Chapter 11
11
T homas moved through the corridors of the castle. His mind was flooded with images of Astrid. She was a vision of ethereal beauty and wonder. The way she moved in the garden… it was as if she were a wisp of his fantasies come to life. His heart ached as he trudged back to his study.
The scent of parchment and the warmth of the fire awaited him as well as the solace of his books. He didn’t like the feelings stirring within him. When he had first spotted Astrid in the garden, his manhood had twitched with yearning for her. He had gone out there not to trap a banshee, but an angel.
How could such a desirable woman be so caring and kind? She didn’t care that she had run through the corridors of the castle in her shift. No, it was her mission that drove her. Thomas couldn’t help but wonder if he would have bolted from his bed so eagerly and willingly were the shoe on the other foot.
He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. There was no denying the fact that Astrid’s very existence challenged him. She was strong and brave, loyal and honorable.
“I want her,” he whispered to the fire that consumed the kindling in the hearth. He stood like a silent sentinel, rooted to the spot, knowing that some things were better left unsaid.
Just as he had settled in for a long night, a ruckus erupted in the foyer, an unholy sound of metal clashing against metal that shattered the stillness of the night.
“God’s Tooth, what is that clamor?”
With his heart in his throat, he raced toward the door. Every nerve and muscle in his body was coiled tight.
What misfortune had landed in his home?
Rushing down the corridor, dread swirled in his gut. Was this Laird Chalium’s attempt to reclaim Astrid?
He drew his dirk, wishing he had his claymore on him. But whatever evil lurked around the corner, he was going to face it.
“Reid?! What in God’s name are ye doin’? Are ye tryin’ to get yerself killed?” Thomas snapped as he found his brother sprawled on the floor, under the side table—which he had managed to wrap around him.
Reid flashed him a drunken smile, his eyes glinting with mischief beneath his tousled brown hair.
Thomas moved swiftly toward him and pulled him out of the mess.
“What are ye doin’?” he repeated. His ears perked up as the sound of his sisters’ high-pitched voices drifted down the hallway. “Besides waking up the entire castle?”
Reid pressed his finger to his lips and shook his head. Panic flickered across his face. “Maither cannae ken that I’m here. Please, ye have to hide me.”
“I dinnae have to do any such thing,” Thomas huffed. “But for the sake of keepin’ the peace, get up and move. Go to me study, I’ll speak wit’ ye there.”
“But the music, it calls to me,” Reid moaned as he swayed, trying to stay on his feet. There was no telling how much he had drunk. What was concerning was the fact that he couldn’t keep his balance. “Do ye nae hear it?”
“Go bang on the piano if ye want to hear music. But the castle is restin’, and ye’re disturbin’ the peace.”
“Well, sorry,” Reid grumbled as he stuck out his tongue just as Olivia and Eileen came rushing down the hallway.
They stopped as they both took in the scene. Thomas didn’t have to know what it was they were thinking—it was written all over their weary faces.
“Wait till Maither hears that ye’re the phantom of McFair Castle,” Eileen hissed as she took Olivia’s arm and they both walked away.
“Oh, boo on ye,” Reid called. “Ye old maids. Ye hags. Ye’ll be the old maid hags… hag is… haggis. Oh, is the cook up? Do ye think she’ll be able to make me something to eat? The tavern only had roast boar that’s been on the spit for days. But I suppose if a man’s hungry enough, he’ll pay for it. I, on the other hand?—”
“Need to do as ye’re told and get yer arse to me study before word gets to Maither that ye’re drunk as a skunk.”
“Posh,” Reid scoffed, waving a hand. “Maither is tendin’ to Faither. Ye ken as well as I do that when she’s in there, she doesnae come out till Faither feels better.”
“Aye, and I have Astrid takin’ care of that as we speak,” Thomas said.
Reid’s eyes lit up at his words. “Astrid. She is lovely, is she nae? I could bed her,” he said boastfully.
“Ye’ll nae speak about me future wife in such a manner,” Thomas snapped.
