Chapter Eight
The next morning, with worries of Lillith occupying her mind, Marion headed to the great hall to break her fast and hopefully speak with the other women about Lillith and Rory.
As she rounded the passage to the right, she stared out the window, contemplating how to uncover the truth of why Lillith was so opposed to wedding.
Her granddaughter said it was because she wanted to be a warrior, but Marion believed that was an excuse.
Lillith’s own Aunt Bridgette was a warrior in her own right, as well as being wed to Iain’s brother Lachlan, so honestly, Lillith had a perfect example of how a lass could be a warrior and a wife, if she were matched with the right man.
Marion was starting to think that Rory Matheson might very well be a good match.
And wouldn’t that be wonderful, saving them all a lot of worry!
She was thinking all of this when she smacked straight into a wall with an oof.
She started to stumble backward, but a firm hand grabbed first her elbow and then slid around her waist. Her gaze flew in front of her to protest the hand so intimately around her waist, and her eyes collided with the concerned, albeit amused, ones of her husband.
Immediately, her body relaxed into his firm, sure grip, and just as immediately, a longing to be in his arms once again gripped her.
She missed their intimacy terribly, but she’d not blurt it and show weakness.
“Are ye distracted by thoughts of Lillith?” Iain asked, his warm breath fanning her face as he pulled her firmly along the full length of his very hard, very muscled body. Blast the Highlander! He knew exactly what he was doing.
“Aye,” she admitted, pulling back from him, but not asking him to release her just yet. She was not a fool, after all. She would enjoy her husband’s reassuring touch as long as she could.
“Is she feeling better today? Eve told me Lillith took ill last night during the competition.”
Marion was having a hard time concentrating on Iain’s question, because the sly Scot was running his fingers back and forth over the curve of her back now. She knew exactly what sort of magic those fingers could create when allowed, and she longed to let them once again.
“Marion?”
She blinked. She really needed to concentrate if she was going to win this battle of wills with her husband. “The mead went to her head,” Marion said truthfully. She held her husband’s loving gaze. “I came upon Lillith kissing Rory.”
Surprise skittered across Iain’s face. “I was right.”
It was Marion’s turn to feel surprised. “You were right?”
Iain nodded as his lips curled into a smug smile. “I suspected by the way he spoke of her, and how he looked when he did, though he insisted he wanted to choose Lenora as his wife, he had an immediate attraction to Lillith. ’Tis the reason I insisted on the courtship period.”
Marion gasped. “Why didn’t you tell me that?”
“Ye did nae give me the chance, Sassenach.” Iain offered a boyish grin as he had done so many times over the years. “Am I forgiven then?”
She wanted things to be peaceful between them once more, but it wasn’t as simple as that. “It remains to be seen.”
He frowned. “On what?”
“Do you still intend to force Lillith to wed Rory even if she does not want to?”
“She kissed the man!” he bellowed.
Marion extracted herself from her husband’s embrace, missing it instantly, but she would be strong for the sake of her granddaughter.
“Just because she kissed the man does not mean she wants to wed him, and I sensed a slight hesitation in him when I spoke with him last night after he carried Lillith to bed.”
A dark cloud settled on Iain’s face. “The man took our granddaughter to bed?”
Marion laughed. “Not like that, husband. She’d had too much mead and was nearly passed out. He very tenderly carried her to bed and took great care to settle her and pull a coverlet over her. It was quite sweet.”
Iain smirked at her. “I see the man has won ye.”
Marion scowled at her husband. “It’s not me he needs to win, it’s Lillith, and he will need to be fully committed to doing so, and as I just said, I sensed a slight hesitation in him last night. When I asked him if he wanted her, he said he ‘thought’ he did.”
“I’ll talk to him,” Iain offered.
“But don’t try to order him about.”
“I’m nae going to try to order him about, wife. I’m just going to see what the hesitation might be caused by.”
“All right,” she agreed.
“Can we nae just end this feud now?” he asked. “Is it nae nice to be speaking again?”
“Yes, it is,” she answered honestly. “And we can end this standoff between us right now if you give me your word this moment that you will not force Lillith to wed Rory if she still does not want to at the end of the courtship.”
Marion’s spirits immediately dipped when her husband’s hopeful expression disappeared.
