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things.”
    The
MacBede stood from his own bath, scowling. “How do you mean to do that?”
    Talorc
pulled a shirt over his head, his words caught in the folds of fabric. “Well,
MacBede,” his head popped out of the opening, “with your permission, I’ll marry
her. She’ll come to understand in time.”
    Fiona
shoved a warmed sheet at her husband. “You’ll not get her to understand after
the wedding. Laird or no, you force Maggie to marry and she’ll make your life a
misery. You’ll never win her that way.”
    “I
mean to have her agree to the wedding.” Talorc defended.
    Fiona
laughed.
    Talorc
argued. “You could help persuade her.”
    Feargus
slumped on a stool. “It’s more than that, Laird MacKay. You’re a fine man, I
couldna’ hope for such a grand husband for my lovely Maggie, but she’s more
stubborn than the lot of us. She doesn’t want a warrior.”
    “You’re
her father. You could make her.”
    “Oh,
aye, I could force it on her, but my Fiona is right. We won’t send her to the
altar in tears, and if she goes against her will, there will be tears aplenty.”
    “From
a lass such as Maggie?” Talorc was appalled.
    MacBede
chuckled, “Aye, strapping lass that she is, she’s still a female.”
    Fiona
ignored the understanding that passed between the men and nodded at her own
thoughts. “You know,” she said, “you might make it work, if you could spend some
time with her, win her over and then stay away when she says nay to a marriage.
She’ll pine for you, then come around.”
    “There’s
no time for that. I want to take her with me tomorrow.”
    “Tomorrow?”
Feargus stormed. “Never, lad. I’ll see her settled in her feelings first.”
     “Timing,
MacBede. You know, I know, timing is everything. It has to be now.”
    “Why?”
    “You’ll
understand tonight, when I tell my tale.”
    “You’ll
be telling me now.”
    “No.”
Fiona's soft words broke through. “No, he is right, husband. Maggie doesn’t
need time to come up with excuses and reasons not to marry him.”
    “You
can’t be serious, wife?”
    “Aye,
I am, and as her mother, with your approval, I will give my blessing if he can
convince her to marry him on the morrow.”
    “He’ll
never do it.”
    “Perhaps
not. But I’m thinking, if he fails, it will be our Maggie who will lose in the
end.”
    “I’ll
not fail.” Talorc claimed.
    Fiona
nodded at his confidence. “Fail or no, I’ll not grant my blessing until you
promise me two things.”
    “Aye.”
    “You'll
not force yourself on her. She has to give of herself willingly; otherwise,
we'll not accept the marriage.”
    Talorc
agreed. “Neither would she, and I know that, but I also know she'll come around.
The bond is there already, she just doesn't recognize it.”
    “Aye,
well and good.” Feargus nodded. "But you know, if she doesn't come around,
if she keeps her distance, we expect her back in the same pure state she'll
have left us. I'll not see her returning with a kerchief on her head for the
whole world to know she's not a maiden anymore."
    "Aye.”
Talorc agreed. "I'd want no different for my own daughter, if I'm ever
blessed to have one."
    “You
will also vow," Fiona continued, "never to hurt my daughter, to
strike her or beat her or punish her in any physical manner.”
    “I
vow to you she shall never be harmed by me or mine, in any manner. If I fail in
that, I will return her to you.”
    “So
be it. If you can convince her to say yea, you may have my daughter.”
    “Oh,
for a certainty, she will say yea. She’ll have no other choice or she’s not the
woman I think her to be.”
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER 5 - BETRAYAL
     
              It was a clear
night with a full moon, eerie shadows and the shimmer of silver light that
teased of spirits lurking. It was the season for Lughnassadh, the time for the
summer sun to loosen her hold to Tannist, the stingy winter's day. It was a
season of the festivals