Across a Dark Highland Shore (Hot Highlands Romance Book 2) (23 page)
Read Across a Dark Highland Shore (Hot Highlands Romance Book 2) Online
Authors: Kelly Jameson
35
The day of the wedding had come.
Leith and Isobel stood in the meadow near the Maclean chapel, next to a large oathing stone. The hills were a riot of color, and though the breeze was chilly, the sun shone high in the sky.
Villagers and clan members alike were gathered around as a grinning kirkman began to bless their union.
Isobel wore an ivory gown of crushed velvet. The front of the dress was white taffeta embroidered with a gold swirling pattern of leaves. The neckline plunged low and was trimmed in gold braiding. The sleeves were fitted to the elbow and had a matching cuff of embroidered taffeta reaching almost to her feet.
Leith looked stunning dressed in leather boots, trews, a gold saffron shirt, and the proud Maclean plaid. A glittering topaz brooch held his plaid in place, mirroring the amber of his eyes, which glimmered with gold heat as he looked at his bride. His black hair was pulled back with a topaz ribbon.
The grey-haired kirkman began to speak. “As ye know, an oath given near a stone is more binding than other oaths and that is why the bride and groom have chosen this particular stone.” The kirkman motioned to them and Leith and Isobel put their hands together on the stone as they repeated their wedding vows.
Afterward, their initials were carved in the stone and the kirkman read a Scottish blessing:
Deep peace I breathe into ye;
Oh weariness here, O ache, here!
Deep peace, a soft white dove to ye;
Deep peace, a quiet rain to ye;
Deep peace, an ebbing wave to ye!
Deep peace, red wind of the east to ye;
Deep peace, gray wind of the west to ye;
Deep peace, dark wind of the north to ye;
Deep peace, blue wind of the south to ye!
Deep peace, pure white of the moon to ye;
Deep peace, pure green of the grass to ye;
Deep peace, pure brown of the living earth to ye;
Deep peace, pure gray of the dew to ye;
Deep peace, pure blue of the sky to ye;
Deep peace of the running wave to ye;
Deep peace of the flowing air to ye;
Deep peace of the quiet Earth to ye;
Deep peace of the sleeping stone to ye;
Deep peace of the Son of Peace to ye.
“Do ye think he wishes us peace?” Leith whispered, amusement in his eyes.
“I think he does,” Isobel answered.
Leith slipped a ring on her finger and she slipped a ring on his. As was the custom, he ripped a strip from her sleeve and from his plaid, and tied them together. He leaned down and kissed her passionately. Maida sniffled. Nora, the aged Seer, beamed with joy. Even Errol was smiling.
Great cheers rose up. Leith nodded to Tomas, the fatherless boy who had a special part in the ceremony. Tomas retrieved an object from a chest that had been carried to the field. Steel glinted in the sunlight as Tomas solemnly presented a sword to Leith.
“Isobel,” Leith said, “I present ye with my beloved brother Logan’s sword, to welcome ye to my family. In time, it will be given to our firstborn son.”
Isobel wept tears of joy.
“I promise to protect ye and any children we have.” He smiled crookedly and her heart near melted. “And I pledge to love ye always.”
“Leith, I pledge to love ye always with a full heart. This circular ring ye now wear is a symbol of our love, because it has neither beginning nor end. Like our love, it is unending.”
A sound of thundering hooves shattered the stillness. Almost without thinking, Isobel turned and raised the heavy sword she now held toward the sound.
A party of riders crested the ridge and Leith’s men unsheathed and raised their swords as well.
Isobel looked to Leith.
He arched a dark brow. “MacAlister,” he called, “I see yer no’ a vera punctual man.”
“MacAlister?” Isobel said, her eyes scanning the riders.
“Stand down,” Leith barked. When his men hesitated, he said it again. “Stand down! This is a wedding, no’ a battle.”
