Page 91 of Defy the Highlander

“Do ye suppose the priests will marry us at this hour?” Lilia whispered.

“Why not?” Brody said. “I have money with me. I’ll pay them well.”

“Ye do? Where did ye get it from?”

“It’s the purse I earned at The Cal. That was the only money I dinna give tae give tae Laird Currie because I knew we would need it.”

The mention of Laird Currie brought back the horrors of the day at Hawkhill, something Lilia was trying desperately to forget. Her mood sank no matter how hard she tried to fight it.

“Do ye think Laird Currie will send his men after me?” she asked. “Brody, I wouldna have killed the woman if I’d had another choice, but she came at me and I knew she meant tae kill me.”

He could see her distress and he pulled her into his strong embrace. “Ye did what ye had tae do. Ye mustna feel guilty for that.”

“She attacked me!”

“I know, my angel.”

Lilia drew strength from his arms, feeling his power around her. Nothing in the world had ever made her feel so safe. “Do ye think we’ve been followed?”

Brody released her, cupping her face in his big hands. “I dunna think Laird Currie would send anyone after us,” he said. “He knows Colly beat ye. He knows what the woman was capable of. I’m sure he knows ye were only defending yerself.”

“Do ye really think so?”

“I do.”

That comforted Lilia immensely but she was still sad, still fearful. She smiled weakly at him just as the door to the church lurched open and a man in rumpled woolen robes stood there, candle in-hand as he looked at the pair curiously. Brody immediately dropped his hands from Lilia.

“We’ve come tae see the priest about a marriage,” he said. “We wish tae be married.”

The priest yawned. “Now?”

“Now.”

“Can ye not come back on the morrow?”

“We canna. We must be married tonight, if ye please.”

The man looked between them. He studied Lilia for a moment, frowning. “Why is the lady distressed?”

Brody looked at Lilia, whose expression of sadness and fear hadn’t yet left her. Realizing that, she smiled brightly at the priest.

“She’s not distressed,” Brody said, pointing to her smile and offering his own. “See? Neither one of us is distressed.”

The priest was still looking at Lilia. “Is he forcing ye tae marry him, lass?”

Lilia shook her head firmly. “Not at all. I want tae marry him, Father. I swear it.”

“Where’s yer family?”

“Dead.”

As the priest debated about the odd situation, Brody took out his leather purse and planted two silver coins into the priest’s hand.

“There,” he said. “Now will ye marry us?”

The priest looked at the money, at Brody, and then motioned for them to wait at the door of the church. As Brody and Lilia stood there, looking at each other curiously, the priest returned with a pair of sleepy acolytes and right there at the door of the church, Brody and Lilia were married by a priest who spoke the blessing quickly so he could return to his bed. It wasn’t much, but it was what they’d asked for.

Lilia didn’t remember much of the blessing itself. All she remembered was the look in Brody’s eyes as he gazed at her. It was full of joy and warmth and love. All of those things flowed in and around her, filling her veins with something more than she could have ever imagined. But the one thing she felt more than anything else was hope –