Chapter Two #2
Kerchief to her mouth to prevent any more horrifying gas from escaping, Eiselle was fixed on her future husband, understandably curious about him.
He was tall, but more than that, he was just plain big – enormous arms, thick legs, and big hands.
All embarrassment aside, he was something to watch; beneath the helm, she could see a square jaw and a hint of a long, straight nose.
One of the knights who had accompanied her from her home of Hadleigh House said something to him and she caught a brief flash of a smile with straight, white teeth.
But it was all she saw before he closed his lips again and snapped more orders to the men around him.
Eiselle took a deep breath, calming her rolling stomach as she continued to watch the man she had come to marry.
He took one of her traveling cases from a soldier on the bed of the wagon and handled it easily.
Eiselle knew how much those trunks weighed and it was no easy feat to sling them around as he was.
As her stomach calmed and her composure began to return, she could already see that MacRohan was a man who commanded respect.
She wondered seriously what he looked like with his helm removed.
Bric suddenly turned in her direction and his eyes fixed on her. Startled that she was caught staring at him, Eiselle quickly lowered her gaze and looked at her feet. She heard his footfalls as he drew near.
“Forgive me for not tending to you right away,” Bric said, his heavy brogue quiet. “I was attempting to unload your baggage, but I suppose I should have unloaded you first. I am sure you would like to rest.”
Eiselle dared to look up at him, startled anew when their eyes met.
There was an odd jolt to the event; it was the first time she had beheld the man at close range and she felt a strange buzzing sensation in her head.
It was rather curious, exciting even. But her embarrassment also returned, so very embarrassed at her ghastly behavior since their introduction.
She could only imagine what he must think of her.
“I do not wish to rest at the moment, my lord,” she said, still fixated on his eyes, so blue that they were literally silver. “If you please, I wish to speak with you.”
Bric’s eyebrows flickered with curiosity, then agreement. “As you wish,” he said. Then, he went to take her by the elbow but awkwardly stopped. “Do you wish to speak here?”
He seemed rather ill at ease, as if he wasn’t sure how to behave around her. This big, confident knight seemed to be uncomfortable and it made Eiselle feel a little less embarrassed about their rude introduction.
In fact, she found his behavior rather amusing.
Her stomach was easing and her composure returning, enough so that she felt inclined to say what had been on her mind since the very beginning of the marriage offer.
She would ask the question, sooner or later, so perhaps it was better to establish things now.
She summoned her courage.
“We may speak here,” she said, studying his strong, if not slightly angular, features. “There is something I wish to know, if it is not too much trouble.”
“I will tell you if I can, my lady.”
“I would like to know if you are agreeable to this marriage.”
He stared at her. Then, his eyebrows lifted. “If I…?”
“If you are agreeable, aye,” she nodded patiently. “Although my father accepted the offer, we are not yet married. And if you are not agreeable, or pleased with the arrangement, then I understand. You’ve only just now met me, and if I am not to your standard, the contract can be refused.”
He blinked and, until the day she died, Eiselle would swear she saw a rush of disbelief followed by a glimmer of amusement. But Bric MacRohan wasn’t the amused type, or so she’d been told. The man was as hard as steel and twice as deadly. But he was clearly mulling over her question.
“Are you agreeable, my lady?” he finally asked.
“I mean no disrespect, but I asked you first.”
He cleared his throat at her bold answer, almost nervously, and averted his gaze. He even shifted on his big legs and glanced at the ground as if he would find the correct answer there. Then he gave her a sidelong look.
“Did someone tell you that I was not?”
She shook her head. “Nay,” she said. “But this offer was unexpected, and quickly executed, so I simply wanted to know… if you are agreeable or if you were forced into this.”
He was looking at her most oddly, as if genuinely perplexed by her question. As if he simply couldn’t believe she would ask such a thing. More than once, she thought he wanted to say something about it, but he held his tongue. When he finally spoke, it was with a relatively benign response.
“No one can force me into anything,” he said.
She cocked her head curiously, inspecting everything about him. She was looking him up and down, her eyes finally coming to rest on his face again.
“I did not mean to insinuate otherwise,” she said. “But do you know what you shall expect from me? As your wife, I mean.”
A chuckle escaped his lips. “You’re to the point, lass, I’ll give you that.”
His smile was unexpected and quite attractive. She’d seen it before, briefly, and now she was seeing it again. She liked it; it made her unsettled belly leap in new and strange ways.
“In this situation, I am not sure I can be anything else,” she said. “This is all so new and unfamiliar to me. Do you even know what you expect from a wife?”
“I am not sure. I’ve never had one.”
He seemed to have transformed from slightly awkward to slightly amused. His humor made her want to smile although her question was serious. She cocked a well-shaped eyebrow at him.
“When you decide, you’ll be sure to let me know?” she said. “I would like to know your expectations so that I do not fall short.”
His eyes seemed to have gained something of a twinkle as he gazed at her. After a moment, he held out a mail-covered elbow. “I am coming to think that may not be a possibility.”
She was quite curious. “How do you know?”
The twinkle in his eyes grew. “Call it a guess,” he said. “May I take you inside now if you are finished interrogating me?”
She regarded him for a moment before accepting his elbow. “I am only finished for the moment.”
“I believe that.”
Eiselle was positive that he was laughing silently at her the entire trip across the bailey.