Page 22 of Katie's Highlander (Highland Protector 3)
Prepare these souls to join,Ramsay automatically translated in his mind.I’ll explain it all to her later. If I can catch her.
With their hands still pressed together in Emrys’s iron grip, Ramsay slowly turned and faced Katie. All that was left was to seal the oath and receive Dwyn’s blessing.
“Tha mi gad gabhail mar a ghlacas tu mi.”The ancient acceptance. The words had come to him as though whispered in his ear. He squeezed Katie’s hand, all the while hoping like hell that the lass wouldna bolt as soon as her hand was freed. “I accept thee as you accept me,” he repeated quietly for her benefit in case her basic understanding of Gaelic failed her.Goddesses make her let me explain afore she runs like hell.
Emrys released their hands and stepped back. With a wild flourish, he whipped the bloodstained athame from his belt and held it high, the blade trembling as it glinted in the sun. “And now the seal.”
Ramsay shifted to escape and pulled Katie with him.
“—Nay, lad. Hold fast now.” Dwyn grabbed hold of Ramsay’s arm and squeezed. “This day is the goddesses’ wish. It istheirwish. Ye ken my meanin’, boy?”
“She deserves better,” Ramsay forced out in a low hiss. “She’ll ne’er understand.”
“Ramsay!” Katie leaned close, her whisper urgent. “Just do this and get it over with so we can get the hell out of here.” She squeezed both his hands and gave him such a tense look that his heart hitched. He’d give her anything. Do anything she asked.
Poor lass. She has no idea.
Dwyn rested his hand atop theirs and his voice boomed out across the mountain. “By blood these two be bound. By kiss these two be sealed.” He paused and took hold of Ramsay and Katie’s clasped hands and raised them. “Their souls I lift to Scota, Danu, and Bride.” He paused a heartbeat, then continued. “Bless this union. Guide their ways. Bind their souls all their days. For good of clan, for good of the stone, for good of one and all. By these witnesses here today, goddesses heed my call.”
As soon as Dwyn finished speaking, lightning rippled across the cloudless sky and deafening thunder shook the mountain, sounding as though a thousand boulders had been released to roll across the earth.
Ramsay ground his teeth, tore his gaze from Katie’s shocked face, and glared at Dwyn. The demigod had spoken the wrong blessing. He hadna merely bound them in marriage, hadna just blessed them as man and wife. He’d bound their souls for all time whether they physically remained with one another or not and then the arrogant manipulatin’ bastard had gone so far as to seal the melding with a sign from the goddesses themselves.
“Ye may kiss yer soulmate, Ramsay.” Dwyn looked at him with a sly smile, knowing full well what he’d just done. “Blessings t’ye both, my children.”
Dear unsuspectin’ lass…what have I done t’ye?Ramsay shook his head, then brushed a quick tender kiss across Katie’s slightly parted lips. As soon as their mouths met, he felt the ancient binding brand, searing their souls together like a surge of fiery finality deep within him.
Katie gasped and backed away from him, her bloodstained fist pressed to the center of her chest. She stared at Ramsay’s face, clearly searching for an explanation. She too had felt the melding.
Emrys motioned to the tree line and Ramsay’s horse, Dubh, stepped forward, saddled and ready to ride. Emrys rested a trembling hand on Ramsay’s shoulder and smiled. “Goodbye my son. May the goddesses be with ye. Be sure and keep to the path.” Emrys’s strength was waning with the setting of the sun. Suddenly, his father seemed a great deal older.
“We can leave now?” Katie tugged on Ramsay’s arm. “We can leave—right?”
Watching Emrys as he allowed Katie to pull him over to Dubh, Ramsay gently resisted and halted Katie in her tracks. “Something isna right, lass.”Be sure and keep to the path? What the hell does that mean?
“Something hasn’t been right about this whole damn day,” Katie snapped. “Now come on.”
Emrys slowly nodded, a sly smile pulling up the corners of his thinning beard. He slowly bent and retrieved Ramsay’s spear and tossed it to him. “Ye’ll need this, boy, and if yer wise, ye’ll heed m’words. Keep to the path.” He nodded at Katie. “And keep yer lady to the path, as well.”
Chapter 9
Still cradling her fist against her chest, Katie rode along in silence, trying to sort through the crazy myriad of emotions churning through her.Stay calm. At least we’re riding away from the wild wizard of the mountain and his crazy henchman.
She opened her hand and examined the slight cut that had finally stopped bleeding. She was familiar with such rites. Read about them. Taught them in class and tested students on ancient customs. Handfastings. She’d never heard of the blessing binding or whatever the hell Dwyn had done but handfastings she knew.Apparently, I now have a husband.She rolled her eyes and jerked her fist back up against her chest, moving in the saddle as she did so.
Ramsay tightened his arm around her. “Sit still, lass. I dinna wish ye t’fall.”
“Oh, just shut up!” She’d remained silent for as long as she could and that was currently the nicest thing she could think of to say to Ramsay at this particular moment in time.
Ramsay shifted behind her. He sucked in a deep breath and slowly blew it out, fluttering her hair in the process and pissing her off even more. “Everything I did back there was for yer welfare—believe it or no’.”
“Why the hell didn’t you and your brothers jump in and grab him? I know he had a knife but he’s an old man! Any one of you could’ve taken him.” She hammered an elbow into Ramsay’s rock-hard middle to accentuate her words. “The four of you are a big ass wall of muscle against one decrepit old man and yet none of you did a damn thing. What are you? A bunch of chickenshits?”
Ramsay didn’t answer, just shifted sideways, rooted around in the leather bag lashed to the side of the saddle, and pulled out a full bottle of whisky. He nudged it against Katie’s arm. “Here. ‘Twill take the edge off.”
She doubted that very much but it sure as hell couldn’t hurt after the weirdness she’d just experienced. If not for the strangeness of the situation, she would’ve reveled in it. She’d been neck deep in what appeared to be druid history. A groundbreaking find that literally gave her a buzz, until neck deep rushed to over-her-head level and she was suddenly drowning in the druid shit. Breaking the seal and twisting the cap free, Katie took a large enough swig to make her eyes water and trigger a burning cough.
“Easy there, lass.” Ramsay reached around her, rescued the bottle, and helped himself to a long swallow.
