His brow furrowed with displeasure, and she regretted the brash reply, when she had come here to negotiate in a civilized manner. She half expected him to rise up out of the chair and show her the back of his hand. He continued, however, to sit calmly, relaxed, but with a focused expression that made her feel as if she were standing before him naked. Her cheeks flushed with heat.
“Do you understand, lass, that I have already claimed you as my wife?”
“I heard as much when you shouted my marriage proposal from the rooftops, instead of asking me directly.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Do you wish me to get down on bended knee?”
“Not particularly.”
He nodded, as if he were reaching a number of conclusions about her character and temperament in these moments, based on her replies.
He sat back. “Good, because I’m not the romantic sort.”
“You don’t say. I am astonished.”
There was a fluttering in the rafters above, and his eyes lifted. He caught sight of the tiny bird that had been nesting in the hall for as long as she could remember. It flew out the open arched doorway to the bailey.
“No one has been able to get rid of that bird,” she told him. “Maybe you’ll have better luck. Or maybe the poor defenseless creature has just realized what calamity has befallen her home, and has finally flown the coop.”
“We’ll see,” he replied, rising to his feet, as if he had grown bored of the conversation and had much more important matters to attend to.
She hastened to step forward before he could dismiss her. “All that aside,” she blurted out, “I would like to negotiate the terms of my surrender.”
His eyes settled upon her again and he spoke in a patronizing tone. “Your surrender…”
“Aye. I told you I would resist you, and I will, in every sense of the word, unless this situation can be resolved to my liking.”
For a long moment he stared at her, as if he could barely comprehend what he’d just heard. A dark scowl passed across his features, and yet there was something else… Was it possible that he was enjoying her insolence?
“Toyourliking,” he repeated.
“Aye.”
A muscle clenched in his jaw, and any hint of interest vanished, as she realized she had struck a very bad note. It was obvious from the rising tide of fury in his eyes that he was not accustomed to hearing such demands from people, much less a woman he had just claimed as his possession. He was used to being feared.
He stepped down from the dais and approached her. She took a step back. It was one thing to speak to a conquering warlord seated in a chair, ten feet away. It was quite another to be standing at eye level with his chest—so close, she could see the bloodstains in the individual fibers of his shirt, and smell the fresh aroma of his sweat.
Slowly, carefully, she lifted her eyes.
He was glaring down at her with blistering antagonism. “I’ll hear your terms now,” he said.
Thankful that his sword was still sheathed in the scabbard and she was still in possession of her head, Gwendolen cleared her throat. “I want you to honor the conditions you offered just now to the people of my clan, but I have something else to add.”
“Speak, then.”
She wet her dry lips. “Those who must forfeit their homes, but choose to stay and pledge allegiance to you, will be given compensation from the Kinloch treasury. I understand that there will be no compensation given to those who leave, but I must be assured that if that is what they choose, they will be permitted to leave freely, without fear of death or retaliation by your warriors.”
“Agreed,” he replied.
Surprised by the swiftness and ease with which he accepted her first request, she nevertheless proceeded with caution. “I petition also that my mother will be treated with the appropriate respect due to her, as the widow of a past Laird of Kinloch. She will keep her apartments and jewels, and she will sit at our table.”
“Agreed,” he said. “Anything else?”
She swallowed thickly. “All members of the MacEwen clan will have rights equal to the MacDonalds in all matters.”
He thought about that one for a moment. “If they pledge their allegiance to me tonight, I give you my word that they will have equal rights.”
She realized suddenly that she was perspiring, and wiped the back of her hand across her damp forehead.
