Page 24 of The Winter Laird

“They don’t go anywhere,” Nioclas said as she peered into the wall. “In summer, we store food and supplies for the castle in them.”

“How many castles are there in Ireland?” she asked.

He shrugged. “A handful. None as large as this, though. My clan is a prosperous one—we have the sea at our back and fertile lands through our borders.” He nodded once to a guardsman standing near the wall, and the man nodded back before leaving.

“I will not attempt to tell you how you are feeling, but perhaps I can imagine it.”

Bri jerked her head towards him, surprised. Before she could respond, he continued.

“O’Malley has led me to believe you have a full life where you’ve been living, on the continent.”

She swallowed hard when she realized that the America she knew hadn’t even been discovered yet.

“Were it me in your position, I would be concerned that my freedoms, whatever those may have been, would be taken from me. In Ireland, we do not force marriages, but I have no cause to think you’d know our ways, so you must know that you may decline the marriage if you choose to. You may walk from this castle and these lands without fear of recourse, for I’ve no interest in a battle with your clan.”

“I don’t have to marry you?” Why he would tell her this was beyond her comprehension. Did he not want to marry her? Did he want to marry someone else?

“Nay. And I feel it important that my wife enter into this union willingly. My suspicion is that you weren’t told about me, whereas I have known for a score of years about you.”

Brianagh’s head started to hurt.

“In order to ensure we are both equal at the start of this, I wanted you to know that your choices are not me or death.”

“Death?” she gasped.

Did his eyes twinkle when he glanced down at her?

Yes. They were definitely twinkling.

“Many a lady has contemplated a jump from the battlements over an unwelcome marriage,” he noted dryly.

“Ah. That hadn’t yet crossed my mind,” she faltered.

They walked along the passageway in silence for a moment before he took a deep breath and fully turned to her. “I have an idea that would benefit us both,” he said carefully. “I was betrothed to another as of yesterday. She is unsuitable. Many other clan lairds want my alliance and wish to use their daughters as a way to secure it. My clan elders wish for me to marry to avoid any unhappy lairds knocking on my door.” He slanted his eyes at her. “If I wed a lass outside my clan, our clans are allied, and my clansmen will battle alongside that clan, as they would for us. If I marry you, I’m already in alliance with the O’Rourkes, who are a peaceful clan. I will not have to involve my clansfolk in any other battles for yet another clan.”

“I’m sorry, but—” she started, but he held up a hand, effectively silencing her.

“For me, this is a perfect match. But perhaps you see nothing of value for you, were you to wed me.”

She searched his eyes. “Laird MacWilliam, that’s not really the problem. Aye, I don’t know you, but I want to go back home, to my life there. I’m not meant to be here.”

His eyebrows drew together. “Tell me about your home.”

Uh oh. He showed curiosity instead of irritation, and the last thing she wanted was to invite questions. She scanned her brain and blurted out, “What I mean is, I want to marry for love.”

She flinched. Of all the things to say! A warrior laird wouldn’t care about love. She must sound like a naive, ridiculous—

“In my clan,” he said softly, running his hand down her arm to gently clasp her hand, “when you marry for love—or fall in love with your wife, if you weren’t so lucky to find love before marriage—you are not expected to marry once she’s dead.” At her gasp, he shook his head. “No, do not misunderstand me. I have no reason to hurt you. You wish to return to the life you’ve built in your country, and I need to marry, if only to stop ambitious sires with very young girls whom I have no interest in taking as a lover or a wife. If you agree to stay for three months, which is enough time for other clans to hear of our nuptials, and enough time for my clan to perceive us in love, I will return you to your home, unscathed. And I will arrange travel with men who will verify your status as a clan widow.”

She considered that; he would believe that she’d need the protection of widowhood to get along in the world, and she appreciated his kindness in thinking of it. She nodded, then asked, “Do you know of Newgrange?”

Obviously not the answer he expected. “I cannot say that I am familiar with it.”

Brianagh flashed back to the brochure in the car and remembered reading it was “rediscovered” in 1699. She wasn’t sure about Dowth, though. “How far are we from Dublin?”

His impassive mask stayed firmly in place. “Four, perhaps five days’ ride.”

Brianagh hadn’t built a thriving company based on indecision. She had a great aptitude for assessing a situation and making executive decisions as fast as she could gather all pertinent information. And in this situation, she knew she couldn’t get anywhere near Newgrange if they were that far from Dublin.

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