Reid stood straighter as his eyes widened. “Married? Ye? Are ye sure ye’re Laird McFair? Because the last time I checked, me braither would rather be raked over hot coals than tie himself to a cantankerous woman.”
“Astrid isnae cantankerous,” Thomas growled as the faint scent of whiskey drifted to his nostrils.
“The council got to ye, did they nae? Or was this one of yer brilliant ideas? Because I can tell ye right now that marriage is never the proper solution. If anything, it’ll only cause more issues.”
“Ye’re one to give advice on such matters. When was the last time ye did anything that didnae benefit ye? Ye cannae name a single time.”
“I can,” Reid countered, before he clapped a hand over his mouth as if to stop himself from puking.
Thomas watched his younger brother lean against the wall and pull in long, deep breaths to steady himself.
“How much did ye have to drink this time?”
“Nae much,” Reid answered, pinching his fingers to indicate an inch or so.
“Ye finished the barrel, did ye nae?” Thomas asked as his brother swayed.
Growing more irritated, he grabbed Reid’s arm and, in a fluid motion, threw him over his shoulders.
“I’m nae an invalid,” Reid whined as Thomas moved swiftly down the hall.
“Oi, where are we goin’?” Reid huffed as Thomas took the first exit he could find and made a beeline for the loch.
The cool morning air swirled around Thomas, helping to clear the cobwebs from his head. How much easier it was to breathe without Astrid around. It was as if her very presence filled the whole castle, leaving him no escape.
“Dinnae ye dare,” Reid growled as Thomas tossed him off his shoulders and right into the frigid waters of the loch. He sprang out of the water, wide-eyed and shivering. “That wasnae funny.”
“I need ye to sober up,” Thomas said. “I’ll be needin’ yer help with the wedding.”
“If Maither thinks she can pawn me off to whomever she wants, she’s goin’ to find out that I’m nae so easily swayed.”
“Ye’re nae gettin’ married. I am,” Thomas answered. “To Astrid. And I need the ceremony to take place tonight.”
“What? Nay, ye cannae be serious. Ye barely ken the lass. Let me talk to the council—surely they’ll see what a mistake this is,” Reid offered.
“And what makes it a mistake? Is it because ye dinnae ken what responsibility really is?”
“That’s nae fair,” Reid said. “Ye ken I’d do anything for ye. And if ye want to marry the lass, then so be it. But ye cannae say it’s out of love.”
“And I never will,” Thomas grunted. “But this is the council’s decree. I’m only lucky that they didnae specify whom they wanted me to wed. I’ve chosen Astrid.”
“Well, it seems that ye have everything sorted out. Well done, Braither,” Reid said as he patted Thomas on the shoulder. Water dripped from his shirt and into Thomas’s. “Once more, I find meself at yer mercy.”
“I need ye sober,” Thomas repeated before he drew in a deep breath. “I dinnae want me wife to recoil from me. She may stand her ground, but I dinnae want her to fear me.”
“I ken ye harbored feelings for her,” Reid crowed, slapping his thigh. Water sprayed everywhere as his drunken smile widened.
“Nay, ‘tis nothing like the love our parents share,” Thomas said. “I merely wish to provide her wit’ a place that she feels comfortable in.”
“So, ye want to provide her wit’ a house? Ye do realize that is precisely what a man in love would say. Ye’re smitten, admit it.”
In a sudden fit of merriment, Reid leaned forward, but his laughter swiftly twisted into a heaving gasp as he lost the battle with his stomach, throwing up all over the bank of the loch.
“And ye wondered why I brought ye out here.” Thomas tutted, side-stepping his brother. “And why am I even givin’ ye an ear when ye’ve done nothing but make a mess of yer life?”
“Because ye love me,” Reid answered breathlessly as he stumbled a bit before falling to his knees. “And whether ye want to admit it or nae, ye have feelings for Astrid as well. Ye should tell her. And ye cannae look at her like a means to an end. She’ll be Lady McFair, yer equal—unless ye mean to keep her under yer thumb?”
