“Thank ye,” she whispered in his ear. “Ye came.”
“Yer sister couldnae sleep. She saw from a window as ye and Kai were taken. She raised the alarm. Me men and I went straight tae Laird Domhnall and together, we approached the castle.” Finley released her. “Are ye all right? Are ye hurt?”
“Bruised, but fine.” She rubbed the back of her head. It was still sore from where she had been struck the night before. “He…” She didn’t have the words to tell her father that there had been a rushed ceremony, that the priest had indeed announced them husband and wife. “He…”
“It wasnae legal,” Finley said with finality. “Whatever was said in this church wasnae legal without yer vow. Neither does it matter now.” He nodded down at Laird Grant’s body, but she still refused to look at it.
It would almost feel like a victory for Laird Grant if she looked at him now. She didn’t want him to have a hold over her ever again.
“Thank ye,” she whispered once more as Finley took her shoulder.
“Dinnae thank me. I am the one who should be apologizing. Ava, if I had had any idea he was this sort of man, that he would dae this –”
“None of us kenned. Dinnae be sorry. There was nay way we could have kenned.”
He nodded slowly, but it was plainly not enough to relieve all the guilt he felt. It was there on his face, painted in the heavy lines of his expression.
They looked around the church. Laird Domhnall was now giving his orders to the MacLeod and MacKinnon soldiers, ordering acleanup. One of the soldiers was talking to the priest, who was shaking his head and gushingly revealing what an awful thing had happened in that church.
“Bloodshed, in the house of God.” He shook his head. “That man, he brought it on us all!” He thrust a finger down at Laird Grant.
Finley stepped aside, so that another fell into Ava’s view.
Kai stood a short distance away. He was breathing heavily, the blood from his own earlier head wound now dried against his temple and cheek.
“Ye took that trying tae save me daughter?” Finley asked, pointing at the wound.
“Aye.” Kai nodded then winced, still in pain because of it.
Ava walked around her father and headed straight to him, the better to examine his wound. He brushed off her concern though and embraced her tightly.
Overawed to be back in Kai’s arm again, she held him tight. The possibility of letting him go was ridiculous to her now. She couldn’t contemplate it, not when seconds before she had been certain that he would be lost for good.
She feared that Kai had been right when he talked about death. At the end of the ceremony, Laird Grant would have probably turned and killed Kai then.
“Prepared tae die fer me daughter, Kai?”
“Always,” Kai said softly, his head buried in her shoulder as she cradled herself into his chest.
“Then I cannae object tae yer courtship, can I?” The words were so sudden, they both looked up sharply, turning to face him with their hands upon one another. Slowly, Finley stepped toward them. “After I left ye two last night, I went tae see Lyla. She doesnae often give me her opinion, but she most definitely did last night.”
Ava smiled, wondering if Lyla had revealed the same fiery spirit she had shown Ava that day in front of the fire.
“She made me see clearly that I had become fixated on one outcome, convinced that that was the only way to save her and see ye both happy. She was right.” Finley smiled rather sadly at Ava. “When ye two were young, it felt like I could make the woes of the world go away by being there fer ye, telling ye what tae dae, but those days are long past. Ye make yer own choices now.” He smiled fully as he looked at Kai. “Keep her safe, Kai.”
“Ye have me word, me laird.”
Finley nodded then turned away, walking toward Laird Domhnall, who was still talking to the other soldiers.
Left alone for a minute, Ava embraced Kai once again.
“It’s over,” he whispered in her ear. “It’s all over now, Ava. We can be married.”
“Oh, Kai.” She held tightly onto his shoulders, turning to examine his head wound again. “None of this was supposed tae happen. Ye were never supposed tae get hurt.”
“Me? Ye were just bound in marriage tae a man ye hated, and ye’re worried about me?”
“I’m always worrying about ye.”
