by Raina Wilde
***
On the eve of her wedding, one week later, Skye stood alone in her mother’s chambers. In the morning she was to marry some nameless, faceless man whom her father had chosen. Her father had tried to share information about her groom, but Skye was not interested in listening. She vaguely remembered that he had the largest flock of sheep on MacConaill land. He was probably a hundred years old, she guessed. Well, at least there would be no need for fur pelts with a surplus of wool, she thought with a dejected tone.
Skye sipped the glass of wine in her hand. She stared deeply into the fire and saw… nothing.
It was as if her entire future had ceased to exist. Everything that she had planned and imagined was now swept away into this life that her father had created for her. Skye turned to face her mother’s gown, which hung with prominence on the far wall.
“Is this what you’d want for me?” she asked the empty room. “I don’t think you would.” She whispered.
There was a loud rap on the door and, when Skye did not answer, it opened.
“Oh, Mistress!” the serving maid exclaimed. “Why are you not below for the celebration? The guests have begun to arrive.”
Skye drained her wineglass and stared at the woman out of the corner of her eye.
“If you married my bridegroom, he wouldn’t know the difference.” She spoke in a blunt voice.
“No, maybe not.” The maid laughed. “But he sure does seem excited to be here. Maybe you can put on a similar face?”
Skye revealed a comical grimace as she miserably feigned excitement.
“Well, mayhaps this will cheer you up.” The maid opened the door and two men carried a chest into her chamber. “It’s full of gifts from your groom. They said there was a coverlet in here. I was going to put it on your bridal bed while you were away.”
Skye made a motion for the maid to do as she pleased. The idea of her wedding night held no appeal after giving herself to Aiden. She wondered if the knowledge that she was not a virgin would bother her future husband. Skye found that she did not care.
She heard the lock of the chest click open and the maid’s gasp as she raised the lid.
“How beautiful!” The woman exclaimed. Skye could not find the desire to turn and look at whatever beautiful gifts lay inside. “Look.” The maid appeared at her side with something large draped over her arm. Skye cast a sideways glance and saw a monstrous wolf pelt stretched out beside her. The glass dropped from her hands and shattered on the floor at her feet.
“Mistress!” the maid exclaimed, moving to clear away the pieces that lay on the floor.
Skye was not paying attention; she had snatched the wolf pelt from her arm and was examining it with care. She rushed over to the chest and saw another, smaller pelt laying among the items.
“That one isn’t as nice,” the maid explained, “it’s a little tattered, but we’ll turn it into something beautiful.
“It’s from bear claws.” Skye spoke as if the torn furs were the most highly prized treasure. “Bear claws do this.”
“Hmph.” The maid grunted. “Well it’s a shame you won’t be hunting anymore because…”
But Skye never heard the rest of that sentence because she was already rushing out the door and down the staircase, the tattered scrap of fur clutched to her chest as her hopes soared through the ceiling.
When she skidded to a halt in the dining hall, she knew that she looked as frazzled as she felt. She was panting and staring through the crowd as she scanned face after face in hope that she might see Aiden amongst them.
“It’s about time that you joined us.” Her father stepped forward with an enormous grin on his face. “It’s time that you meet your groom.” His hand gestured behind him to where an elderly man at least three times her age stood with a goofy grin on his face. Skye’s hopes plummeted. She had been wrong to believe that these were Aiden’s furs. Wolf fur was a common gift for a wedding.
Her father turned to follow the line of his hand and his face broke into a poorly concealed look of false apology.
“My mistake,” he laughed. “Your husband is there.” Her father pointed over Skye’s shoulder into the hallway behind her, where Aiden stood with a guilty grin on his face.
Skye launched herself into his arms, eliciting cheers from the gathered crowd. As Aiden spun her in a circle she began to see the rest of his family slipping quietly into the room. When he set her down on her feet it felt as if the world still spun.
“Father, what happened?” she turned to ask the question but refused to release her grip around Aiden’s waist.
“Well, lass.” He laughed. “When The MacConaill tells you that your daughter is going to marry his son, it isn’t wise to argue, previous arrangements or no.” Aiden’s father chuckled from the other side of the room.
“I might have also agreed to increase our wool purchases this spring.” He turned and pointed at Greum and Catríona and then Aiden and Skye. “So, I need some bairns to clothe, do you hear?”
Cat nodded and gave a revealing wink to her husband. Skye squeeze Aiden even harder.
“So,” Aiden grasped Skye’s shoulders and looked into her eyes, “do you agree to marry me tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow?” Skye faked an angry look at her father. “I have to wait until tomorrow?”
And with laughter all around, the two families gathered together to celebrate the morrow’s nuptials and a match that could not have been better suited.
THE END
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Table of Contents
Tempted by the Alpha Billionaire
Midnight in Monaco
Forbidden Seduction
Bonus stories