Love Me Forever (19 page)

“They knew where I sought solitude and kept
a watchful eye over me. As soon as your men arrived, my men
gathered and followed. They are not far from this keep at this
moment, and if I do not speak with them before it grows late, they
will attack.”

“I saw no one following us,” Blair said,
annoyed that he and his men might not have been as alert as they
should have been.

“I command a well-trained and highly skilled
group of men. You would not see them if they did not want to be
seen.”

“I have heard of their skills,” Ian said,
impressed. “I do not doubt your word, and you are welcome to
contact your men whenever you wish. As I have told you, I have no
quarrel with you.”

“And I have no quarrel with you.” Royce
paused, and then raised his voice for all to hear. “But I will wed
your sister.”

“The decision is hers,” Ian said. “I will
not force her to wed.”

“Even if she carries my child?” Royce asked,
looking to Brianna.

Brianna did not wish to announce to the
entire hall that she was unable to conceive a child. Her failure as
a woman concerned no one but her.

Her brother sensed her unease. “We will
discuss this in private.”

Moira handed her son to Anne and walked over
to Brianna. She slipped her arm around her shoulder. “We will
continue this in the solar.”

Brianna was grateful for Moira’s support.
She had wondered if her shaking legs would carry her or if she
would collapse like a foolish woman. She grasped hold of Moira’s
offered hand as they walked.

“All will be fine,” Moira assured her. “Ian
will see to it.”

“I will not marry him,” she insisted,
wondering who she was attempting to convince—Moira or herself.

“It will be as you wish.”

Brianna nodded, agreeing with her
sister-in-law. It would be her decision and hers alone. There was
no worry that there would be a child. She could not give Royce one,
not ever. Why did that thought make her feel so sad? He was not
what she thought him to be.

Remember.

She felt too numb to remember anything. At
the moment she felt only the hurt and pain of being deceived and
being so very foolish.

Ian followed Royce into the room after
Brianna and Moira had entered. Moira directed her to a chair by the
hearth, but Brianna preferred to remain standing. She felt more in
control, more determined.

“You should sit or your back will begin to
pain you,” Royce said with concern.

Ian and Moira exchanged glances, both aware
that Royce was sincere in his concern for Brianna.

“Your back troubles you?” Moira asked.

“It is fine,” Brianna said, though Royce had
been right—the pain in her back had grown worse since dismounting
the horse and standing as long as she had. She should seek her bed,
but she had no thought to do that, for she would surely spend all
her time there crying.

“She is being stubborn,” Royce said with an
annoyed wave of his hand. “Her back troubled her on the journey
here. We stopped once for her to rest, but she needs rest now. She
should not be standing; bed is where she should be.”

“Brianna,” Ian said firmly, “do not be
stubborn. We can discuss this matter tomorrow.”

“This matter will be settled now,” she
demanded. “And in little time,
for I will not wed him.”

“And if there is a child?” Royce asked,
walking up to her.

Brianna did not back away from him, but
raised her chin. “There is no child and you know it.”

“You are so certain that you cannot conceive
a child?”

“Aye, I am.”

Ian and Moira let the two argue, taking each
other’s hand as they listened with interest to the battle of
wills.

“Then you should have no objection to
agreeing to wed me if you are with child,” Royce said, his
challenge issued.

Brianna did not hesitate; there was no
reason. This was one battle he would lose. She suddenly wondered if
he did wish to lose it. He knew that she could give him no
children; perhaps this was his way of being rid of her. The thought
brought a heavy weight to her heart, but she kept her chin high. “I
will wed you if I am with child.”

“You give me your word on it?” Royce
asked.

“Aye, you have my word and—”

Royce did not allow her to finish. He turned
to Ian.

“You have heard her give me her word. You
will honor this arrangement?”

“I will not object to it,” Ian said. “My
sister has made her choice.”

Tears threatened Brianna’s eyes, and she
wanted desperately to run from the room and never set eyes on Royce
again, but her pride would not allow her to leave. She would stand
firm and be courageous even though her heart was breaking.

