Winter

The moment I figured that out, I was full of energy, we had to safe her but how were we going to do that, as we both had no battle experience, well at least not this kind of experience and this would be one hell of a task. I was pacing through my room and was stopped by Niall’s hands.

“You’re making me dizzy here love.” He said with a knowing smile. I could see that he was also anxious to do this but he wasn’t as stressed out as I. “Sorry, I was just thinking about how we were going to safe her.” I smiled and he nodded. “I know but for now we have other things to think about, like tomorrow.” He hinted and that’s when I stopped. “I’m going to ask you one more time Niall, are you sure about marrying me?” I know I was repeating myself but I really didn’t want him to do something he absolutely didn’t want. “For gods sake woman, I. Really. Don’t. Mind. Marrying. You.” I was driving him crazy and I had to giggle at the way he said it. “Alright, alright, I won’t ask again but after we got married we have to discuss our plan of approach.” I held out my hand to make this deal but he eyes it as if I had some weird disease.

I pulled my hand back and the moment I did that he grabbed it and pulled me towards him and kissed me passionately. He pulled back slightly and before I could moan with disappointment he whispered “Deal” to me and that’s when he left me standing there breathing as if I just had run a marathon.

He certainly knows how to take my mind of, off things. I sighed and walked over to the window because now I was to wound up to sleep. All I wanted to do now was rip his damn clothes from his body and to top things my mind was also spinning about this whole saving someone with my name and face. I was slightly worried because what if we were actually related? Then this would be incest right? Maybe they weren’t really meant to be but needed to have a chance to say goodbye, that would make more sense and it would be better, otherwise I would be related to Niall, which wasn’t possible and if Lady Blackwood was really killed in battle then it wasn’t possible for her to conceive any children and that would mean I couldn’t be here right now.

I was making myself tired with all of this, which was a good thing I guess. I really needed to get some sleep as tomorrow would be my wedding day, which I was not really looking forward to but at least Niall didn’t mind me marrying him. I walked back to my enormous bed and the minute my head hit the pillow I was gone.

Elaine was entering my room, with I think food, which was very welcome as I was really hungry. She was followed by a lot of other girls, who were whispering to each other but I was all happy chattering. I think they were really excited for today, I on the other hand wasn’t that excited, as I woke up with a headache and I was also feeling nervous and when I saw one of the girls walk in with my dress I just wanted to hide under the covers.

It was a beautiful gown and it had a lot of lace but it was appropriate for this era but I was happy to see that there was still some nakedness, because I would hate to be all covered. Never understood why people thought that was necessary in the first place. “Milady, you have to get out of bed because we have to prepare you.” Elaine said quietly. I smiled because she understood me without even saying a thing. I threw the covers off, of me and jumped out of bed. I mean there wasn’t a thing I could do to stop this so it was better to get it over with. “Let’s do this Elaine.” I told my maid and she smiled and directed me towards the warm bath, which was filled by the maids who were walking in and out.

“I want something to eat first.” I was eyeing the plate that was almost in my reach but the moment I reached for it, Elaine actually slapped me on my hands, which surprised me because tell me if I’m wrong but to slap your employers is not allowed. I narrowed my eyes at her but she dismissed it with rolling her eyes at me. She knew I wasn’t angry about her move but I was really hungry and I just wanted to eat something. “There is no time for eating, first you need to take a bath.” She ordered me and the girls were actually giggling at me.

I got in the tub but the scowl didn’t leave my face. I was being scrubbed from head to toe and I was happy that I trimmed certain body parts because otherwise this was going to be a weird experience. Elaine tried to wash my hair with lavender oil but I stopped her immediately because I hated lavender. “Wait, don’t you have something with vanilla in it?” I asked her before she could drop it on my head and luckily for me she had. From that moment on I kept my mouth shut and when they were finally done, I smelled like a sweet vanilla dessert, this made my stomach growl and Elaine took pity on me and allowed me to eat something quick.

Now I was really happy with my curls because they looked absolutely lovely after Elaine took care of them. I didn’t wear any make-up except for something red they put on my lips. It was a weird experience but in the end my hair and face were looking even better than with make-up. I really needed to ask Elaine how she did that because this would be handy for when Niall and I returned to our own world.

“It was time to get me on that beautiful gown and I was happy to see that they didn’t have really high heels and the shoes they made for me were like slippers, which I didn’t mind one bit. They didn’t give me any underwear and that worried me a bit because I wasn’t feeling comfortable without him but Elaine ensured me that this was tradition and who was I to mess with tradition?

