As they stepped inside, Keegan took up his usual spot behind the large table where his papers were strewn across the surface. Damon and Melissa stood at his right—the pair engaged in a quiet battle, it seemed—and Willow stood just in front of Keegan’s desk.
“Can ye now be telling me the truth of why we left the exchange so suddenly? Why ye felt the need to raise yer sword against me brother?”
Willow knew that her tone was clipped, but her patience was running thinner with each passing moment. Keegan looked up at her from busying himself with the collection of documents on his desk, and the siblings near her stopped in their feuding.
“I have changed me mind. I nay longer wish to return ye to yer brother. The exchange terms were lackin'.”
Glaring, Willow shook her head as her eyes rolled up to the ceiling. After a moment, she met Keegan’s stare again, folding her arms over her chest.
“And what is that supposed to mean? Ye were the one to set up the terms, and ye gave yer word that ye wouldnae harm the men.”
Damon’s stare flicked to his brother, and his lips parted slightly from the shock of Willow’s words. But she couldn’t be bothered to care about what the passionate young man thought. Keegan’s jaw muscles worked as he clamped down on his molars, and Willow could see the frustration gnawing at him.
“This is the way of it, Lady Willow. I daenae wish to discuss it further.”
Willow scoffed, tossing her arms down and taking another step toward the desk. “I do. This is me life ye’re so effortlessly throwin' around.”
Anger and disappointment blended into a potent concoction in her blood, and Willow could feel the heat rise in her cheeks. Her brother was a disagreeable man at best, but it was Keegan who struck first.
“It has been an unkind day to many of us, Lady Willow. I have much I need to attend to, and me sister here needs to be looked after. I daenae have the time to be having this conversation.”
“That is untrue, and ye ken that well enough. Ye are the laird of this castle. Ye can choose precisely how much time ye wish to have.”
The room was thick with awkward discomfort. Keegan eyed her hard and, without breaking that stare, spoke to his family and the guards who’d followed us in at the door.
“Would ye all kindly give Lady Willow and me a moment alone?”
Willow turned over her shoulders to see the guards nod and step outside the room. Damon was far less quick to heed his brother’s words, but Melissa pulled on his arm and began to lead him from the space.
“Come now, Brother. We need to be lettin' the laird settle his business with our guest.”
Willow held herself rigid, her spine as straight as a hairpin. She had listened to Melissa and Damon bicker throughout the entirety of the carriage ride, and were she not in the situation she was in, Willow would have laughed at the way the lady joked at her brother’s expense.
She was a sarcastic, witty lass, but Willow was too enraged by her eldest brother to be able to appreciate those traits fully.
When the room emptied of everyone, save the laird and herself, Willow turned back toward him, glaring across the surface of his desk.
“Ye arenae being honest with me, and I ken it as surely as I do me own thoughts.” Willow lowered her chin, staring at Keegan from beneath her brows. “What do ye mean by changed yer mind?”
“Willow—”
“I deserve an answer, Keegan. I have given ye the details of Magnus’s archers, and it saved a heap of yer men from being caught unawares. Ye can at least do me the service of tellin' me the truth of what happened on the field.”
Keegan sighed. Willow could see the exhaustion claiming him, and there were a number of minor cuts and bruises forming over his arms from the skirmish today.
“Ugh, ye are quite the persistent one, lass. Of that, I’m certain.”
Narrowing her eyes, Willow folded her arms once more. “Only as much as yerself,Laird Brahanne.”
Willow emphasized his title, looking to ruffle the man’s feathers as a bit of vengeance for how he broke his word. He’d promised not to harm the men, after all, and it was only because he attacked Magnus that her clansmen had begun to fight.
Keegan’s brows rose, and he smirked. Still, the usual mischievous look in his eyes when he wore that expression was somewhat lacking. Willow wasn’t sure if he was simply tired and worn out from the battle or if it was something else he’d yet to reveal.
“I changed me mind, lass.” Keegan dropped his chin, pushing out of his chair to stand on the other side of the desk. “I daenae wish to return ye to yer brother. Ye belong to me now.”
Shock hit Willow as sure as a slap. Belong to him? What on earth did Keegan mean by such a declaration? And still, she could not deny the renewed warmth that rushed through her at the words. It was a type of madness, no doubt, but Willow felt an odd thrill at the notion of Keegan desiring tokeepher.
“I…Ye are toyin' with me.” Willow chewed out the words, shaking her head. “If ye are tryin' to force a reaction out of me, ye shall find that I am used to far worse jests than this.”