“How?”
“If Yvaine can find a veil, what if I dressed up as Lord Nelson’s bride? Kali and I are similar in size. I’m a wee bit taller, but who will notice? It would give the men more time to get here, to defeat Laird MacKay and his bloody English friends.”
Suddenly, Yvaine sank to the floor, weeping.
Heather went to the lass and knelt beside her. “’Tis all right. I know it’s hard to be caught between yer father and brother. But I have faith Adam willna harm a hair on yer sire’s head, but will simply depose him. Ye will still have a father when this is all done.”
Yvaine sniffled. “I doona think I can…”
Heather cradled her delicate hand in hers. “Ye can, and ye will. Because if ye doona, lass, many of us will die.”
Chapter Twenty
Sixty MacKay warriors, more than half the guards the clan possessed, had joined Adam on the beach. Two pyres had been crudely built and lit, providing ethereal light as the sun set. Adam, Sam, James, and Joseph stood at the forefront, facing the rest of the loyal fighters who had gathered to pledge loyalty and recognize Adam as the new laird.
What better place to forge a new future for my people?Adam gazed about, appreciating the sea of deep blue and green plaid before him. The whipping wind and screeching seagulls added fierceness to the moment. His mother would be proud. Of course if she were still alive, his father would never have become the haggard, bitter man he now knew. Adam had never chased power and wealth. He had always cared about the people first. Aye, politics played an important role in any Highland clan. But the Almighty came first, then family.
“Mother,” he whispered, “doona abandon me because I do what I must to preserve the people. I willna harm me father.”
Only silence followed, but Adam knew his mother watched over him.
“Take the knee,” Sam spoke now, more distinguished than Adam could ever remember seeing his best friend. “Before ye stands the man ye choose as the new laird of Clan MacKay. Not only is he the rightful heir, but the only one capable of healing the rift between us as men and family. Our clan has long lived in silence, willfully ignoring the abuses happening before our eyes. But now…now the English have been welcomed with open arms, and this is an unforgivable betrayal.”
The MacKay war cry sounded then, like thunder carried on the wind…“Bratach Bhan Chlann Aoidh.” The white banner of MacKay.
Pride filled Adam’s body. How long had he contemplated this moment, dreamed of a new beginning… He’d finally found the woman he loved and wanted to marry, to make the mistress of his clan.Kali Bane.She would be his. She would grace his bed every night. She would give him beautiful sons and daughters. And he would prove his love to her now and until the last breath left his body, and even longer. Until the sun, moon, and stars fell from the heavens and scorched the earth.
All except Adam took a knee, raising their swords in pledge and promise, and said, “Until death, we pledge fealty to the new laird, Adam MacKay.”
The men rose and congratulated their new laird. The time for celebration would have to wait, though.
“Let us depart,” Adam commanded and, finally reunited with his warhorse, he led the warriors to the keep.
…
Kali, disguised as an old woman, with a wig of gray curls and her face marred with ash and mud, wearing a threadbare robe like Raini, and hobbling along with a walking stick, stood silent and unseen in the back of the great hall as the double wedding was about to begin.
Rich and poor had been invited to the ceremony, and the great hall had been transformed into a place fit for a queen. Wreaths of flowers and ivy decorated the walls and tables. Beeswax tapers set in silver holders, dozens of them, lined the tables. Goblets of pewter and silver filled with wine and mead had been served to everyone to make a toast to the brides. Near the largest hearth, trestle tables filled with what Kali thought were gifts, sat glass jars containing what could only be honey from the Bane estate. For emblazoned on the front of the jars, someone had painted their unforgettable coat of arms.
Over a field of yew trees, a shield divided into four equal parts contained a beehive with the clever creatures flying out, a fire with a spiral of smoke, and jars of the golden liquid. Above the shield was a black helmet, the clan motto,Et Marte et Arte,By Strength and Art,inscribed in gold on a black ribbon.
This wedding… Had the king endorsed her marriage to Lord Nelson in exchange for the old Bane estate? Would her father be declared a laird again? She hissed at the idea, and Raini turned to her, tapping a finger to her lips.
“Be quiet, lass. We are not to be heard or seen here.”
A harpist began to play a haunting tune, and silence fell over the crowd of at least two hundred. Four tiny lasses entered the hall carrying baskets of flowers they shared with the women in the crowd, and then two women, both heavily veiled and wearing similar blue silk gowns, followed the children.
Upon their heads sat crowns of heather and ivy, and they carried matching bouquets of flowers.
At the front of the hall, to the left of the high table, waited a priest, Laird MacKay surrounded by his younger sons and daughter, Lord Nelson, and Kali’s father.
But the brides… She easily recognized her sister Ariana, so lithe and graceful, but who was the other one?
Kali squeezed Raini’s arm, but the seer only shook her head. Who had decided to masquerade as her? And for what purpose? For once the woman was discovered, she would surely die. Lord Nelson would pierce the poor lass’s heart with the sword hanging at his side. And if not him… Kali eyed the twelve English soldiers standing not too far away.
The harp music ended, and the brides shifted to the sides of their respective grooms, and the priest sent up a solemn prayer and blessing over the couples.
Kali could barely stand as she waited for the inevitable moment when her father lifted “her” veil. By the grace of God, Ariana’s veil was lifted first as Thomas Bane kissed his daughter’s cheek, then placed her right hand in Laird MacKay’s left. The old laird couldn’t contain himself as he stared at Ariana with open lust, not admiration and love as Adam had gifted Kali.
