“Haud yer wheesht,ye old bastard!” Ronan grabbed up his plaid and vaulted down to the rocks below. Mairi started to turn only to be stopped by Ronan’s growl. “Nay! Dinna turn, wife. I will thank ye to shield yer eyes.”
A warm feeling—a contented feeling, the glow of being truly loved—tucked Mairi’s chin to her chest and pushed a smile to her face.
Wife.She kind of liked the sound of that.
CHAPTER30
“Aye, I have missed such fine gatherings.” Graham cast an appreciative glance around the room then clasped his hands to the small of his back and puffed out his massive chest with a deep inhale. “But do ye ken when we will be getting on with it? ’Tis a might close and overly warm for one such as I, ye ken?”
“Soon, my friend.” Ronan shook with a silent, sympathetic chuckle. Poor Graham. Starved to connect with others for centuries and now that his shackles had finally been broken, the man was struggling to re-adapt to well-fitted clothing and dwelling inside something other than a cave.
Gray leaned in close and nudged Ronan with his elbow. “Both of my legs were broken the last time ye said yer vows.” He repositioned his footing and regally folded his hands in front of him. With a knowing wink, he nodded toward the farthest archway, where Mairi stood flanked by Granny, Trulie, and Kenna. “But I do believe I am a stronger man thanks to the healing gifts of our women.”
Ronan agreed. He couldn’t help but laugh at tiny Chloe’s excited squeals peeling out from the center of the women’s skirts. Aye, all was finally well and good. Thanks be to the gifts of his woman and the salvation she brought to his weary soul. He inhaled a deep relaxing breath and opened to the warm camaraderie of the brightly lit hall.
Braided swags of bundled ivy and wreaths of freshly cut pine welcomed all who entered, filling the air with the clean tang of the aromatic wood. Ribbons of tartan fluttered among the greenery and the dancing flames of hundreds of candles set the great hall ablaze with golden light.
The bustling space was bright and cheery from the highest banister of the surrounding gallery down to the stones of the freshly scrubbed hearths. Every surface was either bedecked with the day’s finery or polished within an inch of its life.
MacKenna Keep glowed with all the best the clan had to offer. An air of goodness and peace permeated the entire room. Ronan winked at Gray. “I daresay this repeating of our vows shall be a great deal more pleasant for us all.”
“Aye and for certain.” Gray took hold of Ronan’s arm and led him to the center of the dais. “It is time, my brother. Yon comes yer fair bride.”
The clan piper sounded the chant. The pipes wailed, calling all in the room to stand and witness the binding. Ronan’s heart swelled, pounding in time with the sway of the piper’s song as Mairi slowly made her way to the head of the room. Lore a’mighty, he did not deserve one such as her.
Her dark hair was loose and flowing down her bare shoulders with nothing more than a wreath of ivy woven as her crown. The ivory muslin of her simple dress was caught up beneath her bosoms with braided ribbons dyed the deepest green—nearly as green as her eyes. The same braiding surrounded the low neckline that hugged just below her creamy shoulders. Her bell-shaped sleeves flowed down her sides, blending in with the folds of her skirts trailing regally behind her. She seemed a spirit—nay an angel—descended from the heavens to set the world aright.Aye.She was an angel. Sent to save him from the very jaws of his own hell.
He stepped forward and held out his hand. Mairi took it without hesitation, love and trust sparkling in her eyes. His heart soared and threatened to burst. Aye. Now, this was as a binding should be. “Yer beauty fair takes my breath.” He brushed a kiss across her fingers.
Mairi dropped her gaze but not before he saw the joy his words brought to her. Her hand still firmly grasped in his, he drew her up beside him on the dais. “Proceed, my brother. I beg ye to join me with this precious woman.”
“The marriage contract of Chieftain Ronan Sutherland and Lady Mairi Sinclair has been duly signed and witnessed,” Gray announced to all in the hall. With a slow meaningful movement, he withdrew his dagger from its sheath. “I now charge all of ye gathered here with the witnessing of the binding.”
In unison, the crowd responded with a resounding, “Aye!” that thundered to the rafters.
A faint smile played across his mouth as Gray nodded to Ronan and Mairi’s clasped hands.
Ever so carefully, silently cursing his calloused fingers as they snagged in the light weave of her delicate sleeve, Ronan folded the material back from her right wrist, exposing the creamy expanse of unmarked skin. The absence of a wound or scar from the earlier binding lightened his heart even more. She had insisted on healing both of their wounds to completely remove all evidence of that terrible binding that had been so false.
After exposing her wrist, he held out his arm beside hers. With two quick slices of the blade, Gray cut their wrists and pressed their arms together. Granny stepped forward with a braided rope of green and bound their wrists. As she stepped back, Mairi and Ronan joined their other hands on top of the binding.
Gray started to speak, but Mairi stopped him with a shake of her head. “No.”
Ronan jerked, feeling as though a delightful dream had just turned into a dark nightmare. “No?”
She smiled and leaned closer. “I want us to speak the vows ourselves.”
Ronan blew out a relieved breath, then quickly nodded. “Aye, my love. Let us say the vows ourselves.”
She lifted her chin and stood taller; her gaze locked with his. “Blood seals the seams of our souls. Blood joins our hearts. Blood makes our flesh as one. We two shall never part.”
A deep sense of peace settled across Ronan as he lifted their joined hands and lightly brushed his lips across her fingers then slowly lowered them. “Yer soul is mine. Our hearts beat as one. ’Til time ends are we bound. Hear these words and bide them well. Forevermore and even longer, we shall be one.”
Mairi leaned in closer across their hands, tiptoeing to bring her lips within a hair’s breadth of his. “So let it be spoken . . .”
He gave the softest of kisses across her sweet lips then pulled back the barest bit and exhaled the sealing words from the depths of his heart. “So let it be done.”
EPILOGUE