A grandly dressed man in a red-striped plaid dismounted from a war steed and gently helped the woman in front of him do the same. They laced their hands together and came down the hill toward the bride and groom.
As they got closer, Isobel could see that the man had black hair and hazel eyes and his wife was pale-skinned and beautiful, with dark auburn hair and luminous dark eyes. She was with child.
“Kade MacAlister and….” Isobel said.
“Yea. Yer half-sister Maighdlin. Ye’ve always wanted to meet her.”
Tears threatened to spill once more from Isobel’s eyes.
“’Twas to be a surprise, their attendance as our guests, but they are fashionably late.”
Kade and Maighdlin MacAlister had reached them now. “We had a bit o’ trouble crossing one of the rivers. My apologies, Isobel.”
“Congratulations on yer wedding,” Maighdlin said, tears brimming in her own eyes. “It is so nice to meet ye finally, Isobel, sister.”
Isobel could barely speak for she was choked with emotion. “I didna think I had anyone left to call family,” she said, hugging Maighdlin fiercely.
“Let us no’ go too far in calling a
MacAlister
family,” Leith teased.
“Yer no’ going to recite any awful love poetry now, are ye Maclean?” Kade asked.
Leith looked insulted but only for a moment. Maighdlin shushed her husband, a twinkle in her eye.
“And ye can lower that sword now, Isobel,” Kade said. “I see ye’ve married a feisty one, Leith, just like my wife.”
Isobel blushed and Tomas came to hold the sword for her. “Congratulations to ye both,” she said, “for I see yer expecting a child….”
“Yea, in another four months or so,” Maighdlin said.
“We are both vera excited to meet our son,” Kade said.
“He means to say our daughter.”
They laughed and Kade looked lovingly and possessively at his wife.
“Will ye stay for the feasting and afterward?” Isobel asked hopefully.
“Aye, and I suspect, sister, we have much to talk about.”
While the others headed back to the keep to begin the celebrating, feasting, and dancing, which would last long into the night, Leith and Isobel stayed behind. “There is something we must do,” she said.
She asked Tomas to leave Logan’s sword with them and Isobel led Leith to Logan’s tombstone, placing the sword there temporarily.
“His spirit is here,” Isobel said quietly. “I feel it. But he will leave us now, for he is at peace. His dog is with him.” Isobel laughed.
“What are ye laughing at?” Leith asked.
“He has promised no’ to haunt ye anymore.”
Leith smiled through his tears. “I dunna mind him haunting me. I miss him so much.”
Isobel wrapped her arms around him. “He misses ye too, greatly, but he is at peace now.”
As the orange ball of sun started to dip below the great mountains, they made their way back to the keep and the bustle of the great hall.
Love doesna always come to us on our own terms. We have to decide whether or no’ to accept it into our lives, to risk all for it, when it does come.
Isobel had risked all and had won the Black Wolf’s heart.
As they danced in the great hall for the first time as man and wife, Leith leaned low and whispered into her ear, his breath warm. “What happens next, little witch?”
“I dunna know. But we’ll find out together.”
In response, he kissed her possessively.
“Leith, I ne’er kent it could be like this.”
His smile was fierce and tender. “This is just the beginning, my love.”
Other Novels by Kelly Jameson Include:
DEAD ON
Available at:
http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Kelly-Jameson-ebook/dp/B005CPVZP2/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
SHARDS OF SUMMER
Available at:
SPELLBOUND
Available at:
TO TAME A ROGUE
Available at:
http://www.amazon.com/Tame-Rogue-Kelly-Jameson-ebook/dp/B006BI1IME/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
WHAT REMAINED OF KATRINA: A NOVEL OF NEW ORLEANS
Available at:
DESPERATE, DISTURBED, DERANGED, & DOUBLE-LATTÉD
(collection of short stories)
Available at:
Please visit Kelly Jameson’s author website: keljameson.com
[1]
See SPELLBOUND, Book #1
