Page 89 of An Enchanted Spring

“Um, sure,” she replied nervously.

“I do not mean to intimidate you.” He motioned for her to head toward the enormous hearth.

“Well, you do,” she replied boldly. “You’re very serious.”

“In comparison to my younger brother?” he asked, stopping when they reached the wall.

“Not just him. Everyone. You seem like someone I don’t want to cross.”

“Intelligent observation. A key trait in a life partner,” Nioclas mused. Before she could respond to that, he went on, “Aidan was but seven years old when our mother was killed. He witnessed it. He came to me, terrified as any child would be, and unsure who he could trust. You see, it was our sire who killed her. Aidan’s faith in people was shaken that day, and I made certain that he could always rely on me to be the one constant in his life. He needed a lot of time to learn how to trust again, but he did it. I never left him behind, never put him in a place where he wasn’t safe from the world. When he was old enough to begin training, I ensured he stayed at the castle instead of being sent to a neighboring ally, because—again—he needed reassurance that he had at least one person on his side.”

“I had no idea,” Emma whispered.

“When he went missing on a mission I assigned him, I was destroyed. I blamed myself for many years, and just when I’d given up hope of ever seeing my brother in this world again, he comes riding into my bailey as though he just left last week. I wondered why he was able to return now.”

Your guess is as good as mine, she thought with a snort.

“I believe he came because he needed the reassurance that the most important thing in his life would be protected while he dispatched the threat.” Nioclas surveyed the crowd, then back at her. “ ’Tis a difficult thing in your time to dispatch a threat.”

“He plans to dispatch Ben?” Emma asked, her mind whirling. “As in kill him?”

“I’m unsure. Do not think him cruel or evil,” Nioclas warned. “Our time has certain rules that govern it. Death is the only thing that will stop a man who wants you dead. You or him, Lady Emma.” He took a breath. “I’m asking you to try to place your trust in the man Aidan is.”

She pressed her lips together. “With all due respect, Laird MacWilliam, your brother has made it very clear that I’m nothing to him.”

He inclined his head. “It seems to be a very large thing to bring you here if you truly mean nothing to him.”

“You cannot hide behind my brother,” Aidan interrupted as he approached them, smiling. “I’ve come for my dance, Lady Emma.”

Nioclas gave her a swift bow and walked away without further comment.

“Your brother is a little scary,” she admitted, watching Nioclas as he rejoined Brianagh.

“He only appears so, to properly intimidate the other clans. He keeps peace through his reputation of war.”

“Reputation of war? Yeah. Scary.”

“Unfortunately,” Aidan said as he led her into the throng of dancers, “that’s life here. Peace one moment, war the next. Do you know the steps?”

“Of war?” she asked.

“No, the dance,” he said, laughter in his eyes.

“It’s hard to keep up with you sometimes,” she said on a sigh. “You change topics very quickly.”

“I like to keep your mind engaged. So,” he responded with a cheeky grin, “do you know the steps?”

“No,” she admitted, refusing to be stymied by his sudden, inexplicable good cheer. “But then again, you knew that.”

“True, I did. Which is why I told Nick to take you around the hall during the first set. This second set is not a structured dance.”

“You are making my life difficult,” Emma whispered as he pulled her in close.

“You realize that if you just gave into my charm, your life would be so much easier.”

“Easier? Hardly. It would be so much more complicated.”

He didn’t respond.Emma thought back to the Aidan of the last few weeks. She thought of how easy it would be to wake up next to him every morning, laugh with him every day, and feel the erratic beat of her heart each time his eyes devoured her, dark with desire. She thought about what his brother said, and oh, how she wanted to give in to him. But she’d given her heart away before, hadn’t she? And all she received from that was constant fear and a very real death threat.

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