them for their arriving master. She noticed that one of them was staring at her with distinct confusion in his eyes. Had they heard about the wedding at all? Did they know it was due to take place? Kiernan seemed a man of such confusing notions, she could hardly tell the answer to it.
Inside, a large main hall was flanked by more guards, both of them carrying heavy swords that were slung around their waists. The sight of them sent a shiver down her spine. She knew they were only there to keep enemies at bay, but she couldn’t help but feel as though they might have been there to keep her trapped.