They were reigning me in the damn corset when there was a soft knock on my door. One of the maids walked to the door and I already knew who was standing behind it. “I’m sorry sir but it’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding.” She told him gently and I know he was anxious to see me but they were right, we couldn’t use any bad luck with what was ahead of us. The maid closed the door and returned with flowers in her hand. “This is for you Milady.” She gave them to me and I couldn’t help but smile at the roses she gave me. Apparently they grew them somewhere inside because otherwise this was not possible because it was not yet the season for roses.

I gave them back to the maid and asked her to put them in water, which she immediately did. I was happy when Elaine was finally done with that bloody corset and to my surprise I could still breathe. “It’s time to put on your dress.” She was so enthusiastic, she even clapped her hands. I had to put up my hands and they pulled the dress over my head. It fitted like a glove, I had given them the design, otherwise it was going to be a tartan like dress, which I really didn’t want. I always loved the dress of Mary on the tv show reign and that’s exactly the design I had given them but I did make a slight alteration. Instead of completely white I had put in the clan colours of the Blackwood clan. It always comes in handy when they have heavy books lying around with all the clans in it. So my dress was mostly white but the lace was in black and red, which were the clan colours.

At first I wasn’t really sure about it but now that I could see if for myself, it looked absolutely beautiful. The moment I was done they pulled me in front of a large mirror and I held my breath because I looked stunning. I was glowing but that was probably because the sun was shining through the window but I had to bow down to these ladies because they did a magical job. My hair wasn’t looking like it was exploded, the curls were tamed for once. I smiled and that made everyone in room cheer because I know I made them anxious with my lack of enthusiasm. “Thank you.” I whispered to everyone in the room and they all curtsied and we were just in time because the next minute there was again a knock on the door but this time is was John, who was coming to get me. He walked into the room and I saw a hint of admiration. “You look like a magical princess.” He said whilst checking me out, this made me slightly uncomfortable to be honest.

“Thank you John.” I managed a smile but that disappeared when he showed me his hands, as they were behind his back. He held a small tiara with diamantes and my mouth dropped because I couldn’t possibly wear that. What if I lost it or something? “I want you to wear this Winter.” I eyed it with a hint of panic, which he noticed.

“It’s a wedding gift.” He explained but that didn’t make me feel any better. It was way too much but he wasn’t taking no and just gave it to Elaine to put on my head. I had no choice in the matter and she showed it to my in the mirror and it looked beautiful. It did made me feel like a princess, I just had to suck it up I guess. “Thank you, it’s beautiful.” I told John who was smiling at me. “Alright, now that, that is settled, let’s go.” He clapped in his hands and held out his arm for me to grab. He was the one that would give me away, as my father wasn’t here to do that.

We walked down into the great hall. The ceremony was being held in the nearby church and from what I heard, Niall was already there waiting for me. We went by carriage and they even had laid out a carpet so that my dress couldn’t get dirty, this I really appreciated and this made my mood slightly better.

“You don’t really look happy love.” John noticed and I gave him a small smile. “I’m just nervous.” It was the truth because I really was nervous, what if he changes his mind at the last minute, what would that do to me or everyone else? I sighed and looked outside and the minute we arrived I was charmed by the beauty of this little church, it was surrounded my trees and I could see a lake not far from the building and with the snow and the sun, it made it look idyllic.

We stopped in front of the door, just so I could take a deep breath and collect myself. “Are you ready?” John asked me and I nodded. The doors were opened and there at the end of the aisle stood Niall, he was wearing a kilt in his clan colours, which I had already seen but this time it was an official suit. It showed power and I did found it a bit weird to see him wear a kilt because I know that wasn’t the custom in Ireland but he probably did it because he was in Scotland. His hair was styled like always, with a quiff and I wasn’t complaining about the fact that his own hair colour was appearing again.

What surprised me the most, was the way he was looking at me. He radiated love, even from my spot at the end of the aisle I could feel it and that made me want to run to him and kiss him. Something magical was at work here but I wasn’t the one who would turn away from it right now. John took a step forward ad I followed him as my eyes were only focussed on Niall, everything else disappeared.

The moment John put our hands together, I felt an electric shock and I know Niall felt it as well and that’s when I knew, we were meant to be together. I know Niall had been saying it the past few days but it wasn’t till now, that I believed him. I smiled at him and that’s when he knew I finally believed him, it also took away the anxiousness I was feeling. The priest made us focus on him and that’s when we made our vows and exchanged rings, well he did to my surprise. He had help from Elaine, that was something that I was certain about.

The ring had a simple gold band but there were three diamantes laced through the band. It was a beautiful ring and it was all I could ask for. “I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride.”

Notes