Page 89 of Love Me Forever

“Very wise,” Brianna said, hugging her brother’s arm.

“I must tell you, though that sometimes I fear I will wake to find this has all been a dream.”

Ian pinched her arm.

“That hurt,” she said, retaliating with her elbow to his ribs.

“If it hurts you cannot be dreaming.” Ian rubbed at his side. “It is good to see that once again you are fast to defend yourself.”

“Your wife was a great help in helping me to regain my strengths, and I have no intention of ever giving them away so easily again.”

The wind grew blustery, and Brianna shivered from the sting at her cheeks.

“I think we are in for a storm, for I feel something brewing,” Ian said, turning them so that they headed back to the keep.

Brianna was quick to agree. “I feel the same myself.”

She recited a silent prayer in hopes that it would help ease her own unease. She could not quite say what caused the feeling, and it had only recently appeared, shadowing her excitement.

A yawn warned that she grew tired.

“There will be much merriment this evening. If you wish to enjoy it, I suggest a nap.”

“A short one, for I wish to enjoy this entire day.”

They returned to the keep, and Brianna retired to her bedchamber to nap. Sleep eluded her, her restless thoughts keeping her awake. She had not expected to love again, and she certainly had not expected to realize that she had not truly loved her husband the way she had thought she did. She wondered if perhaps she had loved the idea of love.

With Royce it was different, and she could, after stepping past her stubbornness, understand the depths of the love she had for him and he for her. Finally, life would be good again.

Her eyes had barely drifted closed when Moira and Anne rushed into the room.

“Time to get ready,” Anne announced excitedly.

“You feel well?” Moira asked, concerned.

Brianna sat up with a yawn and a stretch. “I feel wonderful. How could I not? It is my wedding day.”

Moira hugged her and smiled. “And it will be a wedding day you will long remember.”

Anne fussed over the white wool dress that lay draped over the chair. “You should see all the food, and the great hall is decorated in its finest winter greenery. It will be a grand celebration.”

The two women helped Brianna to dress, and when they were finished, they stepped back to examine the bride. Tears welled in their eyes.

“You look beautiful,” Moira said, and Anne agreed with a vigorous nod while wiping the tears from her eyes.

She felt beautiful, but it was not the dress that caused the feeling, it was Royce, for he forever commented on her beauty until she finally began to believe his words.

Anne scooped up the head wreath fashioned from winter greenery and dried herbs and hurried over to Brianna to place it on her head. It was a snug fit and complimented her rich dark hair that fell past her shoulders in a mass of riotous curls. Her freshly scrubbed face glowed, her cheeks were tinged soft pink from her stroll in the crisp winter weather, and her lips glistened as though touched by the morning dew.

A pounding on the door caused the three women to jump.

“I am here to escort my sister,” Ian said proudly.

Moira let him in, though not before she showered kisses on him and whispered, “I am so thrilled for your sister.”

Guilt assaulted him and he grabbed his wife around the waist and hugged her tightly. “I wish our wedding could have been different.”

She kissed his cheek. “We have each other. That is all that matters to me.”