“It’s so sudden,” she said. It was one thing to talk about marrying him but now with that decision right in front of her, she was uncertain if it was the wise or right thing to do.
“Aye, it is sudden, but it’s necessary. I never thought to wed, but I will gladly wed to see you safe, Purity.”
“I don’t want you to sacrifice yourself for me,” she snapped, annoyed that he married her out of a duty he felt necessary to uphold.
“It is no sacrifice. I do this willingly.”
Her most precious dream and worst nightmare were colliding. She had often imagined becoming his wife and sharing a life with him and she had had nightmares of being forced to wed out of duty. How could she ever reconcile the two?
He stepped close to her, cupping her face in his hand, his long fingers spreading along her cheek and under her jaw as his thumb grazed her lips. She silently cursed herself for going weak in the legs when he touched her with a tender intimacy.
“I know this isn’t what either of us wanted, but we both know it’s necessary. I will tell you as often as you need to hear it—I will be a good husband to you. I will always be there for you. I will always protect you.”
It was reasonable under the circumstances. She couldn’t argue that. But she also didn’t want to be trapped in a situation that might not prove necessary. “When we return home if all is well and our marriage proves unnecessary will you agree to dissolve it?”
“No,” he said without hesitation and to her surprise. “If we don’t consummate our vows and seal our union then it can be easily nullified, leaving you vulnerable. I won’t chance that.”
This all had to be a dream and she would wake up and be what? Happy or disappointed to find she didn’t have a chance to wed Arran Mackinnon?
Disappointed.
Her answer made her decision easy. “Let us wed and be done with it.”
Arran stole a gentle kiss, then whispered, “Not done, just beginning.”
Brother Noble kept his distance as he coughed, gasped, and struggled his way through joining them together as husband and wife. And while Purity didn’t understand most of what Brother Noble had said—or she was still too shocked to understand him—she clearly heard him say, “And with God’s good grace and blessing I join you as husband and wife.”
“Thank you, Brother Noble,” Purity said when it was done, familiar with the leper since he had passed this way a few times.
“It is my pleasure and may I wish you both many bairns and many happy years together,” Brother Noble said with a raspy struggle. “Now I must go. Stay safe.”
“You as well, Brother Noble,” Arran said.
Purity stood there glancing around. Princess laid stretched out on the ground in a spot that caught the sun and King was curled in a ball sleeping close by him. The birds twittered in the trees, a light breeze rustled the colorful autumn leaves, sending some of them drifting to the ground. Nothing had changed and yet everything had changed.
“Are you all right, wife?” Arran asked, the name falling easily from his lips and, oddly, liking how it sounded.
“It’s no different,” she said with a touch of sorrow.
He stepped closer and reached out, running his hand slowly down her cheek. “Everything is different—you, me, our families. Nothing is the same as it had once been. We start anew. We have no choice.”
He was right, but that didn’t make it any easier to accept.
“Has Princess’s paw healed enough to walk?” he asked.
“Why? You want us to leave?” she asked, not ready yet. She needed time to digest that she was Arran’s wife.
“No, we’ll remain here a few more days. But my hunting excursion was a dismal failure and I thought we’d all go to catch fish.” He looked up. “The sky is clear. There is an unusually warm breeze and who knows how long both will last. We should take advantage of it while we can.”
“I’d like that,” she said, thinking this might work. They could actually be a family.
“Good,” he said and leaned down to give her a quick kiss, then he turned to the animals. “Come on, King, Princess, we’re going fishing.”
Purity sat by the edge of the water, Arran beside her, and King looking none too happy that no one was fishing. She was glad they didn’t rush. She enjoyed sitting quietly beside him, listening to the water cascade over the rocks, letting the pungent scent of the woods tickle her nose, and letting her eyes linger on the beauty of the area.
“You’ll miss this,” he said.
“Is it that obvious?” she asked with a soft chuckle. “I’ve always been partial to the woods. It was and still is a sanctuary to me, a place that offers comfort.”