Did her parents truly expect her to just accept this? That she would allow them to storm in here after abandoning her for so long, demanding that they go with her so that she could marry a man that she did not know? One who, surely, would expect her to break the vows she intended to make to the Lord?
“I’m nae goin’,” Emilie insisted. “I’m nae goin’ and ye cannae make me.”
A cruel, almost serpentine smile tugged up the corners of her father’s lips as he leaned forward. He placed his elbows on his knees and rested his chin on his fist.
“That, me sweet daughter, is where ye’re wrong.”
Ice filled her veins at his expression and her words. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that what he said next would shock her to her core.
“If ye daenae come with us, we will burn this abbey that ye love so much to the ground.”
CHAPTER TWO
Emilie’s heart stuttered to a halt, and she stared at her father with an open, gaping mouth.
“Surely, ye arenae threatenin’ a house of God?”
Her hand fluttered to her chest as she stared at the man. She expected him to retract his words, to claim that was not what he had meant. But her father’s smile only widened, becoming more vicious as it threatened to split his cheeks.
“I assure ye,” he said, voice dripping in both malice and amusement, “it is nae just a threat. Because if ye daenae go and pack yer bags and leave with us, it will be yer reality.”
Emilie searched her father’s face, her eyes roving over his features, looking for any sign that he was lying, any sign that he did not mean what he was saying. But there was none.
Her father’s face was set with a savage determination, leaving Emilie with no doubt that he meant exactly what he’d said. Tears stung her eyes, and she bid them not to fall.
“I will go pack me things,” she murmured, turning on her heel and walking away without glancing again at her parents.
Emilie’s mind spun as she stalked toward the dormitory, a thousand thoughts all vying in her mind to be the loudest.
How had such terrible people birthed me?
How might I be able to get out of this marriage?
How will I do this and still keep me vows?
What about God?
Each thought made her stomach more and more nauseous, and by the time she reached her dormitory, a headache had begun to form right behind her eyes.
Shock flickered through her when she saw the dormitory wasn’t empty. She’d been certain that it would be, that all the girls would be downstairs, having their dinner as they waited for Emilie to return.
But Laura was there, sitting on Emilie’s bed, a strand of dark hair that had escaped her habit resting on her cheek. Her eyesflicked up the moment Emilie walked in the door, landing on her quickly, and Laura pushed off, standing to attention.
“What happened?” she asked immediately, her voice ferocious as she noticed the tears dancing in Emilie’s eyes.
The entire story fell from Emilie. No longer able to hold back her emotions, sobs wracked her chest as she told Laura everything.
With each word, the look on Laura’s face grew more and more grim. Emilie had begun packing while she spoke, throwing her few belongings in a cloth bag that had been waiting atop her bunk.
“There has to be a way out of this,” Laura hissed through gritted teeth, her bright eyes hard as they stared at Emilie.
“I daenae see how it’s possible,” Emilie muttered, swiping the back of her hand across her cheeks.
The pair was quiet for a moment. Emilie, finally finishing throwing her things in the knapsack provided, sat on her bed next to Laura.
Laura had arrived at Caledon Abbey only three years ago. But in that time, she and Emilie had become incredibly close. Emilie had always imagined that if she’d had a true sister, one that she’d shared blood with, she would have wanted her to be a lot like Laura.
I need to go. I cannae keep doddlin’, or me faither might just set flame to the Abbey to spite me.