The Thistle and the Rose(52)

“I love you, Celia,” he said softly, stroking the side of her face with his fingers. “That is what binds me to you.”

Celia took Colin's hand and looked at him steadily.

“Colin, I have nothing to bring to this marriage. I have no money, no name, no training as a wife.”

“Celia, you have everything that I need,” he responded, answering her gaze. “You are all that I have ever wanted.”

“But...but...you know I cannot marry you,” she said, looking away from him, trying to focus on the reality, the danger still threatening Kit, still awaiting all of them.

“I know you can,” he responded, taking her chin again and bringing her gaze back to his own. “I know you want it the same as I.”

“Oh, Colin,” Celia blurted in frustration, leaping to her feet. Taking a couple of steps, she stood with her back to him, her arms wound tightly around her middle. “It has nothing to do with what I want. I still...I still have a mission that I must accomplish. I have Kit, and I cannot think of...I just do not know what will happen.”

Colin moved up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. Pulling her tightly against him, he rubbed his cheek against her silky hair. Turning her around, he took both her hands in his.

“Celia,” he began. “He is my king, as well. When the prince was anointed at birth, I took an oath of fealty to serve and to protect him. Our oaths make us allies, but our love makes us invincible. Your mission is to keep him safe until Huntly secures his life and his throne. We are meant to be together. And like everything else we will face in our lives, we will overcome any obstacle and accomplish this mission together.”

“But there is still Danvers,” she said with frustration. “By now, he knows where we are. I know him, Colin. He might give up the search for Kit by Henry's order, but he'll never give up on me. He hates me. I wounded his pride. He'll not stop until he finds me.”

Colin paused, weighing his answer carefully. He would not let her run for the rest of her life from the evil that had been haunting her. She would never have to run again.

“Then we let him find you...here,” Colin said firmly. “I want him to come here, Celia. It is time he paid for the crimes he has committed across this land. It is time he and I met.”

“Colin, he is evil,” Celia responded quickly. This was the last thing she wanted, to bring the wrath of Danvers down on these innocent people and on Colin. “He does not fight fair. He uses trickery. He uses spies.”

“Celia, trust me,” he said reassuringly. “We will be ready for him. Kildalton is the strongest fortress in the Western Isles. We'll know when he's within a day's march or within a day's sail, and we'll let him put his own head in the noose.”

A glimmer of hope lightened her soul, but only for a moment. The dangers were still so frightening. But Celia knew what Colin said was true. The only way to stop Danvers was to face him...and to kill him.

“Celia, we cannot know for certain what the future brings. We can only prepare ourselves as best we can. We can only live today.”

Celia nodded. “I know that, Colin. But when the time comes, you must remember that it is my fight, as well.”

“Aye. I'll remember.” Colin looked at the slender frame of the woman before him. Only when Danvers lay dead at his feet would Colin let Celia near her enemy. He smiled at her again.

“You're a liar, Colin Campbell,”—she smiled back— “But a winning one.”

“Then you'll marry me?” he asked.

“Aye, Colin,” Celia whispered, moving into his embracing arms and tilting her face up against his chest.

“Together, my love,” he growled softly, “nothing can stop us.”

“Together, my love,” she replied, lifting her slightly parted lips to his.

With a gesture as ageless as the love that bound them, the union   of their lips sealed the covenant. Each feeling the warmth of the other, they stood pressed together. Two bodies, two minds, two hearts...one future.



The news of their intended marriage broke over the household that afternoon with the power of a tidal wave. The happiness and the excitement of the announcement were only surmounted by the disarray that resulted from Colin's insistence that the ceremony be held on Easter Monday. Agnes and Ellen wept, while Alec jokingly tried to talk `sense' into Celia. Lord Hugh simply smothered her with a hug tight enough to crack her ribs. Celia and Colin both laughed at Father William's threat of continued chaperoning in the days ahead. But the most important person of all still needed to be told. Edmund had gone down into the village with Alec's brother, and Celia and Colin awaited her uncle's return.

