Page 62 of A Highland Bride Forgotten
The question came out more casually than he felt, though his voice sounded a little rough, a little strained, even to his own ears.
Keir glanced at River, and River, in turn, lifted her brows in a way that suggested she had no intention of making this easy.
“Naethin’ of consequence,” she said with a small shrug.
“That is rarely true when people are smilin’ like that,” said Archer, and he couldn’t stop the bitterness from leaking into his tone. Did they take him for a fool, he wondered? Did they think they could simply get away with whatever it was they were doing?
She is still me wife...regardless of everythin’ else, she is still me wife.
And he is supposed to be me best friend.
In the past few days, though, Archer had come to accuse Keir for a lot more than trying to steal his wife from him.
It had reached the point that Archer began to wonder if he was remembering everything wrong. The Keir he knew was not the kind of man who would betray him. They had grown up together; they had been together through thick and thin, and now Archer was suspecting him not only for the attacks, but also for trying to seduce his woman.
Keir coughed once, the sound suspiciously like a laugh. “We were speakin’ of?—”
“Of naethin’,” River insisted, cutting in smoothly. She was still smiling, but now there was something strained in it, and her gaze seemed to search the courtyard for a moment, until it landed on Layla.
Does she think she can get away with this if her maid comes to her rescue?
Rage coursed through Archer, hot and cold all at once. It reminded him of every time he had marched into battle, every time he had sustained a blow, every time he had bled on the battlefield. The last thing he needed was for Keir to betray him, and the thought cut so deep that he had to catch his breath.
Would he truly do that? Would he truly do that to me?
Whatever was happening between River and Keir, it was obvious that they were hiding something from him, and that was enough to almost send him over the ledge. There was little he could do in the middle of the courtyard, though; everyone was watching them, even if they pretended they didn’t. Whenever Archer was out and about, all eyes were on him, and if he made a scene now, the entire castle would know about it within minutes. Having people gossip about him, River, and Keir would only harm his plans, and he was not about to do anything that would jeopardize his mission.
“Keir,” said Archer in a flat tone, hiding all his rage, all his jealousy behind it—though not artfully.
Keir straightened further, as if he was unfurling himself.
“Aye?”
“Leave us.”
Keir hesitated for a moment, and his gaze fell on River, as if he was asking her for permission. That, too, infuriated Archer. Why did he care if he wanted to be alone with his wife? Since when did he need River’s permission to do anything?
In the end, Keir gave a firm nod, strolling off.
“As ye wish.”
Only when Keir was out of earshot did Archer look back at his wife. What he saw in River was nothing but a wall of ice, as though River had never once regarded him with warmth, with affection.
“Ye were enjoyin’ yerself,” he said. He didn’t mean to make it sound like an accusation, but it certainly sounded like one. He couldn’t help it; his rage emboldened him, and though he had been the one to pull back from River in the first place, he would not allow his wife or his friend to humiliate him like this.
River tilted her head slightly to the side in confusion. “Was I nae permitted to?”
Archer was quick to roll his eyes, something hot and uncomfortable coiling in his stomach. “That isnae what I said.”
“Nay,” she said mildly, “but it is what ye meant.”
There was a pause, a familiar kind of silence, one that they had shared many times before, when they tried to hold back, when they tried to measure their words before speaking.
Archer exhaled slowly through his nose, though it did little to help calm him.
“I’d say it’s time for our sixth night,” he said, before he could think better of it. River blinked at him, as if that was the last thing she had expected to hear.
“The sixth night?”
