A tear fell as they walked out of the solar. All would be well now. Her sister would be happy and so would she. Life was good.
“I am famished,” Fiona said as she and Aliss entered the great hall the next morning. “You were right, rest was what I needed.”
“I wish to speak with you,” Tarr said, stepping out of the shadows and grabbing hold of Fiona’s arm.
“Can it not wait until after I have eaten?” Fiona stretched her neck so that she could glimpse the table heavy with platters of steaming food.
“It is important.”
“Oh, all right, but it better not take long.” She walked off with him not having noticed the wink he sent Aliss. “Do not eat all the honey bread,” she called over her shoulder to her sister, then sent Tarr a heated glare. “This better be urgent.”
He drew them into a small alcove off the hall and took her hand. “I love you.”
Fiona stared at him and shook her head. “You love me?”
“Aye, I love you and thought it time I told you.”
Her eyes crinkled at the corners. “You have only suddenly realized this?”
“I am not certain when I realized I loved you.”
“Yesterday you simply cared for me,” she reminded. “Now suddenly today you love me?”
“You do not believe me.”
Fiona folded her arms across her chest and glared at him.
“I do not lie,” he said vehemently.
“No, you conveniently discover you love me just before my parents arrive.”
He gritted his teeth. “I love you.”
“Simple enough words to say. Why do you love me?”
“Why?” Tarr threw his hands up. “I have no idea why I love a bullheaded wench like you.”
“Oh, you give me gooseflesh when you talk that way to me,” she mocked.
He grabbed hold of her good arm. “How does this sound? I love you in spite of your pigheaded nature and I am determined, in spite of your pigheaded nature, to love you until the day you die.”
He kissed her before she could speak, forceful and hungry as if he were trying to solidify his words by his actions.
He pushed her away when he was finished and stomped off.
Fiona stood alone for a moment, her fingers faintly tracing her swollen lips. They pulsed from his kiss and ached for more.
“Damn him,” she mumbled, and marched into the great hall in a fury. She looked around, and catching no sight of Tarr she hurried over to the dais where her sister sat alone. “Where did Tarr go?”
Aliss pointed to the door.
Fiona debated. Did she follow him? Why, though? What else could she say to him that she had not already said?
She looked to Aliss.
“The decision is yours,” Aliss reminded.
Fiona sighed and hurried out the door.
She looked over the village, trying to see where Tarr had gone. She finally spied him talking with one of his warriors.
She had responded badly to his declaration of love, though she could not help question it, coming so soon after their discussion. How could she believe he truly loved her?
She kicked at the stone near her foot. He had expressed several times how he had not felt love was necessary to marriage, so why should she believe his change of heart now?
This love thing was not what she had expected. She had expected to meet someone, fall in love, wed, and be happy. She had suffered nothing but angst since meeting Tarr. But then she had not expected to fall in love with him.
“Have you chased after me to apologize?”
Fiona looked up to see Tarr standing a few feet away. She was about to snap at him when she thought better of it. She held her tongue.
“Love is new and strange to me, Fiona. It caught me off guard, quaking the ground beneath me, and I am still trying to find firm footing. It makes no sense to me, and the more I attempt to define it the more confused I become. So all I can say to you is that I love you and I’ll keep saying it until you finally believe me.”
Fiona stared at him.
“Do not tell me that I have struck you speechless?” Tarr asked with a laugh.
“I think you have,” she said surprised.
“Good, then you will think on what I have told you and hopefully reach the same conclusion that I have—that I love you.”
He had declared his love for her several times in a short span of time. Did he truly mean what he said?