Epilogue
ONE MONTH LATER
Alaird’s wedding, of course, was a huge event. Nobody would miss it. Not a single one of the invitations that had been sent out was turned down.
As a result, Calder Castle was crammed to the brim.
There’d been a few queries, a few fellow lairds—like Laird Ainsley—asking why the wedding celebration was taking place at Calder Castle, instead of MacBain Castle.
They accepted Lucas’s rough explanation, at least.
The feast took place in the Great Hall, the largest room in Calder Castle.
Long, scrubbed wooden tables dominated the space, laden with food.
Roast meats of all varieties sat on wide dishes, swimming in gravy and juices.
Bowls of vegetables prepared in every way a person could think of were placed carefully between them.
Roasted, boiled, stewed, glazed, with a few bits of greenery and lettuce served raw.
Cheese, cold meats, jellies, cakes, custards, puddings, and more made sure that barely an inch of table space was visible.
There was more food than anybody could eat, even their extensive guest list. There’d be no waste, though. The servants could have the leftovers—they’d already been told to reserve some dishes for their own supper—and the rest would go to the poor.
When Calder Castle hosted a feast, the surrounding villages ate well. Aiden had promised them that.
Bread trenchers were plentiful, perfect for mopping up the gravy. People crowded in on low benches, talking and laughing, eating and drinking. Servants weaved through the crowds with jugs of wine and ale. And, of course, whiskey.
A hand landed heavily on Aiden’s shoulder, appearing from behind his high-back chair. He glanced up to find Lucas hovering over him with a grin.
“Ye are a married man, then,” he observed.
“The ceremony passed in a blur,” Aiden confessed. “I scarcely remember any of it.”
“I certainly hope ye werenae drunk.”
He scoffed. “I am nae. I saved meself to get drunk tonight.”
“Romantic.”
“Daenae worry, Hannah is doing the very same. Where is she, by the way?”
Lucas chuckled. “Freshly married, and ye have already lost yer bride? She is dancing, man.”
Aiden felt a smile creep onto his face. The ceremony had gone by in a rush.
It was a small and intimate wedding, with only a handful of guests.
Hannah had insisted on inviting Duncan, which he wasn’t very thrilled about, but then the man was her friend.
Besides, he hadn’t actually asked her to marry him after all.
The cèilidh part of the celebration was at the other end of the hall.
Musicians gathered on a low platform. There were several fiddlers, a small woman with a very large harp, pipers of course, and a boy with a hollow drum.
Together, they were playing a jaunty, thrilling tune that made Aiden tap his foot, wanting to dance.
Couples thronged together on the dance floor, but there were singles dancing, too. Hannah was one of those. She and her sister danced nearby, spinning around, hair flying loose, skirts swinging out around them.
Leaning against the wall, safely away from the crowd, Aiden watched with a smile.
Hannah laughed, saying something to her sister that he could not hear, and spun in a tight circle, her arms held up above her head.
Her hair had been let down for their wedding, carefully braided with wildflowers and leaves. It was tangled by now, but that didn’t seem to bother her. Her dress was a pale green, made especially for the wedding, and embroidered with white flowers around the hem and cuffs.
Violet wore a plain yellow gown, but she had flowers braided in her hair, too. That had been Hannah’s idea, as her sister was the one who’d walked her down the aisle. Lucas had offered to do it, but Hannah had been insistent.
“It is me and me sister,” she’d said firmly. “We’ll go together.”
Violet would come to Calder Castle, of course. She hadn’t quite recovered from the shock of seeing Aiden and Hannah curled up in bed together that first evening, almost a month ago, but she had taken to affectionately calling Aiden ‘Braither.’
He found that he liked it.
A familiar voice caught his attention, and he glanced over his shoulder to find Duncan standing nearby. His entire attention was fixed on a plump, red-cheeked maid in a gray dress, clutching a jug of wine to her chest.
“Just a wee dance,” he was saying, smiling hopefully. “Just a moment.”
The maid looked crestfallen. “I cannae, sir. I am working, ye see. I have to serve the wine, and if I’m caught dancing with the guests…”
Aiden strode over to them.
The maid paled, dropping into a curtsey. “I wasnae slacking, me Laird,” she blurted.
“Didnae think that ye were,” he assured evenly. Glancing at Duncan, he lifted his eyebrows. “Ye want to dance with this lass? It’s Daisy, is it nae?”
Daisy reddened and dropped into another curtsey. “Aye, me Laird. It is.”
He cocked his head. “And do ye want to dance with him?”
Daisy blinked, taken aback. “I… I cannae. I am working.”
“So ye are. But that’s nae what I asked. Do ye want to dance with him? Speak honestly, now.”
Daisy’s gaze slipped past him to Duncan, and she smiled shyly. “Aye, me Laird. I do.”
Aiden let out a long sigh, closing his eyes and rolling his neck. It was incredible how tiring one’s wedding day could be.
“Then why daenae ye take a wee break, lass. Go. Have a dance. Eat some food. Return to yer duties in about half an hour. If the steward or any other servant berates ye, tell them to take it up with me.”
“Really?” Daisy and Duncan asked at the same time. Duncan certainly looked more incredulous than the maid.
“Aye,” Aiden sighed again. “Go on, then.”
Daisy beamed with delight. Setting aside the jug, she seized Duncan’s hand and all but dragged him onto the dance floor. Aiden pursed his lips to hold back a smile, watching them curiously.
