Chapter 28
The rest of the carriage ride went much better than Thalia had expected. They spent it talking, each sharing their own stories about their time apart. Archibald told her about her mother and how she had been faring with her daughters away.
“She still spends most of her time in the gardens, away from everyone else,” he said. “But when Emma comes to visit with the children, she looks more like her old self. She’s happier, brighter. I think having ye back will do her some good, too.”
Thalia smiled at that. She hadn’t seen her mother during the wedding fiasco, but now she was looking forward to it. Spending all that time with Daisy had made her realize just how important a daughter’s relationship with her mother was. She hoped that Daisy would find that one day.
The castle could be spotted from the carriage window now, and she leaned over to get a better look. It stood tall as it always did, and she felt less dread than the last time she had arrived. The whole ordeal that had led to the adventure she had embarked on.
She took a deep breath and readied herself for what awaited her next.
The carriage rolled through the front gates and lurched to a stop. The courtyard was strangely quiet. Not that Thalia had expected a cèilidh when they had arrived, but she had expected some servants or other castle residents to be around, as usual. Her uncle, too, looked around a bit uneasily.
He stepped out of the carriage, stretching his back as he did. He held out his hand and helped her step down, and the two looked around again.
“Thalia, ye stay here by the carriage,” Archibald ordered. “I’ll see to it that someone comes out to help carry yer things to yer room.”
Thalia nodded and watched him walk up to the front entrance.
She turned around, taking in the sight of her old home again.
The stables were further off than the ones at MacAinsley Castle, and the gardens were tucked behind them as well.
She craned her neck, squinting her eyes to see if anyone was at either location, but they remained as empty as the rest.
“Thalia! Welcome back.”
She whirled towards the front entrance, the deep, threatening voice sending a chill down her spine.
Harrison MacKay stood at the front entrance, his arms stretched out before him like he expected her to run and embrace him.
“Laird MacGibbon?” she asked, her eyes searching for signs of another person and finding that she was now completely alone. Even the driver of the carriage had disappeared. “What are ye doin’ here?”
“Well,” he started, walking down the steps towards her.
His grey eyes flashed, and the grin he wore teetered on the edge of maniacal.
“I heard the dreadful news that yer engagement with Laird MacAinsley had been called off. Now, being the man of honor that I am, I decided to revisit the deal I made with yer uncle.”
Thalia sneered. “Ye? A man of honor? Do honorable men typically try to kidnap a woman to force her into marriage?”
He waved away her anger as if she were a spoiled child throwing a tantrum. “A simple misunderstanding. I already explained it to yer uncle, and it has all been taken care of.”
Thalia shook her head. After everything she had told him, her uncle wouldn’t have rolled over for him again so easily.
“Ye’re lyin’! Where is he? Where is me uncle?” she cried.
“Ye’ll see him again.” Harrison had drawn closer, and she took a futile step back.
There was nowhere for her to go, yet she couldn’t stop herself from acting on her instincts.
She started to run back towards the gate, but Harrison was ready this time. He caught her quicker than last time and held her firmly around her waist, taking care that her legs were not within kicking distance of his crotch.
“Ye can see yer uncle at our wedding,” he hissed. “As long as ye agree to marry me, he, yer family, and yer clan will be safe. Otherwise…” His voice lowered to a growl. “I will kill everyone here, and force ye to marry me anyway.”
As if on cue, soldiers poured out of the front entrance, but they were not MacFinn soldiers. These were MacGibbon’s men, and they wore their tartans proudly.
Thalia sagged in his arms at the sight of them, and she realized with dread that he must have been planning this for weeks. He must have suspected that her betrothal to Finlay wouldn’t last, and he had been right.
All of the hope that she had for her future faded before her eyes.
“All right,” she sighed, her voice cracking with the fear and misery flooding her chest. “I’ll marry ye.”
Harrison dropped her, and she stumbled as she regained her balance. She didn’t try to run, and he knew she wouldn’t. Even if she did somehow manage to get away from him, he would kill everyone.
She would not let the guilt of that haunt her for the rest of her life. She would marry him to save everyone.
He took her chin, forcing her face up so that he could sneer down at her. “Ye made the right choice, lass. Ye’ll make me a fine wife, and I have nay doubt ye’ll provide me with a dozen sons.”
Thalia suppressed a shiver. She had no desire to provide him with any children, much less a dozen.
She swallowed her disgust and kept her voice even as she said, “Aye, me Laird.”
He kissed her, pressing his mouth against hers roughly, and she squeezed her eyes shut as she waited for it to end. It was nothing like kissing Finlay, and she did not doubt that the wedding night would be nothing like being with him either.
