Page 109 of Hold Fast

“David!” he shouted.

All three turned around sharply. Ian’s eyes were as big as plates.

“Ride ahead and find Father Brian. Make sure he is at the keep when we arrive.”

“Una,” Fergus whispered, staring at her with haunted eyes.

“Please, David,” Una cried, and Fergus nodded, urging his borrowed mount faster.

The bailey was full of commotion, and Ewan’s entire family met them in the courtyard. Ewan felt as if he was underwater. The sounds around him were muted and muffled, difficult to make out, and it seemed as if he was fighting against heavy, soaked clothing as he dismounted and reached for Una. His ears rang and his heart pounded wildly in his chest as he gingerly coaxed her off of Calman’s back. As soon as her feet touched the ground and she stood, her knees buckled. Ewan bent and scooped her into his arms, striding up the stairs of the keep.

He didn’t stop to speak to anyone. He didn’t notice who followed him. He didn’t mark the steps as he usually did. It was all he could do to place one foot in front of the other and, before he knew it, he was carrying Una through the door and into the laird’s chamber. Seeing the bed caused his heart to seize in his chest and his blood to run cold. His body shook as he laid Una on the mattress. She curled onto her side, her pale face damp with sweat.

“Father Brian?” she asked, gripping Ewan’s hand. He went down to his knees beside the bed.

“I sent for him, mo ghraidh.”

My love.

He’d never said it out loud before, never called her that. But he wanted her to hear it. He needed her to know. Just in case…

She nodded and closed her eyes, gritting her teeth against another labor pain, squeezing Ewan’s hand until her knuckles went white. With that, the sob that he’d been holding onto all night broke free, and with it, his voice thick with unshed tears, “Dinnae leave me, Una.”

At that moment, Father Brian burst through the door, Fiona, Fenella, and Cat on his heels. Ewan surged to his feet. It had been one thing for Una to ask for a priest, another thing entirely for Father Brian to appear, for Ewan to watch him deliver the sacrament that Una was requesting.

“Nay! Nay!” he shouted, feeling truly wild now. “You willnae give this woman last rites! She willnae die! I forbid it!”

“Ewan,” Una’s voice was shaky as she pulled on his hand. He turned. “I dinnae want last rites.”

“You… What? What? What do you want with a priest, then?”

“I want to marry you.”

“Now? You want to marry menow?”

She smiled weakly. “Before the babe comes. But if you dinnae want—”

His mouth dropped open, and he fell to his knees beside her, taking her hand in both of his now and bringing it to his lips. “Nay. Nay, mo ghraidh, I want to more than anything. I love you,” he said, kissing her fingers. “I love you,” he repeated against every knuckle. “I love you, Una.”

Her smile turned into a grimace as another pain took hold, her back bowing off the bed.

“Help me, Ewan,” she panted. “I need to move.”

“Anything,” he said. “Anything you need.”

She told him she wanted to be on her hands and knees, wanted to be able to circle her hips and move, to take some of the pressure off of her back. He helped her to maneuver on the bed.

“Can… you… marry us… like… this?” she panted.

Father Brian, looking an alarming shade of red, stepped forth and said, “It isnae traditional, but if the laird insists, then—”

“I do,” Ewan said.

Fiona hurried to Una’s other side. “If you’re going to do it, Father, best get on with it. I suspect we dinnae have much time before this babe joins our party.”

Father Brian loped closer to the bedside on his long legs. “Well, there is a long version and a short version, but I imagine you will be wanting the short, aye?”

Una groaned loudly as another pain took her. “Short!”