Chapter Twenty
-DECLAN-
I could hardly believe Astrid was still here with me, given how harrowing things had been for the past few months. At one point, I was certain I was going to lose both her and my father, and on the same night, no less, but she had miraculously pulled through as he slipped away.
Now here she was in my bed, well on her way to recovery, never more beautiful as I handed her a bowl of broth and told her everything she had missed.
The first, perhaps, the most alarming.
“We received word that Norway’s King Hákon fell ill in the Orkney Isles, where he’d been overwintering before attacking again,” I revealed, pouring myself whisky, reflecting on how Astrid had said three souls would pass over when she tended her Norse warriors at the start of our journey north.
How right she had been. “And now he has passed away.”
Astrid lowered the spoon she had been lifting to her mouth, shocked. “King Hákon is dead? Truly?”
“Aye.”
“So we no longer need to worry about being invaded again?” she assumed.
“’Twill depend on who Norway appoints their next king.” I sipped my whisky. “Meanwhile, King Alexander intends to resume diplomatic talks with the Norwegians in hopes of seeing them gone from our isles once and for all.”
“And if that does not work?” she asked, even though I suspected she knew the answer.
“Then he will likely mount campaigns to take back the isles by force,” I revealed. “To that end, he has requested that once you fully recover, you begin training his warriors to fight as you do.”
“Naturally, that is what he would request,” she said softly, troubled. “And of course I will do as he wishes, praying that they never need to utilize such skills against my former countrymen.”
“I sense he means to go after those who specifically supported King Hákon’s efforts,” I made clear.
“And allow those who did not support him and wish to remain in the isles, to do so peacefully.” I gave her hand a little squeeze.
“I believe he’s hoping to have your help on that front as well if ‘twould please you.”
“It would.” She nodded, relief flashing in her eyes. “A great deal, actually.”
“I thought it might,” I said, glad to see her finally eating. “King Alexander will likely return in early spring to further discuss things with you. Until then, he has one more request of you, if ‘twould suit you.”
She tilted her head in question. “And what would that be?”
“That you be married to Clan Mackay’s chieftain by then so that his men see a unified force,” I revealed softly. “So that they see you married to one of their own.”
“Did he really?” she said just as softly, her surprised yet loving gaze on my face as she lowered her bowl and swallowed hard, undoubtedly as relieved to hear that as I was. “You are quite certain? Despite how I was supposed to marry your father?”
“Aye.” After setting aside her bowl for a moment lest it tip, I wrapped my fingers with hers. “From what I took of my discussions with the king whilst journeying north, I dinnae think he ever intended to let you marry Da. ‘Twas always only ever going to be Gustav or me.”
“And he chose you in the end,” she deduced softly. “Because the king figured out Gustav was not truly supporting his cause to keep peace on these shores.”
“Aye, that’s right, thanks to you, lass,” I revealed, sharing everything that had happened after she’d passed out in the tavern. “Had those slain and verra much traitorous Scotsmen not been looked at further, King Alexander might never have known.” I shook my head. “We got verra lucky in all this.”
“It seems we did.” She offered me a soft, knowing smile. “Of course, I will see through marrying the Mackay laird if ‘twould please my king.” Tears welled in her eyes. “And as soon as possible, at that.”
“I cannae tell you how happy I am to hear that,” I murmured, wiping away a tear that slipped down her cheek and brushing my lips across hers before giving her the bowl, lest our kiss deepen, and I lose control.
Lest I finally give in to my desperate need to feel her soft skin against mine again.
“Then best you eat and regain your strength swiftly, aye?”
“Aye,” she agreed and resumed eating, looking at me curiously. “And what of Stewart? Was he as lucky as we were in all this?”
“I would say so, given how much time he spends in your old cottage with Florie these days,” I revealed, unable to help a smile. “Most nights, in fact.”
“Lucky indeed, then,” she exclaimed, meeting my smile.
“Aye, when we first returned, she embraced him heartily before worrying over you for weeks to come,” I said.
“Whilst I saw after the clan and spent what time I could spare with you and Da, Stewart did his best to assist me on all fronts whilst looking after Florie.” Shaking my head, I frowned.
“’Twas a harrowing time for her, especially, rarely sleeping, but she kept you with us on several occasions when we thought you lost.” I tilted my head and considered it.
“And I think Stewart kept her going through that, making sure she ate and rested when she could.”
“’Tis good.” Astrid swallowed a bite of stew. “More often than not, the healer forgets to take care of themselves.”
“I wish now that I had seen after you when you cared for Soren,” I said softly, reflecting on all the anger I’d had in my heart at that time. “’Twas poor of me not to, and I am sorry, lass.”
“You need not be,” she said just as softly.
“You had no way of knowing or truly understanding at the time. The Norse had just invaded your country, and then you were asked to do so very much for the enemy.” She squeezed my hand in reassurance.
“All that is behind us now, though. We have turned a new page, my love, so let us not look backward but forward.” Doing just that, she gazed at me in question, returning to our previous subject.
“And mayhap going forward might very well mean a dual wedding?”
“Mayhap,” I murmured, liking the idea a great deal. “I will suggest it to Stewart and see what he says. It could be they dinnae want to marry.”
