Written In Stone

"Come, son, ye need to join yer wife."
    They entered the keep and marched through the main hall to the banquet room. The tables were loaded with food that had kept the kitchen maids busy for the past week. Muredach took a seat beside his wife and tried to smile gently at her to allay her fear of him. She still refused to look at him. The feasting continued most of the night, interrupted now and then by a drunken brawl in the bailey. Bettina's maid came to take her to the wedding chamber, to ready her for the traditional wedding night consummation.
    Muredach looked at his father in exasperation. "What do I do now? I canna bed the wee lass."
    "Go to the chamber, assure the lass ye mean her no harm, and do what ye must, or doona, whatever ye choose."
    "Oh, bloody hell," Muredach muttered and stood. He downed the last of the ale in his tankard then turned to leave. A roar of shouts and applause erupted from the guests and Muredach muttered again.
    He took the stairs as if going to his own wake. He tried to go even slower when he reached the top of the stairs and turned down the hall. He took a deep breath. He couldn't prolong the moment any longer; he must face the girl and get it over with. He knocked lightly on the door of the bedchamber, pushing the door open enough to poke his head inside. Bettina was standing near the large stone fireplace in a thin, white nightgown that, with the fire light behind it, Muredach could see right through. "Oh, bloody hell," he muttered again, entering the room and shutting the door gently behind him.
    He crossed the room and sat on the hearth near Bettina but not close enough to make the girl feel threatened. Even sitting, he was taller than she was standing. The girl still would not look at him. "Bettina," he began softly. "Doona be afraid of me. I'll not hurt ye."
    Bettina looked up at him from under long, thick, dark lashes. "Me mum told me what ye will do this night," she said in a barely audible whisper.
    "Did she? Well, doona worry. The only thing going on in this chamber tonight will be sleep. On the morrow, ye will go home with yer clan."
    Bettina's head jerked up, her eyes wide. "Nay, m' lord, ye canna send me back!"
    "Bettina, I am not holding ye to the marriage. 'Twas made for peace a'tween our clans, nothing else. Ye are too young and I'll not keep ye here with me."
    "Nay! Me da will surely kill me if ye send me with him!" She wailed.
    "Why do ye think yer da will do ye harm, lass?"
    "I canna say, m' lord. He will kill me for telling ye."
    "Bettina," Muredach said softly. "Ye promised before God and the priest to honor and obey me, did ye not?" Bettina nodded. "Then obey me, lass, and tell me why ye fear yer sire?"
    Bettina chewed her bottom lip. "The marriage was not for peace a'tween our clans, 'tis only so I can find the Holy Spear of Christ yer clan stole from ours."
    Muredach nodded. It made a lot more sense to him now as to why the Llewelyn was in such a hurry to have his only daughter wed. "I'll not send ye back with him then, but ye must promise to keep a secret for me." Bettina nodded. "Ye promise, lass?"
    "Aye," she whispered.
    "Fine. We'll let your da think that we did what yer mum said we would do this night, and ye willna tell a soul, not even yer maid, that nothing happened. Agreed?"
    Bettina nodded and sighed with relief. Muredach smiled. "And I'll not tell yer da that ye told me his plan. We be agreed then, aye?"
    "Oh, aye," she said with a smile that immediately evaporated. "He will know, m' lord. My lady's maid hasta make the announcement, that we, that the…" she stuttered.
    "Tell him what?"
    "The bed sheets, m' lord. Me mum said there would be blood so they will know the marriage was consu-consu…"
    "Consummated," he supplied for her. "Aye. I nearly forgot that. I'll take care of it after we've had a night's rest." Muredach took the heaviest fur from the bed and laid it before the hearth. "I'll be sleeping here, ye can have the bed."
    "Thank ye, m' lord," Bettina said with a smile, her eyes bright as she climbed onto the big bed.
    "Yer welcome, lass," Muredach said, turning his back to her as he lay down. She was very pretty and would become an absolutely beautiful woman. He felt guilty that he was the reason she would never meet the man she was supposed to fall in love with and marry. He just didn't know how to erase the marriage. There was no way, he knew, and after seeing the stained bed sheets, everyone would think them truly bound as man and wife.