“Lass,” he whispered, just loud enough for her to hear. “Will ye wed me?”
Yes. That was the first word that ran through her thoughts. Voicing it with her mouth, however, took a bit more difficulty. It suddenly felt like her mouth was coated in sticky-sweet honey, clamping her lips closed together.
She struggled to open them, and she knew that her response came out as more of a hoarse whisper than the pretty, lilting voice she was hoping for. But she said yes all the same. She said yes once, then twice, and continued saying it, growing louder and louder.
“Yes!” she cried, gripping Beathan’s hand tightly in hers. “Yes, yes, yes!”
Beathan laughed, a relieved guffaw of laughter that shook his upper body.
“Thank God!” he muttered, and it was loud enough that the people nearest to them heard, and joined in his relieved laughter.
Soon the entire room was giggling and fidgeting excitedly.
Kirsteen saw Beathan’s head turn back to his parents, who were clapping their hands, joyful smiles on their faces.
Turning back toward her, Beathan brought his hands to Kirsteen’s face and placed a soft kiss on her lips, before picking her up in his arms and twirling her about the room.
As Blanche’s hand fell away, Kirsteen turned to look at the only mother and father she had ever really known. They looked positively incandescent with happiness for her, and Kirsteen realized that all her worries had been for naught.
“Is next week too early, lass?” Beathan asked, and she turned back to find him looking at her uncertainly.
“Next week?” she asked.
“Aye. If it’s too soon, I’ll understand, lass. I confess I’m anxious to marry ye. I want ye for me wife, ye ken.”
Kirsteen beamed at the look of hesitance on her lover’s face, but she dashed his fears away with a fervent nod of her head. “Next week is not soon enough, but then, I suppose arrangements must be made.”
“Will you be able to postpone the trip to Yorkshire?” Kirsteen asked, looking back at her parents.
“Hang Yorkshire! A wedding is a far better place for entertaining,” Fred said merrily.
“If you’ll have us, of course, Beathan,” he added, looking toward Beathan.
“I cannae think of a better group to bring laughter and joy to the union of me and me love,” he responded, and Kirsteen found herself positively glowing with joy.
A week, and she would be wed to Beathan. She could hardly wait.
Epilogue
“Oh, how beautiful you look, ma fille,” Blanche told Kirsteen as she pinned the final rose in the complicated plait she had helped Kirsteen execute earlier.
Kirsteen had been shocked when Blanche had presented her with the roses earlier that day, when they had first sat her down to fix her hair for the wedding ceremony occurring later that morning.
“It’s too late for them to bloom!” she had said with shocked glee as Blanche showed her the beautiful, pale pink blooms she had collected near the loch.
“It’s a sign, my dear. An auspicious sign. It means you will have a good, happy marriage,” Blanche had told her.
Kirsteen wasn’t sure if Blanche wasn’t just feeling overly sentimental, but she’d take the sign no matter its truth. The blooms really were lovely, and they went perfectly with the aubergine dress Kirsteen had decided to wear that day. It was a different frock to the one she’d worn that night with Beathan.
The skirt was slimmer, hugging closer to her body, and the bodice was embroidered with designs of thistles and autumnal leaves. It made her feel even more regal than the other frock, and she supposed that now, she rather was a bit more noble than before. Or at least, she would be eventually.
Kirsteen hoped that Seumas Dunn would not die for many years yet. She was only just getting to know the great man who had raised her love, but what she knew of the man, she liked already. He was kind, gentle, and easy to talk to. He loved hearing stories of her travels, and many nights over the past week, Kirsteen had left Seumas in the library with Fred, where the men talked well into the late night about all manner of things.
But one day in the distant future, when Seumas did pass, Kirsteen would be Lady Dunn. It was a position that came with responsibilities that intimidated her, but Beathan assured her that she was more than capable of ascending to the challenge.
“Ye‘re the strongest person I ken, Kirsteen. If ye can survive losing your parents, having to deal with the harridan who nearly sold yer body, and narrowly avoiding two arrow attacks, I’m well certain of your ability to take up the duties of lady of this land.”
Kirsteen loved the unerring faith that Beathan had in her. He made her feel invincible, and she could not help but believe it, not when he was so earnest in his pronouncements of her strength and power.
“Kirsteen,” Blanche said, and Kirsteen realized that she had been lost in her own thoughts while Blanhce put the finishing touches on her hair.
“I’m so sorry, Blanche. I was…”
“Thinking of Beathan? I can well imagine. For days before my wedding, all I could think of was Fred. I forgot a whole scene from one of the plays I was performing. The director at the time threatened to fire me if I did not focus!” Blanche said, laughing at the memory.
“Were you nervous?” Kirsteen asked as her stomach gave another of the flips it had been doing all morning.
“Of course! That is why I forgot my lines! It was not only that I was so in love with Fred that I could think of nothing else. I was also terribly nervous I would trip while walking to him. I walked up the aisle with my eyes turned on my shoes!”
Kirsteen laughed, relieved to know that she was not alone in her anxiety. She loved Beathan and wanted to marry him; of that she was certain. What she was less certain of was how she was going to fare during the vows. Every time she imagined professing her love for him before the vicar and the crowd of people they had invited, all Kirsteen could see was herself stuttering so badly that she was impossible to understand.
“It is all natural to be nervous, ma fille,” Blanche said, resting her hands on Kirsteen’s shoulders and looking into her eyes through the mirror. “You are marrying the love of your life. That in itself is not anything to be nervous of. But the ceremony is a performance, my dear. There are lines to memorize and a scene to create.”
