Page 58 of A Kilted Marriage of Convenience

CHAPTERTHIRTY

Aidan and his group pulled up at the inn at dusk. True to Darragh’s word, the place was still bustling with activity and the road had gotten busy as they approached. He noticed several people standing loosely in groups and identified some of them as his men. They were ready.

Aidan looked for the priest and found him at the back of the group, and he nodded when their eyes met. He was critical in this step of the plan. The priest was the one who would tell MacNeil that Aidan and Ciara were legally married. MacNeil would not be able to challenge a God’s servant openly and would have no choice but to accept.

At least this is what they hoped for.

Aidan looked to see that Ciara was still sound asleep. She had had a rough couple of days and had been through a terrible ordeal. He was grateful that she would sleep through what was to come, but he did not know how she would react to seeing her father again.

Darragh nodded to him pointedly, informing him that everything was set. Aidan’s stomach tightened in silent anticipation as he watched the road, and it was not long before the cloud of dust turned into two dozen men on horses, armed for war.

Keir MacNeil rode at the head of the column, his face contorted in fury. Aidan sat on his horse motionlessly, trying to act unbothered by the sudden appearance of his enemy. The MacNeil group slowed down and rode more cautiously toward Aidan, who was flanked by his brother and a few other men.

The road leading up to the inn had grown strangely still. Doors and windows flew open with loud creaks as heads poked out of every opening. The people nearby must have sensed the tension in the air, and the atmosphere felt almost combustible. Keir’s column flanked out to the sides, closing off the road behind them, while he proceeded alone toward Aidan.

MacNeil pulled up short a few feet from Aidan, reining his horse in easily. A pin drop would have sounded as loud as a bell with the silence on the once-busy road. Ciara’s father looked at him with an expression of disgust for a moment, then glanced down at his daughter in his arms and the expression turned to one of hot fury.

“I want her back, ye mongrel,” MacNeil said finally, grinding out the words. “I always assumed ye to be a fool, but I can see now that ye are an even bigger one than I had initially thought. I wonder what gave ye the knackers to try and rescue my lass.”

“Och, that’s simple really,” Aidan replied with a bored expression. “I was simply returning to get my wife.” He put emphasis on the word, looking sharply at MacNeil with a grin. “She clearly didnae want to be with ye, and the treatment was rather lacking, ye ken.” Aidan stroked Ciara’s head gently as she slept still.

“It is of nae concern to ye how I treat my daughter,” MacNeil said. “Besides, who dae ye think ye are? How dare ye try to take another’s betrothed!”

Aidan laughed. It was not so loud as to wake Ciara, but it was enough to anger Keir, who gripped his horse’s reins tightly.

“It seems ye didnae hear me clearly, MacNeil.” Aidan stilled his expression as he gazed hard at Keir. “I said Ciara is my wife. She is mine.”

“How could ye possibly be married to her?” MacNeil asked uncertainly. “Ye lie, scoundrel. She was with me just a few hours ago, and she was unmarried then. Now ye claim in front of all these people that she’s yer wife! Tell me, young Laird MacDonald, dae ye hope to rob me of my daughter so boldly?”

Aidan stared quietly at him for a long moment, the silence growing thick. Finally he turned to Darragh and nodded, and his brother in turn looked backward toward the priest, who had been at the back of the group. He beckoned him forward with a wave and the priest approached.

Keir’s eyes went wide with understanding as he saw the priest ride up beside Aidan. His countenance was quickly colored with angry hatred.

“To think that ye would be so desperate, lad,” Keir said in a cold voice. “Daesnae she deserve better than a hurried marriage in those rags and in a forest? Well, it is a good thing that I actually dinnae care at all. Why dae ye look surprised? Did ye truly believe that this was going to be enough to stop me? Ye must be an even bigger fool than I thought.”

“Are ye sure ye want to dae this?” Aidan asked. “Are ye sure ye want to take away another man’s wife and go against the sanctity of marriage?”

“What stupid sanctity of marriage dae ye speak of?” MacNeil roared at Aidan in anger, moving his horse slightly forward.

Darragh reacted instantly, readying his battle axe and moving to block Aidan, who set a hand on his brother’s arm, not breaking eye contact with Keir. He shook his head softly and Darragh hesitantly replaced the battle axe, watching MacNeil cautiously with a frown.

“Would ye be kind enough to say that a little louder, please?” Aidan asked in a calm, unbothered voice.

Keir looked from Aidan to Darragh in confusion. He raised a brow and watched both men. Then he seemed to notice, for the first time, the dozens of people that had built up in the crowd during his exchange with Aidan. The two groups of men were ringed by silent observers, and every ear was listening intently to every word that each man had spoken.

Awareness swept over Keir’s face, and for the second time that day, he must have realized how soundly routed he was. He looked quietly at the faces in the crowd, nodding to himself as he brought his eyes around to settle back on Aidan. Aidan had wanted the people to witness Keir MacNeil publicly be godless, and he had managed to stop himself right in time before he had made that mistake.

“This is truly a most desperate action.” MacNeil’s voice was small and meek. It had lost all the fire and fury from before, Aidan realized.

At that moment, Aidan knew it was over. He relaxed on his horse and smiled at Ciara’s father. “Well, I had to be desperate, ye see,” he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. “Given the situation, I couldnae allow ye take away the woman I love.”

“Dae ye think ye will get away with this?” MacNeil asked with hatred in his voice. “I will never let ye have my only bairn, dae ye hear me? Never!”

Aidan laughed again, throwing his head backward. “There is naething really ye can dae about it at this point, ye see.”

“I could always have another bairn, a sonthis time, and ye’ll put nae finger on my lands once I’m gone,” Keir spat back.

Aidan knew that it was all a charade. If Keir MacNeil needed another child, he would have remarried and had one already.

“We will be leaving now, MacNeil,” Aidan replied, still laughing. “If ye would like to see yer daughter again, ye could always send a request to visit her. However, whether that request will be answered is a completely different matter altogether. I bid ye farewell.”

Keir MacNeil made to respond, but Aidan simply turned his horse around, and with a wave from Darragh his entire group retreated with him.

Aidan felt himself lighten as the inn disappeared into the horizon. It was almost as if a physical weight had been lifted off his chest. He smiled and looked toward his brother, who was humming a pleasant tune to himself.

Aidan kissed Ciara gently on the cheek, and she stirred and mumbled, still sound asleep, which made him laugh. She’d not believe she had missed this.

It was over now. He would help her recover, then he would do his best to give her a life so full of wonder that she would never remember the days of scars and bruises from her past. He looked up from her face and was pleased to see that they had entered MacDonald land.

Finally.