The wedding ceremony now began, and there was much joy and celebration as Isla and Fraser made their vows before the congregation. They promised to be faithful to one another, to love and cherish one another, and to do so until death do they part. There was a tear in Isla’s eyes as Fraser pronounced his vows. After all the trouble and heartache of the past weeks, and the turmoil which they had experienced together, to now stand at the altar and be married had seemed only a dream before.
When a prisoner of the Musgraves, she had almost lost hope; indeed, on the day when Fraser had come to rescue her, she had been in the depths of despair. But his arrival had renewed her hope, and from that moment on, Isla had known that whatever happened, she was not alone, and now she never would be.
“And so, I now declare before ye that these two people are man and wife. Fraser, ye may kiss yer bride,” Father MacConkey said.
A cheer went up from the congregation, and Fraser took Isla in his arms and kissed her, as around them, the others applauded. The monks began to sing a hymn of thanksgiving, and the whole church was filled with such joy and happiness that it seemed as though nowhere in all of Christendom could such a scene be imagined.
As Isla took Fraser's arm, the two of them stepped back, and Duncan now came forward, congratulating them both as he did. The monks finished their chant, and the Abbot came forward with two of the other brothers as the solemn ceremony began.
Duncan made his vows, rather like those of Isla and Fraser. He promised to be faithful to the brothers and diligent in his prayers and the service of the community. The Abbot prayed over him, and the two brothers welcomed him on behalf of the community. He was clothed in a habit and presented with a crucifix to hang from his belt. Once more, the congregation erupted into applause, and there was much rejoicing as Father MacConkey gave the final blessing.
Isla and Fraser walked arm in arm down the aisle followed by the monks with Duncan in their midst. They were singing again, and it was a hymn of thanksgiving as from above came the peeling of the monastery bells. Outside, the sun was shining high up in the sky, the birds singing above. The air was filled with the sweet scent of lavender, and Isla and Fraser walked together in the rose garden as the guests began to celebrate in the refectory where a lavish feast had been prepared.
“It was a beautiful ceremony,” Isla said, resting her head upon Fraser’s shoulder and breathing in the sweet scent of the flowers which perfumed the air.
“Aye, we are happy, lass, and I am so happy to see Duncan in his rightful place,” Fraser replied, his hand clasped in hers.
“What will we dae now, though?” Isla asked, for they had not yet discussed the future or where they would live or what work Fraser would now do.
The wedding had come about so quickly, and in the wake of such tragic circumstances, there had been little time for thoughts of the future. Trapped in the castle of the Musgraves, the only thought for the future had been escaping. But now, they had their whole lives ahead of them. There was much to consider, and though the future seemed bright and happy, it was still an undiscovered country of uncertainties.
“Anythin’ we want to, lass. Where would ye like to live? The simple life of a blacksmith seems more attractive when I have a lass such as ye at my side. We could be happy there in the village. I dinnae wish to live always in yer father’s … my … our? I dinnae know what to call him,” Fraser said, laughing and shaking his head. “In the Laird’s shadow,” he concluded.
“Aye, I know what ye mean,” she replied. “Ye must be yer own man, and he is as much yer father as he is mine. Ye cannae live in another man’s shadow, and I know he will respect ye for that.”
“Come with me a moment,” Fraser said, taking her by the hand.
He led her back towards the church. From the refectory, there came the sounds of much merrymaking and carousing, but the church was still and peaceful. The lightest scent of incense still wafted through the air, and the sun, now at its zenith, was streaming through the windows above and falling upon the high altar. There, kneeling before it, was Duncan. Isla and Fraser made their way down the aisle and knelt at his side.
“Are we disturbin’ ye, Duncan?” Fraser said, as his brother looked up and smiled.
“Nae, I was just sayin’ a prayer of thanksgiving for this happy day and for yer future together,” Duncan replied.
“That is why we are here too. The future is confusin’, and we are nae sure what to dae next,” Fraser replied.
“Ye must follow yer hearts, as ye have done these past weeks. The heart is our greatest guide in so much. ‘Tis the heart that so often knows the truth of what is right for us. Our minds can be clouded and irrational, but the heart simply speaks and when ye find love that is the heart speakin’ to ye and yer heart to another,” he replied, as he crossed himself and stood up.
It was as though his new clothing, a monk’s habit, had given him fresh wisdom and insight. He seemed older, wiser, and no longer just a young lad from the village. Instead, he appeared as a man of learning and wisdom, one whose words contained truth and should be heeded.
“Ye have followed yer heart, Duncan, and so have we. I am glad that we have found happiness together. Come now, let us return to the feast. They shall miss us,” Fraser said, shaking his brother warmly by the hand as together they made their way to the refectory.
