Page 39 of A Knight To Call My Own
Afore she could ask what was going on, another entered their chamber. His mother stood glaring in their direction with her lofty disposition, as if Lynet was far beneath her own exalted station in life.
“I can now see why you wished to attend your wife with all speed, Ian,” the stranger muttered in a low seductive tone. “Once clean, she is quite lovely. Mayhap, ’twill not be such a horrendous task you must perform, after all.”
“Enough, Uncle Edric,” Ian grimaced. “I will not have you besmirch my lady’s reputation, nor her tender hearted feelings.”
“Bah…her feelings are the least of your worries, boy. You must openly fulfill your obligations to the clan, lest you plan to relinquish the title. I have no issue with such a choice if your decision is to surrender your rights of Urquhart. Such an honor can then pass on to me, as your next of kin.”
Lynet peeked around Ian’s body and saw a servant come into the room. A white cloth was laid down in the center of the bed, causing Lynet to once more let out a gasp of surprise. Surely, this could not mean what she thought, or could it? From the amount of people, who she assumed were other leaders of the clan, hovering outside in the passageway, she knew her assumptions were correct.
“Ian, please…” she whispered, trying to keep from crying out at the cruelty he would inflict upon her that others were to witness their union. “Do not do this to me…to us.”
“Merciful heavens,” Fiona said as she went to open the door wider, “just get it over with, Ian, so I may return to my solar and resume my stitchery.”
“Aye, nephew, hurry along now, and do your duty,” Ian’s uncle all but prodded, trying to force him into action.
“Everyone out!” Ian shouted to the group and took a firm grip on his mother’s arm to usher her from the chamber.
His mother raised her arm to slap his face, but her son easily took hold of it. “You dare to defy me?” she fumed.
“Aye…mayhap, you should get used to it,” Ian replied. “I am my own man and will not be led about by my nose just because you gave birth to me.”
“We demand evidence of her-”
“By God’s blood, you shall have your damn proof. Now, get out!” Ian roared.
Edric was the last to leave as he gave Lynet another leer. “We shall listen at the door and await the substantiation of her virginity.” He left leaving the heavy oaken door slightly ajar.
If Lynet had been trembling afore, ’twas nothing to how she was currently feeling as she listened to the voices of clansmen loudly whispering amongst themselves in the passageway. Her hand rose to her mouth to choke back a sob of dismay. She turned towards the fire, attempting to hide her shame. Her hair hung in her line of vision ’til she saw her chalice of wine thrust afore her.
“Are you all right, Lynet?”
She grasped at the cup and took a large gulp of the liquid that went straight to her stomach. Coughing, she practically shoved the goblet back at Ian in her effort to find some way to control her nerves.
“All right? How can you ask such of me, when we have an audience just outside our door, waiting for us to perform like animals at some village faire?”
“’Tis common enough practice, Lynet, although ’tis not to my liking.”
“Then put a stop to it and ask them to leave us in peace.” Lynet looked pleadingly into those hazel eyes she had loved all her life. He did not give her the answer she had hoped for.
“’Tis expected…I am most sorry.”
A sigh escaped her lips as she resigned herself to her fate and how their marriage would proceed. “Very well…then let us be about this. After all…your mother has important work to do. She should not have to put off her stitchery, waiting for such an insignificant event as the two of us becoming man and wife, should she?”
She kicked off her slippers next to the bed and threw her robe from her shoulders to the floor where it floated in a discarded heap of silky linen. Careful not to disturb the cloth that would be the ruin of the beginning of their lives together, Lynet gently lay atop of it and folded her hands upon her stomach, not knowing where else to put them.
She closed her eyes and waited with baited breath for Ian to join her, yet, still there was no movement on his part. She glanced at him timidly beneath her lowered lashes. He appeared as though he were struggling with some inner demon attempting to take possession of him. His fists clenched and unclenched at his sides ’til he, too, took a deep sip of his wine. His brow was furrowed, showing his disgust at what he was about to do. Lynet was unsure if the act of consummating their marriage was repugnant to him, or the fact the mutterings of those just outside the door seemed to rise in volume.
Lynet surmised he had come to his decision when he made his way to the bed. It dipped with his weight as he sat on the edge to remove his boots. Yet, still, he made no effort to touch her, and Lynet refused to give in to the fear that all but consumed her. She felt his hand upon her cheek as he turned her head so she had no choice but to look upon him. ’Twas such a tender expression on his face it touched her heart, and, for one fleeting moment, she thought he would relent in the course set afore him to prove his worth to his family.
“Kiss me, wife,” he whispered, leaning closer towards her as his arms made their way along both sides of her tense body.
She turned from him. “I will gladly do so once you close the door and tell them to go away.”
“You would refuse me?”
“How can I not, when you put them and their ways afore me…your wife?”
“’Tis not fair you would make me choose between my duties to my family and you, Lynet. You know this is the way of our people, so why do you fight me on this? We can make the best of this situation. I promise ’twill be better the next time.”
