Page 34 of Highland Prince of Darkness

Chapter Fourteen

Acouple of days later, May awoke on the morning of the wedding with a pit in her stomach. She had barely spoken to Iain over the past couple of days, but she still was conflicted by the yearning that she felt for him. She understood why he was so angry at her and she couldn’t fault him for the way that he was behaving, she had thought about if the roles were reversed and how angry she would have been at him for leaving her.

She let out a heavy sigh as her chambers suddenly became alive with a small army of maids that were ready and waiting to help her get ready for the big day. Her dress had been made at the cost of a small fortune and she was excited to finally be able to wear it.

“How are ye feeling this morning, my lady?” Sarah asked with a bright smile, as May started to rise from her bed.

“I’m feeling good,” May nodded, aware that her voice didn’t show her enthusiasm for the day ahead of her, “How is my father?”

“He’s well and already up, I hear that he’s excited for the ceremony later.”

May felt her mind being set at ease slightly in the knowledge that her father was all right. She found it slightly ironic that her father was reported to be in such good spirits about her marrying the man that he had once imprisoned for loving her.

“Well then,” May breathed out, “I suppose we should get on with this.”

The tedious process of wearing many layers to form the wedding dress was something that May had completely overlooked. She wasn’t used to quite so many layers of skirts and lace that made her skin itch slightly. Her clan’s tartan, featuring a deep purple and many green tones, was the main pattern of the dress, and she knew that it would make her father proud to see her wearing the colors of their family.

May held on to one of her bed posts as one of her maids tied the bodice of her dress together, she was rather rough with her movements and tied it extremely tightly.

The first event of the day would be the church service; this was the initial moment that would tie her to Iain for the rest of her life, and even just the thought of it sent May’s stomach into a twisting knot.

She was aware of the increase in security around the castle that had been building up over the past few days. May knew that the event had been announced to a lot of the neighboring clans as a sign that they were growing in strength and stability, but she hadn’t thought that the event would be that much of a security threat. When she had asked about it, May had simply received the nonchalant response that it was just in case anything bad did happen. The thought lived in the back of her mind as she realized that there were many other things for her to worry about on her wedding day without even considering a security threat to the castle.

“Ye seem nervous,” Sarah remarked, as she put the finishing touches to her hair. It fell in loose waves past her shoulders, cascading down but pinned slightly at her roots to great layers that May didn’t even know she had.

The woman in the mirror that stared back at her was someone that she didn’t recognize, a face that she had once thought she would grow to look like as a dream, but not as a goal that she would actually achieve. She was usually rather modest, but May couldn’t deny her own beauty at that moment.

“Aye, well I am getting married today,” May managed a slight chuckle as she spoke. She simply shrugged and looked down at her lap as Sarah moved over to a small pouch that she had brought into the room with her. She picked it up and held it out for May to take. “What is it?”

“It’s a sprig of white heather,” Sarah explained, as May took the contents out of the pouch and surveyed the small plant in her hand, “It brings ye both good luck.”

“Thank ye,” May smiled as she knew the custom well. Her mother had received some on her wedding day and she was sure that her mother had done so before her. “That’s a really sweet gift.”

“It’s the least that I could dae, my lady,” Sarah nodded, as she remembered that there were other maids in the room, “Here, I will pin it in yer hair.”

May watched as her friend’s nimble fingers worked to position the heather complementary in her hair.

“There,” she said, and stepped back, “Ye look beautiful, my lady.”

“Thank ye, Sarah. I just want to get this done now,” she admitted, knowing that she was speaking out of turn. However, May was past caring about what the other serving girls were going to say about her in the kitchens later on. A wife that simply wanted to get through the wedding service as quickly as possible, she couldn’t possibly love him. May brushed the thoughts off as they were the exact thoughts that she was having about Iain, she didn’t know if he really would love her after what had happened.

“Right, well, we’ll send word that yer ready and then we’ll start to make our way over to the chapel?”

May was rather anxious to see Iain. She hadn’t thought too much about it for a while, but she was curious to see him dressed up in his adopted family’s tartan colors. She bit her lip and was led through the halls of the castle as though she was some kind of art that was being shown around to the people of their clan.

May smiled and nodded her thanks to the many servants and guests of the castle that would stop when they realized that she was coming. She wasn’t used to having every single pair of eyes look her over as she walked, there was such scrutiny in the air that she didn’t feel right all of a sudden. Sure, May was used to having people look to her since she was the daughter of the laird of their clan, but she wasn’t used to the level of attention that she was receiving that day. People were taking in the intricacies of her gown, the style of her hair, and also how she was holding herself. May walked with a grace that had been ingrained in her ever since she was a young girl, she had been training almost all of her life for a walk like the one that she was doing at that moment.

“May, my goodness,” Bruce marveled, as he waited at the doors to the chapel. Her father was too ill to walk with her, but she had been reassured by Sarah that he was already in the chapel and would be watching from the front. “Ye look beautiful! Iain is one lucky man.”

“Thank ye,” May nodded. She was almost numb to the compliments by the time that she arrived outside of the chapel doors, but she put on her best smile to greet the man that would soon be her father-in-law.

“Are ye ready?” Bruce asked, as he held out his arm for her to take.

May looked back at the mass of servants that were waiting for her to agree at the final moment. Sarah flashed her a look of encouragement that told her that things would be all right. May let out a shaky sigh and slowly nodded her head.

She barely had any time to prepare herself before the doors were opening. May felt a pinch in her stomach as nerves ran through her body and pinned her to the spot for a moment. The chapel was filled with various noblemen and women that had traveled from nearby clans to experience the wedding. There were also many valued members of the town that had done good things for the clan over the years. The reward was an event that would satisfy even the king if he were to visit.

May wanted to shrink at the sight of so many eyes watching her. However, she stood a little taller with her chin up and shoulders back so that she could radiate a level of calm and confidence that would satisfy the watchful eyes around her.