“Meredith, are ye absolutely sure ye want to do this? Because ye know ye can still change yer mind, daenae ye? I know ye agreed to marry the Laird for the sake o’ the clan, but yer happiness will always be the most important thing to us. Ye dae know that?”
Meredith’s mother’s words were firm, but her face was strained with anxiety as she stood behind Meredith, carefully brushing out her long dark hair on the morning of the wedding. The past few days had not been easy for her — for any of them, in fact. Although meticulously polite, it had been evident that Ryder was unused to having so many guests in his home, and he’d frequently disappeared, making the transparent excuse that he was going for a ride to escape his obligations as a host.
“I dae know that,” Meredith assured her mother, turning briefly to place a hand on her cheek. “But yer wrong if ye think that’s the only reason I’m marrying Ryder. I know that’s why I agreed to meet with him and to come here, but things have changed.” She turned back to the mirror, watching as her mother continued with her attempt to brush the tangles from her unruly curls. “I’m marrying him for love,” she continued simply. “Love of him, as much as love of you and Pa. So ye daenae have to worry about me.”
She smiled again, reassuringly, but her mother simply continued silently with her task, unconvinced.
“Is he kind to ye, though, lass?” she asked, finally, meeting her daughter’s eye in the mirror. “It’s just, we’ve heard so many stories about him, and we would never ask ye to do anything that ye didnae want to, or that would put ye in danger.”
“Stories are just stories, Ma,” Meredith reminded her. “I know the real Ryder, and I know him to be a good man. One of the best, in fact. I wouldnae be marrying him if I dinnae think so.”
“True,” her mother acknowledged. “I daenae think the man’s been born yet that could persuade me Meredith to do something she daenae want to. It’s just… he wouldnae take Felix out riding with him when Pa asked him to. And we’ve barely seen him since we’ve been here, so we haven’t had the opportunity to get to know him the way ye have. It’s a mother’s job to worry, lass. Ye’ll maybe find that out for yerself one of these days.”
“He dinnae take Felix with him because Felix has been every bit as cold as Ryder,” Meredith sighed, exasperated. “I could shake the pair of them. They’re as bad as each other.”
It was true. Although neither would have liked the comparison. Meredith’s betrothed and brother were more alike than they realized, and, having got off to a bad start when Felix had sulked during the introductions, the two had continued in the same vein, with Felix choosing to interpret Ryder’s detached manner as a personal snub, while Ryder, for his part, saw no point in trying to win over a boy who obviously didn’t like him.
“True.” Her mother’s expression lightened somewhat. “As long as yer happy, lass,” she said, placing her hands on her daughter’s shoulders and bending to kiss her cheek. “That’s all we want. And Felix will come around, I’m sure of it.”
“Well, if he doesnae, he’ll have me to answer to!” Melissa spoke up from the corner of the room, where Ellen had been helping her dress. “I like Ryder. He’s a right grump when he wants to be, but then, so is Felix, so I wouldnae worry what he has to say about it. Did ye ask him if I can stay on after the wedding, Meredith? Ye did promise ye would, remember?”
Meredith laughed at her sister’s fierce expression.
“I’m nae worried,” she said, standing up and preparing to step into the dress her mother held out for her. “I know Ryder, and I know he’s a good man, despite being a ‘grump’ as Melissa would have it. He’s even agreed to let ye stay, Melissa — that’s how good he is! And besides, even if he and Felix never become friends, at least they only have a few more days to tolerate each other. Now, let’s finish getting ready. I daenae want to keep me groom waiting, after all!”
* * *
The wedding day dawned bright and clear, and as Meredith rode on horseback to the small church which stood just outside the castle grounds, at the edge of the little village there, she already knew she would remember it for the rest of her life.
“Ye’ll probably talk about it for the rest o’ yer life too,” said Melissa, sticking her tongue out at her sister when she dared to share this thought with her. “Knowing ye!”
Meredith simply smiled. Nothing could possibly spoil this day for her --- not even the glowering expression on Felix's face as she walked past him on her way down the church aisle, holding tightly on to her father's arm.
