She leaned closer, desperately needing to feel his mouth against hers after everything they had been through, but he surprised her by standing up. He reached into his pocket and pulled something out, holding it tightly in his fist. Then Bridei, bold and proud King of the Picts, dropped to his knees in front of her. Her heart stuttered when he looked up, and she felt as if she were barely breathing. In his eyes, she could clearly see his love for her, burning bright and fierce.
“I am a king and a warrior, Nessa. I have killed thousands of men, and led still thousands more into battle. I have done none of this by being humble, or weak, or fainthearted. I have been ruthless; brutal and without mercy when I have needed to be. And Nessa, I kneel before no one. But without you, I am nothing. You are in my blood; you are the fire in my heart. I love you, my Ashta.”
He opened his hand, and in it lay a golden amulet. She sucked in a breath. It was a smaller, more feminine version of his own. He took her hand, placed the amulet in her palm, and folded her fingers closed around it.
“If you wear it, I will know that you are mine. Mine, Ashta. No one else’s.”
She squeezed her fingers shut as tears welled in her eyes. Then, without a word, she opened them again and slipped the golden chain over her head so that the amulet rested just above her breasts. “I am yours”, she barely choked out.
He growled in answer, low in his throat, a bestial sound—but she wasn’t afraid. Instead, it made her blood thrum in her veins as her body responded in a most primitive way.
“Bridei”, she said on a sob, “I need you…” And she did. She felt ungrounded, adrift in this new world and the frightening intensity of her emotions.
He was on her in an instant, taking her lips in a deep, hard kiss. “I’m here…from now on and forever, I’ll always be here. We will wed tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? So soon?”
He rolled over, pinning her beneath him. “I am an impatient man.”
She knew that wasn’t true. He had spent nearly a decade carefully and strategically uniting his kingdom. He was the very definition of patience. “No, you’re not”, she told him with a smile.
He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her forehead. “Then I am impatient only to make you mine front of all of my people and the gods.” He traced her lips with a gentle finger as he looked down at her.
“This…what is between us, I can’t begin to believe it. I have plundered hundreds of treasures. I have more gold than I could ever need. But you…you are the most precious thing I have ever known. I will never give you up, and if ever again a man even thinks of trying to take you from me, I will kill him. I do not make the same mistake twice.”
Nessa smiled. “Then we’ll be wed tomorrow.”
“Are you certain, Ashta? Once we are united by blood and by the gods, I will never let you go.”
“And you would let me go now?”
He shook his head once with certainty. “No. I would die to keep you with me.”
“Then what is the difference?”
“The difference is, that I would make you my Queen.”
Nessa had never seen so much gold in her life, let alone worn it. A gold band circled each of her arms, and another wreathed her head. The dress she wore was adorned with both gold and precious stones, as well as fine embroidery.
Beside her stood Bridei. It was the first time she had seen him in the finery of a king: a tunic embroidered with gold thread, and leggings of soft leather, also lavishly decorated. He wore a golden circlet on his head, and gold arm bands and cuffs. His dark hair was loose over his shoulders, and he looked as wild and primitive as the first day she had so unceremoniously arrived in his presence. He was the most beautiful man she had ever seen, and he was hers. Her heart squeezed tight with happiness at the thought of spending the rest of their lives together.
The Highest Priest of the land had been brought from miles away to perform the marriage, and he stood before them on the cliffs, with a ring of fires burning between them and the sea. He spoke in the old language, so Nessa had no idea what he said, but it didn't matter. She was at peace with her past and hopeful for her future. She was right where she was always meant to be.
"Hold out your hand", Bridei told her. "We must join in blood, as well as body and spirit."
The priest drew a small knife from his belt. Nessa barely felt the sharp blade pierce her palm. As the blood welled up from the cut and another on Bridei's hand, the priest took their palms and pressed them together. Their fingers slid together and clasped, and she could feel the slickness of the blood mingling in their joined palms. He looked down at her and smiled.
“Forever.”
"Forever", she echoed softly.
Bridei held out her palm to the priestess waiting nearby, and she wrapped it carefully with a clean strip of linen.
"Is that all? Are we married?"
"Almost, Ashta. Now we must each accept the marking on our skin. Then we will be wed." He reached up and touched her cheek. "I've waited all my life, hoping to find a woman worthy of such a mark. You are worthy. You love me and challenge me both. We are equals in the eyes of the gods."
