The Wolfe Read Free Page B

their
cousin’s jest and returned to their sewing when the door slammed shut.
    Jordan found her father alone in the
cavernous great hall of Langton Castle that smelled of smoke and rushes. Generations
of Scotts had walked these floors, had spoken within these walls, and it reeked
of family and war and the passion that was in every Scotsman. Thomas sat in his
large oak chair, his graying brow furrowed. He watched his beautiful daughter
sweep gracefully into the room, her surcoat swirling and her long hair flowing.
    His heart was breaking. For the sake
of his clan, his family and peasants alike, he was being forced into a
precarious position and Jordan was to become the sacrificial lamb. He dreaded
telling her that her future was to be irrevocably changed. His stomach was
twisting in knots of anxiety so that he wished he could die rather than have to
tell her what was to come.
    His sweet Jordan Margaret, the only
child he and his beloved Elinor had been blessed with. With Elinor gone, Jordan
had been his life and his salvation, and now he would lose that, too. He
wondered if his grief would kill him.
    “Greetings, Da,” she kissed him.
    Thomas forced a smile and grasped
her hand. “Sit wi’ me, Jordan.” He moved to the side and allowed her a corner
of the huge chair. “Give the old man a hug.”
    He put his arms about his daughter
and held her tightly for a moment as he collected his thoughts. Jordan could sense
something in his manner and she was puzzled.  He was usually loud and supremely
confident, but not today. He seemed pensive and subdued. She didn’t like it.
    “What’s amiss?” she asked.
    Thomas looked at her, memorizing
each feature. He knew he had to tell her before he lost his courage.  He’d
already put it off as long as he could and if he delayed further, he might never
tell her at all.  With every breath he took, his bravery was waning.
    “Yesterday a messenger arrived from
King Henry,” he began.
    “I know, I saw him,” she replied.
    “He brought a missive,” Thomas
replied, trying to keep his manner calm and even. Jordan was sharp and would
pick up on any apprehension. “Apparently the man is as weary as we are of the
border wars and wishes to seal a peace.”
    Jordan’s eyes darkened. “Dunna trust
him,” she said.  “He will strike when yer guard is down.”
    “I think not,” her father said
patiently. “We will both be sacrificing a great deal for this peace and neither
would do anything to jeopardize it.”
    His words didn’t make much sense but
she knew she didn’t like them. She was suspicious and forced her father to look
at her.
    “What sacrifice?” she demanded. “What
are the demons demanding from ye? Our land? Money? What then?”
    Thomas was riveted to her green
eyes, intensely so. He dreaded bringing forth the words but he had to.  “Ye,”
he finally murmured. “’Tis ye he is demanding, lass.”
    Jordan stared at him as the news set
in. Then her eyes widened enormously until they threatened to pop from their
sockets. Thomas tried to anticipate her reaction, wanting so badly to beg
forgiveness and plead understanding.
    He could not bear it if she hated
him forever. He wanted to explain everything to her, to make her understand
that he made the best decision he felt he could. He prayed she would grasp his
battle-weary reasons. He was so very tired of fighting and dying for a bloody
bit of land.
    “What?” she gasped, then louder. “He what? ”
    Steady, man , Thomas told
himself.   Be strong . “I promised ye in marriage to a noble of the king’s
choosing to cement a peace alliance,” he said evenly. “This will be a great
honor for ye, Jordan. You will be the instrument of peace for our clan and for
the generations yet to come. Do ye not understand that, lass?”
    “Nay.” She shot up from the chair. “I
dunna want to marry an Englishman. They are our enemy, men who have killed our
kin and our friends. How can ye ask me this?”
    Thomas remained