There was much cheering and happiness as they entered, and Alistair Elliott came bounding up to his daughter with a smile upon his face. The dancing had just begun, with special permission of the Abbot, for the monastery was not used to exuberant celebration. Nevertheless, several of the monks had joined in, and there was a merry joy about the place as the celebrations continued.
“I am going to steal Isla away from ye a moment, Fraser, for I wish to dance with her,” Alistair said, taking Isla by the arm.
The two began to dance a jig, and the rest clapped along in time to the music. Others joined in too, and soon the Laird and his daughter were leading the rest in a joyful dance about the place.
The refectory tables were groaning under the weight of food, and several barrels had been tapped from the Abbot’s personal cellar. There were sides of roasted venison and fish from the river; vegetables from the gardens, and freshly baked breads, wine, and whiskey were in abundance. The celebrations went on long into the night. A little later, just as the Abbot had called for the monks to celebrate their evening prayers, Alistair Elliott called for quiet, and he stood upon one of the tables, tapping a spoon against his tankard.
“My dear father Abbot, brothers, clansmen, and new friends, thank ye. I didnae know if this happy day would ever come. Just a few days ago, I thought everythin’ was lost with the unhappy circumstances at the castle of the Musgraves, my dear daughter held captive, and I estranged from the son who once more a part of this clan, thanks be to God. I commend to ye this happy couple, and I ask that ye raise yer glasses in a toast to Isla and Fraser. May their lives be long and happy, and may they be richly blessed,” he said, raising his tankard, as the room toasted the newly married couple.
The monks now went off to pray, and the party quieted down. Gradually, the guests made their way to bed, until the only people left were Isla, Fraser, Alistair, and Lena. The remnants of the food were still laid out, and they had taken the last dregs of a barrel of wine for one final toast.
“To a new family,” Alistair said, smiling around him, “and to nae more secrets between us, of that, I promise ye.”
The others agreed, and they made their toast and bid each other a good night. The moon was high, and the stars twinkled above, as Fraser and Isla made their way to bed for the first time as a married couple. The gentle chant of the monks still drifted across the monastery, and Fraser took Isla in his arms and told her again just how much he loved her.
“I love ye too, Fraser, and I shall love ye for the rest of our lives together,” she said, as she kissed him once more.
“A wonderful future awaits us,” he replied, “of that I am cer
tain,” and he took her by the hand and led her to bed.
A room had been prepared for them at the top of the monastery, the windows flung open, and the sweet evening smells of the garden wafting in. A perfume of lavender and rose hung in the air, and the sheets had been turned back, and a candle burned on either side of the bed. Fraser took Isla in his arms and kissed her, laying her gently down, and he beside her.
They began to kiss, their bodies entwined upon the bed as they began to make love. Together they had come through much, and their love was now blessed and sanctified in marriage. How happy they each felt, no longer prisoners but joined in freedom together.
“I love ye, Isla,” Fraser whispered, as he kissed her neck and sighed.
“I love ye too, Fraser, and I always will,” she said, as she held him close, never wishing to let him go.
Chapter Forty-Six
The next morning, they rose early for the journey back to Kirklinton. The bells of the monastery were already tolling for the morning prayers, and down in the refectory, Alistair, Lena, and Sweeney were already at their breakfast when Isla and Fraser arrived.
“The monks have been more than hospitable to us,” Alistair said, finishing his bowl of porridge.
“Aye and Isla and I intend to be regular visitors here to see Duncan,” Fraser replied, taking his seat.
“He is a blessed lad if this is to be his family too,” Lena said, and Isla nodded.
“We have all discovered a family together,” she replied, and the rest agreed.
After a simple breakfast, Sweeney prepared the horse and cart for their journey. They would be home by the early afternoon, for it was not a long journey to Kirklinton, especially now that the road was safe once again. Indeed, Isla had almost forgotten her ordeal at the hands of the Musgraves, or rather it seemed like a dream, an event which had occurred to someone else rather than her. Now, she simply felt at peace, and as they bid farewell to Duncan and the other monks, she knew it would not be long before she and Fraser returned to Lanercost.
“God bless ye all,” Duncan said, standing with his brother monks and waving them goodbye.
“Take care of yerself, Duncan, and we shall see ye again soon. Make sure that father Abbot doesnae trust ye with any smithy work,” Fraser said, and a chorus of laughter went up from the monks as Duncan blushed.
“Goodbye,” they called, as Sweeney led the cart through the monastery gates and onto the eastward road.
The sun was shining down from above, and the peasants in the fields around the monastery paused to pay their respects to the happy couple as they passed. Sweeney was humming a tune to himself, and Isla was resting on Fraser’s arm as Father MacConkey and her father talked animatedly about the monastery.
“I am tempted to move there myself. It felt so peaceful and tranquil,” the priest said, shaking his head and smiling.
