She gave a slow nod. “With King Robert recently crowned and struggling with the challenges to unite Scotland, ’tis understandable he welcomed an elite fighting force to bolster his ranks.”
“Under other circumstances I would agree,” Aiden said, the amazement of the news still leaving him humbled, “but Robert Bruce is more than Scotland’s king. He, too, is a Knight Templar.”
* * * *
Gwendolyn’s eyes widened as more pieces fell into place. The tie to the Brotherhood explained the king’s inherent trust in Aiden, the reason he’d reinstated his familial holdings, along with his father’s title, and why he’d chosen this fearless knight to reclaim and protect her home.
Except it did not answer one important question. “Why would King Robert require that we wed?”
“Upon the dissolution of the Knights Templar, the Grand Master bid those who had escaped to blend into the culture and, in time, marry.”
“Which makes sense but doesna explain why the Bruce would insiston our union.”
Face taut, Aiden dug his boot into the mossy bank. “The king has an inclination to pair women of wit and strength with men he respects.”
She arched a brow. “An inclination?”
A wry smile touched Aiden’s mouth. “Ours isna the first Templar union King Robert has arranged to some degree.”
“What do you mean?” she asked,more confused.
“Stephan MacQuistan, my close friend, was the first to fall within the king’s marital mischief. Months later, Thomas MacKelloch, though not ordered to wed, because of the king’s meddling, ended up doing so. ’Twould seem,” he said, his voice dry, “that you and I are the latest in His Grace’s endeavors.”
The sheer absurdity of such a claim had a smile tugging at her mouth. He was teasing her. Yet the grim acceptance in his eyes underscored his belief.
“You are telling me that the Bruce,” she said, trying to understand such an absurd notion, “a powerful ruler intent on uniting Scotland, a warrior known for his ferocity in battle, and a highly skilled tactician, has a fondness for arranging marriages?”
“’Twould seem, as proven by my friends’ fates and ours,” Aiden said, “one of his preferred diversions.”
“I see.” But she did not. None of this made any sense, but what had since she’d met thisvaliant knight?
In fact, most warriors bestowed a castle and a wife would have accepted both without regard to her outrage. But Aiden sought to repair the wrongs dealt her and had offered her Latharn Castle once seized.
Though he was attracted to her, and regardless whether the Brotherhood had been secretly dissolved, he’d made it clear ’twas a way of life he intended to pursue.
With Aiden grieving the deaths of many of his comrades, hadn’t he suffered enough? And yet, before ’twas over, because of the French sovereign’s false charges, many more bravemen would die.
Against the rumble of water, a bird’s distant call echoed through theforest, faded.
For a moment, she studied the canopy of leaves where sprinkles of fading sunlight fragmented through the dense swath of green to dust the forest floor. ’Twas a setting carefree in its existence, a time to enjoy the warmth tumbling within the breeze before the chill of falltinged the air.
But everything had changed.
Any lingering anger toward Aiden faded. God in heaven, how could she condemn his loyalty to the Bruce or the Brotherhood when he, as she, was caught within circumstances beyond his control?
Her chest tightened at the heartache he’d endured. Aiden was a good man. Throughout their time together, he’d been fair and had treated her with high regard. Nor could she dismiss her pull to him, one that however upset, and regardless of how much she’d fought to squelch, hadn’t waned.
Yet his goals in life excluded her, a point proven by his willingness to sacrifice everhaving an heir.
After all he’d suffered and lost, if he wanted to live the Templar way of life, however much she wished otherwise, ’twas a choice shewould respect.
“Now what?” she whispered, saddened that within days hewould be gone.
“Do you agree with my proposal?” Solemn green eyes darkened. “To live apart. Separate lives. Forgoing an heir?”
Throat tight, worried he’d see the distress in her eyes, she stared into theforest. “Aye.”
“Once Latharn Castle is seized,” he said, his voice empty of the passion of moments before, “with my need to capture Thorburn Castle, and then support our king in his battles, none will question my departure. Once I am gone, you, as I, will live the life you have chosen.”