Royce turned back to Brianna and leaned in
close to her, his words meant only for her ears. “I never
lose.”

Royce stood in silence, facing Ian. Brianna
and Moira had taken their leave, Moira finally having insisted that
Brianna should rest, and he could not have agreed more, though he
kept his opinion silent. He worried that Brianna was being stubborn
and ignoring the ache that he knew she suffered, for it had plagued
her much on the journey.

He had spent much time considering the
consequences of his decision not to inform her of his identity. At
first the decision had been a practical one, since she had reacted
with fright to his appearance. There had been no point in adding to
her fear, so he had kept his infamous identity from her. After fate
had seemed to step in, he found himself unwilling to admit to his
legendary exploits. He had wanted her to come to know him, not the
legend. He wanted her to know that he had a heart and soul that
ached to be loved as much as he wanted to love someone. He had
found all his heart’s desires in her, and he had not wanted to lose
them.

That had made the choice easy for him,
though he understood there would be consequences to his decision.
He now faced those consequences and would deal with them as a
warrior who had just begun the fiercest and most necessary battle
of his life.

“A drink?” Ian offered, the silence having
grown too heavy in the confined room.

“Aye, a drink I could use right now,” Royce
admitted, his voice filled with the confident arrogance of a
warrior who demonstrated no fear.

Ian was a victorious warrior in his own
right but often preferred to war with words. He walked to the
narrow table, poured them each an ale, and returned to where Royce
stood near the hearth. “It is only the two of us now,” he said,
handing him a full tankard. “Say what you will.”

Royce grinned. “You remind me much of your
sister. Brave even when faced with difficult odds.”

“I am not foolish enough to think that my
clan can match your clan’s strength, but know I am not foolish in
regard to my sister.”

“I counted on that,” Royce said, raising his
tankard as if in a toast before taking a hefty swallow.

“Sit,” Ian offered as he took one of the
chairs near the hearth.

Royce understood it was time for them to
talk, and this was what he had waited for. He knew her brother by
reputation and knew that he was a sensible man. He would understand
when he explained to him how it was best that Brianna and he wed,
child or not. He intended to take his time so that there would be
no doubt in Ian’s mind that he agreed it was best for them to
wed.

He took another swallow of ale, saw that Ian
waited patiently for him to speak, and understood the importance of
how he relayed his intentions. He would be practical and firm and,
above all, sensible about this whole matter.

He took another gulp of ale, then said, “I
love your sister and cannot live without her.”

Ian smiled and nodded. “This is what I have
waited to hear.”

Royce leaned back in the chair and sighed
like a man relieved of a heavy burden. “I do not know how it
happened. I cannot even tell you when it happened, it just did. One
day I realized that I loved her beyond reason. It made no sense to
me and at times still does not. I only know that it is real, and I
thrill at the thought of our love. I miss her right this very
moment. We have spent every hour of every day together for the last
several weeks, and I do not like when she is not by my side. I ache
for her presence.”

He shook his head, feeling completely
confused by it all.

Ian laughed, a good hardy laugh. “I know
exactly what you are feeling, for I experienced the same myself. It
was like a punch to the body, but never physically feeling the
punch, only being affected by it.”

“Aye, that is it.” Royce rubbed his jaw. “I
prefer the punch.”

Ian laughed again. “I agree. It is easier to
deal with and the pain fades. The emotion that follows this
undetectable punch is devastating to the senses. You sometimes feel
a fool.”

“Or behave foolishly.”

Ian nodded in agreement and his face
softened in a smile. “But then there are those moments together
that linger in your memory and heart and you thank the Lord every
day for all the foolishness.”

Royce nodded with him. “I feel that Brianna
is a cherished gift sent from the heavens, and I swear I will do
everything in my power to see her happy and content.”

“This I also wished to hear.”

