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“Now, get dressed, and I want ye downstairs in the next ten or so minutes. Yer having dinner with me and me family,” he commanded, turning around to walk out of her bedchamber without giving her time to reply.
Astrid’s brow furrowed as she registered how he had just ordered her to do what he wanted. She was confused about the entire thing and even wondered about the fact that he wished to have dinner with her.
Just as he exited her bedchamber, she called out his name to stop him. “Flynn!”
“Yes?” He turned around.
“Yer supposed to ask someone if they are willing to have dinner with ye and yer family, not order them.”
“Ten minutes, Astrid,” he said and walked out of her bedchamber, leaving her both confused and awestruck.
She knew she was supposed to hate his guts and self-assured attitude, but for some reason, she liked that side of him. He was almost… intimidating. Dangerous.
Would he be that way in bed?
She quickly shook herself out of such thoughts.
Instead, her mind immediately went straight to what she should wear for dinner. Astrid knew it was wrong, considering the MacKie clan was accused of killing her brother, but she still wished for Flynn to find her attractive.
She did not know if he even remembered their kiss, which had happened a year ago, or ever thought about it at all. She, on the other hand, had thought about it more times than she could remember. It could simply be because he had been her first kiss and such a thing was special for most women. It was rather funny to her, since she could never have imagined her enemy would turn into her first kiss and a year later that enemy would turn into her betrothed, even if it was a fake betrothal. Time and fate worked in mysterious ways, and sometimes, one could simply neither understand nor comprehend what had happened.
Although, whatever the reason, she knew she would get dressed for dinner. It was finally time to spend some time with Flynn and the others now that she was certain he himself truly wanted her around.
Astrid couldn’t wait for dinner.
CHAPTER5
About twenty minutes later,Astrid was finally satisfied with how she looked in a rather simple blue gown. She had decided to not wear the house colors of the MacKie clan so soon because she knew if her father found out that his own daughter wore the colors of the enemy, he would throw a fit.
She was already quite late, since Flynn had only given her ten minutes, but she did not care much. She wanted to go against his orders, to defy him, though she did feel bad for leaving the rest of the people waiting for her. She quickly half-tied her long, blonde waves and finally stepped downstairs and headed straight to the dining room.
To her surprise, the table was full, and everyone was seated at it. She could see Laila and Daphne and even Flynn’s man at arms, Billy, at the table, as they ate together every day. She had quietly noticed the wood furnishings in the dining room and marvelled at how excellent the library was there.
“I am so glad that ye decided to join us today, Astrid,” Laila commented upon Astrid’s arrival. She was dressed in her usual black tones, and Astrid smiled back at her. “We had been missing ye at the table for about three days now, when ye being here will simply make us all happy. Right, Flynn?”
“Of course,” Flynn replied simply before taking his seat at the table. Astrid could sense the tension in his shoulders. She could not entirely understand if it was the result of her presence or if he was generally worried about something.
“I am happy to be here too, Laila,” Astrid replied, making sure to give the old lady enough warmth.
She sat down beside Flynn as a few servants came inside with dinner. She patiently watched them serve her, and she dug in, not realizing how famished she had been, for she had missed lunch today. She had been too preoccupied with a book she had been reading and had refused the maid’s tray. It was not as if she had been extremely careful about eating meals on time when she had been at home, but since she had arrived here, the maids had been bringing her food and baths timely and daily, and it felt as if she was settling into a routine.
“I am nae sure who cooks this food every day, but I believe there hasnae been a single day when I have nae thoroughly enjoyed eating it,” she commented as everyone smiled at her except Flynn.
“Joel is the main cook in the kitchen and usually cooks the food himself, or it is cooked under his supervision. The old man is a real nuisance when it comes to cooking right and takes his job very seriously,” Billy replied, surprising Astrid with his detailed answer.
She was not sure whether Billy even liked her or not. Every minute he had spent in her castle when he and Flynn had come to get her, he had had a scowl on his face. Astrid did not know if she could simply interact with him the way she could with Laila and Daphne, who had been kind to her since the beginning. However, she knew she should not let go of the chance of making a friend at any cost, and if Billy was offering her a kind word, she should say one in return.
“I think I will need to go down to the kitchen and thank Joel myself,” she said laughingly.
“Donae do that, lass,” Laila burst out. “Joel already thinks mighty high of himself and believes we are this happy because he makes us excellent food. If ye go down and start giving him compliments, it will go straight to his head, I tell ye.”
Astrid laughed at the evident horror in Laila’s tone, which was the perfect depiction of a woman who had been tolerating Joel and his antics for a very long time now.
“I will make sure to tell Joel that ye also complimented his food and claimed nay one can make better food than him,” Astrid joked, and Daphne burst out laughing when Laila began to shake her head.
“He will never let me live after that, Astrid. He already seeks praise from me constantly,” Laila replied, shaking her head with a smile on her face that softened her expression.
Astrid noticed that Laila, even though naturally a rather soft woman, had a face that had been hardened with time. It was evident that she had seen too much and lived too long. Astrid couldn’t imagine what the wars between the two clans would have done to her, and she suddenly felt responsible for it all.
