Leila’s Legacy

by Madeline Martin

  “I love her,” Niall said.

  Lord Armstrong’s eyes crinkled into a smile. “Aye, I know.”

  “I dinna have a choice in killing her.” Niall drew in a pained breath. “I would have rather it had been me that day in the river.”

  Lord Armstrong’s expression became more somber. “Aye, I know. But you saved her. What’s more, you brought her home.” The earl glanced toward the door. “She’ll be back soon. You slept longer than expected and Marin demanded she take a reprieve for some food.”

  Niall’s chest lightened with the thought of seeing Leila again. Now that Lord Armstrong and Alban were dead. Now that they were safely back at Werrick Castle.

  A flicker of nervousness fluttered through Niall’s veins. “Before she comes back, my lord, I’d like to ask ye something.”

  Lord Werrick leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, his face expectant, as if he already knew the question. And mayhap he did. If so, Niall hoped it would be to his benefit.

  “I’m in love with yer daughter,” Niall said. “As I’ve said.”

  Lord Werrick nodded.

  Niall cleared his throat. “I’d like to wed her. With yer permission.” He tensed for the earl’s reply, expecting questions about Leila’s safety, about how Niall anticipated making a living now that he’d killed his employer, about what sort of alliance Niall might bring with him.

  Lord Werrick straightened and answered without hesitation, “Aye, you have it. But I’ve a question for you.”

  Niall couldn’t help the grin pulling at his lips. “Aye?”

  “How do you plan to support my daughter?” Lord Werrick arched a brow.

  Niall’s smile wilted. He’d considered that on the painful ride back to Werrick. The question had been a burr in the back of his brain, digging in with spiny thorns. And he had no good answer to offer Lord Werrick.

  “I will manage something. But I dinna yet have a plan,” Niall said honestly. “. I can promise ye I’ll do anything to ensure she is well cared for.”

  “Anything?” Lord Werrick folded his long, slender hands together. “Including considering a position as Captain of the Guard for Werrick Castle?”

  Niall blinked in surprise. “Ye’d hire me as yer Captain of the Guard? And still allow me to wed yer daughter?”

  The earl nodded. “Your reputation is well-known. You’re a good man, Lion. I would be honored to have you lead my men. And regarding your station and your ability to still wed my daughter…Marin taught me a long time ago that love does not see wealth or position. I want my daughters to be happy above all else.” He leaned forward and patted Niall’s shoulder. “I’ve never seen Leila light up at anything the way she lights up when she speaks of you.”

  Niall’s chest went warm at such words, to hear from another’s lips how much Leila truly did love him. “Aye,” he replied. “I’m honored to be yer Captain of the Guard.”

  “I’m pleased to hear it.” Lord Werrick squeezed his shoulder and released him. “Then I’ll show you to your chamber, so you can freshen up a bit and then ask my daughter for her hand in marriage.”

  “I’d like that verra much,” Niall said gratefully and got to his feet, eager for the moment he could see Leila again. And ask her to be his wife.

  27

  Leila swiped clean the last bite of stew with a bit of bread and popped it into her mouth.

  “Doesn’t that feel better?” Nan asked with a proud smile on her face.

  “Aye,” Leila agreed. “This is some of the best food I’ve eaten since my capture.”

  “Ach, don’t speak of it.” Nan’s eyes went glossy and she dabbed at them with the corner of her apron. “I couldn’t bear to think of you trapped there with such terrible food and horrible conditions.” She rushed over and wrapped her large arms around Leila. “I was so worried about you.”

  “I’m fine now,” Leila said when Nan released her. “More than fine now that Niall is here.”

  “I’m so happy for you, child.” Nan ran an affectionate hand down Leila’s clean hair.

  She was glad she’d taken Marin’s advice and bathed while she was waiting for Isla to finish with Niall. But now after cleaning up and eating food, she wanted nothing more than to be with him again, to ensure he didn’t have pain after being stitched up. More than anything, she just wanted to see him again and revel in the timbre of his warm voice.

