Mountain Man's Bride

by Lauren Wood

  Heather looked at him. He talked a good game, and said he wouldn’t hit her or force her to have sex, but he could be lying. She didn’t know him well enough to figure it out. “I’ll marry you, because I have no choice. But I can’t promise you anything else from there. I don’t think its fair that to me. I know nothing of you, besides the obvious that everyone knows around here. You’re the Lord of the land and your wife died just a few weeks ago now, you have a son, and you’re a decent man. But just because everyone sees that side of you, it doesn’t mean you are like that behind closed doors. I know all too well how appearances can fool a person.” She stated.

  “I’m not him am I?” Byron challenged her.

  “No but you could be just as mean, if not meaner than he was to me.” Heather could feel the tears start to slip down her face. She paused a moment and closed her eyes, she could almost feel the punch of his fist on her skin. “I really didn’t do anything wrong to him either. All I wanted was to not be told what to do all the time. To be made to do things I didn’t choose. That isn’t a life, that’s a prison. I can’t help but feel you are putting me in another type of prison.” Heather said.

  Byron walked over to her and touched under her chin lightly, and made her look up at him. He could see the tears flowing freely down her cheeks. He wiped one of them as it trailed down her cheek. He felt her tense up. Bryon took his hand down and walked away from her.

  Heather watched as he left the room and wondered what he was doing. His touch had been so gentle on her skin. She had seen pain reflecting back from his eyes as he looked at her. She wanted him to come back now, to comfort her again as he just had. Heather felt a chip of ice melt off of her heart as she thought of Byron.

  She thought of how her parents had always talked about how good Byron’s parents were and that they felt he would be a good ruler. Heather thought back to when she was younger and she had first met Byron. She had been about 16 years old and he was 18. He had been an obnoxious boy who felt that girls were not near as good as boys. Could he have grown out of that opinion? She wasn’t sure if that was true or not. This memory worried her about his ability to not want to control her like Kaiden did, by using his fists and words.

  She went over to look down at Samuel as he slept. He was such a handsome little boy already. He looked a lot like what she would imagine Byron did as a boy. She was sure that as he grew up he would be a spitting image of Byron. She smiled down at him. “You’re a lucky little boy if you look like your father when you get older. He’s a very handsome man.” She said to Samuel.

  Heather wasn’t aware that Byron had opened the door behind her and heard those words. He silently walked back out of the room.

  ***

  Byron walked a bit more around the castle after he had heard what Heather had said to Samuel. He really did find Heather quite attractive. When he had looked into her eyes he had seen the pain and fear in them. It had made him hurt inside too. He had felt upset about the man who had made her feel this way, “If he was alive I would kill him with my bare hands.” Bryon swore under his breath.

  She was so much different from Priscilla, in so many ways. For one she had a nice figure. She wasn’t super skinny like Priscilla had been. Honestly it had been one thing he had never liked about Priscilla, and that was only the beginning of the list.

  No one but Byron knew how bad it had been in this castle. Well some of the staff he was sure had heard her on more than one occasion yelling and complaining about things.

  “I want to have a son to carry on my name.” He had told her one night.

  “Well then I guess you better find someone to have that child for you. I don’t think I want to ruin my perfect body.” She had complained. Priscilla had been standing in front of the mirror and looking at herself. It had been a daily habit that she would do for hours on end. Byron didn’t understand why she found her body so attractive. He would rather have a bit more meat to her.

  “I think the extra weight would make you look nice.” He had said to her.

  She had turned back to him and the look had been one that could have killed him. “Extra weight, I don’t think so.”

  The only reason that they had eventually had Samuel was one night in a moment of weakness on her part. She had been celebrating her birthday and had a bit too much to drink. He had been shocked by her come-ons that night, but had gladly slept with her. It had been the one and only time in their whole marriage.

  He did feel some guilt by the fact that it was complications from her pregnancy that had killed her in the end. But here he was with Heather; she was the type of woman he would have loved to marry the first time. In fact, if it had been his choice he might have married her. She hadn’t known how much of a crush he had on her for years. Bryon didn’t even know if she had seen him watching her on the many occasion he had spied on her.

  The first time he met her though he had to admit he was put off. She had been like a little tomboy. Byron smiled now as he thought back. Heather had been playing in the forest and he had come up on her.

  “Hey what are you doing out here?” He had said to her. “Don’t you know how dangerous it can be out her for a girl?” He added.

  Heather had looked at him. Her hair hadn’t been as long back then, but still it flowed over her shoulders. He had been mesmerized by her when she looked up at him with her big blue pools of eyes.

  “I can handle myself; I’m not some little girl who doesn’t know anything.” She had spouted at him. Her shoulders had gone back in a defiant stance too.

  Bryon had laughed at that point and it had made her furious. She had come up to him and hit him. It had hurt quite a bit, but he would never admit that to her. “Come on I’ll walk you home.” He had grabbed her arm.

  “Stop it; I don’t want to go home yet.” She had yelled and pulled away from him.

