Page 38 of The Highlander’s Gypsy Temptation

“All right, then. Did you agree to marry me if that is truly Dunn’s decision?” she asked him again.

“Of course, I do, as long as ye agree as well, lass. If this is the way tae keep ye out of harm’s way I’d be honored to help ye and yer sisters,” Andrew replied. Bran whipped his head around quickly in his direction, shocked, even though his brother had given him many opportunities to speak so he would know what to say when the time came. There was no one to blame but himself.

“Ye are a very beautiful and wonderful young lady, and I would be a lucky man tae have ye as my wife,” Andrew replied solemnly, and she smiled a gentle smile at him.

“Well then, I thank you for your help, Andrew, I really do. I feel, however, that since we are going to be married, we might as well start getting to know each other a bit better so we are not merely acquaintances on the day of our wedding. How does that sound?”

Bran could feel Andrew’s gaze on him. He could feel his world coming to an end, but instead of saying anything, he looked away.

“Of course. Why dinnae I clean up, and then we can talk and get tae ken each other better?” Andrew shrugged. “Maybe we could go for a walk?”

Bran felt his heart beating faster than it had ever done as he stared at the pair, who walked away, talking about something he could not make out from the distance.

‘I cannae dae this. I dinnae think I can survive, watching her with Andrew,’ Bran murmured to himself as he watched them go. He made up his mind that once his daughter was saved, he would pack up and leave.

He could never allow himself to be forever tortured, knowing he wanted his brother’s wife.

CHAPTER TWENTY

The look on Bran’s face when Idalia shunned him to speak with Andrew had shattered her heart into tiny splinters. While he had put up a wall of stoicism and indifference during their time together fleeing from August, she had glimpsed his vulnerability from time to time.

Over time, his attempts at cold indifference lost all verisimilitude, and she could read him as easily as a book. She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he put on his mask again, cloaking the sorrow and anger that had been written all over his face just seconds ago. He rounded his shoulder, gripping onto his blunt weapon more firmly, and holding his head high as he pointedly looked away from her and Andrew.

Idalia had seen it all before, this showmanship. Why do we have to suffer? Why deny us both what we want? She could not make sense of his decision to hand her over to his brother. They had been through so much together, had shared so much together, and they had survived, together.

Did all of that mean nothing to him? Was she then to spend the rest of her life as a trading piece?

She was tired of being at the mercy of powerful men. If Bran felt it was a brilliant idea for a woman, whom he obviously cared about, to be married off to his brother, then she was going to make the best out of the situation. The way she saw it, if they were going to decide on a partner for her, then she intended to at least get to know the man she would be spending the rest of her life with.

Idalia picked her steps delicately through the black earth of the sparring ground, and Andrew checked his stride to allow her keep up with him. When they got to the eastern exit, Idalia turned around for one final look at Bran. She saw him stalking away angrily, stomping through the battered soil as he left in the opposite direction.

She turned back around to leave, having trailed Bran with her eyes till he was out of sight, and found Andrew looking at her with an amused expression on his face. His arms were crossed over his barrel chest, giving him a military pose, and he tilted his head to Idalia questioningly.

His blue-eyed stare startled her a bit and jolted her out of her thoughts. She cleared her throat awkwardly and smoothed out the non-existent rumples in her skirt. She had been caught completely by surprise, and now the air felt a little too hot.

She tried to remember what she knew about Andrew. While they had been acquainted for quite a while, she actually knew precious little about him. He had always been as stoic as his brother, but a little less serious and cold. He was a soldier who had grown through the ranks in the clan quietly but efficiently.

He had a calm demeanor about him, and she had never seen him have an emotional outburst before. Everything he said or did appeared measured, almost as though he spent hours pondering every action he made. Basically, everything she knew about Andrew could fit into a thimble, and there would still be some space left at the top.

“Is there a problem?” Idalia finally asked, finding her voice. “What’s the matter? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Andrew shrugged casually, then glanced in the direction Bran had gone. “Ye love my brother, dinnae ye?”

He asked the question so offhandedly that it caught Idalia completely by surprise. She stammered a reply, desperate to find a way out of the situation. Her cheeks blushed a furious red and she looked away, flustered and embarrassed.

Seeing how shaken she was, Andrew chuckled slightly and raised both hands in apology. “I am sorry, I dinnae mean tae rattle ye. I am nae offended, but I am simply observing.” He kept staring at Idalia intently, but she did her best to avoid meeting his eyes.

“That’s fine,” Idalia replied, looking around the courtyard at nothing in particular.

Andrew sighed deeply and placed a gloved hand lightly on Idalia’s shoulder.

“Listen, lass. Truth is, I dinnae have anyone I am in love with currently. I cannae say I ken what ye are feeling, but I am willing tae take responsibility for ye and make ye my wife. However, I ken ye will never be happy with me, as yer heart belongs to someone else. Even though ye agreed tae this union, I ken this is nae yer mind’s true will.”

Andrew started walking back towards the castle, and Idalia fell in step beside him. “Sadly, love does not always mean a marriage,” she said softly.

He nodded in agreement. “Aye. Ye also have tae get the person ye love tae want tae marry ye as well. Is that nae so?”

“Indeed, that is so,” Idalia conceded. “It would appear I have failed spectacularly in that regard, unfortunately. As it stands, the man I love is not even willing to marry me for the sake of saving my life.” Idalia stopped walking and turned to face Andrew, a defeated look on her face. “Tell me what to make of that, if you would.”