“So ye are actually going through with it?” Hamish asked from the doorway.
All the excitement she had been feeling promptly evaporated.
“This is supposed to be a happy day for me, and I fear that any direction this conversation goes willnae be pleasant. Now, if ye would kindly step aside, I have somewhere to be.”
“Aye, well, I had to come, did I nae?” he asked, sounding like he had already indulged in drink. “Had to see ye actually make it down the aisle.”
Emily’s eyes narrowed. “And if I were to leave right now?”
“Oh, I’m planning on walking ye right there meself. Never mind that I have me men guarding every entrance to this castle.”
Emily’s blood threatened to boil. “And Laird Muir was fine with that?”
Her father shrugged one shoulder, as if he hadn’t even bothered to talk it over with Kaden in the first place. “Ye are free to try to leave, I suppose, but I willnae let ye ruin this for our clan.”
“So, ye wish to treat me like a prisoner. Is that it?” Emily crossed her arms over her chest.
Was this truly the man she had looked up to for so many years? Where had that version of him gone?
She would not allow herself to cry on her wedding day. She refused to.
“Believe me when I say that I am nae doing any of this for ye. After today, I daenae ken if I even wish to see ye again. Ye are always talking about how much of a disappointment I am to ye, but ye never once stop to consider that I, too, am disappointed by ye, Faither. Now, step aside. Please,” she said softly, working very hard to keep her voice even.
Her father scoffed, as if he wasn’t taking her seriously. She supposed that she shouldn’t be surprised by his reaction.
“There is truly nay other reason that ye came to speak with me?” she asked as she brushed past him.
She paused only for a moment to give him a chance to apologize, to admit that he was wrong, or that he still saw her for more than just her political worth.
Silence followed her all the way down the hall.
27
If there were only a way she could capture how Kaden looked at her the moment she came into view. It was like his chest locked up, and his gaze softened. He looked utterly still, like they were the only people in the whole world.
If she had been nervous, those slight doubts melted away.
Emily didn’t think that she had ever seen a more beautiful man in her entire life. His kilt and tartan complemented his coloring perfectly. His long, wavy hair was tied back at the nape of his neck, and his dark eyes were warmer than she had ever seen them before.
The crowd on either side faded away as she started the walk down the aisle. She knew that she ought to wave to her parents, to say something, anything to them. But she could hardly see them. There was a strange giddiness in her stomach as she drew nearer to Kaden. The giddiness then turned into warmth as she lifted her hand to take his.
The handfasting ceremony passed in a blur, and she wanted so badly to commit everything to memory. Every word and every glance, it seemed like something she was going to want to remember forever, and yet it all moved so quickly.
Before she even knew what was happening, the ceremony had concluded. There were ribbons tied around her wrist and a crown of flowers adorning the top of her head. Lively music played from the corner of the Great Hall, and a piper walked between the long tables and up and around the bannermen. Conversation was a constant din in all the spaces the music didn’t fill.
It was enough going on that she could barely have time to think, let alone process the events of the day.
Married. She was a married woman.
Kaden had hardly left her side since the ceremony had started. It was going to be too easy to get used to the feel of his hand on the small of her back, guiding her around the hall as those around them offered well-wishes and favors. Her cheeks were aching from how much she was smiling. Perhaps it had something to do with the amount of wine she had drunk so far.
Kaden pulled her onto the dance floor, his hand never leaving her waist as they moved into the group of dancers around them. With every passing hour, she found herself looking forward to being alone with him more and more.
Every subtle touch, every brush of her hand against his, or the way she kept finding excuses to touch him while they were talking to those around them. He was hardly speaking to her, but there was a promise in his gaze that she couldn’t ignore even if she wanted to.
“Is it everything that ye hoped it would be?” he asked her as they moved through the steps of the dance.
Well,Emilydanced. Kaden mostly just walked in time with the music to keep up with her.