Highland Persuasion (The MacLomain Series- Early Years) (32 page)

All men found their blades, stood and lifted them high, their deep voices a loud thunderous rumble through the MacLomain great hall. “Commit thy work to God!

As was the Highlander way the men exploded with Scottish pride, their voices loud and happy as they welcomed their new king. The MacLomain clan slowly filtered in, smiles on their faces. Iosbail and Shamus faded back, each accepting a glass of mead as they stood before the fire.

“Who knew we’d travel so far,” she said.

“I’d hoped.” Shamus toasted her. “I knew anything to do with you would lead to greatness.”

Iosbail had the good grace to blush. “Nay, you found yourself a noble Sinclair and knew that he would lead to greatness.”

“Then I’ve the very best of taste, me lassie.” Shamus smiled and took a swig of mead.
“The very best!”

Celebrations burst to life and with them more and more clansmen. If the MacLomains were good at one thing it was a celebration. Iosbail put from her mind what had happened in this very hall the night before and took to dancing with Shamus and several other clansmen. As she knew it’d be without proper care, her hair was a wild mass of long black curls that surely made her seem ever more the witch. However, her appearance didn’t keep the God-fearing Sinclairs from giving her a good spin.

Eventually she ended up in the arms of the man meant for her.

“You’ve an untouchable beauty about you,” Alexander said as he pulled her into his arms and spun her away from the crowd. Theirs was a dance better suited to the shadows.

“But here you touch me,” she whispered.

“Until the day I die if you’ll allow it,” he said softly.

When their steps slowed and his hands encased hers, Iosbail said, “I could never say no to you, my king. I’m so proud of you.”

“Then be proud of yourself. You bring out the verra best in me,” he whispered before his lips closed eagerly over hers.

They kissed, long, passionately and what they thought was privately.

“Come then,” Adlin said in passing. They pulled apart only to see her brother standing at the back stairs. “I’ve a need to talk to you.”

Iosbail frowned. “Need it not wait?”

“Nay.
Not for another moment.”

Then Adlin vanished up the stairs.

Alexander looked at her and arched a brow. She smiled. Oh, it could wait. Their lips met again, eager, restless.

“Not for another minute, Iosbail!” Adlin said, sticking his head around the corner.

Iosbail growled even as she stole a few more quick kisses. As suspected, Alexander pulled her after him up the stairs. She supposed he had the right of it. Adlin deserved a few moments of their time. When they arrived on the very landing she and her brother had spoken on earlier a full moon shone overhead.

Adlin leaned against the railing and smiled. “I’m sorry to you both but we must speak.”

“Of course,” Alexander said, never releasing her hand.

Her brother nodded. “Know that your marriage was never annulled. You are still husband and wife.”

Iosbail took a heavy swallow and met Alexander’s eyes. Blessed be.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Adlin nodded. “Nothing can ever override the bind you have. ‘
Tis eternal.”

“That sounds slightly ominous,” she said.

Her brother’s expression was unreadable. “Nothing is ever so simple but the bind you now have is true.”

“Well, that’s something.”

Adlin continued. “There’s more. First and most minor you should know that Innis did not leave without agreement. He received a good amount of MacLomain land in the north.”

Iosbail narrowed her eyes. “Thank you, brother. But why is this important?”

“Because it was a boon done you,” Alexander murmured and frowned. “And me. Thank you, Laird MacLomain.”

“Aye,” Iosbail said softly. “So it was. Thank you, Adlin.”

Her brother made a loose wrist motion. “I tell you only because you might need to know in the future. ‘Tis not the main reason I call you away.”

Iosbail felt a terrible sinking in her stomach. Why
would
Adlin call them away?

Adlin seemed to grip the rail behind him tighter when he looked at her. “Do you want to grow old with Alexander?
Because there is a way.”

The Sinclair didn’t give her a chance to respond but said, “Aye, of course she does… I mean to say
we
do.”

“Nay,” Iosbail said automatically, eyes narrowed. “You’ve a plan brother, what is it?”

Adlin nodded and swallowed, obviously uncomfortable. “The Highland Defiance needs to stay active, even if on occasion. It
cannae
stay so without magic such as yours.”

“I dinnae ken,” she said.

“Really quite simple,” he said. “You both use it on occasion through the span of Alexander’s life as it equals yours.”

“As it equals mine?” she murmured, confused. “But our lives are not equal by any means.”

Adlin looked at her, his heart in his eyes.

“But they can be,” Alexander said softly.

Iosbail was about to ask how but stopped short. A strange feeling overtook when she looked at Adlin. “You mean to say that you want Alexander and me to see each other only as we age?”

