Chapter 21 #15
Scant hours later, Ella was being bathed and fussed over in her chamber.
There seemed to be women everywhere, and Maggie couldn’t stop sobbing.
Fiona said she would get tear stains all over the lovely gown she had chosen for Ella.
They washed her with rose-scented soap, dried her off and dressed her and put flowers in her hair and finally pronounced her ready to be married; most fit to be the bride of a great laird.
Her wedding day. Strange, but although she had always assumed she would marry one day, she had never once imagined her wedding.
Nor had she ever imagined she could be this happy.
As she went down to the great hall behind her entourage, Ella felt unaccountably nervous.
It must be that everything is happening so fast, she thought.
When she saw Ceann standing there, watching her, her heart did a flip.
He looked incredibly handsome, clad in a crisp white shirt and his best dress plaid, and polished knee-high leather boots.
His hair was combed back into a neat queue, but a few silky waves escaped to frame his face, giving him an appealing roguish look.
He stepped forward and reverently took her hand, kissing it, then leading her to stand before the priest, who smiled indulgently.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a young man so eager to be wed, but then not many a bride is as lovely as you, my dear. ”
Her hands shook just a little as Ceann clasped them in his and they said their vows. She realized in that moment that these formal vows of the church were meaningless. She had been bound to this man already, and by a power much stronger.
Maggie’s loud weeping echoed in the small chapel, and Ella turned to offer the woman a smile.
Maggie gave her a wobbly smile in return and a nod, and Ella felt Ceann slip something onto her finger.
She looked down at her hand. It was golden ring, the likes of which she’d never seen before.
The wide band was carved in an intricate design, and in the center, the symbol of eternity.
She looked up at Ceann in surprise, and he smiled. “Forever, my love.”
After the wedding feast, which was remarkably elaborate considering it had been ordered at the last minute, there was music and dancing.
All of the village was there, even some people from neighboring estates.
Ethan took Ella’s arm to lead her to the dance floor.
He grinned unapologetically at Ceann. “You have won the hand of the fair maiden, but I will have the first dance.”
Ceann glowered at him, but at Ella’s smile, let them go. Ethan swept her into his arms as the spun around. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ceann rise out of his seat to come after them, but Gregor held him back with a word and a grin.
She smiled at his possessiveness. “It seems I have married a very jealous man.”
“You have married a man who has waited far too long for what you have brought him, and he has no intention of losing you.”
“Will you tell him now, Ethan? He needs to know… everything.”
“Aye, but not tonight, it can wait until tomorrow.”
“I suppose now you are my brother.” She smiled up at him and kissed his cheek. “I’m glad of that, Ethan, you are a good man.” Her smile turned devilish. “Now we will have to get you married off so that I can have the sister I’ve always wanted.”
Ethan pretended to look horrified. “Never! I am an avowed bachelor.”
“Aye, and so was my new husband.” Ella peered over his shoulder. “Watch out, Ethan.”
He turned just in time to see Ceann closing in on them with a glare. “That’s enough dancing.”
“You never were good at sharing”, Ethan groused.
Ceann scooped her up in his arms and headed for the stairs, to a cacophony of shouts and laughter. He didn’t care. No power on earth could keep him from bedding his new wife and sealing their union, and he couldn’t wait another moment to do so.
***
They lay there together in the candlelight, face to face, the lengths of their sated bodies pressing together.
He stroked her hair softly and placed a kiss on her brow.
She held up her hand, and the gold ring he had given her reflected the soft light.
“It’s beautiful. Where did you get it, on such short notice? ”
He brushed a lock of hair from her cheek. “I had it made, during the time you were at Iona’s, and I was searching for you. I knew then that when I found you, you would be my wife.”
She gave him a reproachful look. “And you were so sure I would agree to be your wife?”
He grinned wickedly at her. “Lass, I told you, I wasn’t going to give you a choice.”
She pummeled him with her fist. “Rogue! It would have served you right had I refused!”
He captured her fist and held it against his chest. “But I am your husband now.”
“Aye, you are.”
“Do you trust me, Ella?”
She trailed her fingers down his back, and slid one leg up over his. “I do.”
