AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He will have nay choice,” Christian replied, “I will ask him in front of everyone and if he denies, it will simply mean he is weak and quite terrified of me. He would never tolerate such a blow to his pride.”
“Ye ken he is both those things,” Keira said.
“Nae in front of his people. He tries his best to maintain his image of a powerful, undefeatable laird,” Christian told Keira, gently brushing away a lock of her hair that had escaped.
“Well, then, his image is about to go to dust,” Keira said, breathing in deeply as if relieved.
“Can I ask ye something?” Christian asked suddenly, unable to stop himself from the awful time Keira must have endured with that man.
“Anything.”
“Was it awful since the beginning? Had he always been this way?” Christian asked, unable to understand. He did not know why anyone would act in such a horrendous way toward someone as innocent as Keira.
“Nay. He was charming and amiable in the beginning but soon changed his behavior with me... You could say he broke me, in a way” Keira smiled bitterly. “He started yelling and insulting me at first. Then came the hitting,” she said, her eyes gazing into the distance as if remembering it all. Christian did not wish to cause her pain, but he needed to know how much that coward had hurt her.
“Were there anything else besides hitting ye?” he asked, unable to stop himself. He knew he needed to know if Eric had violated Keira in any other sense of the word. If such was the case, Christian knew he would never be able to stop himself from killing the man.
“Nay,” Keira smiled sadly, “he never came close to me intimately. He believed it was only to be done after marriage since he was certain I was going to marry him nay matter what.”
“That’s called being delusional or extremely overconfident,” Christian commented, relief flooding his body. He felt calmer knowing that Keira had remained safe from the urges of that animal. She had not been hurt irreversibly. Christian knew he could never take away the pain she had endured anyway, except only by killing Eric.
“Christian, I do nae want ye to have his blood on yer hands,” Keira said suddenly, “do nae kill him.”
“Why?”
“Ye are bigger than that. Better than that,” she replied, touching his arm softly. The two of them debated over moral topics almost every day, and he knew Keira was against violence and bloodshed. He knew she only ever wished for peace and simply wanted the best for Christian. Even though he wanted to kill Eric, he nodded as if agreeing with her, although he knew he would need to think about it at length.
“Now return to yer training. I have taken enough of yer time,” Christian said, nudging her back towards the soldiers, who were practicing amongst themselves.
“Christian?” she suddenly whispered his name.
“Yes, fox.”
“Thank ye for doing what ye are doing for me and showing me once again what it feels like to live day after day happily. I do nae ken how would I have escaped Eric if it were not for ye.” Keira had tears in her eyes as she uttered those words, and Christian could sense she was overtly emotional right now, although he had no qualms about it. He knew she truly meant every word.
“Ye have nothing to thank me for,” he smiled at her as she laughed and shook her head before turning around to leave. He watched her until she was engrossed in practice again, but Christian knew he would do anything to protect her.
He had a battle to prepare for.
CHAPTER13
Christian watched amusedlyas Keira paced the length of the hallway, clearly anxious about the impending fight. His army was gathered outside, and he had sent Josh to talk to Eric as soon as he would enter their lands. Christian had no desire for bloodshed and had asked Josh to bring Eric’s army to the castle as peacefully as possible so he could challenge Eric to a duel and solve the matter once and for all.
“Are ye sure they are still not here?” Keira asked worriedly, looking at him. He knew she was concerned.
“My soldiers will inform me as soon as they arrive,” Christian told her for the hundredth time as he saw her wringing her hands.
“Yes, yes, of course,” she replied absently, continuing to pace.
“Keira, come here,” Christian voiced his command so she would know he wanted her to listen. She immediately walked towards him as he remained seated on the sofa and sat down beside him.
“What happened?” she asked, and Christian simply held her hands tightly in his grasp without saying a word. He smiled and continued to look into her eyes, trying his best for her to calm down.
He knew none of this was easy for her, and she had never wanted such a fight to happen for her sake. Even though she trusted his abilities to win the duel with Eric, she was worried for his safety and generally about the safety of the entire clan. Christian knew no words would ever be enough to comfort her, but he could try.
“Ye must keep calm, Keira,” he whispered.
“It is difficult to stay calm in such a tense situation, Christian,” she cried, “ye are about to go fight a duel for my sake!”
