Page 8 of Obsidian Throne
“I did.” Now, I had to distract him before he remembered the half portions order he had sent along with it. The men’s rations were tight enough. They would starve on half.
“Sir Heikkenin arrived this morning from Eagle,” I told him.
As expected, my father let out an irritable breath. “I suppose I’ll need to take a break to greet him.”
Thank the storms for that.
“Speaking of arrivals today, where is your bride?” The silver glinted in his gray eyes, the only physical sign of how he felt about me marrying into Lochlann.
“We thought it prudent she arrive at the last minute. You know how the dukes can be,” I explained.
He nodded. “I’m proud you thought of it. You’re your father’s son.”
He smiled like he had complimented me rather than compared me to a man who had ordered countless innocents to be slaughtered in his lifetime, and I forced myself to give a semblance of it back.
“It was a good plan,” he went on. “Marrying the girl so it will be easier to attack her family from the inside.”
He repeated back the only rationale I had been able to give him when he looked dubious over his signature on this alliance.
“Thank you, sir,” I nodded, keeping my features carefully neutral, rather than let him see there was no part of me that would allow my wife’s family to be harmed.
I hoped my mother at least had not been a sociopath, or there was really no hope for me.
“Very good.” He walked around his desk to clap me on the shoulder. “Take the rest of the day off, son. It is your wedding, after all.”
I put a hand on his shoulder in return. “Perhaps we both could, devote our time to making a strong showing. Besides, we should be celebrating.”
My father nodded thoughtfully, and I tried not to show how badly I needed him to agree. To forget about the things he was trying to enact this morning.
“True. My son will be the one to finally put Lochlann in its place.” He smiled, but there was no warmth in it.
Well, it had been too much to ask that he might celebrate my actual marriage, but at least he wouldn’t be killing anyone today.
CHAPTER FIVE
ROWAN
The trunk swayed precariously as we climbed the several sets of stairs that led to the living quarters.
“It’s about time, Husband.” Mila’s throaty, accented tone sounded, and I nearly squealed. “My bath is getting cold, what with it being so close to the wedding.”
We moved more smoothly, presumably down the hallway, and Mila continued to chatter.
“Now if you can drop the trunk and hasten out of here, I canhurryto get ready for the wedding, since I would hate to be late.”
That last part felt pointed. I wondered what time it was and how close I had come to missing my own wedding.
A door creaked open, and the trunk settled on the floor. Seconds later, the lid was open, and Mila was smiling down at me excitedly.
“Scarlet Princess!” She whisper-shouted her title for me while Kirill and Taras helped me out of the cramped space.
“Mila!” I whispered back, my grin stretching to match hers as we threw our arms around each other. “I’ve missed you so much.”
She hugged me back with one quick squeeze before Taras cleared his throat behind us. When I turned to look at him, his eyes weren’t on me. They were firmly fixed on his wife.
There was affection in his gaze, and none of the awkwardness that I had seen between them at the cabin months ago.
He moved in to kiss her forehead, and the simple gesture made me miss Evander so much it physically hurt.