The Scottish Princess

Hoping for the Best

After a few more seconds, we heard the pounding of the staph once more, “Chief Graham of the MacKenzie Clan, has arrived.” The double doors flew open and that’s when I saw him. Graham Kennan MacKenzie was the most gorgeous specimen that I had ever seen, he made me look like a solid 4. There was no way that we were on the same team, let alone the same field, I instantly felt insecure.

Graham stood at about 6’2, he had long black curly hair, at least to his shoulders. His eyes were the color of the first frost, they pierced your soul. He was wearing the MacKenzie Tartan, it was mainly dark blues and greens with a subtle hint of red. His large, bearskin cape swayed behind him as he approached the stage. He walked like he had a mission. He wouldn’t take his eyes off of me as he drew closer to the front of the room.

I would gladly be whatever he needed me to be, for once in my life, I would surrender and be his submissive. He locked eyes on me and smirked, I swear to God, I almost came right then and there. I felt my whole body start to shake and goosebumps coated my skin. I couldn’t believe that this man was going to be my husband. I would do anything in my power to obey his every word, if I did misbehave, I would except my punishment with a smile. Graham made me weak in the knees, I don’t know how I was going to be able to stand when father introduced me. I wouldn’t dare take my eyes off of him for a second.

Behind Graham, followed at least another 10 clan members, no doubt this was his guard. A man like Graham wouldn’t dare venture out by himself without an entourage. Graham stopped about 5 feet in front of the platform and knelt in front of my father.

“Chief Anderson, it is an honor to be in your presence sir. I would like to thank you for the opportunity to wed your daughter. I look forward to joining our forces and further strengthening the Highlands in brotherhood.”

Father raised his hand, gesturing for Graham to stand. Father turned in my direction, I made sure to be sitting as straight as a board. Father extended his hand out towards me.

“Chief MacKenzie, may I introduce my daughter, Isla Rose MacPherson. We have raised her to be a gracious lady and Madame. I hope you will be pleased with her.”

Now was my time to present myself. I stood as steadily as I could and took a few uneasy steps over to my father’s side. I wanted to say something to him, anything, but I knew that it was not my place. I do not speak, unless spoken to, I need permission to open my mouth. I bowed my head and gently and paired it with my best curtsy. I felt Graham’s steel eyes follow my movements. Father took my hand and placed it in Graham’s, I only prayed my hand wasn’t too sweaty, I didn’t want him to think that I was this disgusting, sweaty mess. I took a few steps down until I was on the main floor, standing in front of him. He towered over me, my 5’9 stature was nothing compared to Graham.

I took a deep breath as I anticipated his words. “Isla Rose, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, I vow to protect you from any harm. I will try, to the best of my abilities to make you happy, from now until my dying breath.”

I couldn’t help but blush as he bowed his head and his lips brushed atop my knuckles. I knew that he was forced to say these words, it was tradition to vow these things to your betrothed when you first meet. I tried to block out my infatuation, just in case he didn’t mean what he said. I prayed that he was feeling the same way about me than I was of him, but that would just be dumb luck.

The next couple seconds were a little awkward, no one spoke. I was afraid that I was missing a cue of some kind, but in my gut I knew that I shouldn’t say anything. Women are seen, not heard. Father broke the silence finally, “Now that you two have been acquainted, shall we retire to the dining hall?”

The whole room seemed to be in agreement. There was a precession that needed to be followed, it was traditionally done by age. Mother and father would start, followed by Andrew, and since Carina wasn’t here, Graham and I followed behind. James and Fiona were the last to file out.

Graham hadn’t looked down at me once as we headed into the dining hall, his intense concentration on me had ended, his eyes were fixed straight in past the double doors. He hadn’t said anything either, it was so hard trying to keep my mouth shut. All I wanted was to talk to him, but I knew that this was not the place or time to do so. We would have plenty of time to talk on the way back to the MacKenzie territory in a few days. For now, I sucked my lips in and tried to keep quiet.

