She glanced over at Alanna, a slender brow rising. Honestly, she hadn't been expecting such a question. She placed her arms under her head as she stared up at the sky. Her emerald eyes narrowed the more that she thought about the topic she tried to avoid at all costs. "Marriage," she muttered under her breath. She rolled over on her stomach, propping her face upon her elbows, allowing her back and hair to dry off. "You really want to know the reasons why I hate the thought of marriage?" It was a rhetorical question because she knew Alanna wouldn't have asked if she wasn't curious. She let out a sigh, knowing that they had never really discussed this before, like most women did. It was just something that never seemed that important of a topic, just like love.<br/><br/>She shook her head, not even sure where she should begin. "I just...don't want to be in that kind of commitment. I don't want to be tied down by any man and not be able to live my life anymore. I like being single, no, I really love it. I can flirt with whoever I want and not give a rat's ass. I don't want to settle down and become a submissive wife popping out all these children to satisfy my husband. Look at me mum and dad," she said a bit of bitterness coming into her voice. "Me dad wanted a son for the first born but instead they had me, so me mum wanted to please him and gave him three sons. Still he's not happy because he wanted to have an heir to his blacksmithing. Instead he thinks of me as some puny little lass who can't handle anything."<br/><br/>She snorted a bit and rolled her eyes. There was tension between her and her father, just like it was with her mother. "They fight all the time and yell at one another, I don't want that. I'd rather be single and free than have to worry about sharing my life and my habits with some other person. Besides all the men around her are boring and don't give me a challenge. They're snot nosed lads I tell ya. The idea of being with that one person until death is rubbish. You hear all the time of how unhappy married couples are. I am happy the way I am. There's no need to end with some man just trying to get a status." She nodded her head knowing that she had gone on a huge tangent, but she couldn't help it. Marriage was one thing that she hated talking about. It always led to arguments with her mother and some of the older women in the village. She knew she didn't have the same ideals as the rest of the women in Lochinver but she was fine with the way things were.<br/><br/>Besides, loving someone of the same gender would be taboo. No one would ever approve such a thing. So there really was no reason to marry when she wasn't even that attracted to men. Sure, she had had a few nights in the heat of the moment, sleeping with one of the MacLachlan boys but that was it. She wasn't looking for anything serious when she knew it wouldn't go far. Of course, she wanted to make her parents happy and marry and birth children, but she was in love with the one person who couldn't give them that. She shook those thoughts from her head. This was just a phase that she was going through. She was sure if she could leave the village then she would find a man who captured her heart and changed all her ideals about marriage. That seemed to settle her heart though she knew that she was wrong.<br/><br/>She was just in denial.<br/><br/>"So there are my reasons, you happy?"