OMG I'm back. I am literally so sorry for the like 3\4 year wait. I'll be surprised if anyone even reads this tbh but my bf encouraged me to get back into it! If you need a previously seen on The Highlander here is one:
After surviving the betrayal from the McDowell's and Rose coming back from the dead by choosing to stay in the past, Finn and Rose have arrived at McCain land and they have acquired their help for fighting the McKenzie clan and their allies. With a wedding on the morrow and a battle the day after, emotions and tension are high but Rose has told Finn she is ready and willing to be his bride but she is still worried about the upcoming events.
Rosaline
The table was laden with cooked meats and fresh fruit piled so high I could barely catch Calum's eyes over the towering piles. My own plate was smothered in foods both foreign and familiar to me. Every time I ate one sliver of meat another would find itself in its place. Finn wanted me well fed after all the travelling. That was his excuse.
I caught him looking at my body. I had lost some weight over the past couple of weeks. Bloody battles and travelling by horse could do that to a person.
His left hand was resting on my knee gently as he shovelled his own food into his mouth. As much as I wanted to poke his ribs and compare him to a pig, I understood the need to consume food before battle. Vast amounts of energy would be needed I they were to be McKenzie and stop the brute from terrorising the lands.
"Rose." A voice drew me from my thoughts and I turned to Finlay, his plate now empty and a goblet now rested in his hand.
"Sorry, I was lost in my own thoughts." I smiled sweetly before placing my own hand above his on my knee. I squeezed his fingers gently and his face calmed, the deep lines on his forehead smoothing.
"Laird McCain was just discussing the wedding plans." Finn took a hesitant sip from his wine. H knew I was willing and happy to marry him. The events before and in the bath were enough to show that. I could still feel his lips lingering on my skin.
But, part of me knew he was still worried I felt rushed into this. Despite my death, a failed pregnancy, being thrown back in time and avoiding rape and death, Finlay was scared I was worried about a little gold band on my finger and the responsibilities that came with it.
I gazed into his eyes, a soft smile playing on my face.
"I'm happy with anything, love" I replied. And I was. I could marry him in a chemise and a tartan wrap just like I was when we first travelled together and I'd be the happiest lass in Scotland.
"Calan's punishment will take place at dawn and they ye and Laird McCall can have yer wedding midday. We feast into the night but not too hard. We have no time to spare and must leave for battle the morn after." Laird McCain was a dominating figure at the head of the table. He spoke with conviction and authority, his words laced with the danger and unease that came with the future battle.
I tried to place my mind elsewhere than in the dark depths of blood, murder and death.
"What will be Calan's punishment?" I turned to laird McCain. It was his warrior who struck me and the punishment would be his decision.
"Fifty lashes is sufficient" Laird McCain dived back into his place, drawing a strip of chicken into his mouth.
Fifty lashes. I knew what that meant. What that entailed.
"I really don't think that is necessary Laird McCain. Really it is too much-"
"You'd rather this man who hit you go free Lady?" Lord McCain was displeased with my defence and had dropped his chicken back to his plate with a splatter. The table had fallen silent as warriors turned to watch with uncertainty glinting in their eyes.
"Fifty lashes is excessive."
"Love, McCain knows how to punish his own men. Let him do it." Finlay's hand squeezed my knee in both warning and comfort.
I turned to him, "I hit you once and you didn't demand fifty lashes at dawn."
"Ye are a lass, my lass, and I deserved a good smack. You didn't." Finn's eyes had darkened and he leaned close to me, his words laced with frustration. Possessive and commanding, he would never hurt me but the thought of letting a man who did go free clearly angered him.
"I would not want such an event on the morning of my wedding. It's bad luck." I sat back and crossed my arms, unwilling to give into Finn or the Laird McCain.
Before anyone could interject I added, "plus, you need all the men you have when you go to battle and having one weakened on indisposed is a waste. You need him to fight and he can't do that with a bleeding back."
