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“Truly?” she asked, turning to look at him. He felt as if her gaze was piercing through him.
“Yes. Tonight was their betrothal feast.”
“Do ye realize,” she said each word slowly, as she continued to pace the length of the almost dark hall, “that a woman who was once betrothed to ye denied returning with ye when ye went to get her and is now betrothed to the man who kidnapped her. Do ye know how disgraceful it is for ye and our clan?”
“I ken,” he whispered, sweat dripping down his forehead.
“Then what are ye planning to do about it?” she shouted again, certainly sounding angrier.
“I need to bring back Keira,” Eric replied resolutely, “I need to show Christian that he can nae kidnap her from me, and I will show him that. She is mine.”
“Yes, she is yers, and ye must use her to win over Christian,” she said, looking somewhere behind him, lost in thought as a sinister smile appeared on her lips. “Ye need to play smart, son. Ye will need to play very smartly.”
“What do ye mean?” he asked, looking at her dazed expression. He truly could not understand his mother at times.
“Ye are well aware that ye can never defeat Christian in a war or a duel. Both he and his army are stronger than us and he will always have the upper hand in such a situation. Hence, ye will need to show yer superiority over him in a differently,” she said, looking at him again.
“I already ken what to do,” his mother smiled at him, and Eric was certain whatever she had in mind would certainly be worth it. Nothing, and no one would be able to stop Eric from winning now.
CHAPTER18
“Who are ye,and what have ye done to my sister?” Keira dropped the sword in her hand as soon as she heard Astrid’s voice and turned around to see her sister standing just behind her. Her brother Aiden and Astrid’s husband, Flynn, stood there, too, smiling at Keira.
“Astrid,” Keira shouted and immediately ran towards her, the two embracing for several minutes. She then hugged both Aiden and Flynn as tears came to her eyes. She had missed her family immensely, and she could not believe they were finally with her.
“How are ye, darling?” Aiden asked Keira, affectionately running his hand through her hair.
“Better than ever,” Keira replied honestly, for she had truly never been happier.
“I can most certainly see that,” Flynn replied, walking ahead to pick up the sword Keira had dropped to the ground in her excitement, “ye have gotten quite skilled with a sword.”
“Trust me, it has nae been easy,” Keira joked, shaking her head. “Come inside. I will nae keep ye all standing out here.”
They all walked inside, and both Astrid and Aiden apologized to her for not being able to make it to her betrothal feast even though they had gotten the invitations along the way. The distance between their clans and the MacPherson clan was great, and Keira knew it was not easy to travel so much. This distance was the reason that she had remained so far away from them for this long and had to endure everything Eric had inflicted on her.
“Where is Faither?” Keira asked as soon as they were seated inside the drawing room, and she had asked a maid to inform Christian of her family’s arrival.
“He had some important work he needed to get done,” Astrid told her, “but he will come to see ye in a few days. He misses ye and sent his love and wishes.”
“We have all been so worried for ye, Keira,” Aiden said, who was sitting just beside her. Aiden had been absent for ten years of her life yet, Keira had gotten comfortable with him the moment he had returned home. He was her older brother, and it was evident how much he cared for her and Astrid.
“I have missed ye all so much. Throughout everything,” Keira told them, a hint of sadness in her tone.
“Just remember that everything that happened with Eric will not go unforgiven,” Flynn said, “if ye want, I can make sure to wage war against him right now.”
“Nay, nay, do nae do that,” Keira immediately interjected, “I did nae even let Christian do it.”
“Christian wanted to fight Eric?” Flynn asked, sitting up straighter.
“Eric came here with his army to take me back, and I refused to go. Christian challenged Eric to a duel which naturally, Eric lost. Christian could have easily killed him, but I asked him to spare his life and nae have any more blood on his hands than he already did.”
“Christian is a warlord, Keira,” Aiden chimed in, “he has a history with murder and fighting and what nae. Ye should have let him kill Eric. The bastard deserves to die.”
“It just did nae seem right to me in that moment,” Keira shrugged. “But forget about it. What’s done is done. I am betrothed to Christian now.”
“We have all been worried about that, too,” Astrid replied.
“Why, may I ask?” Christian’s voice made them all look up just as the tall, muscular man entered the drawing room, an easy smile on his face.