He cupped her chin in his hand and raised her face to his. “And so will you tell me now, everything?”
“Do you still want to know? You have already won me, heart and soul. I won’t ever leave you.”
Ceann kissed her lips, pulling the bottom one gently between his teeth. “If you ever left me, I would hunt you down, to the ends of the earth if need be, to have you back. But now I want to know everything about you. Tell me.”
She nodded slowly. “I will tell you all that is mine to tell, anyhow.” How to begin, after waiting so long?
“I grew up at Mandaine, a few days ride to the south.” She paused and looked at him.
He was watching her intently, his hand absently stroking her hip.
“My mother was a healer there, a priestess.” She felt his hand clench slightly where it rested on her body, but he waited for her to continue.
“She died when I was only three. The others took me in and raised me, and Esme especially was like a mother to me. I even called her Aunt. She taught me the healing arts.”
“You had no knowledge of your father?”
“No. No one knew who my father was, my mother never told. Esme always told me it was just meant to be, and I took her at her word. I never missed what I never had.” She turned and tucked her head into his arm, tracing small circles on his smooth chest with one finger.
“My life there was good. I was happy. But I admit I always felt there was somewhere else I was meant to be. A few days before I first met you, I was told by the… leaders… that I was to go on a quest to Tulloch. They said it was very important, and warned me well to be careful and not fail. They said I was to find a great treasure there, but they wouldn’t tell me what to look for, only that I would know when I found it.
Malcolm and Dougal left me on the trail right before you found me.
I couldn’t believe my luck when you brought me straight to Tulloch, but then I realized it had all been part of the plan.
I started looking for something that could be a treasure, but there was nothing of value to me, but you.
” She raised her hand to touch his face, tenderly.
Ceann remained silent, so she continued.
“When I was told that it was you I sought and that I would give you a great treasure, I was so relieved. I never suspected, though, that I would give you a son.”
She stopped speaking because Ceann was kissing her again.
It was time. Ethan ran his hands through his wavy brown hair as he paced the study.
It fell back loose on his shoulders in wild disarray.
Ceann had the right to know everything he himself had so recently learned; Iona had confided it all to him right before Ella had come to Tulloch.
But the telling was not going to be easy.
How to reveal to Ceann that his past was never as he thought?
That secrets had been kept and hidden, that…
the door opened, and Ceann came into the room, closing it behind him with a firm thud.
“Ethan? What is it?”
“Sit down”, he said hesitantly. “There are things I’ve learned, things that you have a right to know about.”
Ceann sat in a chair by the hearth, and looked at his friend apprehensively. “What are you talking about? What things?”
Ethan took a deep breath. Best to say it all straight out. “It has to do with the past, and with who you really are. Who I really am. Artair, he loved your mother very much, so much that there was nothing he wouldn’t have done for her.”
“Aye, that he did. My father adored her. It nearly killed him, when she died.” Now, finally, he understood that kind of love.
Ethan nodded. “I remember. I’ve never seen such grief consume a man.” He looked up at Ceann, holding his eyes. “But Aisleen wanted a child. She desperately wanted a child, and she could not bear one of her own.”
He watched as Ceann’s brows drew together in confusion, but went on before he could speak. “So he sired a child for her, that she could love and raise as her own. He gave her her heart’s desire.”
Ceann leaned forward in the chair, resting his elbows on his knees, his face shrouded in disbelief. “What do you mean? How do you know this?” He’s telling the truth. I’ve always known it, somehow. God!
Ethan took the chair next to him. “Because we have the same mother, Ceann. We’re brothers in truth, in blood.”
Ceann let his head fall forward into his palms, dragging his hands through his hair. He looked up. Hair that was the exact same shade as Ethan’s. My brother. “Iona?” he asked weakly.
“Aye. She did it for them, for your mother. I think she could see, even then, that it was all part of a greater plan, a puzzle whose pieces needed to fit, and I’m certain there is still more than she has told me.
I think that would have been the only way she could have given you up, for something bigger than all of us. ”
“I want to speak to her.”
Ethan nodded. “I will bring her.”
“Now.”