Esmeraude’s adventure was not proceeding precisely to plan.
’Twas two nights since her departure from Ceinn-beithe. The King of the Isles had not been pleased with her news, as she had expected, and he had refused to be charmed. Indeed, his course of action had been somewhat different from what Esmeraude had hoped.
“A wise man seizes what opportunities present themselves,” he had declared after Esmeraude shared her tale with him. For a heartbeat she had felt triumphant, until he shattered her hopes with his next words. “’Tis a perfect opportunity to see Ceinn-beithe secured as mine own.”
And despite Esmeraude’s vehement protest, she had been handfasted immediately to the king’s most loyal man.
Indeed, the king had laughed—laughed!—at her protest that she would wed for love alone. Her c
