Let him prove he was worthy of her, not the other way round.
Despite her determination, she merely picked at the food, finding her stomach did not welcome it. This was odd fare, not like what she was used to at home. Yet another thing to which she would be expected to accustom herself. Halfway through the procedure, there came a scratch at the door. One of Father’s guards stood there, and a whispered conversation with Orle took place.
“You are expected in your father’s room. He wishes to escort you out.”
Darlei puffed out a breath. “How do I look?”
“Magnificent,” Orle assured her.
Darlei nodded. The fine clothing would have to serve as her armor. What would sustain her far better, though, was a hard and sharp attitude behind which she might conceal her fear and dread.
No one should guess her true feelings. With luck, no one would.
Chapter Ten
Darlei’s father inspectedher carefully, and seemed satisfied with what he saw. He had also dressed in his best and looked clear-eyed and merciless.
“Chief MacMurtray will wish to show off his holding today,” he informed Darlei as he ate his breakfast, also delivered to his chamber. “You would do well to act impressed.”
Flatter them, he meant, these trumped-up interlopers. Though Darlei supposed they could no longer be considered interlopers, after so many years on Scottish soil. Was that not the goal, in the ordering of these marriages? To make all one.
She nodded soberly. She could pretend to be impressed, though it would make her squirm inside.
“It is best for you to learn all you can about life here,” Father went on, “since this way of living will be your own.”
And was she never to return home? Back over the hills they had traveled and to the places she loved? Could she not serve a given sentence here before renouncing it all?
Nay, for there would be babes by then. Children.Hischildren. She shuddered.
Father eyed her closely. No fool he—did he believe in her false calm?
“Daughter, tell me I can trust you.”
“Trust me?”
“To accept your fate and behave as you aught this day.”
Anger touched her, but she had her armor in place. “To be sure, Father.”
He appeared relieved. Then again, a measure of doubt still hovered in his eyes. “Come, we are to meet our hosts outside.”
Darlei had no objection to getting out in the air. A crisp autumn morning it proved to be, and as she exited the keep at Father’s side, trailed by Orle and Father’s guards, she did her best to take it all in.
Beyond the wall, which encircled the keep itself along with a narrow strip of grass nearly beaten into mud, lay the settlement. A crowd of dwellings huddled like so many children up against the walls, as to a mother’s skirts, they seemed too numerous to count. In one direction, hills rolled away to the distance, into infinity. Home. In the other direction…
The sea.
Darlei had never beheld the sea before yesterday, and then she’d been far too upset to appreciate the sight. Now her eyes feasted. A broad expanse, blue-gray beneath the pale morning sky, it drew her gaze and accelerated her heartbeat. If there were one thing here she might admire—
“King Caerdoc. Princess Darlei.” Chief MacMurtray walked toward them, a fatuous smile on his face. With a sinking heart, Darlei saw Rohr at his shoulder.
“Good morning,” Father said.
Murtray bowed. “I trust ye spent a comfortable night.”
“We had all we required.”
“I am that glad to hear it.”
