Chapter 14
“Ijust cannae tell ye how happy we are that ye are here with us.”
Emily forced herself to smile kindly. She didn’t wish to be unfriendly, but it was the fifth time that the young maid assigned to her had said the exact same thing.
While the maid had gentle fingers as she twisted Emily’s hair up into an updo for the evening, they kept tugging and jabbing her scalp with pins. It was hard to be polite and pleasant while she was in pain.
Nothing was going the way she had wanted it to go. Perhaps it was her own fault. After all, it wasn’t as if she had asked any questions about the other residents of the castle before she had agreed to this marriage. She hadn’t paid proper attention at the cèilidh, it seemed.
It was naive to think that she would have been allowed to come here and simply spend her first few days unpacking and spending time on her own.
She desperately wished to write. She had been planning out the next chapter in her book on the entire ride here, and she had been so busy every moment of the day since that she hadn’t been allowed time to even fetch the inkpots from her trunk.
She had planned the opening lines so perfectly, and now they were starting to grow hazy, and she wasn’t certain that she was going to remember them after dinner. Never mind the exhaustion.
Even Maggie had run out of energy.
Emily had never been able to wear out a pup before, but Maggie was not even wagging her tail limply.
She had stretched out on the rug near the foot of her bed and had been wagging her tail slowly, watching the women move about the bedroom for a good long while.
But now her ears didn’t even perk up at new noises.
Hopefully, if Emily had any luck left, Maggie would stay asleep here throughout dinner until Emily returned and the two of them could pass back out into the plush bedding.
So far, she missed her old room and home less than she had thought she would.
The other two times, she had had so much difficulty sleeping in strangers’ homes that dark circles had bloomed under her eyes and stayed there.
Perhaps she had just been kept too busy to miss anything yet. It would likely hit her later.
But that was why wine was served at dinner, was it not?
“There. Ye look lovely, me Lady,” the maid gushed, her hands resting softly on Emily’s shoulders for only a moment, before stepping back so that she could see herself better in the mirror.
The maid had chosen one of the dresses from the wardrobe instead of Emily’s clothes.
Given that she didn’t know who they had belonged to before, Emily wasn’t sure how she felt about wearing them.
It was obvious that they were dated in fashion, but softer and more flattering than any of her own dresses were.
Would Kaden like it?
Emily balked, shaking the thought out of her head. She shouldn’t care what he did or didn’t like. Never mind that she had spent a good amount of time after he had left cursing her own stubbornness for not asking him to kiss her.
It was for the best. It had to be.
“If ye need anything else, me Lady, just ask. Everyone is most pleased to have a new lady in the castle.” The maid bowed deeply at the waist, somewhat awkwardly, but not without charm.
Emily wasn’t used to being the shy one in any situation. Then again, she had never had to be on the defensive before. Everyone here was so… nice.
Could she truly trust it?
She wanted to. She wanted to believe that everything was as it seemed so desperately. But it had seemed that way with her first fiancé as well. And then things had gone horribly wrong.
“Perhaps… if ye daenae mind showing me the easiest way to the Great Hall?” she asked somewhat sheepishly.
The maid seemed thrilled to have been given a task and reached for Emily’s hand.
Emily slipped her hand from the girl’s gently, not wanting to offend her, but not wanting to be overly personal either. She tried her best to learn the route they took and hesitated only a moment at the entrance to the hall.
Sounds of lively conversation drifted out, and she could see everybody enjoying themselves as the first course was brought out to the table. It smelled incredible. There was no denying that.
She entered the hall slowly, her hands loosely clasped in front of her. The conversation in the hall dimmed as so many eyes turned to her at once. But she couldn’t look at them. She was focused on Kaden and the intimidating image that he posed.
How could one person manage to look so wrathful at absolutely nothing?
If they were alone, she would have teased him for it.
His expression didn’t exactly change at the sight of her, but something in his eyes did. The warmth that bloomed in them as he looked at her eased the tension in her shoulders. It made it easier to ignore all the stares and the whispers as she made her way to the high table and curtsied to him.
Kaden gestured to the seat beside him, and she slowly walked around the table so that she could take it.
