Claimed by my Sister's Fiancé
Beside Bridie, Alistair looked clean-shaven, the sickly grey pallor gone from his skin, replaced by a healthy flush brought on by the breeze and a quiet, profound humility that drew respectful nods even from the Ferguson elders.
Bridie stood before me, bare-headed beneath the sun, her dark hair woven with white ribbons and silver rowan twigs. She didn't wear bridal silk; she wore a simple tunic of forest-green wool cinched with a worked leather belt, but her hazel eyes held an unvarnished radiance that made the breath catch hard behind my ribs.
I took both her hands in mine. Her palms were calloused, warm, and entirely steady, banishing the phantom cold of the