Kieran counted himself the luckiest man that ever lived when a little over a sennight later, he got to walk into Scone Palace’s great hall with Vivienne on his arm.

Their arrival provoked a wild riot of cheers from the host of bedecked guests inside.

Vivienne’s eyes widened at their warm reception. “This is rather too much,” she murmured, “given that we are meant to be celebrating Elaine and Jerome’s wedding.”

For her part, Elaine didn’t seem to mind that her wedding feast had been turned into a celebration of Vivienne’s safe return and the obliteration of William de Soules and all he stood for. The Englishwoman rose from her and Jerome’s seat of honor beside the King at the high table, then lifted her green silk skirts and raced toward Vivienne.

When Elaine reached her, she took Vivienne into a warm embrace.

“Easy,” Kieran said with a frown. “She is still healing.”

“You don’t frighten me, Kieran MacAdams,” Elaine retorted, though she did ease her grasp on Vivienne before stepping back.

“Look at you, mon amie,” Vivienne said, her eyes shining as she took in Elaine’s gown and hair, which was done up in what appeared to Kieran like a complicated labyrinth of plaits and loose copper waves. “You are the most beautiful bride I have ever seen.”

Elaine laughed, her eyes filling with tears. “I am just grateful that you are here to share this day with me.”

Just then, those gathered for the feast began to part as the King stepped from the dais and strode toward them.

When he reached Vivienne, he bowed deeply from the waist.

“Non, Majesté, you cannot—” Vivienne began, her cheeks flushing at the King’s show of respect.

The Bruce straightened, his dark eyes dancing with mirth. “Ye cannae order me no’ to show my gratitude to ye, Lady Vivienne,” he said. “I am still a King, after all.”

Vivienne’s blush deepened, but she tilted her head graciously. “Very well, Majesté, but you cannot expect me to ever get used to a King bowing to me.”

“Fair enough,” he replied with a smile. But then he sobered, lifting her hand with both of his. “Truly, milady, I owe ye a debt I can never repay—and I ken my apologies will never be enough.”

“Non, Majesté,” Vivienne replied solemnly, “I believe you have actually given me my life’s greatest gift.” She lifted her eyes to Kieran, and his chest filled with so much love that it felt as though it would burst.

The Bruce patted her hand before releasing it, then shot Kieran a conspiratorial look. Kieran gave the King a firm shake of the head, silently warning him to hold his tongue.

He’d spoken with the Bruce not long ago, and they’d devised a plan that he hoped would be perfect, but he’d made the King swear to keep his lips sealed until Kieran had a chance to speak with Vivienne about it.

“All the same,” the King said, clearing his throat, “I am glad to have de Soules’s head on a pike atop the palisades. Forgive me, Lady Elaine, Lady Vivienne, for such talk at a wedding feast, but I cannae deny it.”

Jerome joined them, slipping an arm around his bride’s waist. “It is a symbol to all that his is the fate of a traitor to Scotland,” he said quietly.

“Aye, and based on what Agnes said, and all that Sabine could learn through her network of eyes and ears, no one is interested in joining him on the palisades,” the Bruce said. “With the head of the serpent removed, the body crumples.” He drew in a breath, straightening. “But enough of such talk. This is a joyous occasion. Lady Vivienne is safely returned, and another member of my Bodyguard Corps is happily married.”

The King smiled at Jerome and Elaine, but then his gaze flicked knowingly once more to Kieran.

Hell and damnation, he was going to have to get Vivienne out of there before the Bruce let something slip.

As Jerome, Elaine, and the King made their way back to the high table, Kieran took Vivienne’s hand and looped it through his arm. He began threading them through the nobles gathered for the feast, not slowing or even politely acknowledging those who bowed, curtsied, or offered them a word of congratulations.

“Kieran, what on earth—”

At last, he reached a quiet corner of the hall and pulled her to a halt.

“Marry me.”

Vivienne’s midnight blue eyes widened. “Pardon?”

Bloody hell, this wasn’t going as he’d planned. He frowned. He’d prepared everything in his mind, but now that he was gazing down at her, her dark eyes depthless and those petal-pink lips parted in surprise, all his thoughts scattered like leaves in a windstorm.

“I am a hazelnut tree,” he tried again, grasping for the right words.

She blinked slowly. “You are?”

“Aye, and ye are honeysuckle. Like in the Chevrefoil, ye ken.”

Realization flickered across her features, and then her breath caught in her throat.

Aye, that was more like it. Now he was back on the right track.

He took her hand and drew her closer until the rest of the hall fell away and it was just the two of them, staring into each other’s eyes.

“Ye have become so entwined with my heart that if I lost ye, I’d die,” he murmured. He paused, carefully saying the next words in his head before repeating them aloud to make sure he got them just right. “Ni moi sans vous, ni vous sans moi. Neither me without ye, nor ye without me.”

