Page 31 of Highlanders for the Holidays
“No one said a word when you mistook Ysenda for Cathalin. They were too afraid to gainsay the laird. My father was overjoyed. Ye played perfectly into his hands.”
All the air went out of No?l’s lungs. How could this have happened? Had his honest mistake become an act of rebellion? He shook his head, which was spinning as he recalled the events of the past day.
“Your father was afraid ye’d speak out,” he realized. “That’s why he had a knife at your throat.”
Caimbeul nodded.
“And why he’s put ye in chains now.”
“Aye.”
“Then he mustn’t know I came to speak with ye.” No?l straightened and placed a hand of reassurance on Caimbeul’s forearm. “I don’t know how, but I promise ye…brother…I’ll make everythin’ right.”
With that, he left the chamber. But his mind was far from settled. And as he descended the stairs, he began thinking—not like a suitor, but like a warrior.
By offering him the wrong bride, Laird Gille had intentionally broken an oath to two kings. By rights, No?l should drag him before the royal court.
But the clan would turn on him if he made a prisoner of their laird. That was the last thing he wanted to do, considering that some day these people would be his responsibility. He’d always ruled his knights, not by force, but by earning their respect. And that was how he wished to rule the clan.
Besides, he’d only brought a small contingent of his men. True, they were Knights of de Ware. But they were no match for a hundred angry clansmen.
There had to be another way. And he was determined to find it.
Still, that wasn’t the most troubling aspect of the deception for No?l. The worst part was knowing his bride had lied to him. She’d held his hand, kissed him, spoken the handfasting vows.
His brow creased as he remembered she’d asked him not to consummate the marriage. Perhaps she’d had one moment of regret then.
But theyhadconsummated the marriage. She’d let him… Nae, he corrected, he’d imposed himself upon her. It had been an accident, but ithadbeen his fault. Maybe she hadn’t wanted for it to happen.
Still, she’d never told him the truth—that she was not his real betrothed—even though there had been ample opportunity for her confession.
She’d laughed with him.
She’d slept with him.
She’d made him fall in love with her.
Was it all a lie? Did she have no feelings for him?
He frowned, swallowing down the lump lodged in his throat.
It didn’t matter, he told himself. They were not intended to be husband and wife anyway. He would find some way to annul the marriage. No one had seen them in the bedchamber. He could claim he’d never consummated the handfasting. That way she could continue her life, unburdened by their sin.
But his heart felt like it was breaking in two. He couldn’t get her laughing gray eyes out of his mind. Nor could he think about the other sister, the one he was supposed to marry, without a shudder of distaste.
He would do his duty, for king and country, no matter how painful it was. But he would never be happy about it.
