Chapter 30
CHAPTER 30
Beset with strong headwinds, the ship’s arrival in Ayr was slightly delayed. Not enough to make a difference, really, but enough for Aidan to enjoy the time he wouldn’t have otherwise had with Grey and Callum. While all grown men now, in the confines of the cabin they shared, their reversion to boyhood rank prevailed. Their laughter caused a ruckus too, resulting in more than one crew member pounding upon the door or even a wall, so they’d cease their antics. They took it all in stride, however, and as they disembarked the ship, everyone acted as if it had never happened at all.
After mooring the ship, they disembarked to shore where Rhys and Ronan were waiting, and a cheerful round of greetings was exchanged. After checking with Captain John and what remained of Grey’s ship, now hoisted from the water, the group headed to Glenn’s to gather horses and be on their way. The Fitzgerald property was only a day’s ride from Ayr, one that was completed with ease. By the time they’d dealt with the men who’d been involved in the ambush—also an easy feat, it turned out—the only matter remaining was that of Judith herself.
The five of them—Aidan, Callum, Grey, Ronan, and Rhys—stood now in the keep, facing Judith and two of her remaining family members, an aunt and uncle who both appeared relieved to be rid of Gil and Nigel. Although the Judith matter—or the betrothal that never was—was truly not his affair to sort out, Aidan did so anyway, hoping in return someone would have the character to do the same for him one day. However, while Judith appeared grateful to not be cast into the same lot as her brothers, it was clear that marriage had not been on her mind. Still, after some discussion, she admitted that she realized its importance, especially now with her father gone. And, in light of her brothers’ heinous actions, she acquiesced that she might have trouble finding a suitable match—although she still did so somewhat reluctantly.
As the group discussed how to best go about a quiet inquiry into prospects, Aidan noticed Rhys paying particular attention to Judith, his eyes looking almost nowhere but at her. Judith either didn’t notice (though Aidan thought that was unlikely), or she was ambivalent about his attention. A plan began to form in his mind—one that proved unnecessary when Rhys abruptly spoke up.
“I’ll marry her,” he said, with all the seriousness of one who’d come to the conclusion he was in the presence of his would-be bride. That Rhys made this all-important declaration so firmly while at the same time gazing warmly upon Judith said it all.
They all turned to Rhys, and by the looks on everyone’s faces, no one had predicted that outcome, and yet no one seemed to be particularly surprised either. Judith, for her part, had blushed a deep crimson but did not seem in any way opposed to the union. Rhys gave nothing away, though Aidan knew this was his style—he’d lost many a game to Rhys when they were boys due to his brother’s ability to keep a solemn face. Callum broke the moment with an unnecessary, but wholly expected, “Be sure it’s sanctified.”
While Judith and her aunt and uncle spoke between them on the merits of such an alliance, Aidan knew they would agree, especially given how Judith was regarding Rhys with bemused curiosity.
Now it was Aidan who had to suppress a smile when Rhys spoke again.
“Have you a priest among you?” his brother asked.
When the Fitzgerald family made it clear that they did not, Rhys expressed his wish to be wed by Father Michael, unless there were any objections. Frankly, Aidan had one, but only because he wished to return to Brianna posthaste, and Father Michael at the ready, his ready, and a wedding, no matter how quickly thrown together, including the summoning of said priest would add time.
In the end, Aidan and his brethren made the most of their delay, helping the Fitzgeralds sort through some affairs and put things in order once again. It was the least they could do, for after all, they had benefitted from their original alliance, which had allowed them to cross their land to build Abersoch. As well, Lachlan and their fathers would have wished them to roll up their sleeves, so to speak, and help in any case.
Nearly a full week later, Aidan was grateful to be back in Ayr. He hadn’t wanted to say goodbye to Rhys or to Ronan, who both had matters to attend to, but he was eager to return to Brianna. They had just returned their horses to Glenn and were ready to board their ship to return home. Well not home exactly, but Seagrave—or was it Dunhill? He chuckled because it truly mattered naught. Brianna could be on the moon and he’d fetch her, no matter the price—at that thought, Aidan stumbled. He caught himself, then peered around to see if anyone had noticed, and saw his brethren casting odd looks his way. No matter , surely if they knew what had just crossed his mind, they would understand. He continued his inventory of the area and caught sight of a woman just out of view several yards away. Heart thumping, he strode in her direction, picking up the pace the closer he got. If not for the quick thinking and strong-arming of his brethren, he would have succeeded in charging her, and mayhap taking her to the ground.
“Not a smooth one!” Aidan shouted at Esmerelda when he finally stood before her, Callum and Greylen each pulling him back. “ The path ahead is not a smooth one, say you!”
She remained still, save a flicker in her eyes.
“I nearly lost her—to the hands of death!” Aidan’s voice cracked as he said the words aloud. “And now… still , I fear she will be lost to me and beyond my reach!” he went on, surprised the words spilled forth.
“And you think this is your fate, Aidan Sinclair?”
Her words were a blow, feeding into his worst fear.
“ Is it ?” He balled his hands into fists at her vague reply. “My time with Brianna, this …was for naught?”
His vision started to blur as emotion swelled in his eyes, and if not for the tone in Esmerelda’s voice when she answered, he would have thought her words were nothing more than another of her frustratingly veiled messages.
“True love, true , always requires a price,” she said, looking at each of them in turn.
Aidan was not satisfied with her cryptic answer. “If you knew what this…what it felt like, you’d not meddle so.”
She stepped closer, and Aidan flinched but did not retreat. Let her, or whomever she served strike him down if it be so. But when she reached out and took his face in her hands, it was not wrath he found in her eyes, but empathy and compassion, bottomless in its depth.
“I’m so very sorry,” she said with such sincerity that his anger dissipated in an instant, leaving him wholly raw and exposed. “If I could take this from you, I would.”
He knew she meant it because he now saw that she carried her own pain, too.
“I love her—with my entire heart and all that I am .” The emotion spilled to his cheeks with the weight of the words that he spoke, holding the depth of his fear.
She nodded, “Aye. And she you. You are each other’s match after all.”
Slightly bolstered by this, Aidan found the strength to ask the thing he most feared: “Will I lose her?”
“True love is never lost, Aidan. You’ll always know each other, and recognize each other, whether you wake up beside one another each day until your last, or if you meet again in another form or another time. And if these past weeks are all you’ll ever share, one day you’ll know: True love is always victorious, and always worth the price. You gave her wings to fly, and do what she must. You love her for who she is, without conditions, none, which is quite a feat for a man of your … temperament. You empowered her, and in that moment set her free?—”
Aidan could hear no more. “I don’t want her free,” he said, rather ashamed to admit it. He thought of Lachlan and what it must have taken to walk away from Ella. He was not so strong. But then…it pained him to realize it, but he supposed never knowing Brianna would have been worse than having her even for the short time they’d been together. Still, he ached at the thought that it was even a possibility .
“Why…why do you do this, meddle so?”
She shook her head. “I understand why you and your brethren might think so, but please trust that I know your pain and that I try to be as helpful as the Fates will allow.”
Aidan clutched her hands, and her eyes widened in surprise. “I beg you,” he said, watching her eyes brim with tears now. “Could you be of aid now ?”
She nodded and grasped his hands. “What you seek has been here—with her—all along.”