“A friend of yer father’s?” she prompted, trying to get a little more out of him, but before she could, he turned and made for the doorway of their chambers.
“Ye’ll be expected fer dinner,” he told her. “Be ready in an hour. I’ll introduce ye then.” And, with that, just as quickly as he had arrived, he was gone.
She stared at the spot he had been standing for a moment, wondering if she had imagined his presence there entirely. Putting aside her embroidery with a sigh, she went to rummage through her clothes and find something that she could deem suitable for such a meeting. If his reaction was anything to go by, then she’d need to make sure she looked unassailable.
Once she was dressed, in a soft crimson robe with a matching ribbon around her neck, she made her way downstairs to the dining hall, which was already laden with food. Camron sat at the head of the table, one hand wrapped around a cup of ale and the other draped on his chair, while Archie made conversation with the new guest. The man, who looked old enough that she doubted he should have been travelling at all, rose to his feet when he saw her, offering her a pointed bow.
“And this must be the new Lady of the Keep,” he remarked, and she stepped towards him, offering him a hand.
“Aye, this is Camron’s wife, Isla,” Archie cut in, before Camron could speak.
She could sense her husband bristling out of the corner of her eye at Archie’s introduction, but she hoped he would not find a reason to turn this into a fight.
“And she’s quite capable of introducing herself,” she replied lightly, as she curtsied and nodded in greeting. “A pleasure to meet ye, sir. Camron told me you were a friend of his father’s.”
“Aye, I was,” Robert replied, easing himself back into his seat with a slight grunt of discomfort.
“And I’m sure he’d have been glad to see his son take such a beautiful young bride,” Archie cut in, as Isla reached across the table to take Camron’s hand. She managed a slightly pinched laugh in return, but it seemed enough to stoke his commentary further.
“Ye know, Robert,” he continued. “Camron took her as a wife before they’d so much as had a real conversation. But I cannae say it surprises me. If I had seen a beauty such as her, well, I couldnae have resisted, either.”
She forced a smile for Archie, silently willing him to shut his mouth before he commented any further on what he thought of her appearance. Camron’s grip tightened on her hand, and Archie’s gaze flicked to it for a moment, as though pleased that his words had had some kind of impact.
“So, Robert,” Camron began, turning the conversation to the matter at hand. “What brings ye to the Keep at such short notice?”
“To meet yer wife, of course,” Robert replied, letting out a bark of laughter as though it should have been obvious.
He had a harsh way about him, Isla noticed. Camron might have been straightforward with his words, but Robert seemed different, as though he rather enjoyed forcing everyone to pay him attention.
“Well, here I am,” Isla replied, doing her best to diffuse the tension, though she was sure it would not be so easy to get rid of.
“Aye, and here ye are,” Robert remarked, flicking his gaze up and down her for a moment.
“No trouble in yer lands, I hope,” Camron pressed, clearly sensing that there was more to his arrival here than met the eye.
Robert grimaced slightly, shaking his head. “No, no’ in my neck of the woods,” he replied. “But I’ve heard some tell of problems wi’ the farmers in the village. Looking for more coin for their crops, it seems.”
Camron lifted his cup to his lips, not replying. Upon not getting an answer, Robert continued, and Isla fidgeted with the ribbon around her neck, the tension in the air almost more than she could take.
“And yer father would have been quick to put a stop to it,” he remarked. “I recall when there was a similar problem in his time as Laird when he?—”
“Aye, I’m aware of what my father did,” Camron replied, voice pulled taut.
Isla flicked her gaze to him.What exactly had his father done?
“And you’d be wise to do the same thing,” Robert pressed. “He would have put them down in no time. Made them pay for daring to stand against him.”
Before she could stop herself, Isla interjected.
“Should a Laird be so quick to punish his people if they have problems that need to be addressed?” she asked.
Robert’s eyes roved to her, a brow cocking, clearly not entirely convinced that he needed to hear her point of view on this.
“What do ye?—”
“I think ye should meet with them, Camron,” she remarked, turning to her husband. “If they take issue with the way things are, it would be a better idea to try to make them right than to make an example of them, would it not?”
Robert snorted loudly before Camron could reply.