“Aye, if I were nae Laird, then perhaps …” her father said.
“Ye, a monk?” Lena said, laughing, as Alistair blushed.
“Well, why nae?” he said.
“Ye like good livin’ too much, father,” Isla replied, as the cart pulled up onto the moorlands.
They could see across the English border from here, far down to the south. It was another world and one that for the moment they need not worry about. The English had received a bloody nose at the hands of the Scots, and perhaps now an era of peace and prosperity might be ushered in, the clan strengthened by the marriage of Isla and Fraser.
As Kirklinton came into sight, Isla smiled and turned to Fraser, pointing upward to where a hawk was circling above.
“He can see everything from up there,” she said, watching as the bird dived for its prey.
“They have the keenest eyes of all God’s creatures,” Fraser replied, and they watched as it rose majestically back into the sky and began to swirl and pirouette upon the breeze.
“The eyes of a hawk,” Alistair Elliott said, “if only we had those ourselves.”
“Aye, it would make smithin’ a lot easier,” Fraser said, and he called to Sweeney to stop the cart there on the track.
“Where are we going?” Isla said as Fraser took her hand, “we are nearly home,” and the others too looked in confusion at Fraser, who smiled.
“With yer permission, Laird, we are going to go see something that the hawk above can see, but that we can’t from here. Trust me, Isla, come on,” Fraser said.
“Ye are married now lass, dae as ye wish,” Alistair replied, laughing as Sweeney clicked on the horses, and Fraser led Isla across the heathers.
“Ye said ye wished to know what our future would be?” Fraser said as he walked purposefully away from the track.
“Aye, but nae shrouded in mystery. I am nae hawk, I cannae see everythin’ from above,” she replied, but he just smiled and urged her on across the heathers.
The purple of the moorland shimmered in the late afternoon sun, and the sky was brilliant blue as they came onto the ridge, which looked down at the ruined Armstrong castle below.
“Here we are,” Fraser said, pointing down from their vantage point.
“My parents’ castle? My grandparents’ croft?” she asked, turning to him with a puzzled expression.
“Aye, our future. It came to me last night. I dinnae wish to go back to the smithy. It doesnae seem right now, and ye dinnae want to live in the village when ye have grown up in the castle. Besides, Sweeney would make a better blacksmith than me. I shall give him the workshop, and ye and I will come here to live,” Fraser said, pointing over towards the ruined croft on the heathers.
“But ‘tis a ruin, Fraser, we cannae live here,” she replied.
“Then we shall rebuild it and make it even better than it was before. Dinnae forget that ye and I lived in an attic room of the Musgrave castle, if we could survive that then a ruined croft is nothin’ while we put a roof on and repair the walls. The castle may take longer, but perhaps in years to come, we shall dae it. What dae ye think?” Fraser said, taking her hand in his.
“Aye, I think ‘tis a fine idea, when ye put it like that, Fraser,” she replied, and together they walked across the heathers to her grandparents’ croft.
It had much potential to it, and even though the walls were fallen and the roof half-gone, Fraser knew that together they could make a happy home for themselves.
“We can farm too, cultivate this land, and ‘tis nae far from Kirklinton. Ye can visit yer father whenever ye wish, and perhaps he will even visit us here too, Lena,” Fraser said, looking around him with enthusiasm.
“And we can start a family?” she asked, smiling at him.
“Aye, an enormous family,” he said, leaping up onto a rock outside the door of the croft and throwing open his arms in enthusiasm. “Five, six, seven bairns, all runnin’ happily about the place, and ye shall be a wonderful mother,” and she laughed out loud at him as he jumped down and ran to embrace her.
“Then we shall be very happy together, ye and I,” she said, and he kissed her, holding her close and telling her again just how much he loved her.
“And one day I shall be Laird, I suppose. But until that day, all I wish is for ye and me to be happy and together. I can think of nae better place than this to dae that together,” he said, looking around him once more.
The thought of returning home to the croft where she had been so happy as a child filled Isla with such joy and happiness. She had dreamt of such a day but never imagined that it would occur, or that it would occur with a man such as Fraser at her side. She loved him so very much, and she knew that, together, their love would grow and grow.
Later, they walked back across the moorlands towards Kirklinton. The sun was just beginning to set, a fiery disc hanging in the sky above. They held hands and talked of the future, a future which seemed brighter by the moment. The cares and worries of the past were gone, replaced by something altogether new, the knowledge that they had each other by their sides for the rest of their lives.
“Dae ye thi
nk that anyone is as happy as we are today, Fraser?” she asked, as they stood looking out across the moorlands.
“If they are, then their hearts must be fit to burst,” he replied, smiling as he took her in his arms.
A Highlander Forged In Fire (Scottish Medieval Highlander Romance) Page 25
