Cormac noticed the strange look on her face and asked again, confusion evident in his voice.
“Didn’t your letter say you were leaving Dunmore and going back to Ardmore?”
Aisling blinked, caught off guard.
She opened her mouth, but for a moment she had no idea how he’d arrived at that conclusion.
After a pause, she found her voice.
“My letter only said I had something to discuss with you.
When did I ever say anything about going back to Ardmore?”
Cormac scratched his head, now thoroughly confused himself.
He had also heard, of course, that the king had decreed Aisling was to marry Ronan.
Surely, he’d assumed, her father would never allow something like that to happen to a girl the Delaneys had raised and cherished for so many years.
And with how delicate she’d always been, surely she could never survive the harsh conditions of the frontier.
So when she’d sent word that she had matters to discuss, he’d naturally assumed she meant to flee back to Ardmore.
Only Ardmore could protect her properly.
He’d even worked out a plan in his head.
Despite their limited numbers, if they moved quickly enough on horseback, they might be able to get her safely northwest before Dunmore could react.
If they were fortunate at the border crossings, they might actually make it.
It would be hard on her, riding that far, but it wasn’t impossible.
Her words now made it clear that he’d been wrong.
Very wrong, judging by the awkwardness that crossed his face.
Embarrassed, he managed only an awkward smile.
“Whatever you need, my lady, just say the word.”
Aisling had always thought of Cormac as loyal and capable, careful and serious about his duty as their escort.
She hadn’t expected this particular streak in him.
It was both amusing and slightly exasperating.
A small smile flickered across her face before she quickly suppressed it.
She waved a hand.
“Everyone, ease off.
Lower your weapons.”
The men immediately relaxed their stance.
“I came today to ask whether you’d be willing to follow me north, to Ronan’s court.”
“We’re willing!” Cormac answered instantly.
Aisling raised a hand to stop him.
“Hear me out first.
Answer once I’m done.”
Cormac immediately fell silent.
Aisling stood on the steps, looking down at the men gathered in the courtyard. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
She straightened her back and met their eyes one by one, her gaze calm and unwavering.
“Men of Ardmore.
I know my grandfather sent you to guard me and see me safely through this journey.
Thanks to all of you, I made it back to Dunmore in one piece.”
She folded her hands before her and bowed properly, the way a scholar might.
“I bow to all of you, in thanks.”
The men below immediately stiffened.
They were clearly unwilling to accept such a gesture from her, yet none dared step forward and stop it.
Cormac, standing closest, instinctively reached out as though he meant to intervene.
But the moment he met Aisling’s eyes, something in her expression held him back.
All he managed to say was, “This is our duty, my lady.
There’s no need to thank us like this.”
Aisling shook her head and let the matter go.
She continued with what she’d actually come to say.
“The king has decreed that I marry the Prince of Dunmara, and soon I’ll be heading north.”
Her voice remained calm.
“You were all sent here to serve under my grandfather’s orders, and none of us could have known it would come to this.”
“You all have families.
People waiting for you back in Ardmore.”
She looked across the courtyard.
“Heading north into the clan lands, thousands of miles from home, with no telling what awaits us, could mean years before any of you see the south again.
Some farewells may not be easy ones.”
Her expression softened slightly.
“So I’ve come to ask, plainly, what each of you wants.”
“No one is bound to this.”
“If any of you wish to return to Ardmore, I’ll write to my grandfather myself and explain everything, so none of you will carry any blame for it.”
She paused.
“But if you choose to follow me north, then from this day forward, I will be the one you serve.”
Her gaze swept over them again.
“And whatever comes, as long as I’m standing, you’ll have a place beside me.”
She drew a quiet breath.
“So follow your own hearts.”
When she finished, the fifty odd men stood in complete silence.
The courtyard was so quiet that a falling leaf might have been heard.
Only the faint whisper of wind against their armor disturbed the stillness.
Something was being held back.
Something close to breaking.
Finally, Cormac stepped forward.
He dropped to one knee before her, fist pressed against his chest.
“I am yours to command, my lady.
Through fire, through anything, without hesitation.”
The moment he spoke, his words caught the others like a spark running through dry grass.
The remaining fifty men dropped to one knee as well.
Their eyes were bright.
Their heads were lifted.
“We serve you, my lady!”
“We serve you, my lady!”
“We serve you, my lady!”
The words rang through the courtyard, echoing again and again.
Aisling stood quietly beneath the eaves.
The low evening light caught her upright figure, turning her pale face almost golden.
For a moment, there was something almost sacred about the sight.
Cormac looked up at her.
She was young, yet she carried herself with an authority that made men want to follow her.
For just a moment, he saw something of her grandfather in her.
Before this, he would have followed her only because of his duty to her grandfather.
After the fight on the road, however, something had changed.
He had begun to believe in Aisling for her own sake.
Her courage in the face of real danger had matched, perhaps even surpassed, that of many highborn lords twice her age.
In times like these, accomplishing anything meaningful required a leader with vision, strategy, and genuine courage.
And standing before him was exactly that kind of leader.
Something in Cormac’s chest seemed to catch fire.
A new ambition.
A genuine fervor.
The other fifty men felt the same.
Before today, if Aisling had asked them to follow her north, they would have obeyed simply because it was their duty.
From this day forward, they believed in her.
Not merely as the girl from Ardmore.
But as the woman they had chosen to follow.
Aisling looked over them quietly.
“Very well.”
Her voice was calm, but firm.
“Since you place your trust in me, I won’t let you down.”