He grinned. She had never beheld such joy in him, and she almost reached out to trace his face.
“Then let me tell you now, heiress. I would be honored to play for the clan as Bard of the East.”
She swallowed, struggling to hide her elation. But a smile broke across her lips; she could feel tears pricking the corners of her eyes.
“That’s good news, Jack. Perhaps we can have a ceremony for you, and we can—”
“No ceremony,” he gently interrupted. “When I become your husband, I also become the clan’s bard. Don’t you agree that is best?”
Adaira nodded, rubbing her collarbone. “Yes, you’re right. This will help temper the clan’s expectations as well, since you might only play for a year and a day. I know there is a chance of you deciding to leave if our handfast breaks, and … yes, the clan should know that.”
Jack was silent for a beat. But his eyes held hers, and he whispered, “I think it’s fair enough to say that I won’t be returning to the mainland, Adaira.”
She breathed in his words and held them deep within her, uncertain how to respond. “Are you certain, Jack? You might change your mind a few months from now.”
“I’m certain. If I wanted to go back, I would have by now.”
“The clan … the clan will be very happy to hear this.”
“Yes,” he said. “When is the handfast?”
“It needs to be soon.”
“How soon?”
She hesitated before answering, “Two days?”
“Is that a question or a statement, Adaira?”
“I have to meet Moray Breccan at the clan line in three days for the trade of goods,” she said. “I would like for you to be there with me, as my husband.”
Jack stared at her, his lips parting. She knew this was happening fast. She could sense how he was reeling, and she worried that she had asked too much of him in one night.
“So we’ll play for the earth tomorrow,” he said, listing their tasks on his fingers. “The next day we’ll marry. And the day after that we’ll go to our deaths at the clan line for a trade?”
“We’re not going to die,” Adaira said. “But yes, that’s the plan, if I’m not asking too much of you.”
“It’s not too much,” said Jack. “Although I must confess … you have my thoughts spinning.”
“Then I should go,” she whispered. “Let you get some rest.”
A small voice told her to prepare herself. That come morning Jack would have changed his mind and she would be deposited back where she started.
She had been let down before, broken by silver-tongued promises, and she wanted to protect herself from it. She wanted to slip back into her old armor, even as Jack’s eyes traced her.
“I’ll come to you tomorrow, just after noontide,” he said. “There’s something I must attend to in the morning, but after that I’ll be ready to play.”
“Yes, of course. Thank you, Jack.”
He moved to clear off the center of his desk, so she could easily step on it this time without disturbing his fragments of nature. Jack offered his hand again, and she took it, her fingers like ice as she climbed onto the desk and slipped out the window, cloak flapping in her wake. Her ankles jarred when she hit the grass, and she stood for a moment, uncertain if she should bid her betrothed farewell.
She turned to see him leaning on his desk, staring at her as if he was trying to convince himself that this wasn’t a dream. The firelight limned his face, burned in his eyes like stars.
No, Adaira thought as she drew up her hood, her face shadowed and hidden from him. No further words were necessary.
Adaira wrote her response that night, not long after she returned from visiting Jack. She sat at her desk in her bedroom and listened to the fire as it crackled in her hearth, listened to the wind as it tapped on the glass. She took out a sheet of parchment, selected a fresh quill, and opened her pot of ink.
Dear Moray,
I have received your letter, and I agree to meet you at the clan line in three days’ time at noontide on the northern coast. I will bring the best my clan has to offer you, and I am eager to see what the west will offer in return. As you stated before, let this exchange between us be the first step toward peace, and a new season for our isle.
You asked me to come alone for the trade, and while I will meet you unarmed and without my guard, my husband will be present. We can then discuss my imminent visit to the west. We look forward to meeting you face-to-face.