English, Elizabeth (42 page)

"I
will not argue it with you," Kirallen said. "Not again."

Alistair
inclined his golden head with distant courtesy. "Nor will I ask it. Do
what ye must, Laird, and I will do the same."

"No!"
Malcolm cried, tugging at Alistair's sleeve. "Please—"

"I'm
sorry, lad," Alistair said. "But this is what must be. We will bear
it as best we can."

"Then
let me come with you!"

For
a moment Robert thought the man's eyes misted, but his voice was firm when he
spoke. "Nay, Malcolm. Your place is here wi' your grandfather and your
uncle." He gave the boy a quick hug and released him. Then he turned and
faced his Laird, his shoulders thrown back proudly.

"I
canna
simply let ye go," Kirallen said. "Ye understand that?"

"Aye."

The
Laird drew a deep breath. "Alistair Kirallen, ye are a banished man."

Malcolm
buried his face in his hands with a stifled sob.

"Ye
have until dawn tomorrow to quit my lands. No man or woman on my demesne may
give ye help or shelter, and all man's hands will be against ye. If slain, no
blood guilt will be claimed or gold due your kin."

Alistair
nodded, silently accepting the sentence.

"Then
take what is yours and go."

The
knight bowed slightly, then turned with a swirl of his cloak. When he reached
the door, the Laird burst out, "D'ye have need of anything,
Alistair?"

The
knight looked back and a trace of the iron pride in his face dissolved.
"Nay, Laird, I've all I need. Farewell."

Then
his eyes moved to Darnley and he smiled. "Watch your back, my lord,"
he said softly. "Watch it well. One day I'll be there."

When
he was gone the room was silent, save for the soft sound of Malcolm keening.
Jemmy put a hand on the boy's shoulder and pulled him close. Malcolm drew a
shaking breath and wiped one sleeve across his eyes.

"Let
it end here," Robert said. "Maude," he turned to his niece.
"You come with me to London for a time. John, I think you should join us.
We'll get Maude married properly and give everyone a chance to settle down.
What do you say?"

"Yes,
Father," Maude said, tugging on his arm. "Let's go. Please."

"I
don't know," Darnley said.

"I
think that my son and your brother have the right of it," Kirallen said.
"Haddon will be fine here."

"Haddon?"
Darnley said. "What say you to this?"

"I'd
like to stay," Haddon said. He looked at the doorway through which
Alistair had passed. "Now that they've sworn—"

Darnley
sighed. "All right," he said abruptly. "It's done."

Robert
drew a deep breath of relief and was about to suggest that they leave
immediately, when Jemmy spoke again.

"Not
quite," he said.

"What
d'ye mean?" Darnley asked, his face tightening
with suspicion.

"Well,
you all came here expecting a wedding, and I'd hate to disappoint you."

He
held out his hand to Alyson, who accepted it. So this was it, Sir Robert
thought. It was for this that Jemmy had enacted the entire charade here today,
nearly wrecked the peace, and seen his kinsman banished. For Alyson. Kirallen
realized it at the same moment, and his face flushed with rage.

"Jemmy,"
Alyson said, her voice shaking. "Ye cannot mean to do this."

"Why
not?" he answered lightly. "I believe that our marriage was real.
Somewhere I got the impression that you felt the same. Am I mistaken?"

Alyson
blushed to the roots of her hair. "I—well, I—"

"Ye
canna do this!" Kirallen cried. "I forbid it."

"Father,
don't upset yourself," Jemmy said. "You have what you want from me,
don't you? I'll stay here and maintain the peace. But I will not do it without
my lady at my side."

"Don't
be a fool! We've made a beginning here today, and I don't doubt that ye can see
it through. But this—it's asking too much of the clan to expect them to accept
Mistress Bowden as their lady. You'll lose all ye have gained."

"Alyson
is my wife. In time the clan will accept her. I'll see to it. But just so
there's no question after, we'll say the vows again."

Was
she
his wife? Robert wondered. It was Maude's name on the legal documents, after
all. Alyson had but stood proxy for her half sister at the ceremony. Under
English law, Maude was the one Jemmy had wed that day in the chapel.

Yet
it was to Alyson that Jemmy had said the vows, and it was she who had answered.
And the two of them had consummated the union. By the laws of Scotland, Robert
seemed to remember, that was enough to make a marriage. Either way, the vows
they were about to take meant nothing in a legal sense.

But
they meant a great deal to the two people most closely concerned. No, Robert
decided, he would not speak out and spoil their moment. If the clan was
prepared to accept the marriage as binding, then who was he to question?
Perhaps he would mention the matter to Darnley later, just in case the question
came up when Maude was wed. Or perhaps not. Why stir up a hornet's nest when no
one would ever know or care what had been done in some isolated little chapel
on the Borderlands?

As
Alyson and Jemmy took their places before the priest, Robert felt a stab of
apprehension. Legality aside, this marriage was a chancy business. Today had
been the first of many battles that lay ahead of Jemmy, and he had no doubt
that Jemmy knew it, too. Yet for Alyson's sake he was prepared fight them all.
Oh, she had been right to trust him, he thought. He must love her desperately
to risk so much.

"Now,"
Jemmy said, turning to the priest. "If you will..."

Robert
sat, a little dizzied at the speed with which matters had moved. "You mean
it this time, don't you, John?" he asked in a low voice.

"Yes,"
Darnley answered. "This one's nothing like his brother."

Robert
realized then that John was sorry that the older brother was gone, though he'd
hated him for years and in the end had killed the man himself. Oh, I have to
get back to London, he thought. For I don't understand anything in this place.

