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“I told you I didn’t want to talk,” she reminded him.
“We always talked,” he reminded in turn. “I often wondered how we found so much to talk about. We never lacked for conversation unless of course we were making love.”
She didn’t fight or prevent her smile. He was right. They had talked endlessly and had never grown bored with each other. Truth be told, she missed that time with him.
“I’ve missed talking with you,” he admitted.
While she wouldn’t admit the same, she said, “We had good talks.”
“We could have them again.”
She threw his own words back at him, though felt a shrew for doing so. “In time.”
He simply changed the subject. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine,” she answered curtly and turned her attention to the road ahead.
“The babe hasn’t made you ill? Cavan’s wife Honora suffered some illness when she carried the twins, though Zia, Artair’s wife, suffered not a day and will probably have delivered the babe before we reach home.”
“Please tell me we will not be living with your family in the keep,” she said.
He gave a low laugh. “I knew that might be a problem so I left orders for a sizeable cottage to be made ready for us.”
“Close to the keep?” she asked.
“No, a distance.”
“By woods?”
“We live surrounded by moors,” Lachlan said.
“Desolate land,” she claimed with a shiver.
“Beautiful land, if you look at it differently.”
“I prefer the woods.”
“There’s a small cropping of woods not far from the keep, though most stay clear of it, claiming it’s enchanted; Honora being the exception. She frequently visits there. I’m sure she’ll take you there if you wish.”
“This is all so easy for you,” she said suddenly angry. “You return to a loving family to live as you choose and you expect me to do the same. How rude of you!”
She snapped the reins to ride past him, but he grabbed hold of them and forced her mare to hold firm.
“You will remain beside me,” he ordered sternly. “You can snap at me and disagree with me, but when I give an order regarding your safety you will obey.”
She sneered. “I have and will continue to look after myself.”
“That is no longer necessary,” he said sharply. “That is a husband’s responsibility.”
“I didn’t ask for a husband.”
“Well, you have one.”
“Not by my doing,” she reminded.
“That makes no difference. You’re stuck with me.”
“We’re stuck with each other.
Lachlan shook his head. “Not true. I chose to wed you. No one forced you on me. I didn’t even know you carried my child at the time, so that wasn’t a consideration. I wed you because I love you, therefore, I am not stuck with you.”
Her heartache had taken on a different pain and she voiced it. “I wish I had the same right to choose.”
“I believe love made the choice for both of us.”
“I don’t doubt you love me, but I wish you would understand me,” she said.
“I think I understand you better than you realize.”
She disagreed. “I don’t believe so.”
“Then perhaps it is you who needs to understand me.”
A shout from one of his men had him riding off, leaving her to ponder his remark. She believed she understood him. Was it possible she didn’t? Was she missing something?
She had two full months before they reached his home, perhaps there would be epiphanies along the way.
The disagreeable weather made for a miserable journey. Rain haunted them as well as constant gray skies. They were caught in more than one downpour and had to seek what shelter they could.
Alyce spent much of the journey alone since Lachlan was constantly busy seeing to all the problems caused by the weather. The small cart that carried essentials got stuck in mud more often than not and some of the horses had to be directed around thick mud holes. By evening when camp was finally settled everyone except those on watch slept.
It was a grueling journey and one Alyce couldn’t wait to see end. She was tired and irritable and at times angry and not even sure at what. One day it was her father her anger settled on, then another time it was Lachlan and sometimes she was angry with herself. She berated herself for refusing to accept her marriage to Lachlan and be happy, after all she loved him. What more did she want?
As selfish or shrewish as it might sound, she wanted her life, her way. Everagis had given her a taste of freedom and she loved it. It hadn’t only been difficult and painful to say farewell to the women, it had been heartbreaking to leave Everagis. She felt as though she had left a part of herself there, a part she’d never get back again.
Her musings were interrupted by shouts and she halted her mare. It was raining hard, the ground turning muddier and her cloak soaked through. She saw the men dismount and begin to lead their horses, which meant a mud hole ahead. She didn’t wait for help, though she knew Lachlan expected her to. It would only hold them up some more and she wanted this journey to end as fast as possible.
