Chapter 9
The world stopped spinning at their kiss and doubled its speed at his words.
She felt like she couldn’t even take a step without falling down. There had been a time in her life that the mention of their wedding made her heart flutter with hope and excitement. Right then, it felt like a prison sentence.
Was she going to spend the rest of her days in that bedchamber?
Was this his grand revenge?
What of all that talk of her father?
Her head was spinning just as fast as the world around her. Kira lunged for him, taking hold of his hand and jerking him back to get him to look at her. His eyes were blank and his mouth that had just been on hers with fury and what she thought was passion, was pulled into a scowl.
“Do ye really expect me to accept this fate?” she queried.
Hunter’s eyes scanned over her carefully before igniting with something that chilled her to the bone. His scowl remained but his eyes were animated, almost excited.
“What’s the matter, Kira? I thought ye wanted to see if there was still a spark between us? Would that mean ye’re still a little interested in me?” He reached to stroke her forearm. “Or could it be, my dear betrothed, that ye’re admitting that this little walk was just a scheme?”
Kira shoved him away, embarrassment creeping over her features. “Fine, it was just a trick. But only to get better treatment.”
“As if I’d believe a word out of that pretty little mouth now,” he tutted. He stepped closer, crowding her until he was all she could see. “I am nae Laird Barclay, Kira. I will nae be so easily seduced and led astray. Nay matter how tempting of an offer it might be.”
She scoffed and her brow furrowed. “Tempting offer? Ye said there was nae a spark between us.”
“What man requires a spark?” he huffed. He poked the tip of her nose. “I’ll tell ye the difference between Barclay and myself. It’s that when the time comes for me to take what I am due, I will do so with haste. At the altar… and on our wedding bed.”
“Good luck with that,” she bit back. “I will never submit, Hunter.”
“’Tis all well, ye ken I like a challenge,” he said with a devilish grin. “And need I remind ye, ye haven’t anywhere to run.”
The words ran another chill through her. But before she could even attempt to come up with some sort of snarky reply, he spoke again as he turned away. “Yer faither isnae coming for ye, Kira. He’s willing to risk yer life for war. So, dinnae think anyone is coming to save ye.”
It cut her, but it didn’t gut her like she thought it would. She supposed some part of her knew that he wouldn’t bother with her. She was a pawn he had already played and abandoned for sacrifice to another player for a larger game between him and Clan Galbraith.
Her hands began to tremble as she felt the lack of control over her own life. Her fate wasn’t even water in her hands, slipping through her fingers—that would mean she held it at all. Tears welled behind her eyes, but she held them back with all her might and tightened her hands into fists.
“Ye’re nay better than him,” she managed to get out evenly. “Ye intend to imprison me with this marriage, just as he did in life. Keeping me locked away until I’m of use. Just. Like. Him.”
When Hunter turned to her, lightning was in his hazel eyes. The handsome face that aggravated and confused her was morphed into something she didn’t recognize. His brows were scrunched in the middle but arched high above his wild, wide eyes. His nostrils flared and his upper lip curled in.
“I am nothing like that bastard!” his voice boomed. “Do ye understand me? That man is a traitor, a murderer! How am I anything like him by marrying ye? By blood and law, ye have always been mine, Kira Fairbairn. I am doing what is right. By the law, by birthright, by my clan.”
He leaned in, speaking through gritted teeth as he said. “The differences between yer faither and me are endless. One being that his claim to ye is about to end, whereas mine will stand forevermore. Ye’re mine, Kira. Always.”
For the first time in her life she was truly terrified of Hunter and what he was capable of. Even when she first saw him in the woods after his men kidnapped her had nothing on this moment.
After a stumbling step backwards, Kira turned around and rushed back to the castle before he could keep her back.
The tears behind her eyes were getting harder to hold back with each step, but she swore to herself that no one of the Galbraith Clan would see her fall apart while imprisoned there.
She had to be strong for no one other than herself and since not even her father was going to show up for her, she had to find a way to be stronger than her enemies.
As soon as the bedchamber door was closed behind her, she sank back against it and let the tears finally come.
Her entire body rocked with the force of each sob.
Emotions came in crashing waves, overlapping one another and coming so fast that she couldn’t distinguish one from the other.
Kira wasn’t sure if she was sad, angry, confused—all she knew was that everything ached.
Without so much as a knock, the door opened and Kira didn’t lift her face to see who it was.
She had assumed it to be Hunter, ready to curse her for running away like that.
However, when slender arms wrapped around her neck, Kira’s lower lip quivered.
It was Edine, and she was giving her a bit of comfort that Kira hadn’t expected but so desperately needed.
The tears started again and Edine gently guided Kira from the desk to the bed.
She let Kira rest her head on her shoulder and produced a handkerchief for her.
Kira blotted at her puffy eyes and tried to gain control of her composure while she leaned into Edine, appreciating the light pats on her shoulders.
Edine was the one to finally break the silence. “Hunter told me what happened,” she said quietly. “I ken it must be… difficult. Especially with all ye’ve been going through lately.”
That was a rather light way of putting being sold off to one Laird, accepting that fate and actually building up hope for it, only to be kidnapped by her last betrothed, imprisoned, and now forced into another marriage.
“But, for what it’s worth… I agree with him. It seems like the best solution to end all the dreadful battling between our clans.”
“It will nae be the end of anything for me, though,” Kira croaked. “Hunter hates me. Ye hate me, or at least ye should.”
Edine lifted Kira’s chin so that they were eye-to-eye. The Galbraith hazel hues stared down at her with gentleness that she didn’t deserve.
“I spent many years hating ye, Kira. I think that was punishment enough for the both of us when it comes to our friendship. Because now that I’ve met ye again, I’m certain that ye truly are the lady I looked up to as a bairn. And that things are never as simple as they might seem.”
Kira’s heart squeezed. She didn’t have the composure nor the words right then to express her gratitude, but Edine didn’t seem to expect or need it. And her words were kind and meant a great deal to Kira, but their friendship wasn’t the issue at hand.
“How can I marry a man who hates me so?”
Edine clutched both of Kira’s hands in her own and held eye contact.
“I dinnae think that Hunter will treat ye so terribly. He is troubled and his heart has been broken in ways he believes to be beyond repair, but he protects what is his. Ye will be safe, and that’s more than ye can expect back home at Clan Fairbairn. ”
Edine brushed hair out of Kira’s face as a sad smile appeared on her lips. “And I ken safety is nae much to ask for, but it’s a start. He once cared for ye deeply, Kira, maybe in time he will again.”
She wanted to call Edine naive and too young to understand, but she knew better. Edine knew Hunter better than anyone, and if she had hope for Kira’s future, maybe Kira could too.
Resting her head back on Edine’s shoulder, she asked quietly, “Would it be alright with ye if we stayed like this for a while?”
“Of course,” Edine replied.
And so they did. With Kira leaned against her future sister-in-law, Kira continued to cry quietly and wiped the tears away with Edine’s handkerchief.
The lady was young, but she had wisdom to her.
Perhaps there was a lone ember of hope to be had between Kira and Hunter, at least enough for the rest of her life not to be spent in total misery.
But that hope was for another day. For the time being, she let herself cry and didn’t feel weak for it.
Kira was going to be strong for herself and try with all her might to be stronger than her enemies—even if that enemy was Hunter Galbraith.