Page 67 of Lost with a Scot
“I’m finished, Your Highness,” the maid said, her brown eyes welling up with tears. “You look beautiful, but...” The young woman didn’t continue. Anna understood what she dared not say. She should not be marrying Captain Fain. “Don’t give up hope, Your Highness,” the woman whispered so softly Anna almost thought she’d imagined it. “There are those who would help you... if the time came to fight.”
Anna grasped the woman’s hands and held them, their eyes meeting as she let the woman know she understood.
“Well, at least you look presentable.” Her uncle’s voice from the doorway made both her and the maid flinch. She looked beautiful, but she knew he would never pay her a compliment. Yuri’s joy in life was cruelty. He’d always been mean-spirited, but now that he ruled Ruritania, it seemed to have magnified.
“Your betrothed is waiting for you in the great hall,” Yuri said with far too much pleasure. “It’s time for your wedding.”
Anna quietly thanked the maid and followed her uncle out of the bedchamber. She took the stairs carefully, not because of her appearance or her gown, but because she had Fain’s small dagger tucked in the garter above her stockings on her right thigh and didn’t want it to shake loose. She resigned herself to the fact that today she would kill Fain or she would perish trying. She was surprised he hadn’t noticed it was missing. Perhaps he had, but hadn’t made the connection that she was the one who’d stolen it. Hopefully, he would continue to underestimate her.
When she reached the bottom step and walked toward the great hall, two guards opened the doors for Yuri, and she came behind him as she saw the crowds of noble families lining the interior of the hall. They had no doubt been required to attend her wedding. The white-blue-and-gold banners that had hung from the vaulted ceilings of the hall had been torn down and replaced with the red-and-black banners that represented her uncle’s rule.
Fain waited ahead of her, and just beyond him stood a single throne. Her mother’s throne was gone. The sight of that missing chair somehow cut Anna deeper than any of the desecrations Yuri had made in the great hall. Yuri believed in himself and no one else. He would likely not take a queen, at least not a willing one. Perhaps his rule would end without heirs, and the world would right itself again. That thought gave her a small measure of hope.
She held her head high as she walked alone down the center of the great hall toward her fate. There was no sword above her, no dark woods, no death of the man she loved. Only the death of her soul loomed in the future.
When she reached the front of the hall, she faced her uncle, who was seated on the red and gold chair, lounging comfortably on his stolen throne. Fain gave an icy smile as she stopped a few feet from him. A nervous priest stood in attendance, and the poor man swallowed audibly as he clutched a Bible in his hands and tugged at his collar.
“You may proceed in a moment, Father. The bride must first see our esteemed guests.” Yuri waved a hand to the guards near the back of the hall. She turned, her heart pounding as three men were escorted down the center aisle and shoved to their knees beside her on the stone floor. She’d expected to see her brother, but the other two men couldn’t possibly be there...
Charles, the Earl of Lonsdale, and... Aiden... were staring straight ahead, not making eye contact with her. Their stubborn avoidance of her, rather than upset her, kept her calm and her thoughts clear. No doubt they didn’t wish her uncle to know she knew them. She had to play along too, if there was any chance she could free them.
“I find it very curious that two Englishmen would be in my dungeon attempting to free your brother, princess,” Yuri said in that infuriatingly bored tone. He spoke English to them since most of the nobles in the crowd were fluent in the language.
“I’m not English,” Aiden growled. “I’m Scottish.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Yuri said. “You will soon be dead and thrown in an unmarked grave. So, is that all your meeting with the king got you?” Yuri asked Anna. “Two fools to play the hero?” Yuri then looked to Fain. “I told you George wouldn’t have the stomach to interfere.”
Anna wanted to plead for their lives, but doing so would only make her uncle more likely to kill them.
“Let’s begin.” Yuri clapped his hands and pointed a finger at the trembling priest. The priest began his service, but a minute into his long preamble, Fain interrupted him.
“Move to therelevantparts, Father.”
The priest fumbled briefly and then asked if Fain agreed to take Anna as his wife. Fain said yes. Then Anna was asked simply to honor and obey Fain and not whether she actuallyagreedto be his wife. Anna spoke a simple yes, but of course it was a lie. She was already another man’s wife. The vows made by the fairy pools were binding to her. Fain might claim her body, but the rest of her was free of him and there was nothing he could do to change that.
“Does anyone ob-object to these two marrying?” the priest stuttered.
“Of course I do!” Charles spoke up. “This is rot and nonsense.”
Anna, stunned, turned to look at the English earl. He shot her a wink, but one of the guards struck him hard on the back of the head. He grunted but took the blow easily, where most men would have doubled over in pain.
“Please note my objection as well, Father,” Aiden added. “The princess alreadyhasa husband.”
“She—she does?” the poor man dared to ask. “Who?”
“Me,” Aiden said as he turned to look not at Anna, but Fain. Anna saw challenge in his eyes. The kind, compassionate man she loved was, right now, buried beneath violence.
Fain drew his sword out of its scabbard, and his gaze fell on Anna. “Is this true?”
Anna’s lips parted, and her hesitation sealed Aiden’s fate.
“Then I shall marry a widow. Take that one out to the courtyard. I will deal with him in a moment.” Two of the nearby guards dragged Aiden away.
“If this is how you treat visitors, I believe I’ll cancel my next visit to Ruritania,” Charles muttered loudly. A few people nearby in the crowd dared to laugh before they were silenced. Yuri stood and walked down the steps to stand before Charles and Alexei.
“I think it’s time we had our execution. Fain, you may take your bride now. I’m sure you wish to consummate your marriage.”
Fain grasped Anna’s arm, and pain from where Gustav’s bullet had grazed her a few days before made her cry out.
