Chapter 19

The day dawned crisp and clear; the breeze having just enough bite to remind everyone that winter was but a few weeks away. Wispy white clouds raced across the azure blue sky. Gulls circled and cried above Ronan's ship, occasionally swooping down to pluck at the clusters of ivy, heather, and ribbons decorating the deck. Harley and Ronan's wedding ceremony was to be in the bow of Ronan's ship. It was only fitting for their union to be witnessed by the sea.

Amazingly enough, crotchety old Emrys had once again won out over a mere physical ailment and risen from his sickbed in time to perform the ceremony. He wore his finest druid's robes, dark and flowing with every step he took. For once, his wild mane of grey was somewhat tamed and braided away from his face. His beard had also been untangled and smoothed, laying in a shining mass upon his chest. As he idly stared out at the water, he seemed years younger even though he leaned against his staff.

Caelan was garbed befitting a powerful laird. His best plaid crossed his broad chest, while his ceremonial knives were strapped to his trim waist and calves. Rachel's heart fluttered as she eyed her husband's fine form. Even with something as innocent as a wink or a meaningful look, he still possessed the power to ignite her passions.

"Have ye told them?" he breathed into her hair as he brushed a kiss across her temple.

She pressed her lips into a thin, determined line and shook her head."No. I thought it best to let the pieces fall where they may, since we know how the scene will play out."

"Are ye ready?" He drew her closer to his side, his arm protectively around her.

Her eyes stung with unshed tears, but she forced a smile. "I have to be." She smoothed her hair, fretting with the thick braids coiled around her head. "Brid has shown me this was always meant to be. There is no denying destiny—Fate always has its way."

Caelan hugged her close and pressed his forehead to hers. Today was to be filled with both joy and sorrow. Rachel closed her eyes, begging the powers for the strength to survive it.

"It is almost time," he murmured as he turned her toward the shore where their people had gathered to witness the middle MacKay son's wedding. All eyes were locked on the ship, the smiles of the clansmen almost blinding with joy.

"Ignorance is bliss," she whispered.

"Aye, my love." He hugged her close again. "Take heart. We will get through this."

Harley flittedaround the captain's quarters like a nervous moth, unable to stand in one spot longer than a minute or more. She stared out the window, glanced up at the sky, then returned to Ellen who was fuming beside the pile of clothing on the bed.

"You don't think it's going to rain, do you?" she asked the maid. "Do you think it'll be too chilly for everyone as the sun sets?"

Ellen impatiently tapped her foot while fluffing the wrinkles from several yards of lace. "I think that no matter what the weather, ye will never be wed this day because ye willna stand in one spot long enough for me to finish dressing ye!"

With a glance down at the untied state of her stays, Harley caught her bottom lip between her teeth once again. "Oh. Sorry. It's just that I'm a little—I just want everything—I need today to be..."

"Shush now. I know what ye want, and what ye need. Now, stand still, and let me finish lacing yer stays, and then we shall braid the flowers into yer lovely, long hair." Ellen effectively silenced her by yanking so hard on the ties of her bodice that she squeezed all the air out of her lungs.

"I can't breathe!" Harley grabbed hold of the bookcase while gasping for air.

"It is nay that tight," Ellen scolded. "Dinna be such a fractious wee hen." She pulled the gown over Harley's head, tugged it down, then stepped back with a smile. With a happy sigh, she clasped her hands under her chin as the heavy golden silk settled in place around Harley's curves. The color of the gown mirrored Harley's whiskey-colored eyes and perfectly set off the golden glow of her skin.

"You don't think it's bad luck that my gown's not white?" Harley nervously plucked at the fitted waist of the gown. She wanted Ronan to find her beautiful—not looking like a gilded bird in a cage.

Ellen rounded her with the brush in her hand, clucking her tongue as she shook her head. "Ye look an absolute vision, and I have never known Master Ronan to be so besotted. A MacKay doesna count on luck to make his life right. A MacKay believes in fulfilling his destiny. Ye are Master Ronan's destiny, as sure as the sun dwells in the sky."

She soon had Harley's hair plaited into a shining braid coiled around her head and adorned with delicate white flowers. She carefully placed the veil over Harley's face and secured it with intricately carved hair pins fashioned from richly yellowed ivory. "Now ye must wait here until our laird comes for ye." She stole a glance out the window, then shook a finger at Harley. "It willna be much longer. Hold fast, mistress." Then she hurried out the door and closed it softly behind her, leaving Harley to manage the butterflies in her stomach alone.