Veda took Nessa by the arm, leading her away. She looked back over her shoulder at Bridei, and the love she saw in his eyes gave her courage for what she knew came next.
She lay on a mat on the floor, while the artist prepared his ink and tools. She still couldn’t believe she had agreed to this, but if she was ever going to have a tattoo, then the mark of her husband and soul mate would be her first choice. She cringed when she saw the sharp needle that would soon be piercing her skin, and Veda laughed.
“Don’t look! I promise it’s not as bad as it seems.”
Veda pulled the laces of her tunic loose and bared the area just above her left breast. A simple design was pained on her skin in black ink, and then the jabbing began. She flinched at first, but the needle moved so fast that after awhile it was more of a tingling than true pain, and she relaxed.
When at last the tattoo was finished, Nessa was led through the crowd of onlookers, back to the alter on the cliff, where Bridei was already waiting for her. The priest said a few more words in the old language, and then a cheer rose up from the people of Tallorc. Bridei leaned close so she could hear him over the happy sound.
“Now for the best part. The claiming of the bride.”
Together they turned and walked slowly towards the broch, while people cheered and tossed flowers at them. At the door of the broch, Meara took Nessa's hand in hers, squeezed it gently with a warm smile, then placed it into Bridei's.
Much later, Bridei smiled and gently drew his fingers over the still-tender mark on her chest. “I have never been happier, Ashta. Now you are truly mine.”
She looked at the freshly tattooed marking on his own chest. It was a crescent moon, which symbolized the passing of time, and across it was an ornate rope tied in a double knot, which meant the binding of two people together.
“Do you like it?” he asked her.
“I love it. It’s perfect.”
He kissed her mouth deeply before pressing his lips to her forehead. "It seems that many hundreds of years was a long time for us to find each other, but it wasn't really. Each of us only waited a short time before the fates brought us together. This is only one circle of time, Ashta. I will find you in every other one to come, as well."
Bridei stood on the steps of the broch and held up the squalling newborn to the crowd gathered there, a fierce look of pride on his face.
“My son, healthy and strong!”
The people cheered, and Bridei cradled the baby in his arms, looking down at him with such an expression of love that many of the women sighed, and a few even held back tears.
“Back to your mother now”, he murmured as he turned and went into the broch. “You’ll be hungry, I suppose.”
Nessa was in their bed, propped up on piles of soft pillows. The midwives had helped her bathe and change into fresh clothing, and though s
he looked a bit battle-worn, she was shining with a beautiful light from within. She smiled at him and reached out her arms for their son. He handed her the baby, then climbed into the bed beside them, watching as he greedily fed.
Ru trotted into the room. He sniffed delicately at the baby, then lay down beside the cradle, as if declaring himself guardian of the child. It was a job he would take seriously for many years to come.
Epilogue
Nessa looked up from where she was carefully planting tiny seeds in a long furrow of freshly turned earth. The sound of hooves pounding the earth was as familiar to her now as the hum of a car engine once was, in another lifetime. Bridei was riding towards her at top speed, a tiny figure in front of him, clutched protectively in one arm. Soon the childish laughter of delight reached her ears, and she smiled, despite her maternal worry over her two year old son on the back of a galloping stallion. She knew Bridei would never let anything happen to him, but still…
She stood as they got closer, wobbling a little because of the weight of her pregnant belly. A girl this time, if Meara was correct. Happiness flooded her at the thought.
“There’s Mama”, Bridei stopped the horse and slid off his back, bringing the wriggling toddler with him.
“Mama!” he said, and ran to Nessa. She swept him up into her arms arm kissed the top of his baby-soft head, warm with the sunshine. Her tunic slipped down with the weight of him, revealing the tattoo over her left breast. As always, she paused to marvel at the beauty of it, because it marked her as belonging to the man she loved for all of time, and through all of time, just as he belonged to her.
“And that is the story of Nessa and Bridei, your ancestors from long, long ago.” She leaned over and kissed the little girl’s forehead. “Now go to sleep.”
“But Mama, what happened next? What happened after “they lived happily ever after?”
She smiled and tucked the covers under her little chin. “Ah… they are still together and still with us now, and always will be. And one day you, too, will meet them, but not yet. Not for a long, long time.”
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