Chapter 22
Let us drink, Callum said, and that was precisely what he proceeded to do.
Rhea watched as he downed two drinks in a row, without any intention of stopping, but she was soon distracted by Mabel.
“It’s been so long since I’ve been to a feast,” she said, looking around in joy. “It’s nice to see everyone like this.”
“I thought ye didnae like feasts,” Rhea remarked.
Her sister was a quiet girl, and even when they were children, she did not enjoy feasts with so many guests. Though Rhea supposed that Mabel was now a grown woman at twenty years of age and she would soon start planning feasts for her clan and her husband.
Rhea often wondered what Mabel’s husband would be like.
She wanted her sister to marry a good man, a gentle man, someone with the same disposition as her, though that was far from easy.
Not many men were gentle in the Highlands, and though Mabel wouldn’t necessarily wed a laird, being the second daughter, she was more than likely to wed someone who wanted to lead—someone who had trained for it from birth, someone who had been set up for it.
Those men were hardly ever gentle.
Rhea glanced at her own husband to find him laughing with Hudson.
It was rare to see him like this, and the sight brought a smile to her lips.
Her biggest fear had been that Callum wouldn’t enjoy anything at the feast, that it would be nothing but a burden to him, something that he would want to wrap up as fast as possible so he could retreat to his chambers and be alone.
But the Callum before her now was different, loosened by drink.
“I am enjoyin’ this,” Mabel assured her.
“I didnae use to like feasts, it’s true.
There are so many people, so much… so much noise all the time.
Ye cannae hide from it anywhere. I bet that if I go out to the balcony, the noise will follow me all the way there.
And some of the guests too, nay doubt. It’s impossible to be alone in a feast like this. ”
“But ye daenae mind?” Rhea asked.
“Nae now,” Mabel replied with a soft, humorless laugh. She shook her head as if trying to dispel a thought, her gaze turning to the crowd. “It has been so long since I last saw so many people. It’s… it’s a lot, but it’s also nice.”
“If ye need some time to yerself—”
“I’m fine, Rhea,” Mabel insisted, reaching for her hand and lacing their fingers together. “Enjoy the feast. Ye deserve it. Ye’ve put so much work into planning it!”
“Ach, it’s nae that much,” Rhea said, though it was obviously a lie. “Soon, ye’ll see. There’s nae that much to do.”
“Soon?” Mabel asked with a small frown. “Why?”
“Well, ye’ll get married in a few years, will ye nae?” Rhea pointed out. “And once ye’re a wedded lass, there will be much to take care of in yer household. One of those things will be the feasts.”
Mabel hesitated for a moment. “Wed?” she echoed, sounding uncertain. “I daenae ken if I can wed.”
That gave Rhea pause. She turned to face her sister fully, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Why?”
Mabel shrugged a shoulder. “If I am to wed, I must wed someone who can take over the clan,” she said. “And… I daenae ken, Rhea. Can ye imagine what kind of men will try to win me hand? They will all want to be lairds more than they’ll want to be me husbands. They’ll only want power and wealth.”
Rhea glanced once more at Callum, who was still deep in conversation with Hudson. Now more men had gathered around them, standing behind their chairs as Hudson told a story, waving his hands wildly in the air. He had all the men engrossed in the story, hanging on his every word.
Rhea couldn’t help but admire that skill in him, the way he could so easily enchant an audience. She wasn’t so certain that skill would work on a female audience, though.
What Mabel was saying was not far from the truth.
Many of the men who would come to ask for her hand in marriage would be precisely that—men hungry for power, who would want to take over the clan more than anything else.
Many wouldn’t love her. Many wouldn’t even treat her properly, even if she would practically gift them the clan and all the power that came with it.
It was a shame that as women, they couldn’t hold that same power.
Callum had been the same too, once. He had chosen to marry her just because of her father’s wealth.
