A serving woman appeared with a tankard of ale and two goblets. After filling them, she slipped away, leaving the two men alone at the table.
The earl had retired, evidently convinced that there would be no overt hostilities. Bowen and Teague stood across the room staring belligerently at Eveline’s two brothers. Graeme gave them a sharp look and then dipped his head in the direction of one of the lesser tables to indicate they should sit down.
Then he turned his attention fully on the Armstrong laird.
“ ’Tis clear that neither of us wants this union.”
Tavis’s lips tightened and he started to speak, but Graeme’s expression stopped him.
“But I’ll treat your daughter well. I’ll treat her with more respect than you and yours ever afforded my clan.”
Anger glittered in Tavis’s eyes, but he continued to stare at Graeme in stony silence.
“I was truthful with your lady wife. I do not wage war against the innocent, and your daughter is perhaps more innocent than most. She’s clearly different. Do not fear my treatment of her, for she will be well provided for. However, do not expect our marriage to be an open invitation for you to step foot on my lands.”
“You’d have me send my daughter off, never to see her again?” Tavis demanded. “How will I know if you’ve upheld your word if I never see the proof of your claim?”
“I will allow her to visit upon occasion only if it’s convenient and I can be assured of no foul play, but no Armstrong, save she, will ever set foot over our borders. ’Tis a blood vow I swear and a blood vow it is, because if it should ever happen, blood will be shed.”
“Know then that no Montgomery, save one who is escorting my daughter, will ever be allowed back on our lands. Consider this an aberration and one afforded to you only by order of our king,” Tavis said through his teeth.
“Good enough,” Graeme said. “We’ll sign the treaty, give the king what he wants, but we have an understanding.”
“Aye, we do.”
“Now tell me more about Eveline. Does she always act so oddly?”
Tavis started to scowl, but Graeme held up his hand. “I mean no insult. You saw that she came to me and was not afraid. You and her kin acted as though this was unusual behavior for her.”
Tavis nodded grimly. “Aye, it is. I’ve never seen her act thusly. She is usually quite shy and content to be left alone, and moreover, ’tis something I prefer. Not all in our clan are as accepting as others when it comes to her affliction. I would not have her ridiculed or mocked or even potentially harmed by those who view her as a devil’s instrument.”
Graeme’s eyebrow raised. “Devil’s instrument?”
“You know well what people think when faced with someone like Eveline. You’re a fool if you think it won’t happen in your clan. My daughter has two things against her going in. One, she’s an Armstrong and will be reviled for nothing more than her parentage. Two, she’ll be considered daft, touched, addled, and many other less kind words will be attributed to her. ’Tis a dangerous situation that you will have to monitor closely. If the wrong people have it in their head that she’s Satan’s instrument, they could well kill her.”
“Is she all of those things? Daft? Touched?” Graeme asked in an even voice.
“I do not know,” Tavis said wearily. “There are days when I think she understands perfectly what goes on around her. She’ll respond when we talk to her. She seems to grasp certain situations. And then other days, it’s as if the rest of us don’t exist and she’s in her own realm.”
“And she never speaks?”
Tavis shook his head. “Not since the accident and resulting fever. I know not why. I don’t know if she had fever of the brain and it damaged her in some way. Or if she was so deeply affected by the event that she cannot even speak of it.”
He leaned forward, his expression serious. “She cannot sit a horse. It’s important you not make her try.”
Graeme frowned. “Cannot sit a horse? Why has she been neglected so? I don’t have a litter to carry her back to my keep and I’m damn sure not going to make her walk.”
“It’s not that she’s been neglected. Indeed, she was an expert horseman. Never saw anything quite like it. From an early age, she just commanded the attention of horses. They gravitated toward her. Liked her. She could make them do anything. And ride like the wind.
“She used to scare me spitless. She’d swing up on a horse bareback in her bare feet, her hair going in all directions, and she’d ride hell-bent for leather across the meadow, back and forth. I was always convinced she was going to kill herself, but she enjoyed it so much that I couldn’t bear to make her stop.”
Tavis sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. “And then it happened. Just as I feared. She took a bad fall. Horse was spooked, pitched her right off his back and she fell into a deep ravine. It was three days before we found her, and by then she was gravely ill. She had an injury to her head and a fever that lasted an entire fortnight. After that she was never the same and she’s deathly afraid of horses. You needed to know so that you never try to make her mount.”
“How the hell am I supposed to get her back to my keep?” Graeme demanded.
“I’ll provide a cart for her to ride in,” Tavis said.
Graeme let out a disgruntled push of air. His bride was becoming more of a pain in his arse all the time. It was a marriage to prevent further bloodshed, but to him it felt like a death sentence.