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“Oh, certainly, you can be. I will not stop you,” he grinned. “It is just that you normally aren’t.”
Ivy stiffened, and a frown curled the corners of her mouth downward. “I do not usually have cause.”
“Exactly my point and the impetus of my question,” he replied. “I wanted to know what it was that had put a smile on your face.”
Ivy’s heart stumbled over itself as she realized that she had walked into a trap of her own making. She obviously could not answer the question, or she would give away her clandestine meetings with Fin. And if Castor knew she had been meeting the Scotsman in secret, it would not take him long to tumble onto the realization that she had given him her maidenhead. And if Castor knew that, Ivy would probably be better off if she immediately threw herself off the ramparts of the castle.
“It is not your concern, Castor,” she said. “My thoughts are my own. That seems to be the only thing I have control over in my life.”
A cruel smirk touched his lips before he raised his flagon and took a long swallow of his drink. He lowered it again and leaned against the retaining wall on the balcony, his gaze fixed firmly on hers. He seemed to be attempting to probe her mind and read her thoughts - something he had been able to do with ease when they were young. But then, she rarely kept secrets from him and told him most everything.
A small frown creased his lips, though, when he realized he could not read her mind as easily as he had once been able to. He did not like not knowing or having absolute control over everything in his castle - including what went on in her mind. He let out a small, frustrated breath and regained his imperious expression once more.
“I believe that I have finally found a suitable match for you, dear Sister.”
Ivy felt like a thousand pound stone had been dropped into her belly. She felt a wave of nausea wash over her, and it was all she could do to keep from getting sick all over his boots right then and there. That was the last thing she expected to hear from him - and the most unwelcome. She had known, of course, that he was still seeking a match for her, but having not heard any news on that front in quite some time, to know that he had found one fired a bolt of fear straight through her.
Seeing the look of shock and repulsion on her face seemed to please Castor, for a smile that was feral and cruel stretched across his lips once more. He had regained the upper hand, and he knew it.
“It has taken some time, but I believe this match will be beneficial both for you and for Elix as a whole,” he said. “You do still believe in doing your duty for the family, don’t you?”
Ivy’s gaze fell to the ground as her stomach churned wildly. The glow of her time with Fin evaporated, and she was left with an empty, mournful feeling inside. But in addition to that, a spark of anger flared to life in her belly. It grew steadily in size and ferocity, consuming everything in its path until that righteous rage was all that was left. She raised her gaze to Castor, fixing him with a narrow look of absolute disgust.
“You do not look well pleased, Ivy.”
“Am I to have no say in my future? Am I simply supposed to marry whom you tell me to marry and be happy with it?” she hissed.
“That is the way this works. You know this,” she said. “You have known this since we were kids.”
“And I also recall when we were kids, you telling me how wrong you thought it was that I had no say in my future,” she responded. “I remember you saying how wrong you thought it was that I would be forced to marry a man I neither knew nor loved.”
He sighed heavily. “It was the innocence and naivete of youth,” he said evenly. “Now that I am Baron, I see that father was right all along and that a mutually beneficial match between you and a House we would like to ally with is a necessity.”
Ivy snorted and looked out over the orchards again, doing everything in her power to quell the churning in her belly. If she did not get that under control quickly, she was really going to be sick all over his boots.
“You are a hypocrite, Castor.”
“No, I am a realist,” he replied. “And I have a duty to this barony - my barony - and to my House. As do you. And your duty is to make our new ally a happy man.”
Castor’s voice was growing tense. Hard. He did not like to be questioned by anybody, let alone his sister. Or any woman really. Ivy knew his thoughts and opinions of women tended to be rather low. He thought himself superior to women. But as with everything else with Castor, it was not always so.
“And who is this new ally?” she asked, sounding miserable.
“Baron Weedler of Northwalk,” he replied. “It is an old, noble House. But one that has good connections and much to offer to Elix.”
“Much to offer you, I believe you mean to say.”
Castor’s eyes narrowed, and his jaw flexed as he clenched and unclenched his jaw. Ivy was pushing him, and she knew it. But at the moment, she did not care. He had just announced what he would be destroying — and had the gall to expect her to be happy about it. Northwalk was in the south of England, and if he forced her to go there, Ivy knew she would never see Fin again. Ever.
“Your tongue has been getting looser and looser lately, Sister. I have tolerated it, but perhaps I was wrong to do so, for now, you seem to think you have leave to speak as freely as you wish,” Castor growled. “If I were you, I would learn how to get your tongue back under control for Baron Weedler has a reputation for dealing with those who have loose tongues rather harshly.”
“And this is the sort of man you would sell me to.”
“He is the sort of man who makes for a useful and powerful ally to this House,” Castor fired back. “So yes, I would betroth you to him in a heartbeat.”
Ivy stared at him for a long moment, doing her best to tamp down the twin flames of indignation and rage that coursed through her. Her mind spun with a host of competing thoughts and feelings she could not begin to put into order in her own mind. The only coherent thought to emerge from that fog of disarray was that she would never see Fin again. And more than anything, that was what shattered her heart into the most pieces.
“What happened to you, Castor?” she asked softly. “You used to be a good man. A loving brother. What happened to you?”