That was all he had wanted at first—a way to secure the future of his people, to make sure they wouldn’t starve come winter.
But through it all, they had come to understand each other, and she would be lying if she claimed she didn’t think he was at least fond of her.
He had given her the time she had asked for.
He hadn’t tried to pressure her. And when she had asked him to court her, he had done just that, revealing a side of himself that she hadn’t even known existed.
Even if theirs was a marriage of convenience, something had slowly bloomed between them, something she didn’t yet dare name.
Perhaps it would be the same for Mabel.
She hoped she wasn’t being too naive. She had been lucky, but many women weren’t.
“When the time comes, I will be by yer side,” Rhea assured her sister. “And ye will pick whoever ye deem most worthy of ye. I will support ye, nay matter what.”
Mabel gave her a small smile, but there was sadness behind it. “Like ye did?”
The question caught Rhea by surprise. She stammered for a few moments, glancing at Callum out of the corner of her eye.
“I may nae have had a choice, but that doesnae mean it will be the same for ye,” she said. “Ye ken why this had to happen the way it did.”
“Aye. Of course I ken. But that doesnae make it right.”
“Ach, Mabel, it all turned out fine.”
“It did?” Mabel asked.
It didn’t sound like she was trying to mock Rhea. Rather, she sounded truly curious, as if she didn’t believe it—wouldn’t believe it—until Rhea herself confirmed it.
“Of course,” Rhea affirmed. “Look at me. I’m perfectly happy now, am I nae?”
Mabel seemed to consider that for a moment, her eyes narrowing on Rhea, trying to find the lie beneath her words.
But she would find no such thing. Rhea was happy, and even if she hadn’t quite understood it herself until that very moment, it didn’t make it any less true.
I am happy. I am happy here, with Callum by me side. I couldnae have asked for a better partner. As far as such marriages are concerned, it could have been far worse. Me father picked well, even if he didnae ken it at the moment.
And it willnae be the same for Mabel. She will pick the man she loves. She still has time.
Slowly, a smile curved Mabel’s lips. “All right,” she said. “That’s all I need to ken. That ye’re happy here.”
“I am happy,” Rhea repeated firmly. “I never want ye to think of me as… as unhappy or as in need of rescue, Mabel. Daenae concern yerself with such things. Ye already have so much on yer mind.”
“But how can I nae concern meself with ye?” Mabel pouted. “Ye’re me sister. I love ye, Rhea. I never want to see ye unhappy. And if… if ye were unhappy here, I would do anythin’ in me power, nay matter how small, to get ye out.”
Rhea laughed, the sound bright and sudden, surprising her sister.
It wasn’t that she didn’t believe her. Quite the opposite, in fact.
She was certain that Mabel would do just that—whisking her away in the middle of the night to bring her back home or hide her from Callum the moment she expressed any displeasure.
Mabel was quick like that. She may have been a shy, quiet girl, but she was also sharp as a razor, her mind running circles around everyone else. If there was anyone who could come up with an escape plan, it would be her.
“Then it’s a good thing that I daenae need ye to do that for me,” Rhea said. “Come now, enjoy the feast. Ye’re a young lass, go dance with a handsome lad.”
Mabel gave her a scandalized look. “Rhea! I cannae do that!”
“And why nae?”
“Because… people will talk!”
“So? Let them talk.”
“Absolutely nae,” Mabel said firmly, shaking her head. “I willnae risk yer reputation or mine.”
“It’s only a dance, Mabel,” Rhea coaxed. “Ye’re a young, bonnie lass, and there are plenty of handsome lads out there lookin’ for a dance partner. Go, enjoy yerself.”
“I will do nay such thing.”
Stubborn wee thing.
“Hudson!” Rhea called over her shoulder, gesturing to him to come closer. Hudson rose from his chair and approached, and the look on Mabel’s face was almost enough to make Rhea burst out laughing. “Will ye show me sister how to enjoy herself, please? She doesnae wish to dance with a stranger.”