She rubbed her sweaty palms together and tried to take a deep breath, but was quickly stopped by the tightly laced stays. "I'm going to pass out from lack of oxygen." She reached inside the dress, grabbed the corset, and vainly attempted to gain a little breathing room by giving the thing a hard yank. But Ellen's knotwork was better than any ship's bosun. So, she resigned herself to filling her lungs with one tiny breath at a time.

As the door creaked open, she jumped. Her heart sprang to her throat as she realized it was time. She had only gotten this close to marrying one time before, and that one time had spiraled into a disaster.

"Ye are loveliness itself, lass," Caelan said. "My son has chosen well." He gifted her with a fatherly smile and gallantly extended his arm. "Ready?"

She drew in a shaky breath and laid a trembling hand on his forearm. "As ready as I will ever be."

Caelan chuckled and escorted her out of the room onto the deck.

At the bow of the ship, in front of an arch entwined with ivy, Ronan awaited her with an impatient expression that made her smile. She stopped in her tracks as she eyed the handsome man before her. His dark looks were even more enticing in his finest captain's clothes. His black breeches were tucked into his leather boots that were polished to an ebony luster. His snowy white tunic was open at his tanned throat and his black cloak was pinned with his clan's crest at his shoulders.

Harley felt like she had fled reality and landed in the center of a historical romance novel. The butterflies in her stomach changed into crackling flames of desire. She wanted this man. Both body and soul, and she wouldn't rest until they were united for all to see.

Ronan couldn't helpbut smile as Harley walked toward him. Her emotions shouted that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. Aye, they belonged together—through this life and all the lives that followed. As long as they found each other and stood at each other's sides, nothing could overcome them. He breathed her in and used his senses to draw her feelings across him. An aching hovered between them, drawing them closer and binding them as one. But it was the sort of ache that promised great joy once it was satisfied.

His mother, Aveline, Latharn, and Faolan all stood to the side of the arch to witness the union. Their signatures on the marriage contract would make it stronger. Ronan huffed a laugh. No contract would make this union stronger. The bond between himself and Harley had been ordained before the beginning of time. He felt it as surely as the air rushing in and out of his lungs. Old Emrys, hale and hearty once more, stood beneath the arch of ivy, waiting to join them after they spoke their vows.

Father gave him a nod of approval before joining their hands and then taking his place beside Mother. Ronan frowned, noticing Father pulled Mother closer, as though shielding her from harm. Surely, he only did that because Mother tended to get emotional at weddings—and was apt to be even worse at her son's union.

Emrys took a golden braided rope from the depths of his robe and loosely wrapped it around Ronan and Harley's wrists. He kept glancing at the sky as if troubled. Ronan gave the old druid a pointed look, silently insisting he tell what he knew. Emrys barely shook his head, then lowered his gaze, and stepped back. No sooner had he done so, when the skies blackened with angry clouds.

Ronan pulled Harley close as the dark thunderheads swirled above the ship, hovering directly above them. Then the realization hit him. The vision Harley had seen in the Mirror of Time was about to unfold. As soon as that thought formed in his mind, a great wave washed across the deck. As the water receded, in its place stood a shimmering woman. It was Clíodhna, and she was not happy.

"'Tis time, Aveline. Cast yer wee spell. It is time ye fulfill yer pact." The sea goddess fixed Aveline with a menacing glare and pointed her pale, shining hand at Harley. "Do it now, child. Lest I lose my patience with ye completely."

Her eyes wide with fear, Aveline stepped in front of Ronan and Harley and defiantly shook her head. "I canna do this. I willna take away my brother's true love. Ye canna expect me to complete this pact."

The Goddess Clíodhna not only swelled in size but darkened with malevolence. "Ye dare defy me? For that impertinence, I shall take both their lives!"

Ronan shoved Harley behind him as Clíodhna roared and pointed a black, shining claw at them. Her evil bellowing stirred the clouds and unleashed lightning all around.

The sea goddess reached for the sky and coaxed the crackling energy into her hands. Her eyes narrowed as she drew that energy into a ball and raised it above her head.

Keeping Harley behind him, Ronan braced himself as Clíodhna hurled the powerful orb directly at them. But a blinding aura of blue-white light surrounded them, protecting them from the lethal lightning ball.

"Enough Clíodhna!" a firm voice ordered from the sky, drowning out the thunder growling through the clouds.

"The accord was broken!" Clíodhna shouted as she pointed at Aveline.

"Aveline will be punished," Brid replied, her shining form materializing upon the deck. Her flaming tresses floated around her, and her emerald eyes snapped in anger. The same blue-white aura that had shielded Harley and Ronan from a painful death glowed around her body.

Calling down more thunderbolts, Clíodhna leered at Aveline. No sooner had she gathered the jagged bits of energy than the Goddess Brid swept them away with a simple nod.

