“I should have insisted on collecting her myself,” he complained.
“Trust Goldie. She’ll get her here.”
“I never should have left her room last night.”
At this, Standish merely chuckled.
And then Jasper was put out of his misery when the heavy wooden door was flung open and the two golden-haired ladies appeared. Goldie stepped inside first, shorter than her older sister and wearing a burgundy-colored gown with tan gloves and a jaunty feathered hat.
And then Nia.
Jasper’s bride.
He’d not thought it possible, but she looked more striking than the vision he had in his mind. And even though he knew he’d have a lifetime to appreciate her, he drank in her beauty.
Her smile, the flush in her cheeks, and most compelling, the sparkle in her cobalt eyes.
He only vaguely noticed that her gown, made up of cobalt velvet, nearly matched her eyes, or that her hair had been threaded with gold and blue into an elaborate coronet atop her head.
She was Nia. She was his.
Stepping forward, he took her hands in his. “You are here,” he said.
“I am.” She squeezed his fingertips.
“Well, shall we get on with it, then?” the blacksmith asked with just a hint of impatience.
“If my bride is ready.” Jasper’s gaze didn’t leave hers.
Only after she nodded did Jasper lead her to the anvil. When he’d met with the blacksmith last time, the man had described what was a very unromantic sort of ceremony. At the time he’d considered it sufficient. But now…
Holding her hand in his, knowing she loved him and that she was the most precious person in the world to him, Jasper was glad he’d asked the blacksmith to perform more of a ceremony rather than his usual transactional ritual.
“Good morning,” the man said.
“Good morning,” Nia responded.
“So, you wish to marry one another?”
Both Nia and Jasper answered in the affirmative.
“And neither of ye are married to another?”
“No,” Nia said.
“No,” Jasper echoed.
“Very well, then.” The man turned and drew out a braided gold rope, which he tied into a knot and slipped over Nia’s right wrist and Jasper’s left.
“My lord, my lady, this cord is a symbol of the lives you have chosen to lead together.” The blacksmith cleared his throat. “Up until this moment, you have been separate in thought, word, and action. As your hands are bound together by this cord, so too shall your lives be bound as one. May you forever be one, sharing in all things, in love and loyalty for all time to come.
“With that done, may I suggest that you kiss your new wife, my lord?”
“Try and stop me.” Jasper leaned forward and touched his mouth to Nia’s. He’d intended to keep the public kiss chaste, but when her lips opened beneath his, he couldn’t help but accept the invitation to deepen it. And as he kissed her, the blacksmith’s voice spoke over them.
“With your hands and hearts now bound, I offer this…”
Nia sighed, and their mouths parted with a delicate sound as they turned to listen to the blessing.
