Chapter Twenty-Four
Another wedding, another daughter given away.
The wedding took place a sennight later, mostly because her father didn’t want anyone thinking Elizabeth was still available.
She was most decidedly not. The day began with a heavy mist over the area, but by midday, the sun peeked out through the clouds. Her mother called up the stairs to her, “Elizabeth, are you ready yet? Your father is coming with the others.”
Elizabeth looked at her sisters and whispered, “Well? How do I look?”
“Splendid!” Maeve said.
Kyla kissed her cheek, careful not to touch her hair. Lily had come in with her daughters, Lise and Liliana, and they’d arranged her hair, entwining flowers and ribbons with the long waves that hung down her back.
“Looks much better than that creation you made at MacTear’s,” Kyla said with a grin. “How could you forget to take that out after it was all over?”
“I forgot.” She lifted her eyebrows. “I was more worried about my betrothed and whether Papa had survived the sword fight and the boiling oil than about my hair.”
Kyla’s grin widened. “Just teasing you. You look absolutely gorgeous, sister.”
Her dress was a pastel blue, the cut and color a perfect match for her. Two others would be wearing the same gown today. She looked down at one of them, reaching a hand to her. “Are you ready, daughter?”
Sabina giggled and nodded, smoothing her dress exactly as Elizabeth had.
She and Gil had decided to adopt Sabina so she’d never have any fears of losing them again.
The lassie had taken to sleeping in Elizabeth’s chamber at Grant Castle until after the wedding.
Their cottage was being worked on back at Castle Curanta.
They’d decided to add two chambers to it, hoping to fill it with another bairn before long.
They moved down the steps, Kyla and Maeve helping her with the long skirt, but she nearly came to a stop when she saw their mother in the great hall. “Mama, that color is perfect for you.”
“Just as it is on you,” her mother said with a wide smile. For she was the third person in a pastel blue gown.
Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Sabina rushed over to hug her new grandmother, giggling. When she ended the hug, she stood between mother and daughter, a look of wonder on her face.
Elizabeth knelt down and kissed her wee lassie’s cheek. “And you are lovely, as well, daughter. You have fun staying with Grandmama this eve.” Sabina giggled, the same way she did whenever Elizabeth called her daughter—which was why she did it so often.
“Aye, Mama.”
Oh, how she loved being called Mama by Sabina, a sound that was the sweetest music of all.
The door opened, so they turned around, and a gasp escaped Elizabeth at the sight that came through the door. First her father, looking splendid in his dress plaid, followed by her three brothers, Jamie, Jake, and Connor.
“All is arranged for you, lass,” her father said. “You look lovely.” He kissed her cheek, then Maddie’s. “You all do.”
Behind them came the four cousins, all in their finest: Alasdair, Alick, and Elshander, with Dyna following them in.
“You all look so wonderful,” Elizabeth said, directing her comment to her nephews and niece, but then she stepped onto her tiptoes to kiss her sire’s cheek and whisper to him how special he looked.
“We made Dyna come in last,” Alick said while Els giggled.
Dyna just smirked and waited, as if she were only allowing them to think it a victory. Knowing her canny mind, Elizabeth thought that was probably true.
“This is the way we will travel to the chapel,” her father said. “No horses, we’re walking today. So everyone may turn around, and this is the order in which we’ll travel.”
They all did as instructed, Alex, Maddie, and Elizabeth in the back. Kyla and Maeve fell in on either side of Sabina, just in front of Elizabeth. The brothers traveled in front of the women. The cousins in front of the brothers.
And in the very front? Dyna, who turned her head enough to look at the three boys and say a quick, “Hmmph.”
Jake said, “Will they never learn who the quickest is?”
Connor just laughed.
The door to the great hall was opened, held by Loki and Finlay, and they exited in order. As soon as they reached the bottom steps, a group of orphans carrying flowers surrounded their group.
All was quiet as the members of the clan lined the path, watching the group head to the chapel, mothers holding linen squares to mop up their tears.
The onlookers followed as the group continued on to the chapel in the farthest corner of the bailey.
The cousins tried to tell Dyna which way to go, but she ignored them, choosing the best route herself, judging mostly by the mass of observers.
The wedding group arrived at the chapel, and Elizabeth gasped as soon as she saw Gil.
She had to bite back tears, reminding herself that this was the happiest day of her life, not the saddest.
But he was so devastatingly handsome in his leine and Grant dress plaid that it nearly left her speechless.
Her sire and mother kissed her cheek before they found their seats inside the chapel, and the rest of the group moved to the back, leaving only Gil and Loki, and Elizabeth and Kyla in the front.
Gil held his elbow out to her and she took it, squeezing him just a wee bit, though she truly wanted to pinch herself.
Here she was, every single part of her dream coming true.
Marrying the man she adored in front of her parents and family, in front of the daughter they’d taken into their home, and soon they would move to Castle Curanta, where she and Gil would join Loki and Bella in caring for all the orphans they found.
She glanced up at her husband, and he smiled at her.
This was a familiar smile, the one that meant she shouldn’t worry about everything.
Here he was, her rock, her love, her everything.
The man who could show her the stars but help her deal with life when it turned confusing.
The man who was more grounded in his life than she was, something that was a surprise because he’d been an orphan himself, treated worse than any person should be forced to endure.
Yet here he was, stronger than anyone, the kind of person who could be counted on forever, and he’d chosen to be by her side.
And that meant more than anything.
Highland Swords
1304
The Scot’s Spy
Els and Joya
Epilogue
Maddie gives Alex instructions about their grandbairns.
Dinner ended and his grandfather stood from the table and said to John, “Are you ready, laddie?”
John laughed and jumped off the bench, his face staring up at his great-grandfather with absolute delight. “Ready, Seanair.”
Grandsire stopped next to Emmalin and asked, “May I hold Ailith for a bit?”
“Of course,” she said, handing over the smiling cherub.
The big man picked up the wee lass and said to John, “Over by the hearth. There’s a package tied with ribbons by the chair. Open it for me, please.”
Alasdair, Els, Joya, and Emmalin walked over to stand behind the man, watching John open the package.
He untied it and unfolded the fabric wrapping as carefully as a wee laddie could.
Reaching in, he pulled out a twined set of parchment paper painted in various colors, a vibrant scene of a castle on the front.
John looked up at his seanair with wide eyes. “What is it?”
Grandsire said, “’Tis a book. And you need to learn about storybooks.”
Alasdair and Els both gaped wistfully and said in unison, “Grandmama’s storybooks.”
Joya and Emmalin both broke into peals of laughter, watching the big warriors simpering over their beloved grandmother’s storybooks.
Alexander Grant turned to his grandsons and winked at them. “I have instructions from a sweet woman above.”
Then he turned to John, positioned the two siblings on his lap, and began the story of the beginning of Christmas at Clan Grant, the two bairns spellbound.