  “It’s going to be dark soon; I can’t let you stay out her. My parents would not want me to be like that.” He had stated. She had struggled the whole way back to the village with him. But he had been stronger than her, though she had almost gotten away a few times.

  She had been so spunky, he had found her fascinating. But after that her parents had kept a closer watch on her and she didn’t go out to the woods as often. He had tried to talk to her a few times after that day, but she had often ignored him, or found a way to escape the conversation. So Bryon had instead watched her from time to time from afar.

  There had been a few times before his father had told him of his impending marriage he had thought of asking her to marry him. In fact the night he was going to talk to his father about Heather, he had his world devastated.

  “Son, I have some really good news for our future.” His father had announced at dinner that one night. Byron had been 23 at the time. It seemed like yesterday right now, not 5 years ago.

  “What is it father?” He had asked.

  “You’ll be marrying Priscilla McDaniel next month.” He had stated.

  “I don’t want to marry her.” He had refused. “I’d rather pick my own wife.” He added.

  “Son I’m sorry this is a great strategic move for us. We need another clan behind us in these times. This clan would be a very strong alliance for us. You have to do it, you don’t have a choice. I’ve already agreed for you.” His father had said.

  “What about love? Why can’t I have that? You and mother have always told me to find it. Now you’re going to steal that chance from me?” He had argued.

  His father had shaken his head sternly. “Son you may love her, just give it time.”

  Byron had gone out for a walk, he saw Heather at that point. He had wanted to approach her and ask her to run away with him. But then he thought about the kind of life he would have offered her. He couldn’t do it, she deserved better than that. Instead he had turned around and lost track of her. He had thought that was her in the village this afternoon. Byron had thought he was seeing a ghost, but when he had asked her name, his heart had gone through his
chest. He took it as a sign that this was his chance.

  “Maybe I should tell her about this?” He wondered as he walked. Finally, he went back to the room again. He peaked in first to see if she was talking again or not, but it was silent. As he went further into the room he noticed she was sleeping in the chair. He picked her up and carried her over to the bed, and covered her up.

  Byron went and got comfortable in the chair. Soon his eyes closed and he was fast asleep.

  ***

  Heather woke up confused. She looked around, unsure where she was at first. As the fog of sleep cleared from her mind she remembered yesterday. She looked around the room and saw that Byron was across the room sleeping in a chair.

  She couldn’t help but smile at how sweet he had been the night before. She knew for a fact that it had to have been him who had moved her to the bed. He had covered her up, and then chosen to not even sleep in his own bed.

  Heather got up and went to check on Samuel, he was just opening his eyes and the first sounds of his cries hit the air. She picked him up quickly and tried to calm him down until she got his breakfast ready. She had hoped to let Byron sleep, but she heard him moving behind her.

  “Here you are.” He said and handed her Samuel’s milk.

  “Thank you, I’m sorry I was trying to get it done before he woke you up.” She smiled.

  “I wake up at the first peep he makes. But thank you for the thought.” Byron said and smiled at her.

  “Thank you for moving me to the bed. I would have slept in the chair though if you wanted the bed.” Heather said.

  “I just didn’t want to scare you when you woke up and found me beside you, so I decided to sleep in the chair last night.” Byron stated.

  She looked at him; he had a strange look on his face, like he was thinking of something that made him really happy.

  He noticed the confused look she had and laughed. “I have something to tell you that may help explain this better. So just please listen to what I tell you.” Byron said.

  “Okay, you listened to me; it’s only fair you get a chance to speak.” Heather said.

  “Remember when we first met in the woods?” He asked.

  He watched as she blushed a bit. “Yes I was just thinking of it last night. You were an obnoxious boy then.” She said.

  “I was yes. But it wasn’t that I didn’t think you could handle being in the woods. Did you notice how much I tried to get you to talk to me on the way home?” He asked her.

  “Honestly I was so upset that you were forcing me to go back home. But the worst part was I knew you were right. Anyone could have come up in the woods on me and hurt me really badly. I didn’t want to admit it, but I was scared shaking all the way home thinking about it.” Heather admitted.

  “I fell in love with you on that day.” He blurted out.

  Heather looked at him quickly, studying his face for a lie. But she saw no hint of untruth in his eyes. But she wasn’t able to process the thought fully yet. “What did you just say?” She asked when she could finally speak.

  “I tried to come and see you several times after that, but you would never talk to me much. I know you remember that too.” Byron looked at her for reassurance that he wasn’t remembering the past differently than it had actually happened.

  “I was far too embarrassed at first, and then Kaiden had come around. He would hurt me every time he saw me talking to another man. I didn’t like being hit, so I had to avoid all men from that day forward.” Heather thought back to the many painful beatings he had committed against her.

  She looked and saw that his face was furious with anger. “He’s lucky he’s dead, or I would kill him right now.” Byron said the anger could be heard in his voice.

  “It’s okay, he’s gone and the physical wounds have all healed.” Heather said trying to calm the obviously upset Byron.

