His hair had lightened in the Southern European sun, and his skin, now lightly bronzed, was covered in bursts of wild freckles. His hair was tousled, his clothing a mess, and he looked every inch the roguish pirate. Kier saw his son and started to laugh with delight, but Nessa couldn't wait.
She started to run up the gangplank at the same time he spotted her and broke into a run as well. They met in the middle with a clash, throwing their arms around each other and losing themselves in a deep kiss. She wasn't sure how long they stood there, lost in each other, before a sailor behind them cleared his throat in annoyance.
"Sorry," Darren told him with a grin. He took Nessa's hand, and the two of them hurried back to the harbor, where Kier hugged his son in greeting. Darren never let go of Nessa's hand.
In the carriage on the way back to the castle, Darren had his arm around Nessa and she rested her head on his shoulder. Only Kier was in the carriage with them; Ann, Ferda, and Dirk had taken another along with Ann's amazing chair. Kier was politely looking out of the window and pretending not to see them.
"I missed ye," Nessa told him. "I missed ye more than ye can imagine."
"Ye did good work of describin' it in yer letters," Darren replied, kissing her hair. "Ye made me weep more than once. Rather embarrasin' when I was tryin' tae show off tae the sailors."
Nessa laughed. "So yer head wasnae turned by all the lovely Venetian women?" she teased.
He snorted. "Me head wouldnae be turned by Venus herself," he replied. "Ye made me a promise a year ago, and I intend tae make sure we see it through. Assumin' ye still want that, of course."
"I see a year of travelin' hasnae made ye any brighter, son," Kier commented with a laugh. "The lass has spoken of nothin' else since ye left."
"In fact," Nessa replied, "They're waitin' for us now. If ye're ready."
"Och, Nessa," Darren said, "I've been ready since the day we met."
Breana fixed a bluebell in Nessa's hair while Maeve helped her set the sash around her dress. They'd returned to the castle two hours before, and now it was time. Breana and Maeve both talked of their own wedding days, and though Nessa adored them for their devotion and care, she could barely hear them. Her pulse was racing, and she could barely concentrate on anything apart from her own amazement and joy that this was all happening.
"I didnae really have a weddin' day," Neala pointed out from where she was busy preparing a bouquet of flowers for Nessa to hold. "Perhaps I should do it again and get all this fuss."
"Ye'd hate all this fuss," Maeve told her. "And besides, I think thatthe day we saved the countryis enough of an event."
Neala stuck out her tongue, and Nessa laughed. Maeve grinned back and touched her round belly, then said, "Are ye ready, wee sister?"
"More than ready," Nessa replied.
Breana took her hand. "Then let's go."
The ceremony was brief, but it would be imprinted on Nessa's heart forever. Both of her sisters linked arms with her and walked her up the aisle, where Darren stood waiting in full formal dress, the Bruce tartan proudly waving in the air. Nessa's heart fluttered when she saw him as if another year had passed, even though it had only been a few hours. She wondered if she'd ever stop feeling like that, and she hoped that she would not.
When they reached the top of the aisle, Breana placed Nessa's hand in Darren's and kissed Nessa's cheek. "Be happy," she said.
"Aye," Maeve agreed, kissing her too, then looking at Darren. "And behave yerself."
That caused laughter from the gathered crowd, with Darren laughing louder than anyone. Maeve and Breana returned to their seats, and Cailean began the ceremony.
Darren and Nessa beamed like fools the whole time as they spoke the traditional vows, each lost in their world of happiness. Nessa had never felt so giddy, and she could not keep her feet still. She could hear the polite and loving laughter from those gathered as they watched her fidget, but she didn't care. Every time she glanced at Darren and saw him looking back at her with so much love and happiness in his eyes, she felt like she was about to burst.
"I will," she promised, to him, to the world, to anyone who would listen. "I will, a thousand times and more."
Cailean performed a handfasting, then Darren let go of Nessa's hand and moved briefly to the side, returning with a shawl in Bruce tartan that his father had kept for him. Hereturned and asked her to turn. She did, and he placed the shawl around her shoulders, sealing their bond.
"It was me mother's," he whispered in her ear. "And now it's yers. It's what she would have wanted, I ken it. Welcome tae the family, Nessa Bruce."
Nessa let the tears flow at that, and she saw that Breana and several others were crying happy tears as well. Maeve's eyes were shining as she smiled. When Cailean said that they could now kiss, he had barely gotten the words out when Nessa threw herself into Darren's arms.
At last—at long, long last—she was home.
Nessa stepped away from the dancing area and toward the table that held the drinks, gasping for breath. She'd been dancing wildly all night, and her feet hurt. Ansel had been a particularly enthusiastic partner, much to everyone's surprise, swinging her around with carefree laughter while Neala danced with Darren and laughed. Nessa had now danced with almost every man present, moving from her husband to Cailean to Ansel, then from Eoin to her many new cousins to her new father-in-law, each one getting progressively more merry as the night went on and the wine flowed, and while her cheeks were flushed and her heart was full, she needed a moment to breathe.
Darren found her there just a few moments after she stopped. "Tired already?" he asked her with a grin. He'd been a menace of a dancer, too, creating laughter and joking indignation from most of the women there. "Ye've nae half the grit of me last dance partner, wife."
Nessa felt a little thrill at the word and rolled her eyes. "Och, I ken, but how am I tae compete with her loveliness? Look, now she's charmed Fergus as well."
