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“And he keeps her bride price, the only thing he ever wanted from her,” Bryce finished.
“This is a problem,” Mara confirmed. “We certainly cannot surrender Tara to her father.”
“I knew you wouldn’t, Mum,” Reeve said with a grin.
Mara shook her finger at Reeve and proceeded to do the same to each of her sons and Carmag. “I’ll deal with all of you later, keeping this from me. For now we need to protect Tara.”
They each had the good sense to look contrite.
“We need time to wed,” Reeve said.
“That decision needs more consideration,” Mara said.
“I agree,” Tara said, relieved that she finally had someone who saw things as sensibly as she did.
“In the meantime, let’s make certain we greet King Carnoth with a substantial feast,” Mara said.
“My father would expect it,” Tara said.
Mara nodded. “Then we will not disappoint him.”
“Mum is right,” Bryce said and received a generous smile from Mara. “We’ll stuff them with food and drink, giving us time to revise our plans.”
Mara turned to Tara. “Go make yourself ready for your father. It will be good for him to see how you have prospered here in spite of the curse.”
Tara nodded and eased herself out of Reeve’s arms.
He, however, refused to let her go. “I’ll go with you.”
“No,” Mara snapped. “You will stay here and talk with your brothers and father and see what can be done to correct this mess.”
“No,” Reeve said. “I’m going with Tara.”
Before Mara could argue with him, Tara steppedin.
“Do as your mum says. I need time alone.”
She walked away before Reeve could argue, and, after grabbing her cloak off the peg, she hurried out the door and to her cottage. Tears were running down her cheeks by the time she closed the door behind her.
Try as they might, the MacAlpin warriors would find no way to save her. Her father was near, and he would demand her return. Her fate was sealed. She would wed the king of Scotland and die on her wedding day.
She couldn’t stop the tears from falling as she prepared to meet her fate. She would say nothing to Reeve. She would wait until her father’s arrival and confess her sins to him, making him understand that Reeve never knew who she was and that she had given her bride price to them in good faith and that he could not ask for its return.
Tara knew her father had hoards of money and could well afford to let the MacAlpins keep her bride price and still pay the king it as well.
It was the only sensible thing to do, and it was the right thing to do, the unselfish thing to do.
She freshened her appearance, letting her dark hair fall freely and thinking how only a short time ago Reeve had proposed marriage under conditions that just might have proved successful against the curse, and now ...
She sighed and shook her head slowly, not believing how it had all changed in such a short time. With her cloak wrapped around her and her head bent against the cold wind, Tara returned to the keep.
Reeve hurried right over to her, taking her hand. “It will be all right. I promise.”
At that moment, Tara felt the urge to tell him how she truly felt about him. After all, she might never get another chance, and she also knew she would regret it if she never told him ...
“I love you,” she whispered after leaning close against him.
She felt him grow rigid next to her, and she knew she had shocked him. She had even shocked herself, but it was something she had to do. Her father would no doubt want to leave early in the morning, and she wouldn’t be surprised if the king’s men waited in the woods to take her directly to the king to be wed.