She had seated Felix and Melissa next to the Murrays, hoping that Angus and Marion, who she'd introduced to her family the evening before, at dinner, would help shake her brother out of his black mood. She could already tell that her mother and Margaret were going to be firm friends. It had gladdened her heart to see how easily the two groups of people had seemed to mesh together. Her family, and Ryder’s close friends, all getting along as if they’d known each other forever.
In the church pew directly behind them all, Colby Greene turned to smile warmly at her while she saw the Lairds of Munro and Galloway, with their wives beside him. Meredith did not know either man well, and their wives not at all, but they all turned to smile graciously as she passed, and she felt another prickle of excitement as she thought of the new life that was waiting for her at the altar.
These people would soon be her friends, as well as Ryder's. By the time she walked past them for a second time, she would be the Lady of Millar, and everything would be different.
At the top of the aisle, she paused as Ryder turned to face her, his usually serious expression giving way to a bright smile as he caught sight of her.
“Ye look beautiful,” he whispered, just loud enough for her to hear him. Meredith simply smiled in return, then turned and kissed her father on the cheek, as he handed her over to her husband-to-be, then went to take his place beside her mother - who was already struggling to hold back her tears; Meredith was amused to notice.
The ceremony started with the hand-fasting. Meredith and Ryder’s hands were bound together with strips of cloth, one bearing Ryder's clan tartan and one bearing Meredith's to signify their union.
“May this knot remain tied for as long as love shall last,” intoned the priest, as the couple slipped their hands out of the circle that had been formed from the fabric, the knot still intact. Forever, Meredith thought, as Ryder leaned forward to kiss her, his eye filled with pride. It will remain tied forever; I'll make sure of it.
Afterward, the new couple led their guests from the church for the walk back to the castle, where there would be music and dancing, food, of course, and plenty of whisky and ale, as the two families celebrated the union with their small number of guests. Will Ryder dance with me? Meredith wondered as they walked behind the piper who had been hired to pipe them home, a small laugh escaping her at the thought of her tall, fierce-looking husband dancing a reel.
“What are ye laughing at, wife?” he asked, smiling down at her. “I hope it’s nae me?”
“Och, it is,” she assured him playfully. “It’s always ye, Ryder. I was just thinking how much fun it will be to dance with ye!”
He raised his eyebrows in horror, but once they arrived back at the castle, and he’d carried her over the threshold, before paying the piper with the traditional dram, he surprised her by joining her in the first reel of the night, whirling her around the room energetically, before giving her a small bow, as he opted out of the rest of the dancing.
“Forgive me, lass,” he said as he gestured back towards the table, which was laden with food and drink. “But I’d rather save me energy for later.”
He gave a quick wink, then turned to sit down next to her father, leaving Meredith blushing furiously as she realized what he meant. He was a surprisingly good dancer, though, she reflected, as she took Melissa’s hand and joined her in another reel. Good swordsmen often were, she had heard. The thought made her wonder what else Ryder might be good at, and she was suddenly glad that the energetic reel made it impossible to tell whether the redness that flooded her face was from embarrassment at the audacity of her own thoughts or simply the result of her exertions in the dance.
So lost in her thoughts was she that when her father stood up and tinged a fork against his glass to get everyone’s attention, it took her a few seconds to realize what was happening.
“Time for some speeches,” Melissa giggled, nudging her sharply with her elbow. “This will be the most we’ve ever heard Laird Grumpy say if he gets up! D’ye think he’ll make a speech, Meredith?”
Before Meredith could answer her, her father was beckoning for her and Ryder to join him at the front of the room, where he invited them both to drink from a silver quaich filled with whisky, and which Meredith recognized as a Quinn family heirloom, which he must have brought with him from home.
The dish was shaped so that it had to be held with both hands - not just because of its size but to signify peace between the clans. A man could not reach for his sword while both hands were occupied, after all. And, as she took a sip, and, as she finished drinking, and stood back to listen to the speech her father had started to make, Meredith couldn't help but hope that seeing Ryder’s willingness to make himself vulnerable before their family would go some way towards mending Felix’s stubborn hostility to his new brother-in-law. They could but hope.
“A daughter is a precious thing,” Edward Quinn finished, raising his glass in Meredith’s direction, “And I know that the Laird of Millar will do everything in his power to look after Meredith for us. I’m proud to be able to call him my son-in-law and to welcome him to our family.”