Gifted

Celebration

Magnus worried about his wife as she swayed in his arms. She was achingly beautiful in her garnet gown and white veil but she trembled through most of the ceremony. Her huge mahogany eyes looked lost but her plum lips seemed to find succor in his kiss. He would find out what was wrong but, for now, he let the sense of relief and triumph wash over him. Alina was his.

He tucked her under his arm as they received felicitations from their guests. Garrick slapped him on the back and announced that he was hosting an impromptu wedding celebration out on the village square. Beer and ale would flow. Music would play. Jigs would be danced. The Sinclair soldiers and even the toffs up at the castle were invited.

"How about my da?" Jamie asked.

"Aye," Garrick said magnanimously. "Bring that old windbag, too."

Alec sent Magnus an inquiring look.

"Aye," said Magnus. "Invite everyone down from atop that cliff. It's time to put an end to that siege."

To her credit, the Lady Lillian responded by setting her staff to loading up cases of wine and the kitchens to cooking for an entire village. Food and drink aplenty would be sent down from the castle. She would not attend the celebration herself but invited the new couple up to the keep for their first night as laird and lady of Glenkerrloch. The laird's rooms were already being prepared for its new occupants.

Laird Malcolm Campbell also declined to come down to the village, sending a message that he expected to congratulate the newlyweds when they presented to the castle this evening. Magnus did not need true sight to guess what the laird hoped would happen between himself and the lady when left to themselves up at the keep. Support for his theory came in the form of a dark-haired lass currently hurtling herself across the village square toward his wife.

"Lizzie!" Alina exclaimed, catching her stepsister in an embrace. "I'm so happy ye're here! I don't ever get to see ye at the village. I'm sorry ye couldn't be at the wedding."

"I know!" Elizabeth said, bouncing on her toes in excitement. "I don't know what got into mama. I rushed down here before she could change her mind. My poor lady's maid was quite upset with me."

Alina glanced at the lady's maid and guard flanking her stepsister and said to them, "Keep a close watch on Miss Elizabeth. The villagers get rowdy at these things."

Alina introduced Magnus to her stepsister. Elizabeth curtsied then asked to borrow Alina. As the young women walked away arm in arm with heads close together, he realized that he'd not have Alina to himself for a few hours yet. Everyone was going to want to hear from the source.

The most popular story about their sudden marriage was that Magnus somehow scaled the walls of the castle undetected and rescued Alina from her English stepmother. Villagers were still somewhat wary of him but the general consensus seemed to be that this was good for their lass. Magnus was from far away enough that the local rivalries were not stoked but he was still a Scot.

He learned that, even with Alina across the square from him, even as he continued to block himself from her mind, his true sight was better at reading other people just because she was around. It dimmed when he went around the village by himself this morning. He visited Orla at the bakery after leaving the tavern and found he could not read her as well as he did the night before.

The temptation to connect with Alina's mind pulled at him but he promised to respect her privacy. He strolled alone, weaving through the celebrants, and watched as she was pulled aside by this person then that. These people raised her. Some people were surprised to realize that their lass had turned into a woman seemingly overnight: one day a muddy scamp, the next a lady wife to the new laird.