And then, quite without warning, Hannah appeared beside him. She was out of breath from the dance, the flowers half-falling out of her hair. If he turned his head even just a little, he would smell the delicious, fresh scent.
“See how Duncan looks at that wee plump maid?” She chuckled. “Did ye ever see him look at me like that?”
Aiden sighed. “Nae that I can recall.”
“See? All that lovely jealousy, wasted,” she teased. “I am nae Duncan’s type. He likes plump, buxom lassies. Short ones. Nae me.”
“Aye, aye, very well,” Aiden conceded, turning to face her.
Slipping an arm around his waist, he pulled her to him. They were close enough for a kiss, but Hannah tipped her head back, lips just out of his reach. The slow smile on her face told him that she was teasing him.
“Wee wretch,” he breathed.
She giggled. “We cannae get distracted yet. Ye have one more toast to make, remember?”
“Oh, aye. How could I forget? Then we slip off upstairs and let the party go on without us, aye?”
“Aye,” she confirmed, rising on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips.
Hand in hand, the pair moved over to the feasting table. Clambering onto the Laird’s chair, Aiden caught the eyes of the musicians and gestured for them to stop. The music slowed to a halt, and so did the dancing. Faces turned his way inquisitively.
There was Daisy and Duncan, dancing too closely together for propriety.
Violet stood hand in hand with a dark-haired man.
Lucas prowled around the dance floor, ever watchful.
A red-haired lass trotted after him, chattering.
She might just be a friend, of course, but by Aiden’s reckoning, that girl was hinting at being asked to dance.
Poor lass. Lucas was all business, focused on keeping his eyes peeled for threats.
I must tell him to ease off. Relax. Eat some chicken. Have a wee dance. It’s a wedding, after all.
To his surprise, the neighboring Lairds were on the dance floor too.
Laird and Lady Ainsley stood by a pillar, shoulder to shoulder, watching the dancing contentedly.
Laird and Lady MacNairn apparently had been dancing, before leaving the floor to attend to one of their children.
And there was Laird Drummond, whispering into the ear of Lady Drummond, the two of them giggling like schoolchildren.
Glancing down, Aiden found his own Lady staring up at him, warmth and softness in her eyes. His heart swelled.
I am a lucky man.
“Ladies, Lairds, dear guests,” he boomed, when an expectant silence finally fell over the hall. “I am glad that ye could be here to celebrate our wedding. I ken there was talk in the Highlands that I’d never take a wife, so let us hope that we’ve put paid to those rumors today.”
A good-natured cheer went up, along with a smattering of applause.
Once more, Aiden glanced down at his wife. After a pause, he extended a hand. She took it, lifting an eyebrow, and clambered up beside him. There was just enough room for the two of them, towering well over the heads of the other guests. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close.
“We all love whiskey,” he continued, glancing over the crowd. A roar went up. “Aye, aye, settle down. Perhaps I am biased, but I think that Hannah’s distillery makes the best whiskey in the whole bloody world.”
Laughter and applause broke out. There were some fervent nods in the crowd, while others shouted out the names of their own favorite whiskey.
“But daenae take me word for it,” Aiden called, laughing.
He gestured to the steward hovering in one of the doorways, and a queue of servants immediately trotted out, bearing large glass bottles and small whiskey glasses carved from smooth wood.
“Here, I can offer ye a wee token of the celebration here today,” he continued.
“Each one of ye take a wee wooden cup—me initials and Hannah’s are carved on the bottom—and fill up those cups with a dram of our new whiskey.
Brand new, mind. Nae available to buy yet; this is the first time anyone besides us and the distillers has tasted it. ”
A buzz of excitement rippled through the room. People moved eagerly, helping themselves to a cup and a dram. They sipped meditatively, swirling the taste on their tongues, savoring it.
Somebody passed up a cup each to Aiden and Hannah. Aiden grinned at her, holding out his cup. She knocked hers against it.
“Slàinte Mhath,” she murmured.
He echoed the toast and drank back the whiskey in one gulp.
It was the most delicate flavor yet. Tinged with honey, lavender, and a strange undertone of sea salt, the taste and scent mingled together to create something deep, flavorful, and memorable.
A good whiskey, in short.
He swallowed it down and broke into a smile. Glancing over the crowd, he saw approving nods and gestures for the servants to return and pour another measure.
“Hannah named this whiskey,” he called, cutting through the new buzz of conversation. “We are going to call it Calder Whiskey.”
Cheers rose, mingled with laughter and a little applause.
The toast was over, and Aiden leaped nimbly down from the chair, before lifting his arms to help Hannah down. Seizing her around the waist, he set her down confidently.
“Ready to go, me love?” she whispered, eyes hot. “I have been dreaming of having ye in me bed since I saw ye waiting for me at the altar.”
“I’ve been dreaming of ye since long before that,” he murmured, lowering his head to kiss her.
She kissed him back, winding her arms around his neck and sliding her fingers into his hair. They pressed against each other, and Aiden felt heat rising delightfully in his loins.
They broke apart, Hannah’s cheeks flushed. Smiling coyly, she tugged on his hand.
“Didnae ye say something about going upstairs and leaving the party to go on without us?” she whispered.
“So I did,” he drawled. “Shall we bring a bottle of Calder Whiskey with us?”
She grinned, dimples appearing on her cheeks. “Oh, aye.”
The End?