Page 47 of Fearless Heart

Chapter Fourteen

Heath lay watching Lillia. Light filtered into the cave and Annag bustled about fixing the morning fare. He usually rose early, but this day he didn’t want to face the morn. This day he’d forever tie himself to Lillia which troubled him. Not because he didn’t care for her. He cared a whole lot, more than he thought possible. It was mainly because he’d have to put behind him the quest to serve God and also because he’d have a hell of a time getting her to agree.

He wouldn’t force her though. Somehow he would gain her agreement. Added to the weight of those issues, James had to be on his way to the caves. He needed to get the marriage done before his surly comrade arrived.

“Good morn.” She touched his face, solacing him briefly.

“We must leave. Make haste. Ready and meet me at the horses.”

“But—”

“No buts, Sweetness. You are coming with me even if I must throw ye upon my damned horse and make off with you. Now ready yourself, and I’ll get us something to eat along the way. Don’t dally.”

Heath rose and told Annag what he needed. She put together a small sack of foodstuff: bread, fruit, cheese, and handed it to him. The old woman gazed at him with a strange look.

“Och ye be doing the right thing,” she said, and clasped his hand. “You shall make a fine husband for Lillia.”

Kerrigan joined them at the table. He watched Lillia, who grumbled about using the stream to wake her, leave the cave, and he turned back to the two women he’d come to care for.

“I’m off to the abbey.”

“All shall go well,” Kerrigan said.

He guffawed in objection. “I doubt it, but regardless before this day is through she will be my wife.”

“She hasn’t agreed?” Annag tisked. “You will convince her for she’s professed to giving you her heart. Surely that be enough.”

“Have you told her you love her?”

He raised a brow at Kerrigan’s question. “I will figure out how to gain her agreement. Tell Graeme I’ll return before dark.” Heath set out to the ossuary and found Lillia walking in the opposite direction. His stride was much quicker than hers and he caught up to her and plucked her from the ground.

“Sweetness, don’t tell me you’re having wedding nerves.” He tapped her bottom and laughed when she gasped. “I suppose we’ll have to ride together.” Heath bid Gilroy have his horse ready in the morning. Lillia let out an unladylike expletive when he tossed her upon the horse’s back. He quickly mounted behind her in case she had thoughts of jumping and making off.

Heath concentrated on the lane and the nearness of Lillia. She leaned back against him and hadn’t spoken since they set out. As much despair wreaked upon him in recent years, he was also fortunate. For some strange reason he felt as though he was rewarded. Lillia was everything he wanted in a wife.

Surely he shouldn’t be content, especially after the debacle with his brother in France, the treason against his clan, the failure to make right the deaths he’d committed, and for not fulfilling his promise to God. As the lane ended, he shook off the guilt and decided to go forward. There was nothing to do but make good on his promise to Lillia. At least, he’d hope to accomplish one ambition this day.

They reached Sweetheart Abbey when the sun rose to its highest point. Even so, there was a brisk chill to the air. Heath pulled a tartan from his saddle bag and placed it over Lillia’s shoulders. She looked bonny wearing his tartan.

“The abbey is called Sweetheart Abbey, named because the lady who commissioned it did so in honor of her beloved husband.” He smiled at the thought the woman had loved her husband to such an extreme. Would that his wife loved him as much, but there was always hope. If he could even get her to agree to wed him and speak the words, he might one day hear her profess such sentiment.

“That’s a lovely tale, Heath, but are you certain it is true?”

“It is. Lady Dervorguilla had the abbey erected in memory of her husband, Baron John Balliol. After he died, she kept a small casket which held his heart. When she died, it was buried alongside her.” He quieted on the approach to the main building. Heath kept a lookout for James. His comrade might’ve gone to the abbey first, but there was no sign of him. At the entrance to the abbey, Friar Hemm bid them to enter.

“Heath, it is good to see you. Have ye come to— ”

He bowed his head to the clergyman. “Friar, we’re here to take the sacrament of marriage.”

Lilla stepped forward and was about to denounce his request. Heath pulled her back. “I might need a wee bit of help, Friar, to get her to say the words.”

Hemm raised his eyebrows in astonishment. “There will be no trickery, Heath. She must agree on her own accord.” He led them inside and to the small chapel where Heath often gave his confession.

“Do you wish to confess your sins before we begin?”

He shook his head. As much as he wanted to speak of his latest transgressions, he wouldn’t risk Lillia fleeing whilst he did so.

“Both of you kneel before the altar.”