“I willnae give up me work as a healer.”
“I’d never expect ye to. With Lady MacColl as a fine, famous healer, the MacColl standard of medicine should go up quite a bit, daenae ye think?”
She giggled at that, reaching up to card her fingers through his hair. “And can Margaret stay here? Nae that she’ll want to stay for long, I imagine.”
He bent down to kiss her once more.
“Ye can have whoever ye want here in this keep. I daenae care who ye bring, or what ye do with yer time, Nora, so long as I can have ye. I want it more than I’ve wanted anything before.”
“Ye are in luck,” she whispered, winding her arms around his neck and pulling him down for a deeper kiss. “Because ye are about to get yer wish, Laird MacColl. I am about to grant just about every wish of yers I can manage.”
He chuckled again, slipping his arms around her waist and pulling her against him.
“Right now, anythin’ I could ever wish for is right here in this room.”
EPILOGUE
ONE MONTH LATER
“All right,Nora, I need a quick decision here. Blue, or yellow?”
“Margaret, I really have bigger things on me mind than the color ofyershawl.”
“But it’simportant! Today is a big day for me. Very big, in fact. One might say the biggest day of me life.”
Nora glanced away from her reflection in the mirror and lifted her eyebrows. “Today is the biggest day ofyerlife?” she repeated pointedly.
Margaret winced. “Well, I am nae the one actually getting married, ye are, but still. Me sister is gettin’ married today! And to a laird, of all people. Da would be proud.”
Nora bit her lip, turning her attention back to her reflection. “I think Da would be proud of us regardless. Me as a healer, and ye as a traveler.”
“Nah, he’d have wanted me to settle. He still would have loved me, though.”
A moment of silence opened up between them. Nora eyed her reflection thoughtfully.
The dress had been made specially, of course. The fabric—a rich green-gold pattern—was a gift from Helena. She was here for the wedding, of course, as was Hunter.
Everybody will be here,Nora reminded herself, with a nervous shiver. A laird’s wedding was always a big event. This wedding would solidify relations between MacColl and Bryden, too. The treaty might be signed earlier. Her marriage to Creighton would just about guarantee Skye’s safety.
Not that Skye was ever unsafe with Bryden, but Nora had heard strange rumors about how the two of them were getting on. Some rumors said they hated each other, while others said they were a littletoofond of each other.
The truth will out, I suppose,Nora thought, reaching up to tweak a gold brooch sitting at her collar.
“That’s a pretty ornament,” Margaret remarked, shuffling up to stand beside her sister at the mirror, shoulder to shoulder. “Is it new?”
“Aye, it’s a gift from Creighton. Look, the front part opens up to reveal a tiny compartment. I’m goin’ to keep powdered willowbark in it. Just somethin’ to slip into wine or tea, to help with pain.”
Margaret chuckled. “Andrew thought ye were a poisoner when he first met ye. If ye had that before, he would have beenconvincedof it.”
“So long as he doesnae keep tellin’ folks that I’m a witch.”
“Nay, he kens better now.”
Nora glanced at her sister out of the corner of her eye. “Ye and Andrew seem to be gettin’ along well these days. I am surprised.”
Margaret reddened. “Are ye? We have a lot in common.”
“True, but he’s a wee bit anxious, is he nae? He probably prays a bit more often than ye do, too.”
