Chapter 22
Two people stood ahead of them at the edge of the king's circle. Una recognized them before they turned. She knew that jaw. She had been looking at it across the room all evening.
Cormac's father turned first. His eyes went to Una and stayed there with a direct, assessing look.
His mother turned a moment after. She looked at Una, then at her son, then at their joined hands, and arrived at a conclusion quickly.
"Son," his father said.
"Da. Ma." Cormac stopped before them. "I want ye to meet Una. My wife."
His mother inhaled sharply. His father was very still.
Then his mother said, "Ye married? Without a word, not even a letter?" She stopped and looked at Una properly. "Forgive me. I am Lorna Stewart. Apparently, I am also yer mother-in-law. Och, and ye are so bonnie! Ye're going to give me such lovely grandbairns." She hugged her immediately.
His father had not spoken yet. He looked at Una steadily and she looked back without dropping her gaze.
"Ye've got good eyes," he said finally. "Honest and clever."
"Da," Cormac said.
"And a very good set of teeth!" He moved closer, peering at her mouth.
"Da! Stop gawking at my wife's teeth."
"A man should notice these things." He extended his hand. "Alastair Stewart. Welcome to the family, lass." Then he wrapped her in a bear hug until Cormac pulled her away.
"Thank ye," Una replied, trying not to laugh.
Nessa shook her head. "I told ye they'd like ye."
Alastair chuckled. Lorna kept beaming.
"Call on me tomorrow evening," Lorna said, pressing Una's hand in both of hers. "We have a great deal to discuss."
"I would like that," Una replied, and meant it.
"We must keep moving," Cormac said, and drew her gently forward.
***
THE KING STOOD AT THE edge of the dais. He looked up as they approached and something settled in his expression.
Cormac bowed. Una curtsied.
"Your Majesty," Cormac said. "My wife. Una Stewart." He paused. "And Una, this is my friend. His Majesty, King David."
She raised her eyes. The king was looking at her with a wide grin.
"Mrs Stewart," he said quietly. "I am very pleased to finally meet ye. Shadow has told me much about ye."
Una blinked. "Thank ye, Your Majesty." She hesitated. "Ye know who he is?"
"Aye. Who do ye think Shadow works for?" The king winked.
Una turned to look at Cormac. "Shadow is the king's man?" she whispered.
"Aye, love." He held her gaze until she saw the truth of it.
And she did. So many things made sense now.
Their talk on the road, when Cormac said he only robbed nobles who deserved it and never did anything to inconvenience the king.
Because her husband was not a raider at all.
He was one of the king's men. The notorious gang intercepted and arrested. All of it in service to the crown.
"I understand ye have had an eventful week," the king said.
"A little eventful, aye," she replied. "Though I find I have no complaints about the outcome."
The king looked at her, then at Cormac, with an expression that said plainly he approved.
"Neither do I," the king said. He raised his cup. "To yer health and happiness. Both of ye."
Cormac's hand settled at the small of her back.
"Your Majesty is very kind," she said.
She curtsied. The king inclined his head. Cormac drew her back into the room and she walked beside him into the noise and the candlelight.
"I'm sorry I kept that from ye, wife," Cormac said as they made their way back to his parents. "I wanted it to be simply us before ye knew about my work for the king."
"'Tis all right. I can understand why ye held that back. I just feel a little robbed of my dream."
"What do ye mean?"
"I was getting used to the thought of raiding the countryside and living in the woods."
Cormac grinned at her. "We could still do that. Find a cozy bothy by a river and lock ourselves away for a few days."
Una's expression became somber.
"What is it?" Cormac asked.
"'Tis just that now I realize who ye really are, it seems wrong that ye married me. Ye should have a noblewoman of yer own station and—"
Cormac cut off her words with a kiss. "Never, ever think that is what I want. I want ye. Always have, from the very beginning."
She nodded as his arm tightened around her waist.
***
THEY HAD REACHED HIS parents when his mother said, "It seems the king has accepted yer marriage. This is a good thing. Perhaps now the Ruthvens will drop their petition about yer betrothal to Annag."
Cormac and Nessa both turned on her. "Mother!"
Una froze. "What betrothal?" Her voice was unsteady. "Cormac, are ye betrothed to another?"
She tried to keep the panic from her voice, but after everything she had just learned, it seemed there was one more thing he had not told her. She tried to pull away but Cormac tightened his hold.
"Una, love, I can explain. I was going to tell ye when we returned to our chambers."
His mother paled when she realized Una had not known.
His father shook his head. "Ye've done it now, Lorna."
The tension had not yet broken when a woman's voice cut through from beside them. "Well, I see ye could not wait for the petition to be finalized. Ye went ahead and got married anyway."
Cormac turned. Annag Ruthven stood with her father, both of them glaring. He was caught off guard; the king had told him they would not be in attendance tonight.
Una turned her head. The woman who had spoken was a beauty.
Regal bearing, jewels at her throat, a gown of the finest cloth.
Beside her stood an elderly gentleman with the bearing of a powerful laird.
She noted Cormac looking at the woman, and Una knew with certainty that this was the woman he should have married.
Someone so far above her own station it was not even a question. She felt very small.
Then the words fully registered. Cormac was betrothed to her. A petition was before the king. That meant Una could be cast aside. She was a nobody. A seamstress. Her breathing became shallow and she held back tears.
Cormac stiffened beside her and pulled her close.
He whispered in her ear but she heard none of it over the ringing in her ears.
Her heart was pounding. She knew, without a doubt, that everything they had was about to come apart.
