“I hope that is true,” Emily answered, hoping she sounded more confident than she actually felt.
Ailis nodded once more. “Well, I can tell ye that I daenae remember a single fight that I had with me husband, now that all of these years have passed. While I can still remember that he was a stubborn ox, I cannae remember anything but how much I miss him and the way his eyes tended to crinkle around the corners when he smiled.”
“It must be hard, being here without him,” Emily murmured.
“Some days are harder than others.” Ailis nodded. “I will never say that it was easy, because it wasnae—still isnae. But it is better knowing what happened to him, I suppose. Our marriage was arranged by our parents. I understand that it comes with a lot of questions and uncertainty, but I do think that it will work out. I’ve watched the way ye interact with one another, after all.”
Emily didn’t know what to say. Of course, a mother watched her son, but she wanted to know what Ailis thought of them.
Perhaps it didn’t have much weight, given that Kaden was reluctant to let anybody in, much less his family.
“Are ye nervous? I daenae think ye have anything to be nervous about. I ken what people say about me son, but he has a good heart.”
That was something Emily had no problem admitting to.
She managed another weak smile. “I have seen that to be true. I’m nae afraid.”
It was like a weight was lifted off Ailis’s shoulders at her words. “Oh, good, because I ken what they say about him… and I just cannae believe a word of it.”
Sadness suddenly bloomed in Ailis’s eyes, and she dropped her gaze to the floor.
“I beg yer pardon, did I say something to bother ye?” Emily asked, reaching over to touch the older woman’s knee in apology.
Ailis was quick to wipe her tears and shake her head. “Nay, it is nothing like that. I was just having a moment, is all. Ye see, at me old age, every now and then I confess to getting lost in memories.”
Emily’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
“Me marriage was arranged. But soon me husband and I came to love each other. I do hope that ye and me son find love with one another. It does seem that ye are rather suited for it.” Ailis smiled weakly. “Like ye, I was once betrothed to another. I sometimes wonder just how different me life might have been had I gone through with that betrothal.”
“Ye were?” Emily asked.
She knew that it was very taboo to break off engagements, and to see such a successful woman sitting before her and never having even heard a whisper about it? It seemed impossible.
“Aye, but he wasnae a good man. Nae at all. He was from a neighboring clan, a very powerful one at that. One that still exists. And he has only grown more cruel with age, from what I have heard. Our dear Kaden wouldnae be here if I had married that brute, that is for certain.”
Emily nodded once. “Me first betrothal was much the same. A man twice me age and four times as depraved.” She shuddered involuntarily.
Ailis opened her mouth, as if there was something else she wanted to say on the matter, only to shut it once again as Skye hurried over to them with the off-white gown that Emily was to be married in.
Ailis helped Emily to stand.
“What do ye think?” Skye asked.
“It’s… unlike anything I’ve ever seen before,” Emily gushed as she brushed her fingers along the fabric and the intricate lacework.
She wasn’t even exaggerating. She had seen paintings of her mother when she had married her father, and hers had been a stunning pale green gown passed down from her own mother. It hadn’t even occurred to Emily to ask her for it when she had been brought here.
She rose from her seat as Skye was nearly vibrating with excitement. She lifted her arms up and over her head so that the dress could fall around her torso.
The dress fit her perfectly, so all of those final measurements and last-minute fittings had truly paid off. A collective gasp rang out as they pulled the bodice into place.
Emily glanced at herself in the mirror, turning this way and that. She felt beautiful; there was no denying that. This was the moment she had been dreading for so long?
With the two engagements before Kaden, even thinking about this moment or choosing a wedding dress had made her nauseous. Now, when she thought about joining Kaden, that sense of dread wasn’t there.
Maybe she was ready for this, after all.
Emily turned to leave the room to head to the Great Hall, but her father stepped in her way. She hadn’t invited either of her parents to help her get ready or speak to her before she left because she didn’t wish to hear anything that they might have to say. She wasn’t here for them. She was here because her father had turned his back on her; there was no other way of putting it.
