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“Of course, darling,” he said, mimicking her tone, “ye have always been a pawn for me. Ye are beautiful, ye are the daughter of a laird, ye are brilliant. I am simply using ye for my own gain.”
“Are ye now? I believe I must return to my faither immediately,” she joked.
“Should I take ye myself, or can ye go alone?”
“I am a fierce—" she began speaking but immediately stopped as Josh appeared in front of them.
“I think ye two should greet the guests now, it is quite late,” Josh commented, and Christian nodded immediately.
“Shall we?” Christian asked Keira, who put her hand in his as they made their way in front of the crowd.
Christian stared at the crowd, his massive presence filling the room. Minute by minute, everyone who saw him standing quietened down, their attention turning towards him as Christian maintained a patient smile on his face. People had always told him that his aura was commanding, that whenever he stood in a room, people assumed him to be the leader. That was what gave him the confidence to first become the leader of the gang he was in and then fight his own father for the lairdship. He knew each man in the room both feared and respected him already, and building stronger ties with them would not be a difficulty.
“Greetings,” he said loudly, raising the glass of scotch in his hands, which a servant had brought him.
Everyone raised their glasses in reply, and some even greeted him back. He knew each of them waiting for him to say something, and he turned to look at Keira, who smiled at him encouragingly.
“I ken ye all have never come to me castle, and I knew it was time to change that. Hence, what better occasion could there have been for such a thing but my betrothal to the charming lady beside me, Keira,” he said, turning to look at her affectionately.
“Thank ye all for coming on our invitation. Have a good time,” Keira said, raising her glass as several people once again toasted with her.
Christian smiled at her as they began to mingle with the crowd and personally met several lairds. He noticed how several lairds already knew Keira since they either knew her father or her sister’s husband, Lord MacKie. It was evident both had very strong political ties throughout Scotland and had great connections.
He marveled over how charming Keira was to each person and always knew just the right thing to say. She was kind yet appeared intelligent and meshed with those present as if she had been doing this since she was a little girl. Although Christian knew it was not the case. Both Keira and Astrid had never been allowed to attend such feasts very often, and her father was not a very social man, especially after her brother, Aiden, had been kidnapped. Although now, Keira fit the role of the lady of his clan perfectly, and Christian once again knew he could not have done better than her. She was a natural.
“Me laird,” Christian turned around as Harriet came towards them and whispered softly while he and Keira were busy in conversation with a laird and his wife of a nearby clan.
“Yes,” Keira asked, turning around before him.
“The table has been set up,” Harriet whispered, “ye must ask everyone to come for dinner.”
Keira nodded and looked at Christian, and he knew she expected him to make the announcement for dinner. Christian had never seen such things before, and it was the first time he was hosting a feast at his own castle. All of this was new to him. He took Keira’s hint and immediately walked to the front of the room, inviting everyone to dinner.
He walked back towards Keira as everyone began to leave for the dining hall, but just as he was about to reach her, he noticed a middle-aged, short, and stout man suddenly bumped into Keira and cupped her waist, his hand reaching towards her hips.
“Ye beauty, come with me,” he slurred, clearly intoxicated.
“Get yer hands off of her,” Christian thundered, his voice echoing through the entire hall as everyone stopped to stare at the scene unfolding in front of him.
“Stay away from me,” Keira removed the man’s hands from her body and moved away just as Christian reached her, and she turned to him. “Christian, calm down; he is clearly intoxicated.”
Christian completely ignored what Keira said and held the man by the collar and quite easily picked him up so that he hovered a little off the floor with one hand only. He wanted the man to look at the rage in his eyes and understand that he had no right to touch his woman. No one had the right to touch Keira.
“I…I,” the laird stuttered.
“Ye what?” Christian asked, his voice lower but still furious.
“I did nae notice who it was. I thought it was a maid,” he replied, still stuttering. Christian knew every one of the guests had stopped in the hallway and were staring at the scene playing out in front of them, but he could not care less. The man should have known better.
“Ye are nae even allowed to touch a maid in my castle, do ye understand? Much less my betrothed,” he shouted, making sure his words registered into the man’s mind perfectly well.
“I am sorry,” the man stuttered again, his breathing clearly cut off by Christian’s strong hold on his collar.
“Ye should be sorry,” he replied angrily and dropped the man immediately as he fell to the ground.
Christian turned to look at Keira, who was staring at him angrily. He watched as she breathed in deeply and immediately turned to look at everyone in attendance, their focus on them only.
“This was nothing. Nay more fighting here,” she said, her voice firm, “everyone must sit down for dinner.”