**GRAHAM’S POV**

Isla Rose MacPherson is the most breathtaking woman that I have ever laid my eyes on. She had perfect, porcelain skin that showed just enough pink in her cheeks. Her nose was speckled with her adorable freckles. Her soul snatching, golden eyes were mesmerizing to look at, if I wasn’t careful, I would have gotten lost in them. She was perfection in every way, it took every fiber of my being not to lift up her skirts and take her here in the great hall. I knew that I had to remain respectful, I could feel my heart skip a beat, I have never felt like this before. I didn’t want my men to think that I let a woman get to me like this, I needed to be cold towards her, that was the only way that I was going to fight my urges.

When her father placed her hand in mine, I felt my skin prickle from the electricity that ran between us. Oh the things that I would do to this bonnie lass, it made my head cloud with desire. I wanted to show her exactly how dominant I was and how I could make her do things that she hadn’t deemed possible. I tried to calm myself, I didn’t want every to see my c**k hard at the mere sight of her. As we walked into the dining room, I tried not to look at her, I knew that if I did, I would collapse in front of her feet and worship the ground beneath her. I tried to keep my composure, but my mind kept wandering to all the things that I wanted to do to her, I wanted to ravish her body until she begged me to stop. I wanted to make her scream my name and make her finger nails dig into my back. I wanted to break her, in every way possible, I wanted to have complete control over her. I blocked my thoughts as we finally reached the double doors, and I led us to our seats, this was going to be an incredibly long night.

**ISLA’S POV**

The dining hall was already packed with our clan, people were mingling with drinks in their hands, no doubt ready for a toast. Before Graham and I could sit, father was to make an announcement, our betrothal would be the main topic tonight.

“Good evening everyone!” commanded any room he entered. The crowd all turned to face him as he spoke. “I want to thank you all for joining us in celebration of a joyous union that will take place at the end of this month. I want to raise our glasses to our newly betrothed couple. My beautiful daughter Isla will be leaving us next week and will officially become a member of the MacKenzie clan. Cheers to the happy couple, may God bless your marriage and make it fruitful. Slainte Mhath!”

The whole room echoed with well wishes and good health before slugging down their drinks and throwing them to the ground, it’s said to be good luck. I felt my shoulders sink a bit at the attention, as loud as I was one on one, I hated being the center of attention, the rest of my life was going to be interesting.

After dinner, our guests continued to mill about the room, it was loud with laughter and chatter, no one was really talking to me, Graham had even disappeared somewhere in the crowd. I was exhausted, I could barely keep my eyes open. I pushed back from the table and quietly walked down to Fiona. She was deep in conversation with another lass from our clan, Brianna I think her name is. I only caught the end of the conversation, but this other lass was definitely gossiping about someone else in the village. She stopped immediately when she saw me approaching, she knew as much as I do that ladies are not supposed to gossip. She locked eyes on me and without another word, she curtsied quickly and rushed off into the crowd. Fiona looked up at me.

“You look ragged Isla. Off to bed?” I tried to hide my yawn behind my fan, it wasn’t working, you could see the exhaustion all across my face. I gave her a condescending smile and tilted my head.

“Thank you Fiona for telling me I look like s**t,” she started to giggle. “Yes, I don’t think that anyone would miss me, I know that I should be excused by someone and acquire an escort, but on one would even notice my absence. “

“What about Graham, he’s got to be around here somewhere.” I rolled my eyes at the notion of my mute fiancé escorting me upstairs, he’s been acting like I don’t even exist.

“Are you joking Fi? He hasn’t said a word to me all night, it’s like I’m not even here. I know what I felt when I saw him, I doubt he feels the same with the way he’s been treating me.” I took a deep breath, I didn’t realize how much hurt I was actually feeling. “Will you escort me to bed?” Fiona nodded and smiled sweetly. When she stood, there was hardly enough room for us both behind the table, thanks to our enormous dresses. Luckily, we were close enough to the doorway that we could sneak out without anyone seeing.

I couldn’t wait to take this dress off and finally be able to take a deep breath. Fiona excused herself and ran to fetch Kennedy before returning to the party. Kennedy returned a few moments later to help me dress for bed. After a few minutes, I was only in my chemise. With Kennedy fetching my tea, I collapsed under my four-post canopy and fought with my eyes to stay open. I was almost asleep when I heard a loud pounding on my door, it wasn’t a knock that I had recognized before, Kennedy would have knocked quietly before entering. This sounded angry, pissed off. I pushed myself off the bed and went for my robe, before I could grab it, the door flew open. 

