Page 35 of Highland Prince of Darkness

Bruce was at her side, which was a little more comforting, it at least deflected the slightest bit of attention – at least that was what May was telling herself. Bruce wore the deep red of his clan’s tartan in the form of a kilt, the uniform of almost all the men in the room. She felt that the color complimented those of her dress, which bode well for when she would stand with Iain at the end of the aisle.

Iain himself stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his own kilt was something that May hadn’t seen for a very long time. The last time that he had been in a kilt was when he was being congratulated by her father for his efforts on the battlefield. He had then been wearing the same green and purple colors that she wore at that moment, but now, he wore the deep red of the McAlister clan.

There was no smile on his face, but neither was there a frown. He had managed to perfect the art of looking completely indifferent, even on his wedding day. However, as May drew closer to him, she could see something in his eyes was changing, as though he was finally realizing what was going on.

May couldn’t help but smile up at him as she reached where he stood. Her father was just off to the side, and Bruce took his place beside him as the ceremony began. Despite the way that they had been fighting over the last few days, May looked up at him and was ready to put it all behind her. Iain wasn’t radiating the same kind of intention as his hands took hold of hers. The ceremony was beginning and there was no turning back now.

* * *

May felt lightheaded as she was congratulated and expected to smile for the rest of the day. She felt stunned into disbelief that they had been married in the house of god and by a priest, something that her younger self had once yearned for with all of her heart. She thought that she would have been happier about it though, she thought that it would have meant the two of them could finally be together without anyone coming between them.

But Iain had barely said more than a few words to her as they had left the chapel. May felt her heart sink when she thought about if he really was going to treat her in such a harsh way all of the time.

“I like yer dress,” he complimented her for the first time as they walked together to the great hall. There was to be a feast that would last for many hours. May felt trapped into the routine of the day, but she was more anxious for what would come after the feast.

Part of her was glad to have the many hours that stretched ahead of them so that she didn’t have to think about their wedding night, but the other part of her just wanted to get to it. She still felt the rush of excitement that ran through her whenever she was close to Iain, and now there was no escaping this. May could only wonder if he felt the same way.

“Thank ye,” she muttered, as two servants led them into one of the rooms behind the great hall. They were to be announced by Bruce soon, they would walk out and have to dance in front of the wedding guests. May wasn’t looking forward to it, but she knew that she didn’t have a choice in the matter. The strict hand of tradition rarely made any exceptions.

“How dae ye feel now that we’re married?” May dared to ask when they were alone.

“I feel as though we can start to settle this and get on with more important issues at hand.”

“Like what?” May asked with narrowed eyes. It wasn’t the response that she had been hoping for.

“Like the finances of our clans, like protecting our borders... there are many things to worry about other than one wedding day, May.”

“I ken that, but dae ye at least feel happy?”

Bruce was talking to the guests in the hall, his voice boomed even through the closed door and stone walls of the castle. May knew that they were going to have to listen out for their call to enter, but she also wanted to hear Iain’s answer to her question.

“The Laird Iain and his wife May,” Bruce called out.

“Of course I dae,” Iain nodded quickly, as he took her hand and stepped through the door.

May felt stunned by the suddenness of the action. She blinked for a second and didn’t even have a moment to compose herself before she was pulled into the gazes of their many wedding guests. Her thoughts were still reeling from the fact that he had admitted how he felt, it was so unlike him that May started to question whether or not she was just imagining it.

The music began and she knew exactly what they were going to have to do. She took his hand and felt his other hand land on her waist. May took in a deep breath at the sensation of him touching her there. She knew that it was simply dancing, but her hip felt as though it were on fire where his hand rested, and she couldn’t shake the feeling at all.

Iain still appeared slightly neutral to the dancing as they moved across the space that had been made for them in the center of the room. Only the light twitches of a smile indicated that he was having a good time. The tables and the many guests were around the edges and watched on as they moved to the rather fast music.

Gradually, other couples started to join them on the dance floor until it was so full that it was difficult to fully execute the entire routine of movements. May had never had an issue with dancing at the social events they hosted, but dancing at her own wedding with so many people watching was something that she really wasn’t used to.

She felt even more lightheaded once the music started to die down. Iain led her with his strong grip on her hand back up to their main table where she could rest for a moment. May was breathing deeply and realized that she had been much more nervous than she had first thought about the dance. It didn’t bode well as she thought about what she was really concerned about; the wedding night.

“Are ye all right?” Iain asked from beside her.

“I’m fine, I just wanted to have a break,” May said, and brushed it off. She didn’t want to appear weak in front of him, but she was sure that he knew everything about her, and he could easily tell when she was trying to deceive him. That was one thing that made May shudder; it was how much he knew about her, how easily Iain could still read her and was able to anticipate her moves or actions.

“How have ye found the day?” Iain’s question caught her off guard.

“Tedious,” May admitted, “It seemed as though it was more for the benefit of our wedding guests to socialize and be seen at an event like this. I think that really is the purpose of weddings because neither of us has enjoyed this very much.”

“Aye, I agree.”

May wanted to make a joke about this being one of the few things that they had actually agreed on since they had reunited, but she didn’t want to push her luck.

She glanced around and saw that Archie was looking at her from one of the tables, May instinctively smiled and waved over at him. Archie took a wary glance at her husband before nodding to her slightly.