“Only time will tell.”
She looked up at him, her eyes shining. And then she jumped to her feet. “Come,” she said, holding out her hand. “We must go and tell my mama and papa.”
Grinning, Darkfest gained his feet. “Mayhap ye should dress first.”
She looked down at her nightgown and then back at him, her cheeks rosy. “I think ye may be right, my lord.”
~ * ~
The sun was still climbing in the sky when they made their way to Channa Leigh’s home.
She burst inside, calling, “Mama, Mama.”
Her mother rushed into the room, wiping her hands on a towel, her brow lined with worry. “Channa Leigh! Child, what is wrong?”
“Mama. Oh, Mama.” She flung herself into her mother’s arms and hugged her tightly.
Maura looked into her daughter’s face, her eyes widening in disbelief. “Can it be?” She glanced at Darkfest and took a step backward, drawing Channa Leigh with her. “What dark magic is this?”
“Tis magic, indeed, Mama,” Channa Leigh cried. “Is Papa here?”
“What’s all the ruckus?”
Her father’s voice preceded him into the room.
“Papa!” She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. “Tis a miracle, Papa.”
He hugged her back. “A miracle?”
She drew away a little and looked into his eyes. “I can see, Papa!”
Taking her mother and father by the hand, she pulled them into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Dugald and Maura took their places, glancing over their shoulders as Darkfest followed them into the room.
He stood in the doorway, his arms folded over his chest, while Channa Leigh told her parents all that had happened since she had gone to live in the wizard’s castle.
There were tears in Maura’s eyes when the tale was told.
Dugald rose to his feet and faced Darkfest. “And so ye mean to marry my daughter, do ye?”
“Aye.”
“And if I say nay, what then?”
“If Channa Leigh refuses me of her own free will, I will never see her again. But if she wishes to be my bride, as she said, then I will have her, with or without yer blessing.”
Dugald turned his gaze to his daughter. “Do ye truly wish to marry this man?”
“Aye, Papa, with all of my heart.”
Dugald looked to his wife. “And what say ye?”
“She loves him, old man. Ye can see it in her eyes.”
~ * ~
And so it was on a fair morn that the lovely maiden in the valley married the dark wizard upon the hill.
He stood beneath a canopy of tree boughs, waiting for his bride, felt his breath catch in his throat when he saw her walking toward him on her father’s arm.
