Davinia had gotten close to no sleep with how anxious she was. Gawain had been chased out of her chambers by her sister before the sun of the previous day had even set, and she was sure that his absence possibly contributed to her jittery feeling in the morning. Davinia had woken up hours before the servants who would dress her up even arrived, heart pounding wildly in her chest at the different 'if's and 'but's that hounded her.
What if he up and left during the ceremony? No, what if he left before the ceremony! What if she ended up not being the proper wife he wanted? What if she forgot her vows? No, she's memorized them, but what if he didn't, and he forgot his? What if he did not even show up?
No. Of course, Gawain would come. He loved her, and not only has he said it, he had shown it as well. There were times when she dampened her own mood by thinking about the things Gawain had to go through to get accepted by everyone. If things had happened much differently, perhaps she would be by his side, going wherever he wanted in the world. Or she could have lost him forever. It had been six moons since Gawain was framed, and she still worried herself about the little things.
Hector had been exiled after a public humiliation which Gawain had so happily carried out, but what if he was also pardoned? Erica had not been exiled but had been humiliated as well, her family's connection to the clan was cut off, and they left of their own will. What if she ever came back?
Scott had been trickier to catch. Before the plan Hector and Erica cooked with him, he had already taken his things and left. Caillen had to settle for sending Scott's father, the Laird of his clan, a letter containing the acts his son committed in another clan and as well as to his wife after Gawain had let a few things slip in Flora's favor. The last thing they, specifically Gawain, had heard from Flora was the letter she sent him, thanking him while apologizing for her behavior while in the clan.
It was safe to say though Davinia was satisfied with the way things ended, she still had a flicker of doubt come alive in her every now and that, and Gawain was always happy to clear it out like when he had asked for her hand in marriage. Their courtship had drawn out because many problems in the clan had to be fixed when it took a lot of Gawain's time.
At first, it was the good shortage where Gawain had taken her along to the lowlands to buy food. She got to see the life he led down there, and she was not surprised to see how Gawain managed to curb his pride during his exile. The people he knew led simple lives, only getting cocky and proud when it came to defending their land. They spent their days working and their nights amongst friends and family. Some nights were comical to watch as fights broke out but were quickly settled.
On their return, they came back with more than enough to feed every belly in the clan until the next spring came. This gained Gawain even more acceptance from the clan as a whole. It did not take as long as Davinia expected for Gawain to weave his way back into the hearts of the villagers. He made sure to attend to every one of their complaints, acting as a direct route to the Laird as Gawain gladly slapped down the complaints on his overworked brother's desk.
In a few months in total, Caillen and Gawain had fixed up their clan the way it always should have been. Gawain had asked for her hand after, and the preparations began, so here she stood in her wedding dress on a warm spring day, the scent of fresh flowy wafted from the garden below the window of her chambers, the pleasant twitter of birds filled the chambers.
Her sister stood by her side, her smile tight, not quite reaching her eyes. "Is anything the matter, Emer?" Emer perked up at the question but shook her head.
"I was just thinking." It had been that way for a few months. Emer had kept a certain distance from her, always with very few words to say when they were in the same room. At first, Davinia made it out to be the stress of having a newborn but realized it was more than that after a while.
"Well, I’m all ears." Davinia turned to her sister, who shook her head. "Whatever it is, it has been eating ye up fer months. Has something happened between Caillen and ye?"
"Nae, Davinia. ‘Tis nothing to be worried about. ‘Tis her wedding day. Ye should nae bother about me." Davinia heaved out a sigh at her sister before placing her hands reassuringly on Emer's shoulders.
"I’m yer elder sister. ‘Tis me duty to worry about ye, Emer. Do nae ask me to cast aside me duties fer anything." Davinia ended with a smile that fell when she saw a year drop from her sister's eyes. She immediately pulled Emer into her embrace, running her hand through her sister's brown hair while Emer sniffled on top of her shoulder. They stayed that way for minutes until Emer pulled away, wiping her face dry with her handkerchief, her eyes still swollen and her face red. "Do ye feel better now?"
"Nae." Emer answered, her head still low as she sniffled again. "I do nae realize me mistakes until I saw what happened with Erica. She was...she had been trying to force what was nae, trying to make me husband the center of her life and going extreme lengths to do so. She claimed she did it fer love, but her actions were truly selfish and self-centered. It was only about what she wanted. She shut herself in this chamber filled with thoughts and desires that would please her even if it was at the expense of other people."
