Never Seduce a Scot (The Montgomerys and Armstrongs #1)(7)

So many deaths, and Eveline had no idea what had started it all. She’d only heard bits and pieces of the story in passing over the years. She should have listened harder when she had her hearing, but for her, the Montgomerys were monsters of the dark. Almost a fictional beast that bards carried tales of. They certainly had never been a threat in her lifetime.

And now she would be delivered into their fold. Sent away from the safety of her clan and her beloved family. Married. Expected to be wife to a man she considered a myth.

She nearly shivered before catching herself. She didn’t want to upset her mother by allowing her fear to show.

Turning away, she left the great hall once more, not even bothering to see if she should stay. She often did things such as that, leaving abruptly and on a whim. No one seemed to even blink over it any longer, and if it was thought odd once, now it was accepted behavior.

She simply needed to sort through this upheaval to her life. How could she face someone not of her own clan? Her clan loved her even if some were wary of her affliction. There were some she’d caught murmuring prayers when she crossed their paths. Were they worried that her daftness was easily passed to others? That if they touched her, they too would be afflicted?

The mischievous part of her wanted to reach out and touch them, just to see if they’d react as if being burned. Or if they’d run screaming in the opposite direction to seek out the priest.

But then she promptly felt terrible because they were still her clan, and it wasn’t their fault that she was different. They didn’t know any better, and Eveline hadn’t done anything to change their opinion. And most were very kind to her. Many went out of their way to do things for her they thought would make her happy.

And she was happy here. It had taken her a long while to sort through the confusion of her accident and subsequent illness. She hadn’t understood why her hearing had been taken, but she’d been taught not to question God’s will.

Now, she had a place. She’d learned to understand much of what people said by watching their mouths. She wished she had the courage to speak, but with no way to know how she sounded—or if she could even form the words after not speaking for so long—she remained silent, locked in her quiet world with only the memory of certain sounds to echo softly in her head.

But no longer would she have that place here. In her clan. Among her kin and the people who loved and accepted her.

Instead she would be sent off to an enemy clan.

A shiver stole down her spine. What would they think of her? Would they be cruel? Would they hate her simply because she was an Armstrong? Would they despise her because of her defect?

Would they taunt her and call her mad and daft? Would they go even further and cause her harm, thinking that she carried evil spirits within her?

She twined her fingers together in front of her as she hurried back to her rock. No matter that Brodie would know precisely where to find her. It was the only place she could think to go when she needed comfort and peace.

As she stared over the rushing water, she realized that she’d no longer have this sanctuary. She’d no longer be able to come and go as she pleased and sit on her rock for hours absorbing the serenity of her surroundings.

Nay, she’d marry into the Montgomery clan. Become the very thing she’d been taught to hate. And while her father let her do as she liked, her husband might not be as understanding.

CHAPTER 4

The keep had been in a constant flurry of activity for days. On the eighth day after the delivery of the king’s message, the Earl of Dunbar arrived as the king’s representative to witness the marriage that would force peace between the two warring clans.

Tavis greeted the earl in the courtyard, and once the earl’s horse was taken away, the two men entered the keep and strode to where food and ale were laid out on the high table at the end of the great hall.

“Alexander extends his regrets that he will be unable to be present for the marriage,” the earl said after he’d sipped from one of the jeweled cups.

There was a gleam in the earl’s eye that told Tavis the king had never had any intention of making an appearance for the wedding he’d demanded. And with his absence, there was no one for Tavis to petition to put a stop to the whole mess.

Dunbar had great favor with Alexander and, in fact, was the highest-ranking earl under the king’s rule. He and Alexander were staunch allies and friends, and the fact that the king had sent his most powerful earl to attend the wedding told Tavis of its importance to their monarch.

“He knows not what he does,” Tavis ground out.

Dunbar lifted one eyebrow, threw back a long swallow of the ale, and then eyed Tavis intently as he leaned back to sprawl in the chair. He looked indolent and arrogant, staring Tavis down as if trying to intimidate him. Tavis hadn’t survived as chief of one of Scotland’s largest strongholds by backing down from a challenge.

He met the earl’s gaze unflinchingly.

The earl sighed and set his goblet down with a sharp bang. “If ’tis any consolation, Tavis, I told Alexander he was mad. I’m well aware of what happened to your daughter, and you and she have my sympathies. She’s not suited for marriage, but unfortunately, you’ve only one daughter and Alexander has it in his head that the only way to force peace between two of his strongest clans is by giving your daughter to your enemy. He feels that if she’s wed to the Montgomery laird, you’ll never raise a sword against them.”