Something smoldered within her, and she stumbled over her words. “I suppose… we should… inside… yer chambers.”
As hard as she tried, she could not form a proper sentence, with Arthur looking at her in that manner. Everyone chuckled, but her betrothed’s eyes never once left hers.
“I think what me bride is tryin’ to say,” Arthur spoke, the sound of his voice making goosebumps erupt across her skin, “is that we should all go inside so we can show ye to yer chambers. Wehave a cèilidh to prepare for tonight, so we want ye to have time to rest from yer travels.”
Everyone agreed, and Marissa hung back a bit as the group walked toward the castle. Arthur slowed his pace, allowing Joseph to head up the group and show them toward the door.
“Gettin’ yerself all flustered?” he asked, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Marissa rolled her eyes at him, but that didn’t stop her cheeks from flushing.
“Dinnae kid yerself,” she quipped. “I was just excited to see me family.”
Arthur snorted a laugh. “Aye, yer family is what got ye all flustered like that. Surely it wasnae the fact that ye were thinkin’ about the other night.”
Her stomach fluttered as images of him kneeling before her flashed through her mind once more. Not trusting herself to speak, she waved him off before turning to follow everyone into the castle.
Joseph’s voice carried through the corridors as he pointed out various paintings and mounts from their hunts along the walls. So, it made it easier for Marissa to track them down.
Michael and Cody were at the front of the group, clearly eager to ask questions about the history of the things they’d collected. Freya, Abigail, Ayla, and Amara walked in a small, tight-knit group. Their heads were bowed together as they talked, tittering behind their hands.
A rush of affection washed over her, happy that her sisters were getting along so well with Ayla and Amara.
“What are ye gossipin’ about?” Marissa asked as she threw herself into the group.
Amara let out a yip of surprise, drawing Cody’s attention. Her cheeks flushed anew under the weight of his gaze, and the other three women burst into another fit of giggles as she waved them off.
“We were just laughin’ about how up Joseph’s arse Cody seems to be,” Abigail answered. “Ye ken how he is when it comes to war. So he seems to hero worship everythin’ that Joseph has to say.”
Marissa laughed. “Aye, and I’m sure that Michael is as happy as a lark to be askin’ him all about the suits of armor.”
“And the paintings,” Freya said, her voice laced with amusement.
“And the mounted boar’s head,” Abigail supplied.
The women all looked at each other, grinning as they walked before each one opened her mouth.
“Men!” they all admonished in unison, shaking their heads before bursting into another fit of laughter.
Joseph stopped speaking, causing the corridor to be filled only with the women’s laughter. Marissa glanced up, finding that the men were staring at them, their eyebrows raised with skepticism.
The five women glanced at each other before bursting into more laughter, almost entirely overcome.
The men willnae understand this.
The thought filled Marissa with pride and an unabashed affinity with the women that surrounded her. She had always thought she would never find closer friends than her sisters.
But as she looked at Ayla and Amara, she couldn’t help but wonder if maybe there was more room than she had initially thought for a friendship that felt like sisterhood.
“Can we get on with it?” Arthur grumbled, waving them all forward.
The men started back down the corridor. Marissa paused just long enough to link arms with Abigail and Ayla, finding Freyaand Amara doing exactly the same thing before following after them.
Their walk to their chambers was as to be expected. The men continued to comment on the items adorning the walls, and the women commented on the words of the men. By the time they reached the suite of rooms that had been prepared for her family, Marissa could see the amusement on Arthur’s face.
He hadn’t laughed at them as they’d walked. Hadn’t so much as smiled. But she hadn’t missed the way his mouth quirked up and the way his eyes lit up with mirth. Which only served to egg her on further.
“The rooms are so grand,” Freya commented, mostly under her breath, as she stepped into her chambers.
