Faye smiled at her mother. “I am well cared for here.”
Ewan offered Cait his other arm, which she took with a careful smile.
Clara joined them next, followed by a reluctant Kinsey. Together, the four of them returned to the Great Hall, where Ewan had them sit at the dais with Faye and himself as their honored guests. After a quick introduction to Moiré and Monroe, they all settled down to eat.
Kinsey glanced at the platter of food and groaned. “Eel?” She turned an accusatory look at Faye.
“Shush now.” Cait shot her daughter a stern look.
“It isn’t what I ordered to be served tonight,” Faye said apologetically.
Clara took a piece, then did little more than stare at it.
“Ye don’t have to eat that, Clara,” Faye said.
Clara lifted her gaze, her face bright with relief. “I didn’t want to be rude.”
Faye laughed. “Oh, Clara, ye’re too kind. We spent far too long eating this when we were children to ever have to endure it again.”
“And we ate so much.” Kinsey grimaced.
“It wasna that terrible,” Cait protested.
All three of her daughters stared at her, skeptical.
“Well,” she conceded, “mayhap it was.”
They all laughed this time, including Ewan, who promptly ordered more bread to be brought to the dais.
“Do ye remember the time Faye managed to bring home that old chicken?” Kinsey asked. “I’ve never seen such a pathetic bird in my life, but we ate it as if we were kings being served the greatest feast.”
Faye’s cheeks darkened with a blush, and she glanced at Ewan with apparent discomfort. “We don’t need to speak of such things,” she said to her sisters.
“I’ve had my fair share of eel.” Ewan made a face of disgust that made Kinsey laughed. “My da loved it, but I could never stand it. ’Tis mayhap the first time it’s been served here since his death.”
“I don’t understand what happened to the venison.” Faye shook her head. “Tomorrow should be a pigeon pie. I fear what may come out instead.”
“It happens sometimes,” Moiré offered politely. “’Twas yer first day running the keep.”
“And ye did a fine job of it.” Ewan beamed proudly at Faye.
“Except for the eel.” Faye frowned at the food that had caused so much offense.
“Talk to cook on the morrow.” Ewan reached for a plate of vegetables. “’Tis no great concern. Regardless of what we’re eating, ’tis among good company.”
And it was. He hoped Faye’s family might be what finally set her at ease, allowing her to be herself truly and mayhap open up to him.
She smiled so much more among them. A bright, unfettered grin that lit the room with her joy. He’d never seen her so happy, and it made him realize how all this time, she must have been miserable.
Aye, she had been the one to make the decision to wed him. But after witnessing what she regained with her family, what she had been forced to give up marrying him, he couldn’t allow her to keep making such a sacrifice. Even though the threat had not been his doing, she had still been coerced into their union. He could overlook it no more.
Though it twisted an ugly knot in his chest, he knew what he needed to do.
14
Faye finally departed the Great Hall with reluctance. The hour had grown too late to keep her sisters and mother at the dais after such a long journey.
After all, they would speak again on the morrow.
But it was still so hard to leave. For the first time since she had arrived in the Highlands, she felt a sense of completeness. Having them appear was like a dream, a mirage of happiness she feared might disappear if she let it go for even a moment.
“’Twas good to meet yer family,” Ewan said as they made their way up to their chambers.
“I think ye even won Kinsey over in the end.” She smiled at him, though the action felt forced.
Exhaustion pressed in on her as if her energy had been fed by her family, and now without them, she was nothing but a husk once more.
In the past evenings, Ewan had always brought her to his chamber without passing by her door. Tonight, however, he hesitated in front of her chamber. “If ye’d rather be alone tonight…”
She shook her head. Of all nights, she did not want to be alone on this one. Except this time, the strange hollowness ringing out within her could not be burned away by desire. She didn’t want Ewan in the way a woman wanted a lover, but in the way that a wife needed her husband. She longed for his arms around her, cradling her to his powerful body and shielding her from everything hurting in her heart.
They entered his chamber together, but neither reached for the other, not like they’d done previously when an insatiable lust had spurred their actions.
Instead, Ewan watched her with tenderness. “Was it difficult to see them again?”
Tears immediately filled Faye’s eyes. She’d spent the night controlling them, wrangling her feelings with the force it would take to contain lightning.
Ewan said nothing. He simply opened his arms, and she ran to him, collapsing against him as the tears came. His head bowed over her, enveloping her in his warmth, his strength and the wonderful spicy scent of him.
“I know ye’ve missed them,” he said gently.
She nodded against his chest.
He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “This isna fair to ye.”
She leaned back to look at him better. “What do ye mean?”
“For ye to stay here.”
An indiscernible emotion flickered in her chest. “’Twas my decision to make.”
“One ye were pressed into in order to keep yer family safe.” He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. The gesture was affectionate, as though trying to soften an impending blow.
“Just as ye wed me to keep yer people safe,” she replied slowly, warily. “We are both protecting those we love.”
He shook his head, and a muscle flexed against the sharp edge