She would return to her cottage and spend her life sewing for noblewomen. She would be alone again.
Her only thought was to run.
Una pulled away and turned, pushing through the crowd. She heard Cormac calling her name. Nessa too. She kept moving. She had reached the outer corridor and was mentally planning her route to Boyd MacKinnon's keep when she was hoisted straight over Cormac's shoulder.
"Oh, no ye don't. Ye stubborn woman!" he growled.
"Put me down!" she yelled.
He swatted her backside. "Haud yer wheesht! Do ye want the king to send his guards?"
She went quiet. Then she tried to bite his back.
He swatted her again. "What did I tell ye about waiting until we're naked before biting me?"
"Ye infuriating, lying cur!" she snapped.
***
THEY BICKERED AND ARGUED the entire way back to their rooms. Cormac marched her into their bedchamber, closed the door, and tossed her unceremoniously onto the bed. He followed her down, caging her within his arms.
"Now listen here, wife. And listen well. The next time ye try to run away from me, I will bend ye over my knee and give ye a good spanking. Then I'll tie ye to our bed for a week and make love to ye until ye stop thinking of leaving me every time something happens that ye dinnae like!"
He moved off her and stood, pacing, running his fingers through his hair.
She sat up. Her dress was crumpled, her hair askew, and she did not care.
"Ye better explain yerself, husband. Are ye as good as wed to another?"
"No. I was betrothed against my will and unknowingly. I left before the full brunt of the news reached me."
"So the king will decree that ye must wed her because she is the daughter of a nobleman and I am just—"
"Dinnae finish that sentence!" He scowled. "Ye are my wife and I will murder anyone who says otherwise."
"But Cormac, she is very bonnie and her father is a powerful laird. It makes sense that ye should be together."
Cormac sat on the bed. He lifted her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her.
"Hush, love. Ye are the bonniest woman I have ever met. 'Tis only ye I want as my wife. No one else."
"But what if the king agrees? I'll have to return to my village. Perhaps ye should send a missive to Boyd MacKinnon. Ask him to escort me home."
"Over my dead body! Yer home is with me. Una Stewart, are ye trying to get rid of me? Do ye not want me as yer husband?"
"Of course I do. 'Tis just... do ye love her? This Annag lass?"
"Devil take it, ye are the most infuriating wench I have ever married! No, I never loved her. I hardly know her. We met once and it was not to my liking. She is not someone I would want to spend my life with, and 'tis not worth thinking on because we are married and that is the end of it."
"But the king—"
"The king still needs to hear the petition. But it will not succeed."
"How do ye know this?"
"Because he told me so. The Ruthvens were not even supposed to be in attendance tonight."
"What if he is pressured to allow it? No, we cannot do this. It would be adultery and the church would frown upon it. I would frown upon it. Ye are a married man."
"Aye, to ye! In front of a priest, if ye recall."
"I do recall. I was there against my will." She paused. "Besides, there is more to it."
"What do ye mean?"
"Ye are not only heir to a powerful lairdship, ye are the Shadow, the king's man, of noble blood, wealthy beyond reason. Ye deserve a wife of good breeding, from a strong clan, one who can make ye even more powerful. I think if the king does not grant the petition, I shall seek an annulment."
Una felt the temperature in the room drop before she looked at Cormac. When she did, she saw he was furious.
"So let me understand this," he said. "When ye thought I was just a poor raider with little to offer ye beyond sewing thread and a cottage in the woods, it was all right to be married to me."
"Aye."
"But now that ye discover I have wealth and power and the ability to lavish ye with anything ye need, ye want the marriage annulled."
"Aye. Because ye tricked me! Ye made me believe ye needed me. That I could be of some use to ye. But I have nothing to offer ye now that ye are so wealthy."
He studied her for a long moment. Then his expression softened and his face split into a wide grin.
"Una Stewart, ye are the most contrary woman I have ever met. Trust me, mo leannan, I have great need of ye, and I am not letting ye go, no matter how daft yer reasoning."
He kissed her then. Long, hard, and deep.
For a moment Una forgot herself and kissed him back. Then she slapped him. "Stop it! We cannot, not until the petition is finalized. We must sleep apart."
"Like hell we are sleeping apart. Not only are we sharing this bed, but I will be demanding my husbandly rights as well."
She rolled her eyes. "Then I refuse. 'Tis a risk. I could get with bairn and then..."
A panicked look crossed her face. "What if I am already expecting?"
They both looked down. Cormac placed his large hand across her belly and rubbed it gently.
Una looked up, pale. If she were carrying his child and then was discarded.
"Never," he said firmly. "I would never abandon ye or any bairn of mine. Dinnae even think such thoughts. Though I should probably stop throwing ye over my shoulder, just to be safe."
They sat in silence for a long while, holding one another.
Until Una asked, "Cormac, why do ye want to stay married to me?"
"Because I love ye."
"Ye love me?" she whispered.
"Aye, sweeting. I have from the very first moment I set eyes on ye, trussed up like a goat in the back of that cart. Now tell me, why do ye keep trying to un-marry me?"
"Because I love ye too. So much, Cormac."
He pressed his forehead to hers. "Thank goodness. Say it again."
"I love ye, Cormac."
He closed his eyes and breathed.
"Once more."
"I love ye, husband. But I want what's best for ye."
He opened his eyes, smiled, and kissed her gently. "Then ye will know that what's best for me is you, wife. Only you."
Una nodded, feeling the truth of his words settle deep inside her. Her husband loved her. It was time she accepted it and stopped fighting it.
***