  “Off with you now.” Nan shooed Leila from the kitchen. “Go see to your man.”

  Leila didn’t need to be told twice and rushed to the healing room. Except when she opened the door, she found the pallet empty and Isla sorting through a stack of dried herbs.

  She looked up as Leila entered the room. “That man of yers did fine and is already in his own chamber getting ready to see ye.” She winked. “Are ye well, lass? Do ye have any injuries I need to see to?”

  “Nay,” Leila answered readily, but hesitated to leave. “Or rather, my body is fine.” She looked down at her hands. “I think…mayhap I have lost the sight.”

  Isla considered, her thoughtful forehead furrowed into a map of crinkles. “Sometimes such things work in curious ways,” Isla said carefully. “Ye had visions long enough to save yer family from the pestilence. And ye fulfilled yer own destiny when ye met the Lion.”

  Leila nodded slowly as she processed what Isla had said. She had been able to save her family. Of that, she was grateful. The more she’d thought on it though, the stranger it seemed to not have visions, especially when it had been part of her for so long.

  “Do you think they will come back?” she asked.

  Isla smiled sadly. “I dinna know, lass.”

  Leila chewed her lip. “I don’t even know if I want them back.”

  “’Tis been yer burden to bear for yer entire life.” Isla approached and took Leila’s hand in her cool, dry one. “Ye’ll just have to live life like the rest of us, no’ knowing what will come next.”

  “I like the sound of that,” Leila said. And she did. To not be plagued by terrible dreams of the past or see terrible things in the future she feared telling others about. To live a normal life.

  “Go on to yer man.” Isla winked at her. “I imagine he’s waiting on ye.”

  Leila hugged Isla, then made her way to the chamber set aside for Niall and rapped softly on the door.

  “Aye?” Niall called out.

  “’Tis Leila.”

  The door swung open immediately and there he was: the Lion. His gold hair hung in damp waves and he wore only a linen shirt over a pair of trews that appeared to be too short and ill-fitted.

  “Leila.” He gave her a lopsided grin and opened the door wider to allow her to come in. He closed the door behind her. “I suppose this isna proper.” Leila rose on her tiptoes to kiss him. “I don’t care about proper.”

  He lowered his head and caught her in his arms, kissing her bottom lip, then her top lip, then her whole mouth, as if he was savoring her. Her moan hummed between them.

  “I need to ask ye something.” Niall straightened.

  There was a seriousness to his expression that made Leila tense with concern. “Is everything all right?”

  Niall took her hands in his and gazed down at her. “I canna imagine ye no’ being in my life. I want to build a home with ye here and have bairns of our own together. I dinna ever want to be separated from ye again.” His brows knit together with sincerity. “Leila, mo chridhe, will ye marry me?”

  Her heart caught midbeat. Words failed her as she stared up at the man that she loved more than life itself. In the time they had known one another, she had hated him and loved him, she had feared she’d lost him several times over and he had killed her and saved her.

  And now, there was this new moment, as he asked for her hand in marriage.

  “I’ll be yer da’s new Captain of the Guard,” Niall said. “We’ll be able to stay at Werrick Castle where ye can help Isla and the people of the village. If that’s what ye want.”

  “Aye,”
she said finally.

  He grinned. “Then we’ll stay in Werrick Castle.”

  “I mean, ‘aye’, as in I’ll marry you.” Leila laughed with joy.

  He beamed at her and pulled his lower lip into his mouth where it had been split, as if the act of smiling so broadly hurt. “Ye’ve made me the happiest man in all of Christendom.”

  “Thank you for making me overcome my fear of you.” Leila gazed at Niall. “For letting me see how wonderful you are, so that I could love you.”

  She kissed his mouth, careful of his cut lip. She ran a finger over it. “I think I have some heifer’s piss that might help with this.”

  “Nay, thank ye.” He chuckled and pressed a kiss to her lips. “I love ye.”