"Ye said she would be punished! It is my right," Clíodhna roared.

Her head tilted to one side, Brid arched a brow at the angry sea goddess. "I think ye best remember that I know of all that ye did when ye made the pact with this child."

Her shimmering nostrils flaring, Clíodhna threw up her hands and washed the deck with another crashing wave, then disappeared into the sea. Brid shielded the MacKays from being doused with a flick of her hand.

"Mannanán Mac Lir," Brid called to the shore, her deep green eyes searching the beach and the dock. "Come forward out of yer human form. Come forward to claim yer bride."

MacCallen stepped forward from the throng huddling on the dock. His face was calm as he boarded the ship. Walking slowly to Aveline's side, he took her hands in his. His form seemed to shimmer as he said, "Ye were born immortal. But it was forbidden to tell ye until this place and time. I have loved ye since before the moment ye were created. I watched yer soul before it came down from the stars. Yer punishment is to be bound to me for all eternity for I am the God of the Seas of Time. My hope is that ye will someday come to love me—as I have always loved ye."

Aveline snatched her hands out of his, ran to Caelan and Rachel, and wrapped her arms around her mother's waist. "No! Mama—tell them no! I dinna wish to leave here. To leave my clan and all that I love? Please—just tell them to take away my magic. Please, dinna make me go."

"Goddess Brid. Please, is there no other way?" Caelan held Rachel, as she buried her face in his chest and weakly pushed Aveline away.

"Ye ken the answer to that as well as I, Laird MacKay. The elemental laws are there for a reason. To protect both gods and man. She must go. But Mannanán Mac Lir loves her and has sworn to be her guardian. Trust me. All will be well." Brid shook her head as she placed her hand on Aveline's shoulder and gently pulled her from her parent's side.

"Join hands with him, Aveline. I will meld ye for all time.The punishment couldha been much worse, child. Ye ken that as well as I." Brid nodded at the god in his human form of the man Aveline had always known as MacCallen.

Sniffing and shaking, with tears coursing down her face, Aveline reluctantly held out her hands. As MacCallen gently cradled her hands in his own, a subtle glow emanated from them. Placing her glowing hands on theirs, Brid bowed her head and their auras immediately merged.

With a smile, Brid released their hands and turned to Harley and Ronan. "Be at peace. Aveline will be happy once again. It will just take a little time." She placed her hand on theirs and the golden rope around their wrists changed into two shining gold rings, one on Ronan's left hand and a matching one on Harley's. As the goddess smiled, a blue-white haze surrounded them. "Through time and space, these two are joined. Fate determined what their union would be. Their souls are now one. Completely intertwined, for all eternity."

As she spoke the last of the rite, she faded from view and the blue-white haze shot up into the sky, clearing the horizon of every cloud. The clan members gathered on the docks and the beach cowered from the shaft of blinding light.

Her form already shimmering and becoming difficult to see, Aveline extended her hands and bathed Ronan and Harley in a loving white light. "I shall learn how to watch over ye whenever ye travel the seas. I promise—when ye need me, I shall be there."

MacCallen nodded, his form also changing as his light merged with that of his precious bride. "Aye, ye will always be protected. That is my gift to my beloved Aveline."

Tears overflowing, Harley slowly shook her head as she watched their lights slowly rise into the sky. "Thank you, Aveline! Without you, I never would've found happiness. You gave me the greatest gift of all."

The wind died down, and the air seemed almost cloying as everyone realized the immortals had finally gone. Harley glanced down at her and Ronan's tightly clasped hands and gasped. Shining black pearls were embedded in each of their wedding bands.

"Hmpf! Fat lot of good it did for me to get dressed in my finest robes just to stand up here like a fixture on this blasted ship." Emrys stamped his staff and eyed the couple with an irritated glare.

With a sad smile at the fuming old man, Ronan bowed his head. "We would be most honored and happy if ye would also give us yer blessing—since today seems to be destined to have a bit of sorrow mixed with the joy."

Emrys scowled at them and slowly raised his staff. As he nodded their way, the tip of his staff glowed as though energy gathered within the crystal at its tip. "With the strength of the sea and the endlessness of time, this couple before me, I eternally bind. No matter the body, they are of one soul. With each incarnation, their bond will be known."

As he uttered the vow, their rings glowed, and both Harley and Ronan felt as though a growing heat that started in their clasped hands flooded their very beings. Pulling Harley to him, Ronan closed his mouth over hers, and their bodies seemed to meld with the same fiery energy.

The men, women, and children witnessing the ceremony broke into cheers as the couple completed their vows with a kiss. This MacKay wedding would be fodder for a romantic tale to be retold on many a long winter night.