Chapter 4

Grainne sat upright and silent next to her fiancé, Lord Finn, watching the other guests as they conversed with each other over their dinner. They rarely dined with other noblemen from the surrounding kingdoms; it was not surprising that many tended to avoid the treacherous lands of Thornacre. Her sister Fenne was sat in the chair next to their Father, engaging politely in conversation with a lady dressed in red velvet. She wore a tiara with a glowing red stone in the centre along with matching earrings and necklaces. Grainne knew her as Queen Isabelle of Ecrin, next to her was her husband the King who was engaging in conversation with the bear-like Lord of Easthallow.

The Thorn King was withdrawn as usual. He spoke politely to the guests as was expected of him as the host of this feast but kept his responses minimal and indifferent. There was an empty chair opposite Fenne, Aynia’s chair. It was not surprising that she had not turned up for the banquet. Once upon a time, this would have angered the King but he was used to it now. The circles under the Thorn King’s eyes had grown darker; the whites of his eyes looked bloodshot and every now and again his shoulders would slump in exhaustion as if he had not slept for days. Grainne wished she had the patience to be supportive of her father, she wished he could trust her to tell her what was going on inside his head but she had inherited his temper and grew weary of his secretive demeanour. She could not understand the reasoning behind him wishing to marry Aiyna to men of his choice. He wanted them all married, really, but his focus was blatantly on Aynia and Grainne could not make sense of it.

She, unlike her older sister, had agreed to marry Lord Finn despite the significant age gap between them and the fact that she did not love him. However she knew that it would put her father at ease and stop him pestering her to wed. Lord Finn owned a lot of land and even more money; she knew it would be a marriage of convenience. However, Grainne was having second thoughts about marrying him, if Aynia could decide not to marry someone, why couldn’t she? Grainne started to feel the familiar chill that ran through her veins when she thought about the way Aynia had escaped from her own sister’s Pre-Wedding feast and she had to move her hands away from her glass before anyone noticed that it had started to freeze over. The Thorn king shot her a look but soon returned his attention to the young man beside him who Grainne noticed as the Crown Prince of Llechryd.

Grainne avoided the gaze of her husband-to-be as she started to glance around the room, trying in vain to look for somebody else, anybody else, to melt her heart in the way that Finn had failed. Her gaze settled on a young man a few chairs away from her. He was about her age, much younger than the Lord she was to be wedded to. He seemed to be making charming small talk with the people around him, other Lords and Ladies of the lands that surrounded Thornacre. There were no Lords and Ladies in the Thorn Kingdom; the King had little trust in anybody let alone enough to knight them.

This man, however, did not come across as a lord. He was not as finely dressed as the others but not scruffy either. Grainne guessed he was either a servant favoured enough to dine with the nobles or a ward of some kind. He was beautiful, Grainne thought to herself. She had always adored red hair and his eyes were remarkable to look at; one green and one blue. Grainne was distracted from the man by a hand passing something under her plate. Grainne looked up to see the woman sat next to her, back turned as she passed a note before subtly placing her hand back on her fork. It was Lady Katriana of Spinosa, the kingdom Aulom had come from. Gingerly, Grainne retrieved the note and lowered it under the table and unfolded it as gently as she could before proceeding to read it. There, in black swirly writing were the words:

 

I see you have spotted Sir Diarmuid

 

Grainne folded the letter and tucked it away under her thigh, frowning a little. She felt Finn’s gaze on her and realised she had not spoken for the duration of the meal. Feeling guilty, she turned to look at him. He was so much older than she had expected for a husband, the hair at the sides of his head was greying and he had harsh frown lines over his forehead.

“Is something the matter, my dear?” He asked her, sounding more irritated than concerned. Grainne forced a smile

“No, of course not. Who have you brought with you today?” She asked him

“I did not think you would be so interested” The Lord commented as he took a mouthful of wine from his goblet. Grainne smiled innocently

“There is just someone here whom I do not recognise, that is all, my love.” The word ‘love’ tasted bitter on her tongue and she sipped her own drink as if to rid herself of the taste.

“That would be Sir Diarmuid, my strongest and most loyal warriors. He came to me as nothing but a scrap of bones, now look at him” Finn said looking at his knight with fondness

“Remarkable” Grainne commented

“Indeed. However, he rarely dines in public. Has your father warned you of him?” He asked

“No” Grainne replied, the Thorn King rarely warned her about anything

“He was born with a mark on the centre of his forehead, anyone who sees it falls madly in love with him. I have had to lock up several wenches and men alike who have fallen head over heels with him. However, he has learned to cover it up with his hair, so do not worry yourself, dear, you are all mine” He said with a sinister grin. Grainne tried to smile back but her stomach was lurching. She turned to look over at the young man again but  was distracted by one of the Thorn guards who the King had let dine with them rose from his seat, his goblet held high in front of him. The guard’s brother had died the night before, slaughtered by an intruder. Grainne and Fenne had asked their father about it but he had waved his hand dismissively and refused to respond to their questions, it was out of courtesy that this guard was allowed to dine with them today.

“I would like to propose a toast to His Majesty the King,” He announced. Grainne along with the other guests rose from their seats and held their goblets, she tried to concentrate on her father as he remained seated holding his own goblet. The guard cleared his throat “First things first, I must thank you, your Highness. You have shown great kindness in letting me dine with you today. It is not easy to wear that crown of yours and rule over us but you do so anyway. I am sure you will reign for many years to come,” At this, the Thorn King seemed to pale and his smile faltered.  The guard did not seem to notice “Long live the King!” he said raising his goblet a little more

“Long live the King!” The guests along with Grainne and Fenne chorused after him before they all took a sip of their drinks and sat back down. The Thorn King stood now, holding his goblet in front of him

“Thank you, Cedric, for those kind words. I too would like to propose a toast, to my beautiful daughter Grainne and her fiancé Lord Finn. I wish them both many years together in happiness that they so very much deserve” He said. The guests apart from Grainne and Finn stood again and raised their goblets “To Princess Grainne and Lord Finn” The King said. The guests echoed his words and drank again before sitting back down and resumed eating and talking amongst themselves. Grainne held still, forcing a smile as Lord Finn pecked her cheek. Her eyes sought Diarmuid, just as he tossed his head back to laugh at one of his friends’ jokes. Strands of his fiery hair fell back from his forehead, exposing a silvery mark shaped like a pentagram over his skin. It was about the size of a penny but it drew Grainne’s gaze to it. It seemed to glow as she stared at it, her heart aching as undying love seemed to fill her very being. She could do nothing but stare at his beauty. Everything about him was beautiful, from his lovely wavy orange hair that she imagined would be silky soft right down to the spot on the bottom of his chin. She longed to kiss the spot, she longed to go on romantic walks with him through the gardens of her hometown of Darkwell, she wished to get to know all his secrets and little habits. She longed to be close to him, closer than she had never felt with anyone else, especially not the old and wrinkly Lord Finn. Her heart swelled at the thought of spending a lifetime together with Sir Diarmuid, she imagined living in a large house, too big for just the two of them but just right for when they had children, she could picture a little girl and boy; the boy with dark hair and green eyes like her father’s and a little girl with fiery red hair and Grainne’s grey eyes. She could not tear her eyes away from this man and she knew that she could not and would not marry Finn. She had to marry Diarmuid. 

Author's Note

I am continuously editing these chapters so I can't always ensure that everything will continue to flow well - if things don't add up please let me know. :-)