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Kiri walked around her, just looking, saying nothing. Chessa cocked an eyebrow at her. “Well?”
“I don’t know what to call you now.”
Mirana said, “Perhaps you can call her mama sometimes.”
“You just think about it, Kiri,” Chessa said. “I would like that, but it’s up to you. Now, do you like the saffron gown?”
Kiri nodded slowly. “Papa said he had to marry you because you’d count sticks and starve yourself if he didn’t.”
“That’s right.”
Kiri just nodded then and skipped away.
“Children,” Entti said, shaking her head.
“And men,” Laren said.
When the men came to stand in the circle for the ceremony, it was to hear the women giggling.
17
THE AFTERNOON SKY over Hawkfell Island was brilliant with light, sweet with the scent of the gorse and heather, and tangy with the salty spray from the sea. There were plump white clouds to soften the force of the sun. There was no wind. The crashing of the waves against the rocks was rhythmic and heavy.
As was the Malverne custom, the men stood behind Cleve, the women behind Chessa. The children stood off to one side, the oldest children responsible for relative silence among the younger ones. The pets stayed with the children, all except Kerzog, who nestled his nose between Chessa’s feet.
“Since Sira is your stepmother,” Old Alna said to Chessa, “you’ll not have to worry about her coming to steal Cleve, like she tried to steal Rorik. To think of Sira as a queen, it makes my brain spin. Aye, she tried to seduce Rorik from Mirana, you know, nearly killed my little sweeting. Ah, but I saved her.”
Mirana began to whistle.
Rorik, Lord of Hawkfell Island, yelled out for silence. “We’re graced with fine weather, a sure sign that this marriage is blessed by the gods. Cleve of Malverne is here to wed with Chessa, daughter of King Sitric of Ireland. Listen all of you to their pledges of faith.”
Cleve stepped forward, clasped Chessa’s hands in his, and gently tugged her to the center. “Kerzog,” he said, pushing the mongrel away, “leave her be. You can sniff her toes and sleep on her feet after I’m done with her.”
There was laughter.
Cleve felt the coldness of her hands. “Don’t be afraid,” he said low. “A papa shouldn’t ever be afraid.”
“I’m not afraid. I’m terrified. I’ve never been married before, Cleve.”
He just smiled down at her and said in a loud voice that carried to the waves crashing against the black rocks at the base of the eastern cliffs, “I offer this woman all that I have and all that I will ever have.” He raised her hand in his. “Our future is shrouded in the unknown. She stands with me in this. When it is clear to me who and what I am, she will still be at my side. I hold her in honor. I will pray to Freya daily that we are blessed with many babes and that all of them will be mine this time.”
There was a spurt of laughter, then silence again as Chessa clasped Cleve’s wrist and raised it high. “You will be my mate, the man who will be with me forever. I give you all my loyalty, my fidelity. I will protect you with my life. We will conquer Scotland together. I love your daughter as my own. I love you, her father, with all that is within me and I have since the first moment I saw you in the queen’s garden. You are my husband now and forever.”
Love wasn’t usually spoken of in a Viking wedding. Honor and fidelity were the important vows. Loyalty to one’s people, to one’s king. There was a moment of sharp silence. Cleve stared down at her, his head cocked to one side. “You loved me that soon?” he said, his voice low, but since no one was saying a word, everyone heard him.
“Aye,” she said. “I’d never seen a man as beautiful as you. You were golden and strong. You shone beneath the sun in the garden that day.”
He leaned over and kissed her mouth. The silence broke with cheers from men and women alike. Cleve took her in his arms and pressed her face against his shoulder.
“Papa!”
“Which one?” Chessa said, turning to look at her new daughter.
“My manly papa,” Kiri said.
Laughter took the place of cheers.
Cleve picked up his daughter, hugged her, and said, “Now you’ve a new mama who is also your second papa.”
