Page 17 of Awoken
They walked between rows of long tables toward a raised dais at the far end. MacKinnon sat at the head of the table. A huge boar’s head reared above him: a ferocious-looking beast with a wiry black coat and great yellow tusks. A few retainers sat at the table with the clan-chief, although three places near him had been left free.
“It’s quite a transformation, isn’t it?” Drew quipped as she swept up onto the dais and took her seat. “Out of that awful black habit, most women look more attractive.”
MacKinnon smirked at that, although his gaze never left Leanna.
Wordlessly, she stepped up onto the raised platform and was guided by Campbell to the seat next to MacKinnon. The clan-chief’s right-hand then sat down on Leanna’s other side.
MacKinnon leaned back in his chair and clicked his fingers. The sound splintered the hush of anticipation inside the hall, and a horde of servants descended bearing platters of food and ewers of ale and wine.
Leanna’s gaze slid over the platters of roast fowl and braised kale and onions, and the baskets of oaten bread that the servants placed before her.
“Bramble wine, milady?” A lass asked timidly.
Leanna nodded. She hadn’t drunk wine since arriving at the abbey, for they usually took ale with their meals, but right now she longed for something to take the edge off her nerves, off the panic that boiled within her, threatening to burst free at any moment.
She was relieved to see that the serving wench filled her goblet to the brim. Leanna raised it to her lips and took a large gulp, welcoming the heat as the liquid slid down her throat to her belly.
At this point, she’d grasp at what she could to keep her nerve.
The rumble of voices, which had ceased when had entered the Great Hall, resumed once more. The retainers and warriors present turned their attention from Leanna to their meals, and she let out a long exhale in relief.
However, there was one person present who’d not stopped staring at her since she’d entered the hall.
MacKinnon still reclined in his chair, ignoring the spread of food before him. Instead, he watched her under hooded lids, one hand loosely clasping the stem of his goblet.
“Years I have waited for this, Lady Leanna,” he murmured. “Like a skittish doe, ye have eluded me … but no longer. Tonight we shall be man and wife.”
The wine she’d just swallowed rose, stinging the back of Leanna’s throat. Those words sounded like a dire threat. She couldn’t bear the thought of becoming MacKinnon’s wife, of having to endure his touch. He was handsome to be sure, but his looks left her cold. The thought of his hands upon her naked flesh, of having her maidenhead stolen by him, made nausea surge once more.
Leanna swallowed hard, dropping her gaze to the empty platter before her. Woodenly, she helped herself to some roast fowl. It gave her something to do. However, she wasn’t sure she would be able to eat anything. Right now, it felt as if a stone sat in her belly.
Picking up a knife, she began to push the food around her plate. And all the while, she was aware of MacKinnon’s heated gaze upon her.
Stop staring at me.Her fingers clenched around the knife. How she wished she was good with a blade, like Sister Ella. She should have been able to fend off Campbell and Broderick in that clearing. She’d made a mess of defending herself.
“Are ye sure ye wish to wed so soon, brother?” Drew asked, breaking the silence at their end of the table. Leanna glanced up to see that Drew was regarding MacKinnon with her usual look—something between amusement and derision. “If ye wait a day or two, I can have the seamstress adjust a gown and get the cooks to prepare a feast worthy of the occasion.”
MacKinnon pursed his lips, making it clear what he thought of his sister’s offer. “Such trappings don’t matter to me,” he replied. “Lady Leanna will be wed in the pretty kirtle ye have gifted her, and we shall have a feast tomorrow with whatever the cooks can prepare in time.” He paused there, his gaze narrowing. “I have waited long enough for this day.”
Drew raised finely arched eyebrows, before she helped herself to a slice of bread. “Very well … I will instruct the kitchen.”
“See that ye do.”
“So, it matters not that I’m not willing?” Leanna realized she was shaking as she choked out the words, but she couldn’t hold her tongue any longer. She hated the way MacKinnon and his sister discussed her fate like she wasn’t even present. Ignoring Drew’s warning glance, Leanna gripped the table edge and leaned toward MacKinnon, meeting his gaze squarely for the first time since her arrival at Dunan. “I’m a chieftain’s daughter … ye have no right to wed me without my consent.”
MacKinnon held her gaze, and to her ire a slow smile stretched his lips. “Ye are mine, Lady Leanna,” he drawled, holding his goblet up to her in a mocking salute. “Ye might be a chieftain’s daughter, but I’m aclan-chief… yer father should never have defied me.”
Quivering from the force of the outrage that now pulsed through her, Leanna continued to glare at MacKinnon. Vitriol bubbled up within her. She was a hair’s breadth from losing her hard-won control.
She’d told herself she needed to be wise. She needed to rein in her temper and use it to her advantage when the opportunity arose, yet she was beginning to realize there wouldn’t be any such occasion.
But at that moment, MacKinnon’s attention shifted right, shattering the tension, toward the Great Hall’s entrance. Leanna’s gaze followed his, and she spied a well-built warrior with short blond hair entering the space. Carr Broderick wore a grim expression upon his face as he strode toward the dais.
“Ye took yer time,” MacKinnon greeted the warrior with a frown. “How long does a man need to fetch the priest?”
“Father Athol isn’t in Dunan at present,” Broderick replied, drawing to a halt before them. “I searched for him everywhere before discovering that he’s gone to visit the sick in Kyleakin. He will be back tomorrow.”
Relief slammed into Leanna, dousing her fury. The sensation was so strong that she almost gasped. However, MacKinnon glowered at this news. “What the devil’s he doing there?” he growled. “I don’t want him bringing the pestilence back to Dunan.”