  “And I love you.” She stroked a hand down his face, reveling in the way his golden whiskers rasped against her palm.

  His lips moved over hers again, deepening the kiss with the sweep of his tongue. Leila moaned again and leaned her body against his.

  Remembering his wounds, she arched back. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  He pulled her to him once more with his strong arms. “If I have to suffer a moment longer without ye, it’ll hurt me far more than this damned leg.”

  She melted into his embrace and allowed him to lead her to the large bed set against the back wall of the chamber. This would be the first day of their future together. A future Leila found she was glad she couldn’t see. She wanted to relish each day as it came, like a wrapped parcel to be opened and discovered and enjoyed. Together.

  The wedding took less than a fortnight to prepare. With all her sisters and their husbands already assembled at Werrick Castle, the preparations were quickly done.

  They had all wisely left their children safely at home, despite taking their own risks in traveling to Werrick Castle, risks Leila appreciated but did not condone. While the sisters enjoyed being with one another, all of them were eager to get back to their families.

  The day of the wedding, all the sisters gathered in the room they had grown up sharing. The room that had once seemed large enough to house them all, and which had even seemed cavernous when Leila had been left alone, was now cramped with kirtles and ribbons as well as chatter and laughter. They had dressed Leila in a violet silk gown with silver thread flowers stitched along the generous skirt and down the sleeves, all by Marin’s own hand.

  Once they had finished plucking at and combing and smoothing her, they all stepped back to regard her, tears glistening in their eyes. “You look lovely,” Marin said in a choked voice. Her palm rested tenderly over her stomach, where it often remained, protectively cradling her babe every moment her hands were free.

  “I’m so pleased to have you all here with me,” Leila said around the tightness in her throat. “It was so dangerous for you to travel to Werrick in such treacherous times. Too dangerous. But I…” She swallowed down her emotion. “I cannot imagine this day without all of you with me.”

  A flurry of hugging and well-wishes ensued, and they were nearly ready to make their way to the chapel. Before they left, Marin awkwardly paused and put a hand to Leila’s shoulder. “Leila, dear, do you need to be…” Her cheeks flushed pink. “…instructed on the wedding night?”

  Leila’s own face went hot at the question and she brusquely shook her head.

  The tension drained from Marin’s face. “Thanks be to God. Your sister made the discussion quite a task for me before.” She gave Anice a pointed stare. “I didn’t relish the idea of going through that again.”

  “You were wrong on the battle axe bit though.” Anice grinned.

  Marin’s mouth fell open. “You are so wicked.” She laughed and hurtled a pillow at Anice, which Anice plucked from the air.

  “What’s this talk of battle axes?” Ella perked up.

  “Nothing,” Anice and Marin said at once as they shared a smile.

  “I think it might be better not to know.” Cat gave an exaggerated grimace and they all laughed again.

  Anice ran a hand down Leila’s hair, smoothing it one final time. “’Tis time, Lamb. Are you ready?”

  Leila lifted her chin and beamed at her sisters with all the excitement glowing inside her. “I’ve been ready my whole life.”

  She followed her sisters out of the room, and then hesitated in the doorway before turning back to look at their shared room one last time. She had felt alone so often in there when she’d been younger, even as she was surrounded by her sisters.

  Now, however, she knew that loneliness to be of her own making, her own guilt for something she could not control.

  A warm hand slipped into hers and Leila looked up to find Cat grinning down at her. “Come on, or you’ll be late for your own wedding.” She caught Leila in a great, exuberant hug, the kind only Cat could give, and the two ran off toward their sisters. Together, they all made their way down to Werrick Castle’s chapel.

  For the first time, Leila realized she truly did belong with them and that she always had.

  Niall waited at the front of the chapel, beside the twitchy priest who had heard his confession prior to the wedding. The very same priest that had pissed himself during questioning when Niall was initially seeking out Leila for charges of witchcraft. That had been a lifetime ago, or so it felt. And though Bernard cast furtive little glances at Niall in nervousness, the priest had absolved Niall of his sins.

