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Saoirse’s chamber door remained bolted shut, calling his bluff. Noah pursed his lips and charged into the door, ramming his shoulder into the wood as hard as he could. Pain shot through the right side of his body. He looked to the door… to find it still very much intact. It hadn’t so much as groaned against his weight.
“Open the door, Saoirse,” Noah hissed as he rubbed his arm and stepped back, ready for another charge.
A light flutter of movement caught his eye. Noah’s head whipped to the left. Down the hall he noticed three servants, eyes wide, mouths opened, bearing witness to his foolishness. Embarrassment and regret replaced the anger within him. The last thing he wanted was for his servants to think less of him. And charging at his wife’s chamber door didn’t look particularly noble.
Exasperated, he tugged on the hem of his jerkin. Although the side of his body still ached from the first charge, he paid no mind to the pain. Lifting his head up, he turned without another word and moved down the hallway, trying not to make eye contact with the servants.
“I take it ye dinnae get into the chamber, did ye?” Scott asked as Noah arrived back in the Great Hall and slipped into his seat, defeated.
“She isnae feelin’ well,” Noah lied.
Scott chuckled. “A bad humor, ye might say?”
Noah stole a glance at the council, who were deep in worrying gossip.Och, Scott, there’s nothin’ remotely amusin’ about this.
CHAPTER15
“The audacity of the man!”Saoirse muttered: her hand pressed against the door.
With her nerves rattling, she wondered if he was still out there, waiting her out like she was a rabbit in a burrow. Although there was some pride in the knowledge that she’d defied him, she also felt a touch of sadness that it had come to this. It still wasn’t what she wanted.
If he’s so determined for us to have a hopeless marriage, then what is the meanin’ of this? Why come up here and try to break into my room?She froze.Unless…
Her heart fluttered at the thought. A sliver of a smile stretched across her lips as she contemplated Noah’s actions. There was no doubt that he was mad at her, so mad that he came up to order her out, but if he didn’t care at all, he would’ve sent someone else to drag her out. Or, he would have just left her there, unbothered by her absence.
Daes he care for me, then? Is that what this was all about? Or is he just stubborn and hot tempered and in need of learnin’ a lesson?
Saoirse dropped her hand from the door and stepped back. Her soul felt withered and crumpled. Sinking onto the bed, Saoirse laid back and stared up at the ceiling. Her heart raced from the stress of what had almost happened. Although Noah never actually got into the chamber, there was a fraction of a moment where she really thought he’d charge the door off the hinges. The terror of the moment lingered in her mind.
A light, unexpected rapping of knuckles on the door caused her to jolt back up again. Had Noah returned so soon? Would he try a different tactic, this time? Had he realized that all he needed to do was apologize and ask her to come to dinner politely, and she’d agree? She wasn’t so unreasonable, after all.
When she heard Bianca’s muffled voice calling to her, Saoirse sprang from the bed and cracked open the door, anxious that it might be a trick.
“Are ye well?” Bianca peeped through the crack of the door, concern lingering in her eyes.
“I will be,” Saoirse answered, as she opened the door a bit wider for Bianca to enter.
“I saw Noah,” the maid said.
“Aye, well, this is his castle. He can dae as he pleases, even turnin’ himself into a batterin’ ram.” In truth, Saoirse wanted to ask if his arm was all right, but she held her tongue.
Bianca fidgeted awkwardly. “M’Lady, dae ye mind me askin’ why ye’re refusin’ to see him?”
“I have many reasons.” Saoirse replied as she moved to her bed. “Tell me, have ye never had yer hopes and expectations trampled upon?”
Bianca nodded. “Suppose I have, a time or two.”
“Then, let me just say that I have nay hope of things getting better,” Saoirse confessed quietly. “We have only begun our marriage, and it already feels like it is over. I keep tryin’ to be patient, but… it is hard, and it is painful. More than I imagined.”
“I see.” Bianca moved to place her hand on Saoirse’s shoulder. “May I speak frankly?”
Saoirse sighed. “Please do. I could use a wise voice.”
“I cannae profess to ken anythin’ of marriage, but I ken of love and of men,” Bianca said. “Right now, ye’re both testin’ each other’s boundaries, gettin’ to ken one another, and findin’ that ye keep clashin’. It’s natural. Imagine ye’re a cat and a fox that have been thrown into a box with one another. Ye were always bound to fight.”
“Am I the cat or the fox?” Saoirse attempted to laugh.
Bianca smiled. “Whichever ye prefer. But, imagine ye’re in that box in the dead of winter. When the cold comes, or when bigger beasts come prowlin’, ye’ll need each other, and ye’ll draw closer to each other.”