“I have no quarrel with you or your clan and
have no intentions of warring with you regardless of your decision,
and yet I thought to war with you if you did not grant me
permission to wed your sister.” Royce shook his head. “An unwise
thought.”

“An understandable thought for a man in
love,” Ian said.

“Madly in love, insanely in love,
ridiculously in love, and loving every moment of it.”

Ian stood, patted his shoulder, and took his
empty tankard from him to refill along with his own. “I noticed
that my sister feels the same for you.”

“I know she loves me as much as I love her.
She is being stubborn.” He folded his arms across his massive
chest.

“
Determined
, we say around here,” Ian
said, returning to his seat and handing the full tankard to
Royce.

“Your wife’s doing, from what I hear.”

Ian smiled. “You will find Moira’s hand in
many things around here, and I warn you she is extremely
intelligent, so be careful in your dealings with her.”

He cringed. “Must I deal with her? I deal
much better with men.”

“She is protective of Brianna. She was a
great help to her in her time of need.”

“Brianna spoke of her husband.”

Ian looked surprised. “She confided in you
about Arran?”

“We talked much during our confinement, and
I must say that I hope he suffered in death for his sins.”

“I was told that his body was burned beyond
recognition. They identified him from the ring that he wore.”

“How can you be certain it was he who
burned?” Royce asked.

“I sent men to view the remains. It was one
of them who discovered the ring amongst the charred flesh and
pocketed it as proof. The man fit Arran’s height and size, and the
cloth he wore was of the Cameron clan. I saw no reason to doubt the
body his.”

“Brianna knows nothing of this?”

“Nay, she did not ask and I saw no reason to
tell her. I think she was relieved that her ordeal had finally come
to an end, and she was free to travel about without several men to
protect her.”

“I will protect her now.” Royce was
insistent.

Ian was just as insistent. “She is my sister
and my responsibility until she weds you, then she is yours to
protect.”

Royce smiled. “I have permission to wed her
regardless of whether she carries my child or not?”

“I had not known that she thought herself
barren,” Ian said with concern.

“She is not.”

“You are so sure?”

Royce nodded. “A spineless coward has not
the balls to father a child.”

Ian roared with laughter. “So you think,
then, I will be an uncle soon?”

“Aye, you will, and I a father,” Royce said
with pride.

“And if not?”

“I will find another way to convince your
sister to wed me.”

“I will not force her to wed you,” Ian
said.

“I understand and respect you for that, but
I know. How do I know?” He shrugged. “I do not understand. I only
know that Brianna will bear me children.”

“Then we will soon celebrate a wedding,” Ian
said and raised his tankard in a toast.

Royce raised his. “I am grateful to you and
I promise you this. I will protect Brianna with my life and not
even death will keep me from seeing her safe, I love her that
much.”

“This pleases me to hear and it pleases me
to call you brother,” Ian said and extended his hand to him.

Royce gave his hand a hardy shake. “I must
take my leave in a few days and see to clan matters. I will leave
some of my men behind—” Royce raised his hand to stop Ian from
interrupting. “I leave the men as a show of strength that our clans
will soon unite.”

Ian nodded in acceptance.

Royce continued. “It should be time enough
upon my return to know if Brianna is with child. But I advise that
you plan a wedding regardless of her objections.”

“We shall have a large celebration.”

“I will return with many men to help in the
celebration.”

“They are welcome,” Ian said.

“All will go well,” Royce said
confidently.

“Aye, it will,” Ian agreed.

Royce grew quiet and silence filled the
room.

“You miss my sister.”

Royce sighed. “Like a lovesick lad.”

Ian leaned close to him and whispered, “I
will tell you where her bedchamber is.”

Royce grinned and listened.

~ ~ ~

Brianna stood by the hearth in her chamber.
The roaring fire cast a much-needed heat over her chilled body. She
wore her white linen night shift and was barefoot. She had been
snug beneath the wool blankets on her bed but found that she could
not get warm. Finally in a need to chase her chill, she climbed out
of bed and came to stand in front of the fire’s warmth.