McCain sat in silence as he contemplated my words and I watched Finn lean back away from me. The dangerous glint has disappeared from his eyes but the sudden graze of his nails on my knee warned me he didn't like what I had done.
He'd just have to put up with it. Accept a little twenty-first century civilisation into his life.
"No punishment on the morrow but as soon as we are back from war he will be punished accordingly. If he survives." With the final word Lord McCain turned back to his meal and his goblet. The table slowly returned to chatter and discussion of battle.
If he survives.
If.
I couldn't push away the thoughts of war anymore. They invaded my mind and filled my vision with images of Finn, Graham, Alistair...Blair strewn across a field bleeding. Dead. Dying. A possibility of the future. What was the likelihood of them winning the final battle? How many men did McKenzie have? No-one really knew. Yet they were willing to avenge the fallen and risk their own lives by running blindly for war.
It was honourable and stupid.
And there was nothing I could do about it. I had to sit in the castle and wait. Useless.
"Love?" Finn's voice was the sweetest melody and helped push away thoughts of battle. But, as soon as I turned I caught his gaze with my own and imagined those eyes lifeless.
"What bother's you?"
"The battle." My voice was a low whisper as I ducked my head and stared at the gold band encircling my finger. I had given up my life in the future and my family for Finn and my new friends. But what if they left me? What if they weren't strong enough to fight McKenzie's army?
"Rose," Finn's hand caught my chin gently and forced me to look at him, "I am coming home to ye. Believe me."
"How can you be so certain? What if you die and then Graham can't be bothered with me anymore and sells me off to some seventy year old farmer with a beer belly?"
Finn laughed as his fingers traced my cheek, "ye create some vivid images there lass, but it won't be true. An army would have to come between you and Graham for him to give ye up. He respects ye and loves ye more than anything."
"Not as much as his porridge," I added with a small chuckle, pressing my face further into Finn's hand.
"Yet he gave that up to ye when we found ye."
I nodded, understanding.
"If anything were to happen to me - which it won't - ye would be safe and happy, I promise ye. But I'm not even going to let that happen because I plan on coming back from battle to my waiting bride and going home."
"Home...where is home?" I asked, my hands now playing with Finn's own which rested on my knee.
"A few weeks ride from here. But the journey will be worth it. The castle is surrounded by vast forests with the most bonnie meadows and trees. As a lad I would spend hours in there. Our children will do the same."
I smiled sadly, my head dropping as I withdrew my hands to my own lap.
"Love," Finn's voice has dropped even lower, his lips brushing strands of hair as he leaned in close, "do not blame yerself for what happened with the baby. Ye even said so yerself, ye might not have been pregnant. It was only me being hopeful."
It wasn't though. As much as I denied it in life, in death I knew it was true. More than one soul had ascended from my body. As tiny and unformed as that child was, when I woke from my deathly slumber I felt the sadness that came from the loss of a child. I understood the truth behind Finn's claims. Even as young as I was I felt sad losing the possibility of a future with a child. Something to help keep me strong as I navigated these strange and unfamiliar lands. I just hid these emotions well.
But now, with a wedding on the horizon and Finn's certainty he would return to me, the idea we could have a family, and soon, made a soft smile play on my lips.
"I know Finn. I love you." Lifting my head, I took one of his large, burly hands in mine and ran the other through his hair. Everyone around us was a blur behind the curtain of hair as I leaned close to him. "And I know you will come home to me."
Finn closed the distance and pressed his lips against mine and the feeling of comfort I needed and desired settled in my chest.
He only kissed me for a moment, aware of the company around us and pulled back, promises and love shining in his eyes.
"I love you, Rose."
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I'm so sorry it has been so long so I won't even ask for a comment and a like I don't deserve them haha but please do let me know if you have been waiting literal years for this update in the comments so I can personally apologise!!
Thanks for reading,
Sammy