“He’s a stranger!” Mabel protested.
But Hudson was entirely unaffected by her protest. He gave her a charming smile and offered her his hand, and Rhea saw her sister turn five different colors in rapid succession.
“Lady Mabel,” he said in the honeyed voice he reserved for young women. “May I have this dance?”
Mabel glanced back and forth between the two of them for a long time before finally giving in with a smile. She took his hand and let him help her up, but before they disappeared into the crowd, Rhea grabbed Hudson’s arm tightly, her fingers digging into his flesh through his sleeve.
“I said a dance,” she said, her voice low and threatening. “Do ye understand? Anythin’ else, and I’ll have yer head on a stake.”
Hudson blanched, looking over his shoulder at Callum, but Callum was absorbed in another conversation already.
“Of course, Rhea. What do ye take me for?” he asked with a chuckle.
“A rake,” she scoffed. “Daenae make me regret this.”
“I’ll treat her like a precious jewel,” Hudson promised.
With that, the two of them disappeared into the crowd, Hudson leading and Mabel trailing after him.
It wasn’t long after when one of the councilmen, Reggie, approached her and offered her his hand.
“Me Lady, it’s a shame for ye to sit here all alone,” he said. “Would ye like to dance?”
Before Rhea could tell him that it was very thoughtful of him, Callum appeared right behind her, hovering like a shadow. The moment his gaze found Reggie, the other man shriveled and took a step back.
“Me Laird!” he stammered, his nervous gaze sweeping over Callum from head to toe. “Ye seem… jolly.”
Rhea glanced at Callum to find him looking anything but.
“I will dance with me wife,” he slurred.
How much has he had to drink?, she wondered.
It wasn’t like him to drink so much in front of people, but this feast was in his honor, after all. She only wished that he wouldn’t make a fool of himself.
“Forgive me, Reggie,” Rhea offered with an apologetic look. It was ridiculous for her husband to be jealous of a man like Reggie, but she supposed things would be different if he hadn’t been drunk. “I’m afraid duty calls.”
“Of course, me Lady.” Reggie sketched a quick bow. “As the Laird wishes.”
Before she knew it, Callum was whisking her away to the dance floor, his hand firm on her waist. It was hardly an appropriate song for him to be holding her like this, as everyone else was dancing in larger groups, but she wasn’t going to be the one to point that out to him.
“Ye frightened poor Reggie,” she chided him. “There was nay reason for ye to do that.”
Callum grunted in his usual fashion, his hand tightening on her waist. “Are ye me wife or nae?”
“I am,” she said, bemused.
“Then ye should dance with me.”
With every passing moment, Callum seemed to get more and more intoxicated, even though he wasn’t drinking anymore.
His words slurred together, and his movements became more awkward, less coordinated as he led her into the dance.
But his hands only tightened more and more around her, as if he was trying to protect her from those around them, as if every collision with another dancer was a danger to her and a threat to him.
It didn’t surprise her that no one around them seemed to mind. If anything, they only noticed how he was holding her, how he was looking at her, and they seemed charmed by his possessiveness, his overprotectiveness.
What surprised her was that she felt the same way—charmed by this man who seemed to have two left feet, charmed by the way he held her so close to him, by the way he looked as if she was the only one that mattered in the whole world.
His chest was like a solid wall of heat against her, his arms encompassing her entirely. Desire pooled deep in her stomach as he spun her around and brought her back to him, their bodies colliding, a gasp escaping her lips.
She could only describe him as feral then, and she couldn’t help but think about what he would be like in bed if she allowed him to take her up to his chambers.
He wanted it; there was no doubt in her mind about it. He wanted her just as much as she wanted him, and she had half a mind to go back on their agreement, to ask him to make her his that very night.
But then, Callum’s eyes glazed over, and just as he was about to spin her once more, she slipped away from his hands… and he fell face-first to the floor.