"But all these men are lawless raiders," Una said, looking at the assembled men."Surely their word counts for little in this matter."
"Now there, Miss Murray."Seumas straightened from where he had been leaning against the wall and pressed a hand to his chest."I am deeply offended."
"Aye," said Ros from the bench by the fire, shaking his head with great sorrow."We may be thieves.But we still have feelings."
"I ...I did not mean—" Una looked between them and realized they were smirking."Oh, stop it, the both of ye."
Seumas grinned.Ros chuckled and went back to his ale.
Una turned to Cormac, who had moved from the far wall and now stood closer."Ye dinnae need to do this.I have nothing to offer ye in marriage."
"That makes us even," he said.
"I am a nobody," Una said."A seamstress from a small village.Days ago ye thought me a wealthy thane's daughter.Ye cannot want to marry me now that ye ken the truth."
"Can I not."He said it plainly.Cormac stepped forward and took her hand between both of his."I was going to find a way to this before Boyd arrived.I did not ken how and I was making a poor job of working it out.But I was going to."He held her gaze."Boyd finding us this morning made it simpler.That is all."
Una looked down at her hand in his and then back up at him.
"I dinnae care that ye are not Fenella Lockhart.I care that ye are the woman who sewed my men's garments without being asked and saw to their wounds.Ye trusted me when we were in danger and fell asleep when ye were supposed to be escaping."His expression softened with his next words."I care that ye are Una, the lass I wish to marry.That is all."
Her eyes were stinging.She was not going to cry in front of the entire company.
"But what about my work?"she tried."I have orders to fulfil.Young charges.People who rely on me."
"I'm sure they'll not begrudge ye getting married.Yer home will remain waiting for ye," Boyd said from behind her.
She turned to face him properly."Boyd, are ye really going to let me marry a notorious raider?"
Boyd met her eyes without flinching."There is not a man alive I trust more with yer care and yer life, and I have known him for many years."He held her gaze until she believed it."I give ye my word on that."
Una was quiet.
"Marry me, Una Murray," Cormac said."Not because Boyd says so.Because I am asking ye to."
She took a long breath."Aye," she said."All right.But dinnae blame me when ye begin to regret it."
"I'll never regret it," he replied.
***
MAISIE APPEARED WITHINmoments and dispatched two maids upstairs with Una before she could change her mind.Boyd pressed a large leather boist into Una's hands at the foot of the stairs.
"From Bella," he said."She was not sure what state I'd find ye in, so she packed everything she thought ye might need for the journey home."
Una thanked him and carried it upstairs.She set it on the bed and opened it.
She stood very still for a moment.
Inside, folded with care and wrapped in linen, were two gowns.She lifted the first one out and felt the fabric between her fingers before she even looked at it properly and knew it immediately.She had spent four months on this one.The embroidery at the cuffs alone had taken six weeks – tiny flowers worked in gold and deep blue thread, each one no larger than her thumbnail, running the full length of both sleeves.She had made this gown for Bella.She had made both for Bella, for wearing at court, fit for a noblewoman.
She set it down on the bed and pressed both hands flat against it.
Una had spent years making beautiful garments for wealthy patrons who could afford to wear them.It was not lost on her that, without her knowing it, she had lovingly sewn her own wedding dress.
She looked at the gown for a long moment until Maisie's girls came in with a large tub of hot water.Only then did she focus on readying herself for her wedding.
Cormac, meanwhile, had gone to the scullery to wash and change.He had clean garments set aside and a polished sword.Word spread through his men quickly and the mood in the common room lifted at once.He took it as a good sign of their acceptance of his choice of bride.