“Aye, you’d see one another often now but as he ages, less and less for you, Iosbail. Only when you aged appropriately would you again see him.”

“Are you out of your mind?” she said.

“Or is he in his right mind,” Alexander murmured and took her hand. “We could age together, Iosbail.”

“Imagine that,” she muttered, face turning hot. “Once these initial years are over do you know how long I’d have to wait to see you in between? ‘Twould be torture for me!”

Alexander nodded, “Of course. I’m sorry. You’re right.”

But Adlin had well laid out an escape for them. One she wasn’t taking which made her
seem
horrible. Damn her brother! She narrowed her eyes at him. “Why is the Defiance so important? Is it Mildred?”

“Who?”
Adlin asked.

“Oh, you know. You always know! Every single time,” she growled.

“Shh,” Alexander said, his hand squeezing hers. “I think you’re reading too much into this, my love. Your brother is presenting an idea, hard as it might be, that helps us all.”

“Not me!” she cried.

“That depends.” Alexander pulled her closer, his grip tightening. “This is a chance for us to age together.”

Iosbail ground her teeth and breathed deeply. “’Twill take me two hundred years to age.
You far less.”
Her eyes swung to Adlin’s. “And here I thought you dinnae know about us aging.”

“’Tis little I dinnae know,” Adlin responded evenly. “But your devotion to me didnae go unnoticed.”

To smack him upside the head would be a weak revenge. How was he given so much of the gift and she half the amount? Iosbail supposed that’d be a question she’d be asking the gods for a long time to come.

Here she was being given exactly what she’d mourned losing when she decided to be with Alexander. Aye, the years passing in between as they grew older might be a hardship but Iosbail realized that she had a new fear.

Alexander would not die having seen her young but old.

For a mere moment she contemplated backing away from the whole concept but where would she go? Her heart was well and truly with the Sinclair. She touched her cheek and looked at Alexander. “I will grow old. My beauty faded.”

A loving light warmed Alexander’s eyes. “I’d rather see the wrinkles on your face as I have them on my own. That we achieved them together somehow.”

“And who are we again?” she asked unsure.

Alexander laughed.
“Kind, good, ever for the love of Scotland.”
He pulled her close, put his hand to her heart and whispered in her ear. “We share great love, the sort that has little to do with what is on the outside, aye?”

Iosbail clenched his tartan. “But all great love fades.”

“How do you know?”

“I dinnae.”

“Aye.”
He pulled her into an embrace.
“You dinnae.”

“I’m so scared,” she whispered.

“As am I,” he whispered back. “But I’m far more eager than afraid.”

“Well, then you are as foolish as ever.”

“Nay, I’m done being foolish.”

Iosbail looked up into his eyes. There was no lie there. He meant every word. She cupped his face. “Are you as sure as you can be?”

“Lass, when it comes to you I make no mistakes.”

“Then we keep the Defiance alive over the years.”

“I suppose we do.”

“I do love you, Alexander Sinclair
Donnchada
.”

“And I you, Iosbail Broun MacLomain.”

When their lips met Adlin watched and smiled.

True love needs not a beginning or an end but everything in between. All the years in which a couple grows together, learns and ages are by far the most precious.
That
is the very best of romance.

No ‘The End’

Word from the author…

Dear Reader,

I’d like to thank you for reading
Highland Persuasion
.

Doing research for this book was very interesting and while a great deal of it is based on historical fact it also consists of much fiction. Scotland was a turbulent country at the start of the eleventh century.
Máel Coluim mac Donnchada
, also known as Malcolm III, was the rightful Scottish king. William the Conqueror, the first Norman king of England, invaded Scotland and ordered Malcolm to pay homage to him.

The Sinclair clan, originally Saint-Clair’s, came to England with William the Conqueror. William of Saint-Clair accompanied
Saint Margaret of Scotland
, daughter of
Edward the Exile
, to
Scotland
in 1068, where she eventually married
Malcolm III of Scotland
. In return for his efforts, the king supposedly granted Sinclair the barony of
Roslin
. It was through this affiliation between Margaret of Scotland’s marriage to the Scottish king and the Sinclair’s that this story took root.

Please note that the Sinclairs have no royal ties at this point in history. While Edgar was the third son of Malcolm III and reigned as king, then Alexander (fourth son) after him, my depiction of them is purely fictional.

However, research tied together all the loose ends to make this Highland adventure perfect. When we journeyed across Scotland it was with the aid of the Sinclair’s true allies, the Mason’s. And as it turns out once in the Hebrides we were with a clan tied to the MacLomains, the MacLeon’s.