Page 28 of The Laird's Dark Obsession

“Then why marry me if ye dinnae trust me? Why nae hand me back to my faither and spread word that I’m merely a runaway bride from Laird Barclay? That I’m some unwanted lover who came here of my own accord and that ye’re casting me away because ye refuse to make ties with Laird Fairbairn. It’d strengthen yer political standing and ye’d be rid of me.”

“Why won’t ye tell me why ye dinnae run away?” he countered.

They stared at one another, the unanswered questions hanging in the air around them like fog. Neither of them spoke, and she suspected it was because neither was ready to admitthosetruths aloud, even if they were both hungry for the answers.

After a while, Hunter sighed and laid his arm over his forehead. “Very well. Since ye’re willing to submit to the marriage, ye have access to the Keep. Guards will nae follow yer every step. But stay indoors unless a guard is with ye.”

She knew it wasn’t him threatening her, it was a warning. The Captain of the Fairbairn Clan had nearly managed to take her that day, and he would have had her had it not been for Hunter.

“Thank ye,” she muttered.

“Now, go on. I’m sure Edine is worried sick right now.”

Kira stood but hesitated as she stared down at him. It felt like she should touch him, kiss his forehead, or something. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

If he rejected such simple affection, she wasn’t sure her tender heart could bear it.

12

A Few Days Later

Kira wondered if it was possible for her to wear down the lush rug in the room after one night of pacing. She had been at it for hours, needing something to do with her body as her mind ran rampant within her head. She and Hunter were to be wed in the morning. A day that had been planned since her birth, and yet she felt anything but prepared for it.

After all, how could it end up any other way when the groom hated the bride? But she had to accept it, it was her fate—and not going through with it would only make Hunter hate her all the more. Not to mention the bloodshed that would come. She was the beautiful, meek sacrificial lamb that she had always hoped she wouldn’t be.

She needed air.

With her anxiety peaking, even the vast bedchamber was starting to feel small. Heading out of the corridor, she was mindful to keep quiet since the Keep was asleep by that hour. Only guards on patrol and the hallway torches were alive at that time of night.

Good, she didn’t want to have to worry about the glares and whispers following her every step.

The hateful gleam in their eyes had certainly dampened after she returned with Hunter from the attack; but as rumors circulated about the motive of the attack and her part to play in all of it, the hate returned.

Kira let her feet carry her wherever they saw fit as her mind continued to jump around with the same aimlessness. It felt like the battle for acceptance she had been fighting her entire life would be a lifelong battle in the end. There had been days in her youth where she had thought marrying Hunter could have been her escape, her soft place to rest, her haven. But it was only a thought conjured by immature hope instead of pragmatic reality.

She felt stuck on the thought of their marriage, forged out of force and hate, and how miserable it would be forbothof them. She would forever be a source of pain for Hunter, one that he wouldn’t want as near as one should want a wife to be. And he would keep her locked away in the Galbraith Keep, sentencing her to a living tomb before she had even reached her twenty-second year of life.

After climbing many stairs and wandering countless corridors, Kira opened a door and felt an invigorating gust of fresh air blow past her. It was a rooftop, lined with parapets. Ensuring to squeeze a rock between the door and the door frame, she moved away from the entrance and found her way to the parapets. Her hands moved along the carefully engineered design, up anddown, up and down, in their blocky pattern. It occurred to her to climb atop them, to jump stone to stone. Just to feel that rush, to remember that at the root of her being, she was technically in control of her fate. Even if that only control was whether she lived.

But she wouldn’t, knowing the drama it would garner if she were spotted. She sighed heavily and rested her hands atop the stones and turned her face to the sky. Her eyes glazed over with boredom at seeing the stars completely blotted out from the overcast sky. If only she could search the stars for understanding…

The door swinging open and creaking brought her attention back to the rooftop. Much to her surprise, it wasn’t a guard or Hunter himself tracking her down—it was Edine.

“I thought I saw ye wandering about,” she said as she positioned the rock back into place to keep the door from closing. She sauntered closer then, wrapping her shawl around herself more tightly. “What are ye doing out here?”

Kira shrugged and looked back to the dark, endless gray sky. “I was going mad in my chamber. Went for a walk and my feet led me here eventually.”

Edine nodded and rested her elbows on the stone next to Kira. “Fresh air does indeed do the mind good.”

Then, a hip gently pushed Kira and she looked to the woman who had always been a little sister to her. She looked so much like the late Lady Galbraith that it almost pained her to look at her; God only knew how it made Edine or Hunter feel. It was the roundness of her petite features, giving her an appearance that was somewhat like a mouse. An adorable, feisty mouse.

“What’s on yer mind?”

“The obvious,” Kira mused. There wasn’t any need to explain in depth, she knew that and so did Edine.

“Well, yes. What particularly, though? Must be something more than an arranged marriage coming to fruition for ye to be wandering about rooftops at night,” Edine pried. Her hazel eyes were just as intense as Hunter’s, the green seeming to glow even without the aid of torch or sunlight. “Go on, out with it. I will nae ask again. Ye ken how Galbraith’s loath to repeat themselves.”

Kira snorted. She then sighed and looked down at her hands as she nibbled on her lip.