“And what of our clan?” Her eyebrows edged together. “How do they feel about my marrying you when I was supposed to have married their beloved former chieftain? Or do they not know yet?”
“They know,” I said. “I was honest with them about our king’s request after Da died, and they seemed to understand, if not take pride in the idea.
” Proud of her, I couldn’t help a small smile.
“After all, ‘tis not every day their chieftain marries a renowned shield-maiden advocating for peace who is not just considered a good friend to their king but intends to help train his armies.”
“Nay, I suppose not,” she conceded. “However contradictory my roles may be.”
“Yet roles that allow you to promote peace,” I reminded. “Whilst preparing our people to defend themselves better. Fight better. ‘Tis much needed in a country that others so often think to conquer.”
“You make a good point, husband,” she murmured, managing a small smile. “Or, should I say, soon-to-be husband, as far as the king knows.”
“And I cannae wait for the moment,” I said, never meaning anything more.
As it turned out, Astrid was right to ask about a dual wedding, because, ironically, Stewart had informed me before I had a chance to ask him that he and Florie intended to marry. Better still, when I told them of Astrid’s suggestion, they agreed it was a sound idea.
So it was after Astrid had healed enough that we finally married, not in secret, but before the whole clan in the great hall with snow falling softly outside. Our clan had decorated everything with festive bows and holly, and the pipes trilled as everyone gathered around the four of us.
This time, Astrid wore a white dress with flowers on it, with the Mackay plaid tucked here and there proudly, and her shimmering honey-blond locks cascading around her shoulders.
Her Norsemen stood nearby, as did Oksana, while her pups raced every which way, having great fun.
As we once again exchanged our vows and bound our wrists before the fire, I knew that, like me, she thought of the first time we had done this.
The beloved presence of my father.
How far we had come since those hasty stolen moments.
That feeling of gazing into each other’s eyes and the world fading away just as it did now, as our marriage was finally, at last, known by all.
This go around, however, I could do as I’d wanted to last time and kiss her.
So I cupped her cheek and did just that, as though it were our first time, as to others it very well could be, should be, never so grateful that our secrets were behind us and our love could blossom out in the open.
Clearly of the same mind, Stewart did the same to Florie, and all were officially wedded to many a cheer of goodwill.
Though Astrid and I had to act the part of a couple who were new to one another in a marriage of convenience, it was a lovely eve of celebration and merriment before I finally slipped away with my wee wife, eager to hold her in my arms again.
Ravish her again after all this time. Feel her soft, willing flesh. Hear her soft moans.
Best of all, though, I was eager to fill her with my seed without fear of repercussion and experience all the joy I’d heard came with watching one’s lass swell with their first wee bairn.
So the moment our chamber door shut behind us, I swept her up in my arms and carried her to bed. Warm and welcoming for our marital night, a fire crackled on our chamber’s hearth, festive decorations were strewn about, and snacks and drinks awaited us.
Yet all we saw was one another.
Though desperate to take her as swiftly as I had in the northern woodlands, this moment was too precious. Too memorable to be done in haste.
This was our true wedding night, and I would ensure she felt cherished.
I would have her feel all the moments I feared might have been lost to us if she’d slipped away when the fevers took her.
To that end, I slowly undressed her, kissing every bit of flesh exposed in the wake of her clothing.
Every soft, tender, perfect piece of her body, dropping gentle kisses on the scar left by her wound.
By the time I was done tasting everything she had to offer, she was writhing and arching in pleasure, and I was aching with so much need for her it had become painful.
“Come to me, husband,” she groaned, basking in one afterglow after another. Her half-mast gaze drifted as she took on a sultry, demanding tone I rather liked. “Take off your clothes and let me see you. Let me see what belongs to me now. What will please me until we breathe our last breath.”
“As you wish, wife,” I murmured obediently, tossing aside my clothing bit by bit, our eyes holding the entire time until I undressed. She took her time admiring me, her gaze sliding down my nude form before lingering on my painfully hard arousal.
Breathing just as heavily as I, entrenched in our need for one another, she urged me to come over her and welcomed me between her thighs.
From that point onward, we were lost to each other, in one another, our kisses hot, long, and passionate, before I finally thrust deep inside her, and we both groaned at the blazing pleasure of it.
After that, we rediscovered an untouchable ecstasy that only escalated as we moved together, wrapped up in one another’s arms, driving toward a peak that came far too fast this first time reuniting, but there was no helping it.
When she cried out in pleasure mere minutes later, I pressed deep, released a ragged moan, and poured myself inside her.
And it did not stop that night, nor any to follow, as we began our future together and walked the path our fates had led us down, only ever falling deeper in love and welcoming our first son, Lachlann, nine months later.
Although the years ahead were uncertain as Astrid helped train our armies and might very well face her sisters on the battlefield, Scotland had gained great things with my lass.
I had achieved great things by releasing the hatred in my heart and finding not just a true ally in the enemy but a promising future.
And so it was, a Norse shield-maiden determined to bring peace fell in love with a fierce Scottish warrior who had long reaped vengeance, and bright new beginnings, soon to be free of foreign rule, finally, at last, washed up on Scotland’s shores.
The End