Chapter 12
B ethany could not quite understand how this had happened. Just a few moments ago, she had been in her own room with Matthew, hoping to spend another day investigating Dunadd for possible escape routes - overland escape routes. With only a few days left until the wedding date, time was running out.
Instead, however, Bethany found herself in Princess Maible’s sitting room, sipping some kind of herbal tea, and trying not to panic. Comgall’s mother had sent for her first thing in the morning, and the dour maidservant made it clear that Maible did not take no for an answer. Not even from the future queen.
“We will need to finalise plans for the wedding,” Maible said, her eyes cold. She launched into a detailed breakdown of what was already arranged, without sparing the time for a polite greeting. Bethany sat and nodded helplessly. Could they not at least have let her bring Matthew along to this meeting?
“The dress is already prepared,” Maible said. “With a few alterations, it should fit you suitably. ”
She scanned Bethany with an appraising eye. Bethany felt her skin tingle under the coldness of that gaze. Maible seemed to have no interest in her beyond what was necessary for this wedding. Had she come to dislike Bethany personally, or was it some problem she had with Eithne? Or, more likely, Eithne’s brother, as the gossip suggested.
“You need not concern yourself with anything,” Maible continued. Presumably code for I will manage everything as I see fit . Bethany had no complaint with that. It wasn’t as if this was actually her wedding. Not that she’d had much say over her own wedding, between her mother and Lucan.
“The wedding is in three days time?” she asked politely.
“Indeed,” Maible said, narrowing her lips in a way that implied Bethany was stupid for asking the question. “Since you have arrived early, I see no reason to delay the ceremony. It will take place in the afternoon, following Comgall’s inauguration that morning. The event will, of course, follow Dal Riada rather than Irish tradition.”
“Of course,” Bethany murmured, well aware the words had been intended as an insult. Thank goodness she was not really Irish, or she might be offended.
“And you will wear the lucky colour of red,” Maible said firmly.
Bethany baulked a little. Her cheeks warmed.
“Oh, I can’t wear red,” she said, temporarily losing control of her mouth. “My ex-husband wouldn’t let me wear red. He said it made me look cheap. No red for a wedding, surely.”
She clamped her mouth shut, regretting the words as they fell from her lips. Why had she mentioned Lucan? Would she never be free of him?
Something very like sympathy passed across Maible’s face before it was smoothed away again.
“Your ex-husband and his preferences are irrelevant here,” Maible informed her. “Dal Riada brides wear red. So will you.”
Bethany bowed her head. What did it matter? She wouldn’t even be here for the wedding. Although part of her wanted to wear a bright red dress, just to throw it in Lucan’s face. He really would be horrified.
Maible moved on to the other details of the wedding plans. The food and drink had already been chosen, the aristocratic guests allocated seats. Everyone who was anyone in Dal Riada would already be present for the inauguration, of course. The wedding was a secondary event. Bethany wondered what it would have been like for the real Eithne, arriving weeks after Comgall’s inauguration. Would they even have bothered to summon the guests back to Dunadd? Eithne might have found herself marrying in an empty church.
“I want Matthew to be there,” Bethany blurted out.
“Out of the question,” Maible said flatly. “While everyone knows you are a widow, bringing your son to your wedding is deeply impolite.”
“He’s important to me,” Bethany pushed. Why on earth was she worried about this, when there would be no wedding?
“Very well,” Maible said, her tone grudging. “I admit that it is good for a woman to be ambitious on behalf of her child. And at least the boy has no rights here in Dal Riada, and no role in politics. He is no threat. He may attend.”
Maible continued outlining the procedures and timing. Bethany sat there in shock. Had she really just won a concession from Comgall’s mother? She had certainly not expected that.
But Bethany’s moment of pride in herself faded quickly under the weight of all Maible’s plans and time lines. It was replaced with a growing desperation. Only a few days. How on earth was she to escape before then? She certainly could not go through with the wedding! Apart from anything else, the real Eithne was sure to arrive before long. It was a miracle she had not arrived already.
Only a few days to find a way out. She needed a new escape route out of Dunadd, and she needed it fast.