Iain inclined his head. “Of course.” There was a pause, then he added amusedly. “It is nae often I see ye give the Council precisely what they wish.”
Duncan allowed the faintest hint of a smile, though it did not quite reach his eyes.
“It is nae often they ask fer something that may be given without compromise,” he replied.
Iain looked at him for a moment, as though considering that answer more closely than it might first appear to warrant. Yet he did not press it, as if he himself understood the weight of what had just been set in motion and the role of the woman at the heart of it.
Elaina had not intended to go in search of him, and yet, by midmorning, she found herself doing precisely that.
There was a restlessness in her she could not quite name, and a quiet unease that had lingered since breakfast and refused to settle. She had tried to occupy herself by sorting herbs, preparing mixtures and even assisting in the kitchens, but her thoughts wandered too easily, returning always to him.
She paused in the corridor, catching sight of a passing maid.
“Have ye seen the laird?” she asked.
The girl dipped her head politely. “Aye, me lady, nae long past. He was headed toward the larder.”
Elaina nodded her thanks and turned at once, her steps quickening before she could reconsider. The nearer she drew, the more the sounds of the courtyard carried inward. The dull thud of crates being set down signaled the steady rhythm of work in motion. She slowed as she approached the open space near the larder entrance, feeling instinct urging caution where moments before there had only been purpose.
And then she saw them. Duncan was standing with Iain just beyond the doorway. Their attention was fixed upon one another, too intent to notice her approach.
Elaina did not mean to listen, but she stopped, gently leaning behind the nearest pillar, which kept her safely out of sight.
“His offer stands,” she heard Duncan. “An alliance through marriage tae his daughter, meaning his support and his men, in return for the union.”
The words struck with such sudden force that for a moment she did not fully understand them.
Marriage.
And as if that wasn’t enough, Duncan continued. “Elaina has agreed tae the marriage, and with that, we may now define the terms of such an alliance more precisely.”
They exchanged a few more words, and each seemed to land heavier than the last. For a moment, the world around herseemed to recede, all of it fading beneath the sharp, hollow echo of what she had just heard.
Her stomach dropped. It was as though the ground beneath her had shifted, leaving her unsteady where she stood.
Me faither… an alliance… through marriage.
She did not recall the moment her restraint gave way. One instant she remained where she stood, hidden and silent, and the next, she had stepped forward, with the force of her emotion carrying her beyond all caution.
“Is that the reason ye asked me tae marry ye?”
Her voice, though not raised, cut cleanly through the space between them.
Both men turned. Duncan looked at her as though struck not by anger, but by the suddenness of her presence, and the unmistakable hurt in her tone.
“Elaina, I?—”
But she could not endure the gentleness of it.
“Is it?” she pressed, her composure trembling beneath the strain she could no longer conceal. “Was it only ever that, a bargain between men? Me faither offers, and ye accept?”
Duncan moved toward her at once, his expression sharpening with urgency. “Nay, that is nae?—”
“I heard ye,” she said, the words escaping her before she could soften them, though her hands had already begun to tremble at her sides. “I heard every word.”
A silence followed. It was brief, but heavy enough to alter the air.
“Then ye heard only part of it,” he replied.
