He waited till she turned back to face him before speaking.
“I am nae complaining,” he said with a wide smile. “I daenae feel the pain as much when ye are near.” He drew her closer, his expression turning serious. “I meant what I said. I only want to marry ye. But if, for some reason, I am nae able to marry ye, I would remain single for the rest of me life.”
“Ye cannae be serious. What about an heir?” she asked.
“Jenson had always been me heir right from when I became Laird, and it will only change if we marry and have children of our own. If nae, he remains the heir, and knowing him, I daenae doubt that he would soon marry and sire children.”
While his declaration sounded fantastical at best, Talia could see that he meant it. This man, who had taken an arrow for her, would walk into death’s den to save her. His dedication to loving her was immense. The only thing she could do was love him back with all her strength.
EPILOGUE
Weddings were emotional affairs Talia loved, but hers was an affair that had her heart leaping in her chest.
The ceremony was a lavish affair that had frightened her at first, but when she finally stood beside Darragh, she felt she could breathe. His hands around hers kept her grounded, even though she wished it were just the two of them in the chapel.
She had wanted a small ceremony, since their betrothal had been a large affair, but Orlagh and Amber had been against it.
She understood Orlagh’s excitement, though. Darragh was a laird and her eldest son. It didn’t even seem real that she had gone from hating him to loving him in a matter of a few short weeks. For a future she had once feared, she found herself looking forward to it with joy.
The ceremony progressed with her barely hearing anything as the blood roared in her ears, but when it came time to say their vows, the look in Darragh’s eyes pulled her back into the present.
“I will love ye with all me heart, all me mind, and all me strength,” he said. “Until the end of me days on this earth.”
Her mouth went dry at the conviction in his eyes, and she nodded.
“And I will love ye with all me heart, all me mind, and all me strength,” she echoed. “Until me days end on this earth.”
He kissed her then, and she felt the truth of those words travel from his lips to hers and down to her toes.
Darragh watched Talia dance and smiled at the joy on her face. She had looked nervous when they had stood in the chapel, but perhaps the wine in her belly had rid her of her fear.
His wife didn’t like being the center of attention, even if she was usually fearless.
His wife.
To think that a month ago, his only concern was restoring the castle and saving his people. But now, he had a wife and a future he was earnestly looking forward to.
Perhaps that had been Jonathan’s intention when he had added that clause to his will, but Darragh would never know. He owed the man for giving him money to repair his castle, but owed him even more for giving him Talia.
She was a light that burned away every single reason he had had to shun happiness, and he was grateful for her.
“Ye must be brimming with happiness, Braither,” Jenson commented, coming to sit beside him at the high table.
“Aye,” Darragh answered. “I am.”
“Ye’re lucky,” Jenson said. “She is nae only beautiful but also brave for loving a hard-headed man like ye.”
Darragh laughed and punched his brother in the shoulder. “Yer wife will be the brave one for tolerating someone as annoying as ye.”
“I daenae intend to get married for many years,” Jenson scoffed, wrinkling his nose.
“We’ll see,” Darragh mused. “Now, if ye’ll excuse me, I will go and dance with me wife.”
“Aye, aye,” Jenson laughed. “Go and dance with yer wife.”
Darragh rose from his seat and made his way to where she stood on the makeshift dance floor, just as the musicians started playing the first strains of a waltz. She turned to him, and her lips curled into a smile that had his heart racing in his chest.
“Have ye come to claim me for this dance, husband?” she asked.
