“’Tis beautiful!” Mariota wiped away tears. “I canna believe ye did this for me.”
“I recalled how much ye liked the tapestry. It seemed the proper theme for yer wedding. The weaver was good company while we worked, each on our own projects.”
Mariota hugged Nan, careful not to crush the kirtle over her arm. Then she turned to Brìghde and did the same. “I dinna ken how to thank ye. Either of ye.”
“We must ensure ye can wear it. Do ye want to try it on now, or look through the things Seamus sent ye.”
“Try it on, of course.”
“It laces, so if ’tis long enough, it will fit, I think,” Nan said, slipping it over Mariota’s head after she removed her day dress and stood in her chemise. “Aye, it nearly brushes the floor.” She fussed for a few minutes with laces at the back and sides, then stood away and let Brìghde hold up a polished metal mirror.
“’Tis beautiful on ye,” Brìghde told her.
Mariota found herself speechless. “I’ve never worn a dress so fine. So beautiful. Thank ye, Nan, for yer thoughtfulness. Brìghde, too. I dinna ken what to say.”
“Yer face says it all,” Nan told her. “I’m so pleased ye like it.”
“I love it. Stellan will, too.”
Nan chuckled. “Another reason for the lacing. He willna have to rip it from ye to remove it.”
“What! He wouldna dare.”
“If he does, I’ll repair it,” Nan promised with a wink. She loosened the ties so Mariota could remove the dress, took Brìghde’s arm, and they left her to explore the rest of her treasure.
Mariota sat in her shift on top of her trunk, contemplating the fabrics and handiwork piled on her bed. She reached over and plucked the jewel bag from the midst, opened it, and let the contents spill onto her lap. She couldn’t believe her da had kept the keepsakes she saw and never said a word to her about any of it. There were not many pieces, but the ones she saw wereexquisite. Three rings, three gold necklaces, one set with gems, even a chatelaine’s chain belt of hammered silver, rings for keys empty and waiting for her new station. Seamus could have kept all of this and never told her of the treasure her da had hid from her. But her friend had always been honest with her, even in this.
For one heart-stopping moment, she missed Seamus and MacKay, but then she heard Stellan’s voice through her open window from down in the bailey. He was laughing at something one of the other men said. She slipped the rings on, one by one, then took them off again, her gaze on Nan’s gorgeous needlework. MacKay was her past. Stellan Sutherland was her future.
Stellan stoodon the kirk steps awaiting his bride and squared his shoulders. Aware of all the eyes on him, he fought not to wince as the arrow wound pulled. It was taking longer to heal than the one in his arm, but he’d kept that fact from everyone except the healer, who could see the difference when she examined him. Right now, he didn’t care about the remaining pain. His focus was on Mariota, gliding toward him on Seamus MacKay’s arm, seeming to float on the air, looking like an angel in a white dress embroidered with colorful flowers and leaves. His summer angel. Someone had arranged her hair and placed a garland of summer wildflowers and roses on her head. She looked young and fresh. The smile she gave him made his heart leap with more joy than he’d ever felt in his life.
She was about to become his. He had to be the luckiest man alive. He wanted to dance, to sing, to hold her in his arms and never let her go. And he knew he needed to get his exuberanceunder control or the entire clan would think he’d been into the ale.
Truth be told, he, Anders, their father, and younger brother Cameron who’d come from Clan Rose for the wedding with his bride and laird Mary Elizabeth Rose, had shared a toast, but only one. This exhilaration filling him was all for Mariota, and for the life they would share, the family they would make, the clan they would shepherd into the future. He couldn’t wait to begin it all with her.
When she reached him, Seamus leaned over and kissed her cheek, then gave her hand to Stellan. That kept Stellan from punching Seamus for kissing his bride. But Mariota arched a brow at him, as if reading his mind and warning him to behave. Stellan grinned and leaned in to kiss her fully on the mouth. There, Seamus couldn’t do that.
Seamus gave him a knowing grin and stepped away. Over his shoulder, Stellan saw Anders roll his eyes. Did everyone know what he’d been thinking?
He didn’t care.
“I didna ken Seamus would come and stand in for yer da,” he whispered to her as he turned her to face the priest. “’Twas good of him.”
“’Twas his obligation,” she reminded him. “As the MacKay laird, to attend the wedding of the former heir and laird, to be wed to an ally’s heir. ’Tis all very important to our clans, and to our part of Scotland.”
“Aye, of course ’tis,” he said, reflecting the gravity with which she regarded the ceremony.
“Besides,” she added, giving him a cheeky grin, “he was my best friend. Of course I wanted him here.”
Stellan chuckled at that. “I understand, lass. Ye did well.”
The priest cleared his throat, signaling that he required their attention. The ceremony was blessedly brief. After Stellanslipped his mother’s ruby ring on her finger, they went inside the kirk for a short wedding mass. Through it all, Stellan fought to control the elation that filled him, thinking it would not be fair to Anders. Stellan feared their link, which had recently connected them from a great distance, might now at such close quarters overwhelm his twin. And it seemed unfair to force such strong emotion on his brother.
At last, the priest finished, and it was time to sign the register, to record their marriage for all posterity. Stellan signed, then handed the quill to Mariota, careful not to drip ink on her lovely dress. She gave him a smile, and her whispered, “Thank ye,” spoke to that as much as his courtesy.
It was done. Stellan took the hand his wife offered him, overcome with relief and joy that she was his. He wanted to shout, to run, to kiss his bride and never stop.
But the Sutherland laird, arm in arm with the MacKay laird, stepped forward to announce the new husband and wife, then led the way into the great hall for the wedding feast.