I was startled to find Graham standing in front of me, he had rage in his eyes. I could smell the whiskey seeping out of his pores. He was clearly drunk and out of sorts. Out of fear, I walked backwards towards my bed until I felt a hard, wooden post up against my spine. It was not permitted for him to see me this exposed until our wedding night. For some reason, my body was responding to this prohibited occurrence. He looked me up and down as he walked towards me, his slow pace made my heart race, he was about to do unspeakable things to me. I couldn’t break eye contact with him, I was frozen in place. He had a carnal desire that reflected back at me, they were filled with pure lust. 

“How could you excuse yourself if you didn't ask permission first? Do you have any idea the trouble you have caused?” a playful smirk played at his lips. I knew that he was bluffing about me causing trouble, if there was any, mother would have been the one rapping at my door, not Graham. My body began to shake out of intimidation. “Do you know what happens to you when you misbehave? now I get to punish you, however I see fit.” his voice was like silk, it lit me up like a match. I tried hard to shake my primal thoughts out of my head. 

I gulped the lump down my throat, I would not let him take me like this, there would be serious repercussions for both of us. Graham was so close to me that I could reach out and easily touch his chest. He slowly started to reach down to the hem of my nightgown, I didn’t know how to stop him, so I did the only thing that I could think of. I reached my hand up and slapped him as hard as I could. He was taken by surprise and stumbled back towards the door. He was clutching the side of his face where I had just struck him. I took the opportunity to grab the nearest afghan and throw it around my body.

Graham did not like my force because when he regained his balance, he came charging back to me, even madder than before.

“You insolent little b***h, how dare you deny me!” he was screaming at me, spit was flying. “You are just a vessel to me, nothing more, nothing less. I will protect you for the sole purpose of you producing my heir. I will take you when I want, where I want and you will obey me!” he was getting closer to me once more, he was going to strike me when the door suddenly opened behind us. Kennedy stood there frozen in shock, she was holding a tray with my tea. She looked on at the scene in front of her frightened, Graham realized that he was caught red handed and readjusted himself.

“If you’ll excuse me my love, I should let you rest.” And just like that, Graham disappeared out into the hallway closing the door behind him. I collapsed back onto my bed and sobbed into my hands, is this really how my life was going to be? Graham trying to rape me and I was just supposed to except that? This is more of a business transaction than I originally thought. If this man was only going to use for my fertility, then I was going to hold that from him. If he doesn’t love me or even respect me, he is not worthy of my body.

Kennedy rushed to my side, placing the tray next to us on the bed. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and rocked me back and forth. Just a couple hours ago, I would have gladly let Graham touch me, I would have been a willing participant, but not after this. I was ready to surrender to him because I thought that he would respect me. If this is how he is going to act, I knew that I had to keep that flame burning in my heart, there is no way that I can let him extinguish it. My safety and well being depends on me being able to fight back and defend myself. Kennedy sat there as I sobbed in her arms until I eventually tired myself out. Kennedy Helped me into bed and placed the coal heater under the comforter. She stood by my head and stroked my hair.

“Shh, Miss Isla, rest now. I won’t let anything happen to you.” That was the last thing that I remembered before drifting off.

When I woke the next morning, Kennedy was gone. She must have just been here, there was a new tray on my bedside table with a piping hot tea pot. I sat up in bed and stretched out my arms. I didn’t feel right, I had  a stone in my gut and my head was pounding. I didn’t know why, maybe I didn’t sleep enough? Or maybe I got too much sleep, whatever the case, I needed some tea. I carefully reached over and grabbed the pot and slowly poured the hot liquid into my cup. I felt instantly relaxed as the herbal tea slid down my throat. I sat in bed for a while longer, I did not want to venture downstairs for any reason, I am still a little shaken from last night. It was one thing if he had asked and he wasn’t drunk, I would have broken those rules in a heartbeat, but I refuse to give myself up when there is force involved. He would have to earn my trust back slowly, very slowly. When I was finished with my tray, I turned over to my knitting. Mother had suggested a while ago that I knit a new garment for Carina’s fourth child, as much as I hated my sister, I absolutely adored my niece and nephews. I got lost in my stitching, I hadn’t registered the timid knock on the door.

