Page 45 of Love Beyond Wanting
“So, if there are men building and banging things around out here, it won’t disturb you?”
She shook her head.“Nay, lass, it willna disturb mye.Might I ask what ye have planned?”
“A garden wedding, and a place for you and Nicol to finally find some peace.”
Icould tell that Raudrich was intrigued by my idea.He had both arms crossed tightly against his chest, but his brows were furrowed as if he was thinking.The more he thought, the more he began to smile.“’Twould please her, I’m certain.”
I nodded.“I think it would.When Laurel spoke of the wedding she always wanted—not that she spoke of it very often—she always said she dreamed of an outdoor wedding, which isn’t really possible in Scotland with the way the weather has been lately.And I also know that with the way you guys have decorated this place—as in, not at all—it’s going to be really difficult to beautify it enough to be wedding-worthy over the course of the next nine days.
“If you guys pulled together to do this, if you could find some way to make what I’ve sketched out here, whether it be with your hands or magic, then it would solve so many problems.Not only would Laurel have the most beautiful wedding ever, but Nicol would have a place to spend his nights where he can stay dry and warm.Plus, perhaps most importantly, Freya will have some color in her life again.”
Raudrich paced the length of the room for the longest time as he held my sketch out in front of him.Finally, after I was certain I would doze off while waiting for him, he turned and spoke.“’Twas truly not so difficult to spell the walls to Nicol’s room, and I have often worried that we shall wake one morning to find him frozen to death outside.’Tis possible such work would drain us less than much of the magic we often use.”
“I guess you could give it a test first.”
“Aye, we can test our magic on a small piece of the cabins we are building for all of ye.”He paused and then threw his hands up as if he’d just had an idea.“I know how we can surprise both Laurel and Nicol.”
“Oh yeah?How?”
“I know of a dressmaker on the mainland who could make Laurel the most beautiful dress.If I tell Laurel that we mean to finish the cabins with magic…’twould be a lie, o’course, but a worthy one, then mayhap she will agree to let Nicol take her there, seeing as he has no magic with which to help us.”
I nodded excitedly.“That’s perfect!What if the magic turns out to be too draining?”
Raudrich was too excited to back down from this idea now.He was all in.
“Then we will gather every able-bodied man on the Isle, and we shall build it by hand.”
Chapter 29
By the time Raudrich and I finished making the plans for our big surprise, it was too late for me to go to the library to do any research.So, I went to bed, got a few hours of shut-eye, and got up with the sun to head to the library.
I was shocked to see Maddock inside, sitting at a large table with three huge books spread out before him.
He was so engrossed in the material that he neither heard nor saw me when I walked in.
“Good morning.What are you working on?”
He jumped at the sound of my voice, and when he looked up, I could see that once again, he’d gotten very little sleep.
“Good morning, lass.Ye are the first person to ever come in here while I’ve been inside.”
There was a large seat on the opposite side of the table, and I moved to join him.
“How often do you come in here?”
“Hardly ever before Laurel arrived.”
I laughed.“Has her love of writing inspired a love of reading in you?”
“Not exactly.But her presence here on the Isle has made me question beliefs I once thought immovable.”
“Such as?”
“For years I believed that our duty to this Isle was one that would last a lifetime, and for much of my life, I dinna mind it.But then yer sister arrived, and with wit and courage alone upended Machara’s plans.It has made me wonder if mayhap we havena tried hard enough to rid ourselves of her.”
I crossed my one arm over my chest and leaned back in the chair.
“I thought you said that mortal women could have no power over Machara.”