Now tears had gathered in her eyes, making them shimmer like pools of sapphire.

“Marry me,” he said again, tenderly brushing away a tear that had escaped down her cheek. “And let me work every day to give ye a life like in one of yer treasured love stories.”

“Oui,” she said, her voice low and tight with emotion.

He pulled her up into his arms in a tight embrace, barely remembering to be gentle with her bruised body or his own still-healing chest wound.

But when he set her on her feet and pulled back, her brows were drawn with worry.

“What is wrong, love?”

She shook her head a little. “It is just…I understand that your place is here in Scotland by your King’s side. But I wonder what has become of my position at court, or how I might look in on my father when we are a five-days’ sail away.” At the mention of sailing, she blanched and shuddered slightly.

A slow smile spread across Kieran’s face. She glanced up at him and frowned.

“What is it?”

“What if I told ye I have a solution to all that?”

Her brows furrowed deeper. “You do?”

“I spoke with the Bruce earlier,” Kieran said. “I explained matters with yer father, and also the importance of maintaining the alliance between Scotland and France.”

“Oh?”

“The Bruce thinks it prudent to send an emissary to France to ensure that relations continue smoothly.” Kieran tilted his head. “He believes I would be a good fit for the job—though why a brute like me should be an ambassador I dinnae ken.”

At that, she smiled, and he went on. “King Philip doesnae seem to mind my manners—or lack thereof—though, so neither does the Bruce. It would mean that I’d sometimes have to travel to Scotland, but also that I would visit the French court—with ye, if ye wanted to spend time with the Queen and the ladies-in-waiting.”

“That is wonderful,” she beamed. But then she caught her lip between her teeth. “Where would we live, though? Paris? Scone?”

“Well,” he said slowly, savoring what he was about to tell her. “The Bruce recognizes that Paris is a long way from Scotland. He suggested that it might be better to place an ambassador somewhere in the middle—a few days’ ocean crossing from Scone, aye, but mayhap a few days’ ride from the French court as well, so that either place could be reached quickly if need be. A place like…Picardy.”

Vivienne let out a stunned breath. “You can’t mean…my father’s estate?”

“Aye,” he replied, grinning.

She flung her arms around his neck, her shoulders shaking with either laughter or tears, he wasn’t sure which. Abruptly, she drew back, fixing him with a searching gaze. “And this is what you want? To live in a crumbling keep on a dilapidated farm?”

“Wherever ye are is my home, Vivienne,” he said, cupping her face in his hand. “But, aye, I am genuinely looking forward to a quieter life. Of course, I’ll still be one of the Bruce’s warriors, but I am a farmer by blood and birth, too. It would be an honor to help yer father bring his estate back to life.”

“And…and you won’t mind being away from the Highlands?”

Unspoken in her words was a deeper question, about the pain from his past, of losing Linette and his bairn, of losing his home.

He stilled, moved that Vivienne cared for him so deeply that her happiness wasn’t complete unless his own was, too. His heart was so full with love for her that it ached.

“I ran from my past for a long while, thinking that if I sealed my heart away, it couldnae ever be hurt again,” he said quietly. “But I’m no’ running anymore. And I dinnae want to be alone anymore, either. I still have my memories, where the past can live in peace, but now I want what I didnae let myself hope for in all these years. I want a family. And bairns. But most of all, I want ye, Vivienne.”

She nodded, tears streaming down her face. “I want all that, too. And I want you, Kieran. Forever.”

He kissed her then, tasting the sweet saltiness of her tears, drinking her in, his love, his heart, forevermore.

When he pulled away at last, they were both left panting.

“I’ll keep my family’s plot of land,” he said quietly. “No’ to farm, nor to linger in the past, but mayhap our bairns will want it someday. And mayhap when the time is right, I’ll take ye back there as well.”

He affectionately tucked a lock of flaxen hair that had come loose during their kiss behind her ear. “I’d like to show ye the Highlands, lass. But properly, no’ when we are running for our lives.”

She laughed, and it was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard. “Oui, I’d like that, too. But I cannot promise that I will be eager to cross the North Sea very often.” Her eyes widened as a realization struck her. “I suppose I will have to make the crossing at least one more time if we are to return to my father’s estate.”

She went white as snow and swallowed hard. Though he knew it would earn him a tart word later, Kieran couldn’t help but laugh.

“Dinnae fash, lass,” he said. “I’ll bring plenty of good Highland whisky with us. And of course we can always employ my other failsafe cure for seasickness again…” Just to get a rise out of her, Kieran gave her a wink.

At the bonny blush and slow smile spreading across her face, he only laughed harder.