She’d touched his arm then, smiling as she shook her head, dismissing his worry. “Hew, if ’tis no too cold for ye to be out here, then I doona think I shall freeze to death either. Did ye know that I shall turn ten and eight tomorrow?”
He’d stepped away from her, too many nerves for him to stand there with her hand lying on his arm. “Nay, lass. I dinna know. I shall make ye something. Carve ye a piece of jewelry perhaps?” He didn’t know what to say to her, never did.
“I would like that verra much, but that isna why I mentioned it to ye.”
He’d gathered the freshly chopped logs of wood into his hands, desperate to keep busy in her presence. “Nay? Why did ye then?”
He stilled when she moved to stand in front of him, blocking his path. “Will ye set all that down for only a moment, Hew? I’m trying to talk to ye if ye canna tell.”
He reddened and obeyed. “Aye, lass. Why doona we sit for a moment?”
They’d moved to the pile of wood, stacked just high enough to serve as the perfect seat. He trembled as she unexpectedly grabbed his hands, but he swallowed his nerves and forced himself not to flinch away from her touch. “What is it, lass?”
“As I just told ye, I shall be ten and eight tomorrow, and I doona wish to become an old maid.”
Hew couldn’t still the twitch of his hand as he realized where she headed with her words. “Nay, lass, I doona believe that ye will. There are many lads who would eagerly wed ye.”
“Aye, I doona believe that I shall become an old maid, either. Still, most me age are already married. While yer sister is several years older than me, she was married at ten and seven. And ye are right, many lads would be willing to wed me, but I am no so eager to marry them.”
“Why is that, lass? Is there no one that catches yer fancy?” It was too much for Hew to wish that Mae would answer as he wished, but to his everlasting shock, she had.
“Aye, there is one, and I willna allow him to behave as if he doesna care for me as much as I care for him a moment longer.”
His heart began to beat so quickly he feared she could feel its quick pulse in his fingertips. Though a cold night, sweat beaded freely on his brow. “Is that so, lass? And who is this lad that ye speak of?”
“If ye doona know, ye are as daft as yer sister seems to think ye are.”
She paused and reached in quickly to kiss him. He acted so stunned, she pulled away before he could react and kiss her properly. “Nay, lass. Ye canna mean it. ’Tis some other lad that ye mean and ye are simply using me for practice, aye?”
She laughed before kissing him once more. This time he pulled her close as she melted against him. Breathlessly, she pulled away from him so that she could whisper into his ear. “Nay, Hew, there is none other but ye. There never has been. Ye are going to marry me.”
He smiled against her cheek, her confidence somehow diminishing his shyness. “If ye insist, lass.”
“Aye, I do.”
“And what shall ye do with me once we are married?” His hands found their way to her hair, and he cradled her against his chest, pulling her into a tight embrace.
“We shall move north, find a piece of land for only the two of us, and together we shall build a home where we will spend all of our days together.”
*
They married within a fortnight and had done just as Mae wished, moving north and building a home for the two of them, isolated from the rest of humanity. Five years flew by in a haze of love where they spent every moment at each other’s side.
Eventually, they planned a trip to visit their families in Conall territory, but they left in winter and on their journey, Mae fell ill. She fought hard, but the sickness was too much. She died only two days after they arrived. He’d chosen to bury her close to there, in the land in which she’d grown up. With a broken heart, he returned to their home alone.
Hew saddled his horse, pushing away the memories of his past as he headed out into the storm. It had been many years since Mae passed and, while he would feel her absence always, his heart had now healed as much as it ever could from such a wrenching loss.
He continued to make the trip to her grave on the anniversary of her death to pay his respects, to speak to her, to remind himself that once in his life he had not been so completely alone.
Chapter 3
Conall Castle
I tried to make as much noise as I could as I made my way downstairs into the castle’s kitchen where I was certain Mary would be busily working away on the evening meal. She knew it was me coming instantly.
“Adelle, ye doona always have to make such noise when ye move about. Come in here and help me plate the food.”
I knew I didn’t move more loudly than anyone else in the castle, but Mary was constantly looking for something to nag me about so I obliged her by being purposely obnoxious in her presence.