Bonnie thanked Ariane again for her loyalty and then asked her to leave her alone for a while so she could gather her thoughts.
Nothing in what she had just been told was making much sense, but at the same time, it all felt as if it was meant to be. Bonnie had regularly dreamt of wolves and had heard her family and others around Castle Grant speak of the dangers that lurked out across the mountains and within the forests nearby. But never in her wildest dreams could she ever have thought that something like this would come to her door… And the idea of these huge men who were half human and half wolf was both exciting as it was terrifying.
She walked to the window and looked out across the loch. The mist had rolled down the mountains and looked as if it were skating across the top of the water perfectly, laying over it like a blanket. She shivered. Something in the air was different and now she knew what.
Trouble was coming.
She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. Her plump frame was warm from the raging fire, but even that couldn’t stop the ice from running within her. She was nervous, and yet, she had to know more.
She quickly crossed her bed chamber to where she stored her dresses. As she slipped quickly out of her nightgown and pulled her new beautiful blue velvet robes up over her body and the swell of her breasts, she flicked her hair out of the collar and let it trail all the way down her back. She could see her reflection in the silver vase that her mother had placed on the hearth and she caught the azure blue of her eyes, which made her stop and look at herself fully for a moment.
She had always been told how rare her beauty was, but as she stood there and studied herself in the reflection of the silver, she truly realized why she would be in more danger than any other of the daughters of the castles around the Highlands. Her hair was a deep, rich red, not orange and fiery like many of the girls of Scotland. Her skin was pale and alabaster, and her eyes were so deeply blue and striking they were enough to stop grown men in their tracks.
Her father had always told her that he was waiting for the right man for her to marry, that she deserved the best, and with her exotic looks, she would most certainly be afforded it. But she worried now, what if he had left it too late? If she already had a husband, would it have made a difference to this clan storming through the mountains and searching for their brides to create a pure bloodline? Or would she have been taken all the same?
She rubbed her forehead and placed a single white flower behind her ear. She had no idea what the answers to her questions may be, but she did know that she needed to speak with her parents.
She had to find out if it was all true, once and for all.
She swept out of her bedchamber and past the guards who instantly jumped and started to race after her.
“M’lady,” one called. “Please, you must remain guarded.”
“I’m hungry, good sir,” she said as she dismissed him. “Follow me if you must, but I am making my way to the main hall where I will dine with my parents.”
She flounced off without giving them another glance, but she was still aware of them trailing her, the heavy sounds of their boots clomping and the jangling of their armor behind her.
She continued down the darkened hallways and toward the large staircase that ran down the center of the castle. As she got to the top, she was aware of the eyes upon her from the people milling around on the floor below, but she was determined to not let them bother her as they had done the evening before. She had places to be and answers to find, and she wouldn’t stop until she got them.
When she reached the bottom of the staircase, she heard the guards jangle down behind her and follow along another darkened hallway to the main hall. The doors were open wide and even though there were guards on either side, they did not look at her as she rushed past them and made her way into the hall.
The long tables that were arranged around the room were filled with men and women, eating and drinking, acting more jovial than she had expected considering what had happened with Lord Drummond and the news that was quickly spreading through the castle. She could feel their eyes turn up to her as she passed, but none of them really paid her much attention, and as she reached the top table, where her parents sat with a full pic laid out before them, she put her hands on her hips and looked at them with challenge.
“Bonnie,” her father smiled warmly, much of the anxiety he had displayed the previous evening erased from his face. “Do join us…”
Bonnie didn’t know what was happening, but it seemed as if this day was completely different, almost as if the night before had never happened. She climbed up onto the long raised ridge where the top table was stationed and moved around the back toward her parents. As she sat down next to her mother, she looked up at her and searched her face for some sign of fear or worry, but there was none present.
“Mother?” she asked finally. “I need to talk to you…”
“Not now, Bonaventure,” she smiled as she ran a hand through her thick ruby hair. “Look at the feast before us, surely you must be hungry, you did not join us for last night’s meal…”
Bonnie sighed and looked around. No one seemed concerned as they had the night before, and no one appeared to be watching her as closely as they had been. Her parents were also a lot more relaxed and she couldn’t help but think that maybe she had gotten it all wrong… And not only that, but that Ariane had lied to her.
She felt the rage build in her belly.
“But mother,” she continued, “I really do need to talk with you.”
“Bonnie,” her mother said sternly, “now is not the time.”
She raised her eyebrows and looked at her as if they had a secret between them. Her father sat on the other side of her mother, completely oblivious to their discussion, looking out across the room with a wide smile on his face.
“Okay,” Bonnie whispered, not sure of what else to say. “I guess it can wait…”
Although it really couldn’t.
She sat quietly and let the servers carve up some of the suckling pig and load it on the plate in front of her. They passed her a tankard of wine and Bonnie ate slowly and with caution, the nerves still rumbling around inside of her.
When she had finished her meal, she pushed the dish away and looked up at her mother. She was looking down at her with a pained expression in her eyes and mouthed to her silently so that they were the only two people in the world to know…
Meet me out by the loch.