She was relieved when Harrison finally broke the kiss, and he pushed her back so hard that she stumbled into one of his men. They all laughed.
“Take her up to her room. Make sure that someone guards it until the wedding,” Harrison ordered.
“Aye, me Laird,” the man said, dragging her by the arm up into the castle.
As they entered, the two large wooden doors swung open, and Thalia gasped when she saw even more MacGibbon men waiting inside. A few servants she recognized stared at her as she was dragged away. Their expressions varied between fear, sympathy, and outright disdain.
She didn’t blame them. It was her fault that this was happening to them. If she hadn’t embarrassed Harrison so badly the first time…
Nay. This is nae anyone’s fault but his.
She jutted her chin with new determination. Her future husband may be cruel and a tyrant, but she wouldn’t let him break her. She would save her family and her clan. It would mean suffering for her, but if it meant safety for those she loved, she would take on that burden.
The man stopped in front of her old bedroom, and she was finally able to wrench her arm free from his grasp. She turned her best glare on him and then marched into the room.
It seemed smaller than she remembered, despite it only having been two years since she had set foot inside.
There was a table, a wardrobe, and the walls were littered with diagrams and drawings she had done of plants when she was a girl.
They were old, the ends of the paper curling and yellowing from the sun.
The bed creaked, and Thalia gasped as her mother came toward her.
“Welcome home, Thalia,” Olivia greeted. There was no genuine warmth in her voice, but there was a hint of happiness in her small smile.
“Maither,” Thalia answered, and the older woman wrapped her into a hug. Thalia tightened her grip around her, the stress and fear that she had been trying to hide pulling taut in her chest until it threatened to snap. “Maither…”
“I wish I were seein’ ye under better circumstances,” Olivia sighed.
“Me too,” Thalia admitted.
She took a deep breath. Her mother smelled of rosemary and fennel, and the familiar scent evoked wonderful memories of her childhood. Thalia wanted nothing more than to bury herself in her mother’s skirts, as she used to when she was so small.
“I’m sorry,” Olivia murmured suddenly.
Thalia pulled back to look at her face. “What are ye sorry for?” she asked.
“I cannae help feelin’ like I am partially to blame for all of this,” Olivia sighed.
She wrung her hands, pulling at her fingers like she might rip them off.
“I didnae say anything to Archibald when he first insisted on marrying ye off. I let him… I let him do what he wanted because I couldnae… After yer faither…”
Thalia’s heart clenched. Her father’s death had been hard on everyone, especially her mother.
She hadn’t understood it then. She had only seen it as her mother giving up, but a lot had happened since then.
She could see now why her mother had shrunk in on herself.
If something like that ever happened to Finlay, she might do the same.
“I daenae blame ye for anything,” she said, clasping her mother’s hands between her own. “I am just glad that ye are here with me now.”
Olivia smiled, tears glistening in her eyes. “I am glad I am here with ye, too.”
Thalia raised her hands and pressed a soft kiss to her knuckles, like her mother used to do to her years ago.
Olivia sniffled, but her voice was steady as she said, “I will write to yer sisters. Me movement isnae as restricted as everyone else’s. I can get them to—”
“Nay!” Thalia cut in. “That would only lead to a war. I willnae have people dying because of me. I am going to marry Laird MacGibbon, despite how horrid he is. It is the only way to keep everyone safe.”
“Me sweet girl,” Olivia sighed, pulling her into another hug. “I will write to them anyway. They shouldnae miss yer wedding. Ye will have all of us there to love and support ye.”
That felt like the breaking of a dam.
Thalia took a shaky breath as she fought back the tears that filled her eyes. When they pulled apart again, Olivia raised a hand to gently brush her thumb across her cheek. Thalia sniffled, giving her a teary smile.
“I did hear that ye were betrothed to another laird only a few days ago,” Olivia said, tilting her head with curiosity. “I hope that wasnae another situation like this one?”
Thalia shook her head fiercely. “Nay! Nay, Finlay was… willin’ to do me a favor, but I couldnae keep up the charade any longer.”
Her mother’s eyebrows drew together. “Charade?”
“He never wanted to marry me. He was only willin’ to pretend long enough so that Laird MacGibbon would lose interest.” Thalia shrugged, her eyes drifting to the floor. “I… I couldnae just be happy pretendin’ with him.”
“Oh.” Olivia let out a long breath. Her eyes were filled with understanding, and she took Thalia’s hand to lead her over to the bed. “Would ye like to tell me about what happened?”
Thalia nodded, feeling the childish urge to confess everything to her mother overtake all else. “It all started when I received a note that Uncle was sick…”