"Aye, but we do nae need to revisit the past anymore, Emer."
"I ken, but a time passed, and I thought more about it, I’m nae different."
"Nae!"
"Aye, Davinia. Every time I think about how I tried to match ye with different men, Hector included, I get angry at meself. I was so focused on getting ye married that I did nae see how horrible of a person Hector was. Just felt because I was married and happy, the only way to bring happiness her way was through marriage as well. I ignored ye refusal and even refused to accept Gawain when he was truly the one ye wanted. I even antagonized him, refusing to believe he was innocent mainly because I did nae want him with y now that I've seen how much he can do fer the clan, me conscience keeps eating me up. Much like Erica, I deluded meself that I could create happiness fer ye no matter what I had to do. I’ve wronged ye, Davinia."
Davinia returned her hands to her sister's shoulders and gave a small squeeze. " Ye have done me nae wrong, Emer. Even if yer methods were wrong, yer intentions were pure. Ye are nothing like Erica. Ye only wanted me to be happy, and with Gawain's past, it was normal that ye be wary. I understand ye, Emer and ye do nae need to beat herself up about anything. Hector had us all fooled. He took advantage of the trust we had in him and manipulated us all. Well, except Gawain." Emer laughed a little causing Davinia to smile back at her. " Please, Emer, we should all be happy. Even if the path was terrible to pass through, we made it out, which is enough to be happy about. Just look at where we came from and look at us now."
Emer wiped her full eyes once more before nodding. "Aye. Ye are right. We have come a long way. Thank ye, I needed to get that out of me." Emer said as she accepted another warm embrace from her sister. Davinia patted her sister's back, hoping to reassure Emer as she looked out the window at the blue skies. A small smile crept onto her lips. Things were certainly better than they used to be, and hopefully, it would stay that way.
"Ah, a wedding. ‘Tis such a beautiful thing, when ye join a man to his wife. The last wedding I attended, was me daughter's. I’ve learned that it is like joining a large child to an innocent woman. " Elder Frazer joked, and Caillen's met Gawain's even before forcing a laugh, his younger brother doing the same. The elder seemed pleased as he shuffled away from the groom and his brother, who looked back at the elder.
"Sincerely, most of these elders are losing it. He doesnae even have a daughter." Gawain was punched in the shoulder by his brother as another elder walked past them. "That one did nae even see us."
" Oh hush. We are going to become elders one day as well. Be respectful." Caillen replied as he talked his foot impatiently. " Where are the women, the sun is going down." The grand hall has been decorated to the top for the wedding. They stood at the altar, a goblet of wine in Gawain's hand as he tried to use alcohol to get rid of his nervousness. He could have sworn he woke up more than ready to make Davinia his wife, but as the wedding drew closer, he found his hands rubbing against his breeches to wipe off his sweat. The goblet in his hand shook slightly. He resorted to conversing with his brother to get rid of his uneasiness.
"‘Tis me wedding, and ye’re the impatient one."
"Aye. One of us had to hurry it up while the other one had to be the nervous one."
"I’m nae nervous." Caillen shot him a pointed look as Gawain sipped loudly from his goblet of wine, eyes not leaving his brother's. "Alright, ye got me. I’m just about ready to shit me breeches. I just hope nae one has anything filled with sand ready to drop."
"If anyone comes by with as much as a bowl, I’ll hack them down." Gawain eyed his brother and the large sword strapped to his side. It was unmistakably their father's sword. The monster of a weapon had been passed down for four generations. Gawain had tried to use it once but found it too heavy and almost impractical, but it seemed Caillen had taken his time to master the sword.
"Oh, I'm terrified. Practically shaking over here. Tch, ye scare me as much as a headache after a night with a drum of ale."
"Sir Gawain!" Behind him was Hansel and a handful of men from his regiment bouncing as they approached their commander, who plastered a distasteful scowl on his face at the sight of the hyperactive lad. Hansel had proved to be excellent at his work, serving as Gawain's second in command to his regiment. Sure, there was still a lot the lad had to learn, Gawain who was not keen on becoming an instructor, was unfortunately swamped with that task. The only good thing Gawain would admit publicly was that Hansel was a fast learner. What Gawain would rather die than admit was that it was not the slippery ground but Hansel that had managed to knock him off his feet once during training. What irked Gawain the most was that Hansel easily agreed with him and demanded a rematch.
