***
Una and Callum were married just a few weeks later. The ceremony was simple, and they made their vows in the chapel of the castle, surrounded by members of the clan. Several of the Gordons had traveled to be with them. Including Blayne and Lena, the kindly peasants who had taken her in on that cold winter’s day and to whom she owed her life.
As the priest concluded the ceremony, Una looked up into Callum’s eyes and smiled. He leaned down and gently kissed her upon the lips.
“I love ye, Una, and I shall love ye all of my life, I promise ye,” he said, and she put her arms around him and laid her head upon his chest.
“Aye, Callum, I know ye shall and I promise I shall love ye too. How I wish I had trusted ye from the very start and not believed ye to be like so many other men,” she replied.
He took her hand and together they walked down the aisle of the chapel to acclamations from the gathered clan. The Great Hall had been lavishly decorated with foliage from the forest and a great feast prepared to which all were invited. Una and Callum presided from the high table and there was all manner of good things to eat and drink. As the banquet came to an end, Callum rose to his feet and took up his flagon, calling for quiet amidst the rowdiness of the celebrations.
“My dear friends, tis’ so good to have ye here on this happy day. Though there is a chill in the air, our hearts are warm and our hopes are for the future. Together, we have come through much. The McNeil’s and the Gordons, two great clans, now once more reunited in that auld alliance forged by our ancestors. Together, we shall live in peace and be a force for good in the Highlands,” Callum said, before turning to Una and smiling. “And I thank ye too for travelin’ here today to witness my marriage to Una. She has made me the happiest of men and I shall say it again, I love ye Una and I am so glad that ye agreed to be my wife.”
A cheer went up from the gathered clansmen and Una blushed, as Callum beckoned her to stand, placing his arm around her and kissing her. The whisky barrels had not yet been drained, and the drinking went on long into the night, as songs were sung and stories told of deeds of valor and bravery. But Una and Callum soon slipped away, making their way out into the moonlit garden beneath the castle walls.
Despite the harshness of the season, in the stillness of that moonlit night, the garden still seemed to be alive. The gentlest of breezes blew through it and Callum took Una’s hand and led her along the paths between the hedges, towards where the roses bloomed in the summer months.
“How happy I am this day, Una. Ye have made me complete,” he said, turning to kiss her.
“And how happy I am too, Callum, to be here with ye. I was so foolish to run away but ye never gave up on me and for that I will always be grateful,” she replied.
“When I heard from Feargan McDonald that ye were his prisoner, I believed I had lost ye forever, but it was my mother who persuaded me to come after ye,” Callum said, placing his arms around her.
“And so, we must grateful to her and honor her memory always in this place,” Una replied.
“Aye,” Callum replied, “we shall make this garden even more beautiful than tis’ already. Ye shall be mistress over it and it will remind us always of our love,” Callum said.
Una was about to agree when the sight before her caused her to gasp.
“Callum, look,” she said, pointing in disbelief to the rose bush whose gnarly, bare thorns grew above them.
“What, lass?” he said, turning to look where she was pointing.
There, hanging from the bush was rose. Its petals picked out by the moonlight. A solitary rose amidst the harshness of the winter snows. Una reached out and plucked it, bringing it to her nose and breathing in the sweet scent.
“A gift from yer mother?” she asked, as Callum looked at her in astonishment.
“A reminder to us that she will always be with us and that she will help this garden grow,” he replied.
“I think so, and also a reminder of the love we now share and which blossomed even in the harshest of times,” Una said, and she kissed him gently upon the lips, each knowing the assurances of the future, a future of blossoming love.
*** The End ***
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Honor Restored Page 8