“That’s a good way of thinking about it, actually,” Kirsteen realized. “I never get nervous on stage. I always know that even if I give the wrong line or miss a cue for one of my dances, I can make something up that will flow seamlessly into the plot or tune.”
“Precisely! So be confident that you can do the same today. I am sure that everything will be perfect, my dear, but if it isn’t, treat it like a play. The show must go on, and so must your wedding.”
Kirsteen smiled, feeling more relaxed than she had all morning.
“And speaking of this wedding,” Blanche said, leaning down and examining Kirsteen’s pocket watch, which was sitting on her boudoir, “we must get to the chapel, and soon! I will go find Fred, and then we will leave, hm?”
Blanche kissed Kirsteen on both cheeks, and added a peck on the forehead, which she always said was “for good luck.”
Kirsteen watched her mother bustle out of her chambers and smiled.
Blanche is right, she thought as she sat back in her chair. The marriage is what matters. And she knew, without a doubt, that her marriage to Beathan would be filled with nothing but joy.
Kirsteen looked more radiant than Beathan had thought possible. The purple in her gown made her skin glow a beautiful rose gold. Her hair was done up in a complicated style that he did not quite understand, but nevertheless looked beautiful. It was pulled back from her face, allowing the full beauty of her features to shine through.
Her eyes were gleaming with excitement, and the smile that had been pasted on her skin since she entered the church made her cheeks look deliciously plump.
They were holding hands now, and Beathan was waiting for t
he vicar to start the ceremony.
But just when the old man had cleared his throat to begin, Beathan’s saw, out of the corner of his eye, his father stand up in the pew directly behind him.
“If I might interrupt for a moment,” he said with a laugh that Beathan recognized being more out of nerves than humor.
He and Kirsteen turned and watched as his father cleared his throat and glanced down at a folded bit of paper in his hands.
He has a speech, Beathan realized, and his heart immediately warmed. For all that his father was a respectable laird, a warrior and protector, he was, at his heart, a sensitive man.
“I’ll be brief, for I ken that I am not the person ye want to be payin’ attention to, today of all days,” he joked. “But I wanted to say a few words before Beathan and Kirsteen pledge to honor each other for all their days.”
Beathan saw his father pause a moment, glancing down at his speech, before looking up and continuing, his eyes glued on Beathan’s.
“Love is a rare find, and when ye find it, ye have to hold on. I find my Malin when I was just eighteen, and never for a day do I regret makin’ her me wife,” he said, glancing over at his wife, who was sitting next to him in the pew, trying to hide the tears tracking down her face.
“I am happy to see that Beathan has found that same kind of love. It’s what I had always hoped for him, ye ken. He’s a good lad, a loyal, strong lad who will make a good laird one day. But before that happens, I think the lad deserves a few years of calm, pleasant happiness.
“A few years of raisin’ bairns,” he said, earning a few laughs from the other people in the pews, including Blanche and Fred, “and a few years of focusin’ solely on his lovely wife and their life together.”
“So, Beathan,” his father continued. “I promise to do my utmost to keep myself well, so that ye and yer lady wife can build yer life together. And what a beautiful life it’s goin’ to be, lad.
“I’m not certain of much in this world, particularly after what has happened recently,” he said, and Beathan knew he was referring to Andrew and his betrayal, “but I am certain that ye and Kirsteen will have a wonderful life. So please, proceed. I ken we’re all waitin’ to celebrate yer union.”
Beathan smiled at his father and gave him a subtle bow of the head. He would speak to him later and thank him for such a wonderful speech, but for now, he smiled, showing his father just how grateful he was for his love.
He did the same to his mother, who was laughing, though tears still fell down her cheeks.
And then, finally, Beathan turned back to his bride.
“Are ye ready, me bonnie?” he asked.
“Yes,” she nodded. “Yes, I am.”
The vicar began his ceremony, and as the autumnal sun rose to high noon over the highland hills of Castle Dunn and its surrounding area, Beathan Dunn and Kirsteen Roy were wed.
It will surprise no one that they did, as predicted by Beathan’s father, live happily ever after. And when, after a long, happy life, Seumas Dunn did finally pass, gently and in his sleep, Beathan and Kirsteen made the best laird and lady the land had ever seen. Which was of no surprise to anyone who knew them, knew their strength, their character, and, most of all, the love they had for each other.
The End
Also by Maddie MacKenna
Thank you for reading Highlander’s Untamed Bride!
* * *
I am so grateful that you are a part of my journey as a published author!
God bless you!
Maddie MacKenna
About the Author
Maddie McKenna had always been passionate about Scotland. It all started with an old picture of her grandfather wearing a kilt and a sporran. She used to look at that picture and imagine stories taking place in the mysterious Highlands...
When she visited Scotland for the very first time, it was love at first sight. Both the country’s breathtaking landscape, and the warmth and livelihood of the locals made her realize why her distinctive red hair was not the only thing that made her blend with them. She took her motherland’s memories back home to Minnesota, holding them forever in her heart while using them as an inspiration for her novels.
Maddie McKenna has a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing. She started writing articles for travel magazines but soon the romance world won her over. When she isn’t writing, Maddie loves painting and taking long walks with her hubby.
Join Maddie in the unforgettable world of brave Highlanders and their bonnie lasses—a world full of passion, intrigues and steamy lovemaking, that will make you feel like you are part of the story yourself!
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