"Aye, dinnae worry.Connor will soon see the merit of it.He just needs a little time to gather his thoughts," Ewan MacNeil replied."It has been a trying day for all of us, perhaps it would be best if we retired for a rest before the evening meal.
The two men nodded in agreement while Fiona remained numb.
"Fiona, are ye all right?"Horas whispered.He was glaring at Ewan and her father, clearly unhappy with how dismissive they were of Fiona’s feelings.Horas was her father’s guardsman and her dearest childhood friend. He was fiercely protective of her and loathed the MacNeil’s.
Fiona returned a brittle smile and replied, “Aye, I am well.”
"Does yer leg ail ye?"
"No, I am sure a rest will do us all some good."She noticed his jaw clench as if he wanted to say something more but then he simply nodded.
Eventually they were ushered to guest chambers.On their way there, Fiona's composure finally cracked.Once the door closed behind them and Horace took his place outside guarding the corridor, she turned to her father with desperate eyes.
"Father, I cannot marry him.He despises me.He has made it clear.It would be humiliating if ye were to...force us to wed.Please dinnae do this, I beg of ye."
Laird Finnigan's expression hardened."Enough!Ye will do as ye're told.It matters not what he feels for ye or not.The contracts must be satisfied, and as me only daughter, ye're the one to do it."
"But, Father," Fiona's voice broke slightly, "do ye not ken what it would be like if someone forced ye to marry a woman ye hate?I'd be dead in three days.They say he is a cruel, mean, dragon of a man, and after what I just heard...it would only make things worse."
Her father's face showed a flicker of something that might have been sympathy, but it was quickly suppressed."Tis time ye grew up, Fiona.All marriages are hard, and there is rarely any love.The clans expect ye to do yer duty.Be a good wife, stay out of his way, and ye’ll get on well."
Fiona sank into a chair by the window, her hands trembling as she smoothed her skirts."He said he would keep mistresses.That he would humiliate me deliberately.How can ye condemn me to such a fate?"
"Because the alternative is war!"her father exploded, then immediately lowered his voice, glancing toward the door."The MacLeods are pressing our borders, the Campbells grow stronger each season, and we cannot afford to have the MacNeils as enemies.This marriage will give us the strength to survive."
"At the cost of my well-being?"
"Whatever is necessary."His voice gentled slightly."Lass, I ken it's hard.But ye're.Yer mother was the same, thrown into a marriage she didn't want, but she made the best of it.She won my heart in the end, just as ye might win his."
Fiona touched the window glass, watching the Highland landscape stretch endlessly beyond."He called me cursed, Father.Said I was probably hexed.He looked at me as if I were something to be scraped off his boot."
"Men say foolish things when they're angry.He'd never seen ye before.I’m sure he was railing against the situation, not against ye personally."
"It felt personal."She turned to face him, her eyes bright with unshed tears."I ken I'm not beautiful.I ken my leg makes me less desirable as a bride.But I had hoped...that perhaps we might at least be kind to one another."
Laird Finnigan moved to stand behind her chair, his large hands gentle on her shoulders."Give it time, daughter.Men like Connor MacNeil are like a storm on the surface.Underneath, they can be won over by a clever woman.And ye, my dear, are very clever indeed."
Fiona shook her head, "I dinnae want to have to win any man over.Especially one as arrogant as that.Aye, I’ll do my duty, but Connor MacNeil would do well to stay clear of me."
For the first time that day her father chuckled."Now, that’s the stubborn lass I raised.Dinnae fash.It will all work out in the end."
Fiona nodded but, in her heart, she couldn't shake the image of Connor's dark eyes filled with such revulsion.How could she possibly find common ground with a man who saw her as nothing more than a burden to be endured?
Outside her window, storm clouds gathered on the horizon, as dark and forbidding as her future seemed in that moment.
***
