Christmas Eve dawned, cold and stormy, and for the second morning in a row, Vida awoke craving the warmth of the man she loved. He had stayed with her well into the night. At some point, they had made love again and she had fallen asleep cuddled against his chest. But later, he must have slipped away because now he was gone. Her chamber was cold. Freezing rain and ice pellets pounded the shuttered windows.

Ah well, she wasn’t looking forward to the discussion she intended to have with her father and the stormy weather suited her mood. She climbed out of bed, dressed quickly, and rather than stoking the fire in her hearth, she hurried downstairs to the warmth and bustle of the hall.

It was still very early, so the last person she expected to see already up was her father. But to her surprise he sat at the table. “Good morning, Papa.”

“Good morning, Vida, my darling. I was hoping to have the chance to speak with you before anyone else awakens.”

This did not bode well at all. “Of course, Papa.” She joined him at the table.

He had a goblet of wine in front of him, from which he took a long swallow. She waited for him to speak, knowing that pushing him wouldn’t help anything.

Finally, he said, “Vida, you must realize that given all that happened in Perth yesterday, our situation has changed.”

“Aye, Papa.” We no longer face a fate worse than death, didn’t seem to be the right thing to say…yet.

“Aye, well, I’ve decided, we needn’t rush into a marriage for you. I’m calling off the wedding.”

Vida sat back and stared at him. “You’re doing what?”

“The wedding. I’m calling it off. The crisis has been averted. You don’t need to marry Tomas anymore.”

Vida stood up and walked towards the door to the entryway and the stairs.

“Where are you going?” he demanded.

“To your solar. This is not a discussion that should occur in the great hall.”

“There is nothing to discuss, Vida. You will not marry Tomas MacIan.”

She turned towards him, a rage unlike anything she’d ever felt burned so brightly in her she could only stare. When she finally spoke, her voice trembled with fury. “There most certainly are things to discuss. And if you hold even a modicum of love in your heart for me, you will come with me to your solar. Now.”

Her father simply looked at her, wide eyed, his mouth gaping. If she wasn’t mistaken, he was a little frightened and, by God, he should be. Without saying another word, he stood and followed her.

Good. He understands what’s at stake here.

Vida’s anger calmed a little as they walked in silence, but only a very little.

When they reached his solar, she lit several candles against the early morning gloom. Finally, she turned to face him.

He spoke first. “Now, Vida, my darling, you need to understand I must do as I see—”

Vida put a hand up. “Stop right there. This ceased being about you a long time ago.”

“But Vida—”

“Nay, not another word until I’ve had my say. For years, I have run the business of this clan efficiently and we have been prosperous.”

“No one’s arguing that, but—”

“Wheest,” she fairly shouted, glaring at him, daring him to utter another word.

He finally gave a little nod. “Fine. Continue.”

“In all of these years, you haven’t given a single thought as to what this clan needed. Worse, you paid no attention to the skills of your men, which has left us vulnerable. You accrued a colossal debt at a game of chance. You essentially threw away money that you didn’t have, then, for some reason, didn’t think it was important enough to tell me about it. And if all of that wasn’t bad enough, you allowed Naughton Lindsay, that craven dog, to trick you into a betrothal with me. We were a breath away from disaster when Tomas MacIan, a man who has no reason on earth to want to help you…” at his affronted look she added, “don’t even pretend to be the injured party here. I know what you did to him. I know what you did to Katherine. For your information, she nearly died because of the beating you gave her.”

He stood, staring. Speechless.

She shook her head in disgust and paced, for a moment trying to rein in her temper. “I’ve never been so ashamed of you.”

That arrow hit its mark. Her father looked stunned. She softened a bit. “I love you, Papa, and I believe you have changed since then. You are no longer a man who would take a whip to a lass, or a wee lad. But that you once were, scalds me. And you cannot deny that Tomas could have walked away from us without a flicker of guilt bothering his conscious. But he didn’t. He and his men have done in a few months what you didn’t do in nineteen years. Neither did he walk away when the financial mess that you created for us was finally revealed. That too would have been perfectly just. But he elected to help us. He sent word to his parents—who also had no reason to assist you—but they came with enough gold to save us.”

She shook her head in disgust, “And then you insulted them by suggesting that they had only come to claim Cotharach for one of their sons. I was mortified.” 

“But Vida, this has all been resolved now. You don’t have to marry anyone.”

“Nay, I don’t, because I’m already married. I begged Tomas to handfast with me the night before last, before he went to Perth.”

“You did what?” her father roared.

“You heard me. I begged him to handfast with me. I knew you’d do this. I knew as soon as Tomas saved your sorry hide, you’d forget everything and look for the next pot of gold. But not this time. I love Tomas MacIan. I love him with my whole heart. I did not want to risk losing him. I need him and Clan Ruthven needs him.”

Her father waved his hand as if swatting away a pest. “A handfasting can be set aside.”

She glared at him. “Not if it has been consummated. And lest you feel the need to ask, it has been.”