He cupped her cheeks and said, “Ye ken I kinnae give ye my word on that. But I will do all in my power to ensure he will treat her well and be a good husband.” Frustrated, Marion tried to pull away, but Iain held her in place. “I must protect the clan, Sassenach.”
“And I must protect Lillith’s right to choose as best as I can.
I’ll bid ye good day, husband,” she said, turning away from him before she changed her mind and fell back onto his warm embrace.
She did not even get one step before he caught her by the wrist. She glanced over her shoulder and arched her eyebrows at him.
“Eve came to talk to Royce in the solar after the contest last night,” Iain said, answering her unspoken question.
This was but one of the many things she missed about talking to him every day.
After so many years of marriage, they often did not even have to say things out loud.
They could read things on each other’s faces. It made life easy.
“About Caleb?”
“Aye,” Iain replied.
“And will Royce consider helping him for Lenora’s sake?”
“The lad has been down at the beach since before dawn with Brus and Rolland training for the warrior test.”
Marion grinned at the news. “Then Royce approves the match?”
“Aye, he needed a little encouragement, which I gave him after speaking with Lenora and ensuring she did indeed want to wed this Caleb.”
Marion flung herself into Iain’s arms and kissed him. He responded instantly, turning what she had intended to be a chaste kiss of gratitude into one that tightened her belly and curled her toes. When she finally managed to pull back from her husband’s very persuasive lips, she said, “Thank you.”
Iain cupped her chin as he smiled tenderly at her. “Just like ye, wife, I would prefer a love match for Lillith and Lenora, if I’d had a choice, but it may be that they both get love matches in the end. Aye?”
“Yes,” Marion conceded, hoping Iain was right. “But Lillith still claims she doesn’t even want to wed, and until we know why, I’m afraid she’ll fight against love with all her might, and I cannot simply ignore her wishes.”
“I understand,” Iain said, “and I love ye for being our granddaughter’s champion.”
“I love you, too,” she replied.
Iain smiled at his wife’s retreating figure.
The lass knew what she was doing, trying to manipulate him with her feminine wiles, but this was one time he had to stand firm.
However, standing firm did not mean he wouldn’t do all he could to facilitate a love match.
With that in mind, he set out to find Rory and have a little chat with the man.
He assumed, given the hour, Rory would not be abed still, and if he was, he certainly was not the man for Lillith.
The thought made Iain frown as he made his way to the courtyard to go in search of the Scot.
The guilt he’d been trying to repress since agreeing to wed one of his granddaughters to a stranger rose to nearly choke him.
It was true that he and Marion had been long ago wed under similar circumstances, and things had turned out exceptionally well for them.
Still, he was acutely aware of the countless arranged marriages where things did not turn out well, and it was usually the poor lass who suffered the most.
But Iain’s hands were tied. The king was an unpredictable, oftentimes vindictive ruler, and Iain had no doubt the man would make Iain’s family pay dearly if they did not comply with his edict.
A bad marriage was a horrible thing, but so was losing your home and men’s lives to feuds.
Still, the knowledge of the grave peril they could face if they defied the king did not lessen Iain’s guilt.
It was with him through the passageways and into the courtyard, distracting him every step of the way, so that he overlooked Rory until the man was walking toward him in the courtyard.
Iain waved him over, and the man quickly complied, coming to stand before Iain.
He’d found in his years as a negotiator, first as laird of the MacLeod Clan, then for the king, that it was best to ease into the actual topic you wanted to speak to someone about when it might cause discomfort. “Where’ve ye been this fine morning?”
“Training below by the water with Royce, Rolland, and a warrior Caleb.”
Iain blinked in surprise. “Ye ken Caleb is training to pass the warrior’s test because he wishes to wed my granddaughter Lenora?” Well, there went his plan to ease into the uncomfortable conversation.
Rory nodded to Iain’s relief, and then he said, “Aye, Royce told me.”
Hmm. The man did nae seem vexed, still, best to be certain. “Ye’re nae vexed?”
“Nay. The man clearly loves yer granddaughter, and I’m told the feeling is verra much mutual. I’d nae want to stand in the way of that.”
Admiration filled Iain for the man. “’Tis verra reasonable of ye.”
Rory chuckled. “Aye, well, we Mathesons can be reasonable when given the opportunity.”
Iain laughed at that. “As can we, MacLeods. Does yer nae being vexed about Lenora mean ye are wishing to choose Lillith?”