Ian’s jaw tightened slightly. “Ghosts still bleed,” he said coolly. “Double the patrols along the ridge tonight.”
“Aye, me Laird,” several voices answered.
The drills resumed behind him as swords struck together with renewed energy. Ian watched the warriors for another moment, though his mind wandered elsewhere. Since discovering the clause hidden within the marriage contract, an uneasy weight had settled over him that refused to lift.
Footsteps approached across the yard. “Ian,” Flynn called.
Ian turned to see his friend striding toward him, his brow furrowed with concern. Flynn rarely wore such an expression, which alone made Ian wary. He inclined his head slightly.
“What is it?”
Flynn glanced around at the warriors before lowering his voice. “Could we speak a moment… alone?”
Ian studied him briefly. Then he nodded. “Come.”
Together they walked away from the noise of the training yard to a meadow that stretched wide beneath the morning sky, the tall grass swaying gently in the breeze. They stopped several paces from the path where no one could easily overhear them.
Ian turned toward him. “Well?”
Flynn rubbed the back of his neck uneasily. “Melissa saw somethin'.”
Ian waited. “She said yer wife was standin' outside the council chamber door,” Flynn continued. “Just before our last meetin' ended.”
A chill crept slowly through Ian’s chest.
“She looked upset,” Flynn added quietly. “More than upset.”
Ian felt his stomach tighten. “She kens, then?” he asked.
Flynn hesitated before answering. “I cannae be certain.”
The uncertainty did little to ease Ian’s dread. His gaze drifted toward the distant hills as the truth settled heavily in his mind. If Arianna had overheard the council speaking about the clause, there would be only one conclusion she could reach. That he had married her for land.
Flynn watched him carefully. “Ye should speak to her, Ian,” he said after a moment. “Before this grows worse.”
Ian exhaled slowly. “Aye,” he muttered.
But the word carried little confidence. His thoughts turned toward Arianna, the way she had begun to smile more freely in recent weeks. The way she had laughed the first time she managed to split a log cleanly in two. He had watched her slowly shed the guarded uncertainty she carried when she first arrived. And now that trust might be gone.
“She’ll think I planned it,” Ian said quietly.
Flynn shrugged slightly. “Can ye blame her?”
Ian’s jaw tightened. “Nay,” he admitted.
The admission tasted bitter.
Flynn shifted his weight in the grass. “Then tell her the truth.”
Ian gave a humorless huff. “The truth is complicated.”
“Aye,” Flynn said. “But silence will only make it worse.”
Ian ran a hand through his hair, frustration simmering beneath his calm exterior. The council had insisted the clause remain quiet for political reasons. Yet every instinct in him rebelled against allowing Arianna to believe such a lie. He stared across the meadow, his thoughts heavy.
For weeks, he had struggled to keep his distance from her for reasons she could not understand. He had believed restraint would protect them both. Instead, it seemed to have built a wall between them.
“If she thinks I married her for land…” Ian said quietly.