  “I just can’t help think what would have happened if my father wouldn’t have made me marry Priscilla.” Byron said.

  “Why, Kaiden already had me under lock and key, what could you have done?” She asked.

  “I was going to come and ask you to marry me. I was going to talk to my father that very night he told me about Priscilla. If I would have found him and seen you, and there would have been even one mark on you, I would have killed him. I wouldn’t have gotten in trouble; we would tell everyone what he was doing. Then I would have married you instead, and we could have had all these years together now.” Byron said.

  Heather smiled, she liked the idea. “That would have been nice. But were you still as obnoxious at that time as you were when you were 18?” She asked.

  Byron laughed. “I was probably quite a bit more obnoxious, I was 23 years old then.”

  “So why do you think I would have married you?” Heather asked.

  “Heather, I would have told you that I love you very much. Plus remember I would have killed the man who was hurting you. You would run into my arms and see me as your fearless protector.” He stated. “I couldn’t believe my luck to find you in the village yesterday. I hadn’t seen you in years. I stopped coming around after my father told me the news. I honestly couldn’t bear to see the woman I loved and I was married to another.” Byron said.

  She looked at him and studied his face again. Again Heather tried to register the fact that Byron had just told her this story. He had told he had been in love with her for years now? I was 21 back then when he’s talking about, she thought. “I wonder what it would have been like.” Heather thought out loud.

  “I know, I thought about it last night a lot.” Byron admitted. I tried to put you out of my mind as much as I could after Priscilla. But honestly it was the worst years of my life with her. I never loved her, how could I my heart always belonged to you. I had loved you since that first day in the forest. You were so defiant and strong. You made my blood boil!” He blushed red at the admission.

  Heather also turned a bright red color. She could feel the heat coming off of her body at his comment. For the first time in her life, she actually wanted to think about having sex. The admission itself made her blush once more.

  “Heather, I’ve waited for so many years to be with you, I wish you would simply give me a chance to prove to you that I love you.” Byron got down on one knee in front of her. “Heather, will you do me the honor of marrying me?” He asked.

  She looked down at him shocked. She hadn’t expected it at all. Her mind shouted out, “do it”, her heart bulked for a second. In the end her mouth answered for her, “I will marry you.” Her heart cried out in fear instantly. Heather knew she would have to learn to trust him, even though he had never done a thing to hurt her. Kaiden had ruined her capacity to trust any man in the world.

  Byron took Samuel out of her hands and put him in his crib. He went back to Heather once more and hugged her. He kissed her lightly on the lips. “You’ve made me so happy today.” He smiled down at her.

  She sighed as he held her closely to him. She felt safe in his arms; Heather could swear that she would be able to trust him. Though the fear was still there, she felt a bit better already, just by being in his embrace.

  ***

  Weeks had gone by quickly. Heather had no doubt that she was madly in love with Byron now. He had been patient with her and never even raised his voice at her. She looked over at him as he ate his supper.

  “How was your day?” He asked her.

  “It was good. How are you so patient with me? You haven’t even pushed having sex yet.” Heather asked him.

  Byron looked at her. “I love you Heather, I told you I wouldn’t push you.” He stated.

  “I love you too Byron. I knew it at first, but really didn’t want to admit it. I was still scared of you being like Kaiden and hurting me. But you really aren’t that type of man. I am lucky to be your wife.” Heather told him.

  He took her in his arms and kissed her deeply. She sighed, his soft lips felt so nice against her lips. Byron hadn’t even kissed her in the pas
t few weeks. He had been able to tell she had been frightened every night they had gone to bed in the past few weeks since they married. He knew she had expected him to demand sex from her. In all reality he figured he had waited this many years a little longer wasn’t a big deal. So instead he had done his best to not push her away and prove that he wasn’t just after her body and nothing more. The reason he had done this is because Heather had asked him about something she had overheard from one of the staff of the castle.

  “Byron, I heard someone talking today saying you simply married to have more children. Is that true?” Heather had asked him one night. He had looked at her and seen that the comment had really upset her.

  “No darling. I told you I love you. Think about it, if I wanted for you to simply carry my children, wouldn’t I have already forced you to have sex with me?” He had asked her.

  “I know this, but maybe you’re simply being patient because you don’t want me to put up a fight.” She had answered back.

  He had asked for the name of the person who had said this, and she wouldn’t tell him. If he ever found out they would be dismissed immediately.

  “Heather, I want to make love to you, but only if you are ready.” Byron said to her.

  She looked up at him and nodded her head yes. He came closer to her and took her into his arms again. He kissed her deeply again, and heard the telltale sighs out of her mouth.

  He undressed her slowly and enjoyed the sight of her body. “You are beautiful.” Byron said. He looked over her body with great appreciation.

  Heather felt a blush spread on her skin and she went to cover up her breasts and lower region with her hands. He grabbed her hands and gently moved them aside. “Don’t hide yourself from me; I’ve waited for years to see you like this. Let me enjoy it, please.” He stated.