“Nay. Heavens, nay. What sort of man do ye take me for?” Thomas asked.
“Ye can fool the rest of the world, but ye and I, we grew up under the same roof. We’ve seen the same things and we were taught the same lessons. Yet, we are so different from each other.”
“Aye,” Thomas agreed as he glanced back at the castle.
The dim light in the windows made him wonder if Astrid was in one of those rooms, looking out at the loch, watching him. It was a thought that eased the wild anxiety in his chest.
“Oi, where are ye goin’?” Reid called as Thomas started back toward the castle. “Ye cannae leave me out here in this mess.”
“Better out here than in there,” Thomas shouted over his shoulder. “I have a weddin’ to plan, and I dinnae need ye to make a bigger mess than ye already have.”
“And do ye, Laird McFair, take Astrid Fulton to be yer lawfully wedded wife…” the priest said, his voice echoing through the small stone chapel.
The word ‘wife’ once sent a chill down Thomas’s spine. Now, only a warm sensation bloomed inside him as he stared at Astrid.
The beauty before him took his breath away in her white beaded gown and long veil. He couldn’t help but wonder how long it would take him to peel it off her.
“Aye, I do,” he answered, his voice steady despite the frantic beating of his heart.
“And do ye, Astrid Fulton, take Laird McFair to be yer lawfully wedded husband? To honor and cherish as long as ye both shall live? Will ye stand by his side through sickness and in health all the days of yer lives?”
Astrid glanced at the crowd for a moment. Thomas didn’t need to know who it was she was looking at. He could see the smile on Melody’s face out of the corner of his eye.
“Aye, I do.”
And with those three little words, the priest pronounced them husband and wife before the clan.
A calm settled over Thomas. No matter what happened now, his promise had been fulfilled. Astrid was safe, Melody was safe, and Laird Chalium would never be able to get his grubby hands on either of them.
“They came into God’s house separately,” the priest continued as Thomas and Astrid turned to face the crowd. “And leave as one flesh, one blood, one spirit. May the Lord Almighty be wit’ ye always.”
The cheers of the crowd drifted out of the chapel and echoed across the glen. As Thomas led Astrid outside, the weight of the moment settled on his shoulders. This was his wife now, his responsibility.
He paused at the doors, dipped his wife as he had seen his father do to his mother countless times, and crushed his lips to hers.
Then, he pulled back, and without waiting for her to catch her breath, he grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the carriage.
With the energy of the crowd swirling around him, Thomas felt as if he were a conquering hero and everyone had come to celebrate his victory. Yet, when he glanced at Astrid, there was a coldness in her eyes that pierced him as if he were a boar.
“Dinnae look at me like that,” he said as he settled in the seat across from her. “This is for the best.”
“The best for who? Me or ye?”
Her question lingered between them as the carriage made its way through the small village. The tension was almost enough to make Thomas forget that he had to throw coins out the window.
“Both,” he answered as he took a small purse out of the cubby beside him. He opened it and tossed the coins out the window.
“Are ye nae suppose to dole that out?”
“What’s the point?” Thomas asked. “The wee bit that we give will do nay one any good. Sure, maybe they’ll afford a meal or two. But for the one who finds the purse, it’ll be life-changin’—just as marriage should be.”
Thomas settled back into the cushion of his seat and wished he’d gone on horseback. The ride back to the castle felt awkward, the silence thick in the air between them. He watched Astrid shift and adjust her dress.
How he wanted to rip the thing off her. She was his now, after all. He could do as he pleased. Maybe that was the reason why she recoiled from him when he lifted his hand to pull back the curtains.
“I made a promise to ye,” he said. “I’ll nae touch ye. Nae until ye ask me to.”
“And so we live a loveless life,” Astrid choked out.
“’Tis the best solution I could come up wit’,” Thomas snapped as the carriage pulled up to the castle. “Ye can bark at me all ye want. What is done is done, and ye and Melody are safe from Laird Chalium.”