Page 40 of Highland Prince of Darkness

Chapter Sixteen

Iain awoke to the cold chill of the early morning rushing through the silent room. It felt as though they could have been anywhere in the world during those fleeting seconds of coming to from a deep sleep. Iain managed to pull himself out of being so disorientated and peered into the darkness, trying not to disturb the sleeping form at his side.

His heart melted slightly as he remembered the wedding and everything else that had come with it. Iain hadn’t been overly bothered about the actual ceremony, it had been more about the time that he got to spend with May privately.

She was so close to him, and his body was yearning for more contact. Memories of the night before were still slipping through the cracks in his hard exterior. He was becoming soft. Iain growled at the thought.

He quickly moved the blanket away from him and forced himself out of the bed, making as little disturbance as possible. May looked peaceful as she slept, and Iain found himself struggling to not look down and survey her body that he thought was just perfect. He clenched his jaw and quickly gathered his things.

He knew that it was going to have to be a discreet exit from the bed-chamber since he didn’t want any of the servants gossiping about why he might be leaving so early. Luckily, the castle was still quiet, many would spend the next few days recovering from the feasting and drinking that had led up to the wedding day. It had been an event indeed, and Iain was thankful that the footfall in the castle at that early hour wasn’t too high.

With his head dipped low, his boots freshly shined, and a sword at his side, Iain stalked the castle halls as he made his way to the stables. His mind was still reeling from the night before, and he felt more conflicted than ever. But he had decided that a good morning ride would do him some good to collect his thoughts.

Of course, he had enjoyed the evening, he had missed that kind of contact, but Iain was still angry with her. For a fleeting second, Iain had forgotten all about the history that they had shared without May even knowing what she’d caused, it had been like all times again. Iain smiled at the memory of being close to her all of the time, they had been good times. It was that thought that caused his frown to bury deeper into his brow as he finally broke out into the bleak morning weather. The rain was coming down in a thin drizzle that somehow managed to saturate everything much faster than if it came down in sheets of fat droplets.

It made the ground around him particularly green as the earth soaked up the moisture. Iain wiped his face and quickly moved over to his horse. There were no stable hands around as far as he could see, and Iain knew that they clearly weren’t expecting anyone to be riding quite so early. The sun was barely able to pierce through the bank of clouds, and so it simply tinted the sky a lighter gray every hour or so.

“Don’t tell me ye’re planning to run off with the sell-swords again?” a voice startled Iain as he reached for his saddle. Instinctively, his hand reached for his sword and he turned and came face to face his guardian with narrowed eyes.

“Nay, I’m just off for a morning ride,” Iain grumbled, as he relaxed and shook his head.

“May I join ye?” Bruce stepped forward and asked.

Iain found it strange that the older man looked surprisingly well that morning. He remembered the way that Bruce had been slurring his words and getting rather close with any of the female servants during the feast. Iain had thought that he would still be in bed and would even need the healer to help due to how much he drank.

“Nay, ye look far too chipper for how drunk ye were last night,” Iain spoke with an amused smile.

“Aye, I was rather merry. But I’ve woken up feeling great, so I’m nay goin’ to waste the energy,” Bruce spoke while walking over to his own horse.

“What if I want to be on my own?” Iain fired back with narrowed but amused eyes.

“Well, I would nae let ye be alone with yourself on the day after yer wedding. I’m sure there’s somewhere that would believe it to be bad luck.”

Iain chuckled at Bruce’s feeble excuse to come with him, he knew that he wouldn’t be going on his own any longer.

“I would warn ye against being quite so superstitious, but I fear there would be nay use in wasting my breath,” Iain commented, as the two of them started to make their way towards the stable’s exit.

“Aye, so I did at least manage to teach ye some good values before it was too late,” Bruce chuckled.

“Ye talk to me as though I’m a hopeless case when it’s just us, but then in front of others I cannae get ye to stop parading me around like a trophy,” Iain shook his head with an amused smile.

“Aye, well there would be nay use in buttering ye up when it’s just the two of us. Ye already use ye arse as a hat, it would be nay good to go any deeper.”

It was true that Iain was in good spirits after his evening with May, and he knew that if it wasn’t for that, he would have been rather offended by the comment.

“Come on, keep up,” Bruce called behind him as he pulled out in front and started to pick up the horses pace to a gallop. Iain knew that there would be nothing more on the subject of whether or not Bruce was coming with him, so he rode on to catch up with his guardian.

They galloped up to one of the peaks on the Glenn that Iain loved. He hadn’t yet ventured up that far, and he was eager to do so to think of the memories that came with that place. It was where he would go to escape everything, even May for a short time. It was a struggle to get there by horse, but it was worth it in the end.

“What is the meaning of this early ride then?” Bruce finally broke through the silence as they reached the peak. He was breathless from wrestling with his horse which was almost as stubborn as he was.

“I just wanted to get some fresh air, ye ken, to clear my head.”

“Ye had a good evening?” Bruce asked. Iain understood the worry in his tone, he was concerned that something had already gone wrong in his marriage.

“Aye, it was... perfect,” Iain admitted.

“Then why dae ye feel the need to be out here right now? Should ye nae be welcoming in the new day with yer new wife?”