Chapter 3 A Warm Welcome

Father's usual dour expression had been replaced with a genuine smile as he sat at the head table, exchanging words with a man of wide girth, sitting to his right.

"Lord Patrick's here?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

My uncle, seated to my fathers left I'd expected, joined by his unpleasant and beady eyed wife, but not Lord Patrick. Surely I would have heard news of his intended visit before now if it had indeed been planned?

That being said, Fynn and Raff's return hadn't been planned either.

"Yes," my brother said, appearing unwilling to part with anything further.

I glanced at him with a small amount of curiosity as he walked me to the dais and seated me next to our generously proportioned Aunt before taking his own place next to Raff, directly opposite.

Fynn's blue eyes, the exact shade of our Mother's, looked sharper, harder. His mouth had a new tightness about it, one that said he was less likely to fall into an easy smile, and his charcoal hair, like mine and Fathers, had been cut close to his scalp. It wasn't short enough to raise the wrong eyebrows or put you in mind of one of those brute mercenary's from the south, but short compared to the shaggy mane he'd left with.

I let my rather harsh scrutiny of my brother go as one of the younger, more pleasant looking serving women placed a decent sized helping of stewed meat and fresh bread before us. She let her sleeve slip a fraction from her shoulder as she moved, her downcast eyes lifting ever so slightly in my brothers direction before she righted it. I pressed my lips together, stifling my amusement. The poor girl, Inara was her name, would never have a chance with him. The teasing revelation of smooth, pale skin may have tempted another Lord's son, at the very least peaked his interest, but not Fynn's. Not in this lifetime at least. My father stood as soon as she'd deposited her last platter and moved away. I stole a look at Raff.

His gaze was intent on my Father, showing the respect a Lord of his magnitude deserved, but there was something in the way his eyes seemed suddenly shadowed that made me want to shudder. I hadn't noticed in the dim light outside, but the softness, the open honesty of his face was gone, just like Fynn's. His hair, always too long for good taste and worn loose and wild had been hacked to his shoulders and tied back as tight as it would go. And where an almost permanent growth of soft stubble had adorned his cheeks, was nothing but smooth, almost too tanned skin.

His eyes flicked to me and were gone again, so fast even I barely saw it, but the tiny tug of a smile at the corner of his lips said that I hadn't imagined it.

"I give warm greetings to my guests, friends and family, and all those who attend them. I welcome you into my home and hope that your stay with us, however long, will be one of safe harbour and fond memories."

My father wasn't one for flattery or flowery speeches. If he spoke, it was usually short and strait to the point, so for him, the welcome he'd just offered was on a par with an enormous hug. He must indeed have been glad to have his sons home.

A rattle of goblets leaving the tables and returning again reverberated throughout the hall as every able bodied person drank to my father's toast. He took his seat, the silver streaks at his temples catching in the flickering light as he nodded to Fynn, then turned back to talk quietly with Lord Patrick and my Uncle.

"Eat child, before you waste away to nothing. Your father might not notice your bony arms but believe me, any red blooded suitor with half an interest in securing you for his own will."

My cheeks flushed at my Aunt Caroline's words, not from shame or embarrassment, but anger. Yet I picked up my spoon and said nothing, just gave a polite smile and swallowed the first of what I deemed would end up being too many mouthfuls. There was a line between eating a decent meal and outright gluttony, but I was not about to remind her of that. It wouldn't be worth the lecture.

She removed the spoon from her mouth. "Your uncle and I will be staying until Summer's start and I'll be expecting your company. There'll be none of these long rides and days spent running wild beneath the sun. You are to stay by me where I can make sure none of your duties are skimped, and that you've learnt all that a wife to be must. Your father can't be expected to use his daughter to seal an alliance if she isn't fit to be seen."

"Yes aunty," I said, acknowledging her as calmly as I could as I took another mouthful.

She was staying the entire spring? An entire spring! She'd be watching everything I did, every move, every look, every word. I let out a silent sigh. At least it would stop me from sneaking off and getting myself into trouble with Raff.

I put my hand to my lips, pretending to stifle a yawn though I covered a smile. He was watching me even now, his eyes carefully guarded so no one else would notice, none but the one person who mattered.

Me.