Alyson
and Jemmy stood hand-fasted before the priest as he began to read the words
that would join them forever. Robert's eye was caught by a flash of movement,
and for the first time he noticed a man and woman standing by the door. They
must have slipped in during the excitement, for he was certain they hadn't been
here earlier.

The
man was obviously a Kirallen, for he wore the clan's tartan and bore a strong
resemblance to the groom, but the woman's red-gold plaid was unfamiliar. They
made a striking pair. His darkness offset her golden beauty to perfection. When
he leaned down and spoke into her ear she hushed him sharply, though the effect
was rather spoiled by the fact that she was giggling helplessly at whatever he
was saying.

Really,
thought Robert disapprovingly, they should have a little more decorum. Then his
eyes went again to the bride and groom, for now the priest had paused in the
midst of the ceremony.

Jemmy
reached up, bending his head to twist at something in his hair. A moment later
he held out his hand, a bit of gold shining in his palm.

Alyson
looked from it to him and smiled brilliantly.

Then
the priest was done and Jemmy turned to his wife with a smile that lit him like
a flame. Catching her in his arms, he lifted her from her feet and kissed her
soundly, then set her down, though he still kept her hand firmly in his own.

In
the rather strained silence Robert moved forward.

"Let
me be the first to congratulate you," he said, kissing Alyson's cheek.
"My lady," he added with a bow. "And you, my lord."

"Thank
you, Sir Robert," she said, blushing.

And
then Robert was astonished to find Maude at his side.

"Here,"
she said, holding out something that glittered in her hand. "I gave it to
you before but you wouldn't take it. Will you now?"

"Aye.
And thank you."

Alyson
put the chain about her neck, the blue stones bright against the plain stuff of
her kirtle, and the half sisters smiled at one another. Wonder of wonders,
Robert thought, maybe there is hope for Maude after all. And then the boy
Malcolm was there, as well.

"Now
you are my aunt," he said. "I always said you were."

Robert
glanced about for the two he'd seen earlier, wondering why they didn't come and
greet the bride and groom. But they must have slipped away while he wasn't
looking, for they were nowhere to be seen.

He
forgot the matter a moment later as Kirallen stood and strode from the room
without a word to anyone.

The
time had come to leave—and quickly, before anything else happened. Robert knelt
and bade Haddon farewell. "Are you sure you want to stay here?" he
asked, rather belatedly realizing the boy had been given but little say in the
matter.

"Oh,
yes," Haddon said. "Malcolm's going to show me how to make my own
bow—and then there's a gathering up in the hills and he's promised to take
me—"

"Did
he?"

Robert
looked at the Kirallen boy, who was standing close to Alyson, smiling. So much
depended on this young man, on him and Haddon both. He felt a little shiver of
apprehension run down his back when he considered that the future of both
houses rested on their shoulders.

But
maybe—just maybe—it was possible this peace would last.

Jemmy
and Alyson walked with them to the courtyard and waited while they mounted.
Robert stopped his horse at the edge of the yard and looked back with a wave.
But neither bride nor groom saw anything but each other. With a grin the knight
turned his face toward home. Before they'd gone a mile he was wondering if his
ballad—leaving out the names, of course—might be salvaged after all.

"Well,
my lady," Jemmy said when the others were
gone, turning to her with
his brows raised.

"It
is true?" She laughed a little shakily. "Did all that really happen
or was I dreaming?"

"No,
'twas no dream—as I'm afraid you'll find soon enough."

Tomorrow
would be hard, he thought, forcing himself to smile reassuringly. Once the clan
learned what had happened this afternoon, there would be the very devil to pay.
He sighed, wondering how the knights would take the news of Alistair's
banishment. Not well, he suspected. Not well at all. And that would only be the
start of it...

Alyson
looked up at him with shining eyes and he felt a pang of remorse. For all the
clan's complaining about Lady Maude as their mistress, there were many who
would like this marriage even less. And they would find a thousand ways to make
Alyson suffer for it.

But
there was no need to spoil her happiness today. Soon enough she'd see the
hardships of the path they had chosen. Then he looked more deeply into her
crystal gaze and realized she had no illusions. She saw it all, perhaps more
clearly than he did himself.

"
'Twill be all right," she said. "You'll see."

"Aye,
it will," he answered, the words catching in his throat. "I swear it
will."

"Come
on, then, husband," she added, with a delightful teasing note in her voice
that he had never heard before. "Let's go find Robin and tell him all the
news."

"Oh,
I think Robin can wait an hour," he answered, tipping her face up to his
and laughing at the blush rising to her cheeks.

"As
you will, my lord," she said, casting her eyes down demurely.

"No,
as
you
will, my sweet lady," he answered, catching her against him
and kissing her, feeling the heat rise in his body as he remembered the silken
brush of her skin against his own.

"Oh,
then we'll see Robin," she said and he drew back, a little disappointed
that even now she would put her brother first.

She
glanced up through her lashes and smiled, raising herself on tiptoe to whisper
in his ear. "For an hour won't be near enough, you know."

"How
true," Jemmy said, smiling down into her upturned face. "You're wise
as well as bonny, lady."

Her
laughter was the most delightful sound Jemmy had ever heard. She would laugh
often, he promised himself fiercely. No matter what might happen, he would make
sure of that.

"Of
course," she answered airily. " 'Tis why you wed me, is it not?"

He
kissed the tip of her nose. "Your wisdom. Aye. That and a thousand other
reasons, every one of which I mean to tell you... as soon as we've seen Robin.
Where is he?"

"I
think
he's in the stable."

He
arched a brow. "The stable, eh? Oh, by all means, then, let's go at
once."

As
they walked across the courtyard he thought of his ship, still docked in Spain,
and knew that he would sell it now without regret. That's because I'm home, he
realized suddenly. I'm
home.
I finally made it.