“Nay,” he said too quickly.
She turned to him, surprise flashing across her face for a brief moment.
His shoulders tensed slightly. He reached for his goblet, feigning greater interest in the ale than the conversation itself, and silence stretched between them until the eldest councilman finally rose from his seat.
“Me Laird,” he began carefully, though he could barely mask the suspicion in his voice. “This announcement comes as a great surprise to us.”
Aaron looked at him evenly. “Aye, that was the intention.”
Low, uncomfortable laughter rippled through the hall before quickly dying down.
The elder bowed his head slightly and sat back down, returning to his meal. But clearly, the councilmen were not ready to let the matter rest.
“Begging yer pardon, me Laird.” One of them rose abruptly, his chair scraping loudly across the stone floor. “Why was this match arranged without the knowledge of yer council?”
Edith shifted faintly in her seat, and Aaron’s jaw tightened.
“Certain matters daenae require yer involvement,” he said coolly. “Choosing a wife is one of them.”
There was no laughter this time. Instead, tension built along the table.
Another elder cleared his throat. “With respect, me Laird, the clan merely wishes to understand how such a match came about.”
Aaron leaned back slightly in his chair. He had expected this.
His eyes flickered briefly toward Caelan, narrowing slightly at the faint smile on his man-at-arms’ face.
I shall deal with him later.
“The clan kens me betrothed well enough already,” he said simply. “She has been living at Hallow Castle for years.”
“Aye, as a maid’s daughter,” one of the councilmen muttered.
The words landed hard. Several people lowered their eyes at once.
Aaron set down his goblet, the sound loud enough to quiet the table. His eyes narrowed on the councilman who had spoken.
“Be careful,” he warned quietly. “Edith is me future wife. Ye will respect her in this hall, or ye willnae speak in it again.”
Edith did not realize she’d been holding her breath until her lungs burned for air.
She stood in the corridor with Violet, the evening replaying in her mind as she waited for Aaron to step out of the Great Hall.
It was only an act.
Her chest warmed as she remembered how he had defended her honor at the table.
He didnae truly mean it.
But it was difficult to convince herself of the truth when the anger in his eyes had looked so real as he spoke those words before the entire clan.
“Edith is me future wife. Ye will respect her in this hall, or ye willnae speak in it again.”
I cannae let this distract me. This is only a temporary arrangement.
Edith had not expected the betrothal announcement to go nearly as well as it did. The councilmen had changed their attitude toward her after Aaron’s words, and a drunk clansman had even raised a toast to her. The bonnie bride-to-be, he had called her. It had truly felt nice, even though she was going to be no one’s bride.
For a moment, she could hardly believe that she had almost fled the castle to avoid it.
