Page 16 of It’s in his Highland Kiss

Perhaps that was what he feared: death. He feared that their rebellion wouldn’t go as planned, that they wouldn’t have enough men and enough gold to defeat the English, but Eiric still held onto hope. It was true that their plan hadn’t been entirely successful; they still lacked valuable gold, and even more valuable information, but they also had time. They had time, and Eiric would ensure that he would use that time as best as he could.

Getting ready for the feast—the one that he hadn’t even known he would have to attend only minutes prior—was a quick affair. He bathed and changed into clean clothes, and soon, he was making his way to the great hall, where his father was already waiting for him, along with some members of the clan.

The drinking began early. Eiric had a cup of wine in his hand before he could even seek one out as the servants served them all. While the rest of the clansmen and women began to pour into the room, Eiric kept searching for Marion, but she was nowhere to be found.

She doesna like feasts. Perhaps she willna come tonight.

Of course, his mother was very persuasive when she wanted to be, and he doubted that she would allow Marion to spend the night alone. It’s always good to be around people, his mother would often say, and she believed it with all her heart.

His gaze kept drifting to the door, minute after minute. Every time that someone entered the great hall, his heart would stop beating in his chest, and everything else around him would stop too, as though time had slowed down. Then, he would see that it wasn’t Marion, and he would be filled with disappointment.

He didn’t even realise when Marion’s absence became such a terrible thing for him. They had spent a good stretch of time together though, riding together, eating together, even sleeping side by side by the fire, and now that Marion was nowhere to be seen, he couldn’t help but feel as though something was missing, a gap that only she could fill.

Eventually, one of his clansmen managed to draw Eiric into a conversation, and he found himself looking at the door less and less; until he caught a silhouette from the corner of his eye that he knew was his mother, and then turned to see that Marion was right there by her side.

Only she looked nothing like the Marion that he knew.

The woman at the other side of the room could only be described as breathtaking, Eiric thought. She was dressed in luxurious fabric and jewels that he recognized as his mother’s own, her hair was pinned up, showing off the curve of her neck and the expanse of her decolletage, and her eyes shone brightly under the light of the torches and the candles.

Eiric was speechless, just as he was breathless. His chest was tight, as though someone had punched the air out of his lungs, and the smile that spread over his lips did so without his permission.

I’m nae supposed to feel like this. I’m nae supposed to let this happen.

And yet he hadn’t felt like that for another woman before. There had been a few girls in his life, girls that he had liked, and others that he had loved for a while, but none of them had ever left him with sweaty palms and trembling knees.

Pull yerself together. What will yer faither say if he sees ye?

That thought was enough motivation for him to shake off whatever spell had been cast onto him, and he regained his composure. He excused himself from the conversation, and made his way to Marion and his mother, the two of them walking through the crowd as his mother introduced her to everyone.

“Marion,” he said, his hand coming to rest on her shoulder as she turned to look at him. “I wasna certain if ye’d come to the feast.”

“Of course she had to come!” his mother piped up. It seemed to Eiric as though she always knew when to not speak, and yet she spoke anyway. “Isna she just lovely, Eiric? Look at her! Did ye ken that she could look like this?”

“Aye,” Eiric said, breathless, his voice barely a whisper. “I mean nay . . . nay. But ye do look verra bonnie, Marion, that’s true.”

“Oh, thank you,” Marion said, and under the candlelight, Eiric could see the flush that crept over her cheeks, turning them a bright shade of red. In that moment, he wished that his Mother weren’t right there next to them. In fact, he wished that no one else were there; that he and Marion could be all alone, so that he could tell her just how beautiful he thought she looked.

It didn’t seem proper to give such compliments to her in front of so many clansmen and women, and he certainly couldn’t ensure that he wouldn’t end up blushing furiously at his own words, as well.

Before he knew it, though, his mother was gone, milling about the room and entertaining the guests. Marion and Eiric were left alone, the people who had been standing around them now more interested in Lady MacLeod.

“Me maither always had that charm,” Eiric said as he led Marion towards his table and poured her a cup of wine. “She enters a room and suddenly everyone is around her like flies.”

As he spoke, Marion took the cup of wine and examined it carefully, a small frown on her face. “I’ve never had wine before,” she said, as she brought the cup to her nose and sniffed the liquid inside. “How do I know if I’ll like it?”

“Ye’ve never had wine before?” Eiric asked with a surprised laugh, trying to wrap his head around the fact that there were people in the world who had never tried wine. “Weel, there’s really only one way to ken whether ye like it. Ye have to drink.”

Did her maither never allow her to drink wine? What a strange woman, that Lady Hadlee.

Marion brought the cup to her lips and took a tiny sip, though she did so with hesitation. She frowned and coughed, clearly not used to the burn of the alcohol down her throat, and Eiric could only watch and suppress a smile.

He didn’t want her to think that he was mocking her. He simply found her reaction endearing.

Then again, it was also a little worrying. There were so many things that Marion didn’t know about the world, so many things she hadn’t tried, even though she was a grown woman. Her parents had kept her so sheltered from everything that Eiric didn’t know how well she would adapt to a life without them and without their rules.

She still had so much to learn. She was too innocent, too naïve for the world in which she lived, and the last thing that Eiric wanted was for something to happen to her because of it.

“I suppose it’s an acquired taste,” Marion said. “But I’ve never had anything other than water before. Everything will be an acquired taste.”