It was the first time they were truly going to be seen as a couple. She had to make it count.
How exactly was Kaden meant to focus in a room full of people when his betrothed looked like that?
Emily was a vision.
So much so that he was sorely tempted to tear out the eyes of anyone who was presently looking at her in the way he was. He wanted to march across the hall and throw her over his shoulder, carry her away so that no one else might enjoy the sight of her but himself.
And now he was going to have to sit beside her as if his mind was not running wild with all the things that he wished she would ask of him.
One word, and he would happily clear out the entire hall. Supper be damned.
He could feel the warmth of her.
He reached for his wine and took a long sip to steady himself. He knew that he ought to strike up a conversation with her, but his mouth was oddly dry, and it was impossible to think when he kept stealing glances at her out of the corner of his eye.
He didn’t wish to appear too eager. But even the way her chest rose and fell with each breath, her soft skin, the pretty plum shade of the dress that she had chosen for the evening…
People spoke to him, and he knew that he remained rudely stoic during most of the conversations that his sisters and clansmen attempted to pull him into.
But he did not much care either way. He wished that it were the two of them alone, as she was the only one he really wanted to speak with.
By the end of dinner, Emily had most of them eating out of the palm of her hand.
It was easier when the years of training finally kicked in, and she remembered that she was charming. Well, if she was being honest with herself, it was easier to be that version of herself when she pretended that Kaden didn’t exist.
She had no choice but to tune him out entirely. The hunger in his eyes had absolutely nothing to do with food, and she knew it.
As the hall started to empty, Kaden lingered in his chair. One by one, the clansfolk bid them goodnight, and soon the servants started to clear the tables and leftover food to go to the livestock and repurpose everything else that they could.
Emily thought that she ought to excuse herself, but when she tried to leave, Kaden’s hand clamped around hers.
Her skin prickled even from the slight touch. She needed to calm herself. Honestly, she was going to make a fool of herself.
When the two of them were finally left alone, he withdrew his hand slowly.
“Did ye need something, me Laird?”
Silence stretched out as Kaden very obviously struggled to come up with a reason for keeping her there. When he spoke, the words were poorly chosen, but she couldn’t help but indulge him.
“Did ye enjoy the tour of the grounds?”
“Aye, me Laird.” Emily pressed her lips together to keep herself from giggling.
“Are ye in need of anything else?”
Emily shook her head. “Nay, everyone has been more than accommodating.”
“So ye think that ye will be able to keep up yer end of the bargain?”
Emily couldn’t help herself; she laughed. “Is that really what ye wish to say to me?”
Kaden tilted his head toward hers, but he didn’t move otherwise. “And what else am I supposed to say to ye, exactly?”
“Hm. Well, it seemed as if ye were itching to tell me how bonnie ye found me,” she teased, watching a flush creep up the sides of his neck all the way to his ears. “Oh, come now, me Laird—”
“Kaden.”
“Ye cannae tell me that ye daenae have any experience in speaking to women. Even after meeting yer sisters only a couple of times, I am certain that they would have told ye better than that.”
The conversation from earlier rang in her mind. If he had truly been gone for so long, then he might not have had the experience. Or perhaps he simply didn’t find the time to care about things like that.
“Flattery works well on a lass, ye ken?” Emily continued, turning toward him. Her knee brushed against his under the table. She was testing her luck and his resolve all at once. “I think I have done a pretty good job of convincing yer clan that this is a real betrothal.”
Kaden smirked, his gaze dropping to the table for a moment, and he nodded. “Aye, I suppose that ye have done that.”
He turned in his seat, his knee pushing between hers slightly, only enough to make her acutely aware of the fact that he was invading her personal space easily.
“But perhaps I need a bit of convincing? A show of faith, if ye will,” he breathed.
It sounded like that was going to be the closest thing she would get to a plea from him as he leaned closer.
Her heart fluttered in her chest, feeling flighty and unsure. A tingling warmth spread from where his leg touched hers, while he remained annoyingly calm. It was almost as if he were testing her resolve.
“One.” She licked her lips and steadied herself so that her voice wouldn’t sound so breathy. “One kiss was enough to convince ye of that, surely.”