Her father began to bluster. “You had no right—”

“—I had every right. I was the one acting in this clan’s best interests, not you.”

Her father threw up his hands. “Fine. You’ve married him. You should be happy. Why are you haranguing me?”

“Because you refuse to see how close to ruin you brought us. And I’ve had enough.”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I am married to a man I love, but it would be completely foolhardy for any man to accept the responsibility of running this clan without all of the authority that goes with it. Especially in light of the tragedy that ye almost wrought simply by overconfidence, greed, and recklessness.”

“Ye’d both have the authority.”

“Nay, we wouldn’t. Not as long as you had complete access to clan funds and the ability to override any decision we made.”

“But I wouldn’t do this again.”

“I’m sorry, Papa, that’s not good enough. You don’t have a solid record of making sound decisions and I won’t place my faith in what you say you will or won’t do.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I have married Tomas, but I will not ask him to stay here to run Clan Ruthven in your name. I’ll go with him to the Highlands.”

Ambrose stiffened. “You would never abandon this clan.”

She cocked her head to one side and put her hands on her hips. “Nay? Are you sure about that? Your recent actions very nearly destroyed any hope I had for happiness. And to make matters worse, you didn’t trust me enough to tell me as soon as you incurred the debt. All of this might have been avoided had you done that.”

“All of this would have been avoided if Naughton Lindsay wasn’t a craven thief.”

Vida shook her head. “And right there is proof, once more, that you fail to recognize your own role in this.”

“But I didn’t do anything wrong. If Naughton hadn’t—”

“You didn’t do anything wrong? If nothing else, you gambled with a huge sum of money and lost. I don’t think I can risk everything I hold dear on your poor judgement.”

“Vida, don’t leave the clan. They need you and they love you.”

Vida stared at him in disbelief. “Don’t dare pretend to make this about the clan. They loved and needed another Lady Ruthven once, but you managed to get rid of her to suit your own desires.”

Her father looked as if she’d struck him.

“The truth is, the good of the clan has never been your first concern. Tell me, if ye’d been able to extricate yourself from this mess by taking what gold you had, boarding a ship with me and leaving Scotland forever, leaving your clan forever, would you have done it?”

Ambrose looked confused. “Well, of course.”

“Oh, Papa,” She pressed two fingers into the bridge of her nose. “What if Lindsay had agreed to erase your debt and set aside the betrothal in exchange for your title and lands? Would ye have consented?”

“Aye, I would have done anything to keep you out of Lindsay’s hands. Besides, I still have a thriving shipping business. We would have wanted for nothing. Vida, my darling, you are the light of my life. Please don’t leave me.”

“You would have traded your title and lands, our clan’s welfare and my legacy, to have me remain with you?”

“Aye. Anything.”

“So, would ye trade it all to secure the clan’s welfare and my legacy in order to keep me here, with ye?”

His brows drew together. “Of course.”

“Then do it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Give it all to Tomas and me.”

“But you will have it upon my death.”

“Nay, Papa, not upon your death, but upon our wedding.”

He frowned. “Ye’d accept that? Ye’d stay?”

“Aye. That would give us complete authority to lead and you wouldn’t have access to clan funds.”

A momentary look of horror crossed his face.

She almost laughed. “Oh, Papa. That reaction just proves you’re ruled by your own greed and you always will be. You just said it yourself, you have a thriving shipping business to do with as you will. Continue to put your energies there.”

“And you won’t leave?”

“Nay, I won’t.”

He huffed, but looked relieved. “Very well.”

“Then we’ll have Father Michael draw up the papers this morning.”

He nodded. “Aye. I’ll see to it.”

Vida smiled at him and crossed the room to give him a hug. “Thank you, Papa. You can make the announcement to the clan before Mass tonight.”

“Mass?”

She laughed. “Aye, Mass. Have you forgotten? It’s Christmas Eve.”

As Vida left his solar to go back downstairs, she chuckled to herself. Checkmate. It might have been manipulative, but it had truly been in everyone’s best interests.

Tomas was at the table when she entered the great hall.

She all but skipped across the room to him, giving him a kiss on the lips to the amusement of everyone present.

He grinned. “Ye’re in a good mood this morning. Sleep well?” he asked with a wink.

“Aye, but that’s not why I’m in such a good mood.”

“Nay? Then what has ye so full of sunshine on such a dismal day?”

“I’ve had a chat with my papa this morning and he’s come around to my way of thinking.”

“Ye’re jesting.”

“Nay, I’m not. As I suspected, he was planning to stop the wedding. I had to tell him it was too late for that. And we had a huge argument, but he finally gave in. He will make the announcement this evening. He intends to grant you the title of Laird of Clan Ruthven on our wedding day.”

Tomas took her hand. “I’m sorry it came to this, Vida. Ye know I would have stayed with ye, no matter what.”

“I know. And I really don’t think I could have left the clan. But he brought us so close to ruination I had to make the threat.