“Come in!” Kennedy popped her head in to assess her surroundings before sliding into the room.

“Good morning miss, your mother sent me up to fetch you for breakfast. Shall we get dressed?” Without turning to look at her, I simply declined.

“Kennedy, I’m really not feeling well, will you be a dear and go tell mother for me?’ Kennedy fell silent, she knew that I was lying, she wouldn’t dare lie to my mother. I looked at her with mercy in my eyes, “Please Kennedy? Just tell her I’m feeling out of sorts at the moment. If she has a problem with it, which I know that she will, she can come up and get me herself. “Kennedy was frozen by the door and her eyes widened as I spoke, I think that it was the hint of distain to my voice. She curtsied and quickly rushed back out the door.

It wasn’t long before I heard mother’s voice shouting in the hallway. “Where is she? How dare she!” and then I heard some thing that I pretended not to hear. Suddenly, my door burst open. “Isla Rose MacPherson, get out of this bed at once!” She added a little stomp, like she was a toddler throwing a tantrum. I looked up from my sweater that I was knitting.

“Mother please, I really do not feel well, I would hate to look out of sorts to my future husband.” Mother stood her ground, there was only one way that she could get me out of this bed.

“Well, you look just fine to me, don’t be such a child. Now get up, you cannot expect someone else to entertain your betrothed.” I was close to snapping, but that would be unladylike. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I knew what I wanted to say, I wanted to tell mother that Graham was extremely aggressive with me and that I did not feel safe around him. Somehow they would have turned it on me, saying that I was asking for it or I provoked him. I decided to bite my tongue and swallow the rising bile in my throat. Mother was getting restless at my silence.

“Isla Rose, so help me God, if you do not get out of this bed willingly, I will drag you out by your hair.” I knew that she was serious, she’s done it before. She stared me down for a few more seconds before calling for Kennedy, who was right outside the door. “You have 10 minutes, do you understand me?” she wouldn’t leave without my answer. I took a deep breath.

“Yes Madame” with that, she was gone without another word.

Kennedy scurried in with fresh linens and skirts. She dressed me quickly, her hands were saking, I’m sure she was terrified of mother. Once I was lace up, Kennedy slipped my cream colored blouse over my head and I stepped into a navy blue, cotton skirt. She wrapped a leather belt around my waist and quickly tied my hairline into a braid, leaving the rest out to fall free around my shoulders. Lastly, she clasped my crest necklace under my hair. Just before leaving, I wrapped a charcoal gray, cowl neck shawl around my shoulders, I didn’t want anyone to see more of me than needed. I slipped into my boots and reluctantly stepped out into the hallway.

Since everyone was already down at breakfast, Kennedy had to escort me. We walked in comfortable silence, I know that she must have questions about how I was feeling, but we didn’t have time for that. I gave her a polite nod as we reached the dining hall. Fiona took Kennedy’s place once I entered the room, she hooked her arm in mine and we walked over at the table. I caught father’s gaze and he gave me a wink and a small smile. Of course, my place was next to Graham, I swallowed the bile that was building once more, I could tell that he was sober now, but I didn’t want to dignify him with even a smile.

When he saw me, his eyes lit up with excitement, it was just a glimmer, but it was there. He did stand to pull out my chair as I approached him. Why was he so elated to see me, did he not remember how he acted or what he said last night? Maybe this was him trying to make up for his lude behavior, well he was going to have to do way more than this. I didn’t make eye contact as I slipped into the chair beside his. A moment later, my breakfast was presented in front of me. I looked over to Graham’s plate, he hadn’t touched it yet, was he waiting for me? He tired not to smile as I raised the fork to my mouth. I could feel his eyes on me, he was studying me, it made me extremely uncomfortable.

I heard Graham clear his throat like he was going to say something. I knew that I wasn’t going to reciprocate, so might as well just let him speak.

“You look very nice today.” That was all he said, motherfucker, you better say a lot more than that.