Edmund's response was extreme for a man of his reserve. His misty eyes and shaking hands betrayed the sheer joy he was inwardly experiencing. His congratulations were effusive and warm when they sat him down in the South Hall.

“Celia,” he said seriously after the first excited moments. “Your father would have been thrilled by this match.”

He paused for a moment to consider his next words.

“There are some things we need to discuss. Things about your father. And about his legacy for you.”

“I'll leave you two, then,” Colin said, excusing himself. He knew that Edmund had been like a father to Celia. They deserved some time alone together.

Celia would not let him go, however. She held tightly to his arm.

“Edmund, I'd like Colin to be present for this,” she said softly, awaiting Edmund's nod before continuing. “Lord Hugh has already told me a great deal about my father. I know what he did and what he was.”

“Then you know he was a great man,” Edmund responded.

“All I really know is that he was a pirate, a merchant, and a loving father.”

“Then you should also know that there were a great many needy people who benefited from your father's strength and open-handedness,” Edmund continued. “He kept order on the western coasts of England and Wales. Peace loving coastal villagers could live and prosper for the first time in generations, no longer fearing the raiding Spaniards and French.

“But it was not only his countrymen that he aided. Everywhere in the world that his trading business took us, he made an impression. It was routine for John Muir to transport food and water to islands and famine-struck areas from Ireland to the west coast of Africa. He took no profit from any of those goodwill missions, though. He always spent his own money.”

Edmund looked at Colin. “In many ways, your father and Celia's had much in common.” Colin nodded in affirmation.

“As much as Lord Hugh's interest focused on Colin, John's interest focused on you, Celia,” Edmund continued. “One great difference was that Colin's father had Kildalton and Scotland. John Muir was in many ways a man without a country. He saw that as a liberating strength in many ways. He made his decisions free of the restraints of self-serving governments. But it also gave him concerns about where you could be safely raised. That was why he always kept you with him...after your mother passed away.

“Your father knew that after he died all his possessions...and you...would probably be at King Henry's disposal. So he hid away as much of a fortune as he could for you. It's all tucked away safely in an abbey in Ireland. That treasure far exceeds the value of the fleet of ships that Henry confiscated for his own use, the ships that Danvers still lusts after. He didn't want you to know about this, though, until you were at a point in your life where you could control your own destiny. When it came to your future, he was afraid of everyone—King Henry, his own family, and every fortune hunter who might come seeking your hand in marriage. On his deathbed, he asked me to protect you as well as I could, and to try and get you to Scotland. He had more faith in James's sense of justice than in Henry's.

“So when Henry brought you into his web of an English court, I went to James and told him the truth. He had heard the rumors of John Muir's treasure. James was a good man, but he was also a shrewd businessman. He wanted that wealth in Scotland rather than in England, so he arranged to take you in. He never intended to send you back, and when old King Henry died, James simply ignored the agreement that he'd made concerning you. But he didn't want to do what Henry had done, trying to force you into marrying one of his favorites. He knew that you would eventually find a match for yourself.”

Edmund looked across at the entwined hands of the two young people.

“And he was right, you have.”



Dinner was far more exuberant than usual for the week before Easter, but the excitement was undeniable. The entire Campbell clan, it seemed, came out of the woodwork to wish their young laird well, and to cast approving looks at the bride. Colin was away from Celia for much of the evening, taking the customary comical advice and needling reserved for bridegrooms. At the center of a circle of clan women, Agnes had shown Celia off as if she were her own daughter. When they had spare moments, Agnes and Celia put their heads together, planning the wedding. With less than a week to put together a feast that might have been months in preparation, the flurry of activity would be dizzying.



Celia was nearly asleep when she heard the panel door open. Opening her eyes, Celia watched the warrior cross the room to her bed. She was so glad to see him, for she had not even had a chance to say good night to him in the crowded hall below. First putting a finger to her lips, though, Colin scooped up his smiling betrothed and started back for the open panel. Celia snuggled her head against his shoulder.