  The pews were full of Werrick Castle’s inhabitants. Nan sat beside Edmund, the butcher, and his son, already mopping at tears. The Master of the Horse, Peter, and his wife, Freya, and their children were there as well.

  On and on, Niall could name and share at least something personal about each one. He’d spent the last fortnight learning all the various servants who lived at Werrick Castle and had realized Leila’s family was not limited only to her father and sisters, but all the people within the castle.

  Isla was one of the last people to enter. She nodded to Bernard as she took her seat and he nodded to her in return, their greeting one of old friends. From what Leila had told him, their amicable relationship was new and had been a direct result of her care of the priest after Niall’s questioning. So, at least there had been something positive to arise from it.

  The doors swung open and Leila’s golden-haired sisters swept into the room and took their seats next to their husbands, opting to sit below with everyone else rather than on the raised platform at the rear. Her family occupied the front pews, along with Brodie and Bonnie.

  Niall’s heartbeat quickened.

  And there she was. Leila in a lovely purple gown with her dark hair unbound and flowing around her shoulders. Bits of heather had been woven together and set upon her head, and a smile lit her face.

  Pride swelled in Niall’s chest. This woman would be his wife.

  She strode slowly to the altar, graceful and lovely. More women joined Nan in crying, and someone gave a honking blow to her nose. Most likely Nan, but Niall wasn’t looking at Werrick’s cook, or anyone else—not with Leila joining him in front of the chapel.

  “Nervous?” he asked.

  She grinned and shook her head. “You?”

  “Nay.” He took her hand in his and Bernard proceeded with the wedding. Through it all, Niall kept his fingers linked with Leila’s, speaking every word of his vows with the whole of his heart and soul until at last, they were declared man and wife.

  He drew her into his arms and lowered his mouth to hers in a tender kiss that elicited cheers from the congregation.

  Lord Werrick and Rose approached them first, all smiles and joy, with the two children that Rose had rescued, Joan and John, hovering close behind them. The remainder of the family quickly joined them, followed by the rest of Werrick Castle’s occupants.

  Once felicitations had been given, they all made their way to the great hall to celebrate. Leila leaned close to Niall. “I’m glad I never saw our wedding in my future,” she whispered.

  He raised a brow.

  “I got to experie
nce it for the first time this moment.” Tears sparkled in her eyes. “And it was beautiful. I’m so happy.”

  Happy.

  It was a word he had not considered being part of his own future. He had success with what he did; he had a comfortable life. But happy?

  Nay. Not like this, not with that tickle of joy that warmed his chest every time he looked at Leila. Every time he thought of her.

  “The future surprised us both,” he replied. “And I’m just as glad as ye are for it.”

  He pulled his new wife close, caressed the softness of her cheek, the line of her jaw, then gently, tenderly kissed her. He released her and took her hand. A soft flush stole over her face as she smiled up at him. “I’m looking forward to learning each new, unexpected day with you.”

  “As am I,” Niall replied. For they had a lifetime of kisses to look forward to, and new days and everything each one would bring. They would experience it all together.

  Epilogue

  March 1350

  Brampton, England

  * * *

  Good news was always best when it came in threes. And so it was at Werrick Castle. Leila rushed about, making the final preparations for the wedding to take place later on that afternoon.

  After all, it was not every day one’s father finally remarried.

  A touch of nausea teased at Leila’s awareness, but she set it aside, not having time to bother with it. A pack of children rushed toward her with Gavin at the front, Anice’s twelve-year-old son, who already was showing the authoritative leadership of his father as he led his band of miscreants.

  “To the kitchens,” Gavin called to his cousins behind him.

  Ella’s daughter, Blanche, followed quickly behind him, her green eyes alight with excitement. “I could smell the pastries this morning. I know she has some.”

  “Pastries?” Little Eversham piped up. Cat’s youngest rubbed his hands together and grinned. “Oh, I like pastries very much.”