Jane nodded with understanding.
“Let us eat,” she announced, nodding toward the trencher of food. “Ye dinnae come down for dinner earlier. I couldnae have mine too.”
The aroma was tantalizing and corroborated Lorna’s words about her empty belly.
“Eat,” Lorna whispered as she flopped into a chair. “Ye must keep yer strength up.”
“And ye as well,” Jane pushed the tray closer to Lorna who smiled and started to put bite after bite in her mouth. Jane joined her, and they ate roasted chicken in silence. Herhead ached from thinking about the battle.
“What do ye think is going on out there?” Jane finally said as she leaned back in her chair. “How long do ye think they will be fighting for?”
“I honestly cannae say, my lady,” Lorna bit out. “I would only hope the winds blow some brain intae their heads.”
“I'd pray so.” Jane chuckled softly. “Darach saw me before he left.”
Lorna lifted her eyebrows. “He did?”
“Aye. He gave me his assurance that it wouldnae be a bloodbath, and he was only going tae claim his friend.”
“Jane,” Lorna waved her hand, “I ken this must be an ordeal for ye.”
“It is.” Jane stood up and walked toward the window. Her nerves were tingling beneath the cool, regal air she donned. She sighed as she looked out into the night, then returned her gaze to Lorna, who was staring at her in discomfort.
“Yer doing so well,” Lorna murmured. “This will be done with tomorrow, and ye can return home.”
“I hope ye are right, Lorna,” she said anxiously, as she turned from the window back into the chamber. “I hope yer brother finds his man too.”
“I ken he'll be happy, but I dinnae ken what I feel. Kenn McTavish makes me uneasy.”
Jane's eyebrows rose. “Ye dinnae trust the man?”
“I dinnae like him,” she said bluntly. “It is much like him tae adopt such a meek demeanor and play the snubbed in situations, but Darach and Morven consider his friendship important.”
“Even when ye dinnae?”
Lorna shrugged. “Darach and Morven consider my feelings a woman's stungeadedness because I haven't forgiven him for his faither’s slyness. He convinced my faither tae marry me off tae Griffin the son of Laird Redinson. I believe Kenn is cut from the same cloth as his faither, a self-serving serpent who'd landed me in a mess. I could wager my life that Kenn would have given the same advice as his faither tae marry me off as well.”
Jane watched with interest as Lorna started to take heavy breaths to calm herself.
“I take it ye'd rather nae marry the man.”
Lorna sighed deeply. “Griffin is an awful man. He's kent well as a hopeless rake who spent his days entangled in the bedsheets of every maid in his faither’s keep and has faithered many bastards.”
“I'm so sorry.”
“Ye need nae be, Jane. It was the work of my faither and his serpent advisor. And now a man like Griffin has a claim tae me when the time is right.”
Jane watched the lass's eyes flash with pain and discomfort. She looked like a deer trapped in a headlight, a woman with no choice in her future like most highborn women. Her destiny had been decided for her, and she must live it out whether she liked it or not.
“When will he come tae claim ye?”
A sad little smile crossed Lorna's face. “He'd come once, soon after our faither’s death, riding a large horse and a little troop tae our gates and demanding that my brothers hand his betrothed over tae him.”
“They didnae?” Jane prompted.
“Nay,” Lorna shook her head. “They handed him an ultimatum instead: that he waits until I was fully come of age according tae his faither’s agreement with our faither or he fight one of my brothers tae the death and take me immediately if he won. The coward decided tae wait.”
“Oh!” Jane understood perfectly. The appearance of the Robertson brothers was capable of imposing great fear even on the most valiant men. They were very much handy with the sword too. They were men no one would rather face with a blade in hand.