Page 55 of The Veiled Wish of a Highland Bride

Maeve hugged Mia then, engulfed her in a tight, lung-shattering embrace as if being fearful of losing her daughter to the darkness once more.

“I am so sorry, Mia. I-I dinnae deserve yer forgiveness either. I abandoned ye, I left ye with him. Ye were just a child,” Maeve sobbed and Mia’s heart cracked at hearing her mother’s pain—at feeling once more the pain she had caused her by leaving her behind.

“Oh mother. ‘Tis… ‘tis all gone now. I forgive ye.”

“Ye dae?” Maeve said, looking her in the eyes to which Mia nodded. “Thank ye, thank ye from the heart, sweetest, dearest Mia,” she cried, hugging her again.

Mia basked in the embrace for a few seconds before releasing her mother and standing up. Turning to the fire, she stared at the letter in her hand for a few moments before tossing it into the flames.

“There,” she said coldly. “There he is—burning along with all the hurt he caused us. He is naething more than ashes now,” she added, turning back to Maeve.

“And our own blooming starts now,” she said, taking her mother’s hands in hers once more.

Maeve nodded, her eyes glistening with fresh unshed tears.

“Come,” Mia said, “let’s have a cup of ale. We deserve a celebration.”

Mia shook her head, bringing herself back to the present. Conrad was in the past now. The day she threw that letter into the fire, it was the day she actually felt herself lighter—freer—stronger. As if the darkest of clouds had lifted off her heart, leaving her illuminating with a newfound hope. Her conscience was clear, her soul was healing.

Some say forgiveness helps heal our wounds but that is not always the case. Acceptance of what has passed does. And Mia, along with Maeve, had accepted the darkness of her past—no longer allowing it the power to affect her life. She was now committed to the light—to new memories, to a new life.

The wedding had taken place in the gardens outside Ledoch Castle. Mia had still not gotten over the grandeur of the keep. It was not as large as Murray Castle, but there was a lightness about this place that made her feel more at home than she ever felt back on Murray soil. The people were happier, treating each other like they were related by blood.

“Clanisblood”, they said, and she was starting to believe it.

The wedding feast was happening in the great hall and was expected to go on for hours. Hardly anyone would go to sleep until they were certain that the new bride and groom had consummated their marriage, as was customary. The thought of it made her chuckle, knowing that they had consummated their love so many times before this day—quite happily in fact. Since she was a widow, she was considered no maiden to begin with. It didn’t matter. Both she and Archie knew that he was the only man who had ever touched her in the intimate way a husband caressed his wife.

“Och! Ye both are still here?” Clyde said cheerily.

Mia noted that Clyde's grin looked a little more sincere today as he waltzed towards them from the other end of the hall. He was holding some bottles of fine French wine for the guests. Lennox was not too far behind, juggling even more bottles in his arms.

“Aye. Careful there, lads! Ye should nae be holding so many bottles at once. These are the finest bottles of wine in the country. Ye would nae want them to go to waste.”

The two men laughed, revealing that they were already slightly tipsy.

Lennox and Clyde had grown quite close after the incident, with both of them making visits to each other's residences for a quick dram and to converse. Many times Clyde had tried to convince Lennox to come and join him at Murray Castle, but Lennox always said he could not abandon his own Laird.

Mia was glad Clyde had come to the wedding. She presumed that someone was holding the fort back at Murray Castle but knew not to ask who.

“That is nae the point, o’Highland Wolf,” Clyde joked. “Ye ought to be behind closed door doing ye-ken-what.”

He winked at Archibald, his intoxicated state causing his grin to linger longer than was necessary. Mia knew that his sadness over Bram's death was not completely gone yet and she was simply glad they were making progress.

“Pardon this ol' fool, my laird,” Lennox chipped in, nudging Clyde. “He has taken one too many drams already. Ye can get going now. Let us nae delay ye from yer business any further.”

Anyone could have sensed the teasing in Lennox's words, but Mia chose today not to do that, the couple merely chuckling at the grown men's silliness.

“Oh, one last thing, my laird…” Lennox said softly, drawing Archie away.

Mia could barely hear them from where she stood waiting for her new husband's return. She knew she did not know the castle well enough to go and find their chambers herself. More so, she was not certain she wanted to part ways with Archibald so soon after their wedding. She still felt the butterflies in her stomach. She could not help but wonder what her husband and his war chief were talking about so intently but chose to stifle her curiosity.

She was now married to this man, after all.

If it was something important, he would tell her. Of that she was sure.

Lennox dragged Clyde in the other direction, leaving Mia and Archie looking at each other lustfully. Even though they had been together a number of times, every new time still felt like the very first, taking her to a world of pleasure and satisfaction she had never felt before.

Archibald pushed the door to their chambers open, revealing the most beautiful room Mia had ever seen. Her room at Murray Castle had been a sorry excuse for Lady's chambers. Bram had barely bothered to request that it be furnished upon her arrival. It had simply been cleaned, the sheets changed, and the curtains dusted. But then Bram had never been one for elaborate decoration.

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