Kept by the Highlander

by Joanna Davis

  He turned and saw the men backing away from Kalila. Clearly they had no purpose without their master. She tottered awkwardly on her feet, tipping over just as Malcolm caught her.

  Gently he carried her to the chair and untied the knots holding her hands together. She kissed him briefly and then looked over his shoulder.

  "Go to her."

  He nodded and crossed the room to the prone bodies on the floor. Carefully he lifted his childhood friend off the dead man and cradled her on the floor. Blood was pouring from her wound at an alarming rate. It would not be long now.

  Her pretty blue eyes shone up at him. She tried to speak but he shushed her, stroking her hair.

  "It's alright. You made it alright. Thank you."

  The dying girl gave him a wobbly smile and he watched as the light faded from her eyes. He looked up at Kalila. She was watching the scene with a look of pity.

  "She gave me to him but then they would not let her go. He used her over and over again. She knew I was awake but she kept my secret. Why would she do that Malcolm?"

  "For me. She did it for me."

  Kalila nodded and reached for her ankle bonds. He set Caitlin's body aside and rushed to help the Princess free herself. Then he lifted her up and embraced her. He had been so frightened and now it was over.

  She was safe. She was alive. She was his.

  Fifteen

  Kalila carefully wrapped the tartan around her. She smiled at the Lady Alice as the woman carefully tucked the tail end into place. Her dark green wool gown peeked out at the shoulder and hem. The color was becoming on her, she knew.

  "You are such a beautiful bride! I'll wager that Malcolm will fall off his stool when he sees you."

  Kalila laughed at the image of her brawny groom tumbling off his seat. But she sobered just as quickly. Today was a day she had not thought would happen. When she was lying on the cold dark floor… or later, when Al Hakam held a knife against her Scotsman's throat.

  She straightened as Aluda laid a wreath of purple flowered thistle over her hair. She'd been without her veils for a month now. She had felt horribly exposed at first, but now she loved the freedom of it. She smiled at the two women staring at her with tears in their eyes.

  It was time.

  She followed Lady Alice and Aluda down the stairs to the Great Hall, then out onto the meadow beyond the gates. There was a great oak tree there, strung with ribbons. Her Malcolm stood beneath it. Her heart swelled with pride when she saw him in his plaid and fine blue tunic. His brawny legs peeked out from beneath his kilt. He was far too handsome to be real. When she thought about how far they had come, it made her breath catch in her throat.

  Before she knew it she was standing facing Malcolm with their hands clasped. The elderly Priest intoned words of blessing over them as he twisted a silk ribbon over their hands, tying them together in truth, as well as in name. And then it was Malcolm's turn to speak.

  "Blood of my blood, bone of my bone, I give you my body, that we two might be one. I give you my spirit, till our lives be done."

  Kalila inhaled deeply and repeated the words she'd rehearsed so many times in the privacy of her chamber. "Blood of my blood, bone of my bone, I give you my body, that we two might be one. I give you my spirit, till our lives be done." She smiled tremulously into Malcolm's green eyes. He steadied her, as he always did.

  "Kiss the bride!"

  He used his hands to pull her towards him, letting the ribbon slide from their fingers as he took her mouth in a kiss that was more suited for the bedroom than a public celebration. No one seemed to mind that his hands grasped her hips and yanked her against him. Nor that his tongue tangled with hers in blatant lust.

  The crowd cheered and roared as he kissed her. Finally he lifted his head and grinned down at her.

  "You're mine now."

  She grinned back.

  "And are you mine."

  He laughed and reached down to his hip for a pouch of coins. They walked back to the castle arm in arm as he scattered coins to the group of children who'd gathered for just that reason.

  She clutched his arm tightly.

  He was right. She was his.

  Epilogue

  Princess Kalila sat at the council table. Next to her sat her husband, the Scottish Prince as he was known. Beside him was her loyal guard Ghali and his bride, Aluda. The two had married just that day but there was still business to attend to.

  The treaty with England sat on the table before them. It had taken some doing, but King Richard had finally lifted the warrant for Malcolm’s arrest. It had helped that his grandfather was an ardent supporter of the crown. It helped even more that Malcolm was now a Prince in his own right, with control over a major port.

  Ghali and Aluda would be ruling in her absence. It had taken much discussion but Malcolm and she had decided that they could not live in one place or the other exclusively. He could not leave his clan, and she could not abandon her people. Perhaps someday their children would chose the same.

  Kalila had promised to return every other year and to stay in close contact through messages. But she trusted her two friends implicitly to do what was right for their Kingdom. It had been Malcolm's idea that they leave the day to day ruling in the hands of her former servants. Now he was sliding his hand along her thigh as the brief meeting came to an end. He leaned over and whispered in her ear. He was always coming up with some new wicked thing that he wanted to do to her. Kalili smiled and blushed, nodding.

  Her husband always had the best ideas.